The Dell Streak really shouldn’t work as a phone. It’s the biggest handset we’ve ever seen, 1980s Motorolas aside. It has a poor on screen keyboard and runs an outdated version of Android. And yet, if you’re a power user, prepared to move beyond the paradigms and traditions of how you “should” use a mobile phone, there’s no way you’ll be able to avoid falling in love with the thing. Find out what we mean, and if it’s for you in our full Dell Streak review.
Read the rest of our Dell Streak review now:
Dell Streak review: Android OS
Dell Streak review: Build and touchscreen
Dell Streak review: The first true tablet phone?
Dell Streak review: Ultimate buyer’s guide
Let’s get things straight: if you’re clutching on to your Nokia 6700 and wary about touchscreen phones or full QWERTY keyboards, the Dell Streak is absolutely not for you. It’s unbelievably huge. At five inches wide, it’s certainly the biggest touchscreen phone ever made, with acres more screen space than the still epic 4.3-inch HTC HD2.
It’s the sort of size that might almost make you think twice about what jacket you’ll put on as you head out the door, but for its saving grace: its thin profile. At just under 10mm, the Dell Streak is barely thicker than the new iPhone 4, and will still comfortably slide into your trouser pockets, even if your tastes are closer to Shoreditch skinny than MC Hammer baggy. Even sitting down, it won’t cause discomfort – we’d say Dell’s pitched the size just on the right side of acceptability, if you’re prepared to open your mind a little.
There’s no getting around the weight issue, admittedly. At 219g, the Dell Streak is incredibly hefty for a smartphone (By comparison, an iPhone 3GS weighs just 135g). It’s something you’ll notice at first, but you’ll soon get used to it. Certainly, it’s no bother while conducting even long phone conversations.
But if you want to use the Dell Streak efficiently, there’s something you’ll need to adapt to: it’s a landscape phone (You could say the Nokia N900 was too, but well, the screen was as responsive as Page 3 model is to advances from a goat). We don’t blame you for being confused as to whether the Dell Streak is a tablet or a phone, but the best way to put it is this: when you’re not making calls, you have to hold it like a tablet, more PSP than iPad (Which is far, far larger, and not a rival product, despite the word “tablet” being tossed around).
There’s an accelerometer for portrait tilting, sure, but to emphasise this, Dell has locked the homescreen into landscape mode only. It’s not something you may be used to, but the screen is wide enough for Dell to pull this off: you’ll want to read web pages in this view, you’ll want to Google Maps in this view, and you’ll probably want to type in this view. Hang up your suspicions and prejudices, and you’ll find it’s definitely preferable.
Some of the specs on the Dell Streak aren’t amazing, true: the five megapixel camera takes merely decent stills, not helped by a laggy shutter. The 1GHz Snapdragon processor meanwhile is par for the course on top end Android phones – speedy, but matched elsewhere. But the responsive and sharp WVGA screen, with pinch to zoom gesture support on pictures and web pages, and astonishing battery life (It puts the smaller, power hungry HTC Desire to shame) more than make up for it. What’s the catch then? The Dell Streak will never be a mass market hit like the iPhone 4, but surely it’s a geek’s ultimate gadget?
Almost. Firstly, the Dell Streak only runs the older Android 1.6, albeit a very well skinned version, so no delicious Froyo Flash support or multiple Google accounts for you. And because it’s skinned, don’t expect immediate updates either as Dell programmers try to keep pace with Google’s release schedule.
Secondly, and much more pressingly, the onscreen keyboard is atrocious for such a large, responsive screen. There’s way too much space between the keys (And an inexplicable numberpad in landscape mode), leaving you with a board that’s actually worse than the stock Android QWERTY.
Even if you’re ready to embrace such a massive mobile, these problems really could be dealbreakers. If it weren’t for them, we’d buy the Dell Streak in a heartbeat (it’s sold exclusively on O2 in the UK) – it’s just we use two Google accounts and enjoy sending properly punctuated emails.
But hey, if you’re a coder, therein lies the challenge: start solving these problems yourself. If you’re the sort of person who relishes the task as much as using the phone, you’ll love the Dell Streak. This phone is built for you.
And if you’re an Android fan rather than merely a touchscreen phone fan, keep an eye on the forums. Should you see an unofficial Android 2.2 update hit (It’s already been rooted, so don’t rule it out), disregard all your hesitations, and go grab one: once those two flaws are fixed, the Dell Streak will be near perfect for serious smartphone aficionados.
Read the rest of our Dell Streak review now:
Dell Streak review: Android OS
Dell Streak review: Build and touchscreen
Dell Streak review: The first true tablet phone?
Dell Streak review: Ultimate buyer’s guide
