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Dell Streak Review

Now that we have a look at the bundle, the phone design and the technical capabilities of the screen we thought it would be good to study the Android interface.

As the video shows, there are plenty of ringtones installed which offer someting for everyone. Dance music, standard rings and funky instrumental ditties.

The Streak we received ships with Android 1.6 installed and an update check to Dell.com showed that no new versions were available. Dell are saying that 2.2 Froyo (not a lord of the rings character by the way) will be available by the end of the year.

Our customised Dell screen is attractively designed – US versions of this device ship with an image of the Golden Gate Bridge.

We are presented with 6 tabs top right which are main areas of the user interface for checking email, browsing the net and using the phone. These can all be further customised to suit.

The main application window is accessible by the button top left which displays a full list of icons. You can literally spend hours in here getting familar with the apps…. geak heaven! Our carrier for this device is 02 in the UK, and its AT&T in the USA.

This is a tab we can use to configure home screens and view recent applications.

If you find the interface confusing there is a help system which blurs out the background and offers menu support with pop up panels explaining all the button functionality. The notification area is very useful as the system can be configured to alert you to new text messages, emails and instant messaging alerts.

There is a fully functional Wi-Fi support with ‘aeroplane mode' – which disables the radio frequencies and antenna systems. If you are flying in the UK it won't matter if you disable this or not, all air stewards demand that devices are totally powered down, regardless. Quite irritating and I think its about time airlines educated their employees.

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24 comments

  1. that was a great review, its better than I thought 🙂

  2. This is a really nice phone – good size !

  3. Screen is good, but man that camera sucks big time. most phone cameras are crap anyway. all those megapixel ratings are meaningless.

  4. Well this is quite good, better than I expected. I mean I read the review on engadget but they are more mainstream, nice to get some technical analysis here. Seems like a solid buy. price isnt too bad either I suppose.

  5. Dell stream is lovely, my friend bought one from O2, his contract is far too much though. he is paying out the ass for it.

  6. I agree with reviewer. Android is lovely but current revision is quite slow at times.

  7. phones now as well? lol this keeps getting better. good review Zardon. not sure on the product however, it looks quite big in the first photo on page 1. still might be too much for a phone IMO.

  8. Good review. why can companies not make a unit with a good camera though, why is this so hard??

  9. I almost bought the new iphone last week, this might be better !

  10. Looks a lot better than I expected. battery life is really strong, my iphone drives me nuts, every day recharging even when I dont use the fucking thing.

  11. I hate the battery in my phone, swore id get one with good battery life next time. This however is asking for a hefty price plan, and im not paying a fortune for pay as you go for it either.

  12. So tempted to get t his on a monthly pay plan – was holding back for ipad 7 inch, but this looks amazing. I never use the camera on these anyway.

  13. I was tempted until I saw the camera quality. picture quality isnt bad but video is horrific. my old sanyo camera is better than that 🙁

  14. Damn this is really sexy, but ive no money left. I hate this site so much 🙂

  15. Like it, but not quite enough to spend 400+ on it

  16. What a really good design from Dell, I like the maps option, looks really good on such a big screen. Im tempted.

  17. Great review ! loved the testing and still some way to go before its going to compete with the iphone on performance. android is young and its shaping up well. I want o support this platform so badly. just need to work out some funds to get one like the Dell Streak

  18. This is really beautiful ! I cant believe dell made something this attractive, most of their laptops look really ugly.

  19. Hello, first time here, thank you for the excellent review. i am getting this for my boyfriend for his birthday. I hope he will love it.

  20. I only found this site last week and its my home page, please keep up all the reviews and excellent news. very good work all round.

    Dell Streak is quite nice but some way to go before they get apple sales.

  21. Really looks awesome. I hope to pick up one of these within the next couple weeks. Zardon you just affirmed my choice to pick one up. So one question….Is the home screen always landscaped then? I assume so and it’s not that big of a deal just curious.

  22. Hello, Mugen Power just released the 4800mAH Extended Battery for for Dell Streak,

    it should be last triple time with 1 charge than the stock battery!

    http://mugen.hk/mugen-power-4800mah-extended-battery-for-dell-streak-m01m.html

  23. good review. i like my new streak. it’s easy to manuever and the apps are fun. it’s got great games and it helps me with my business. great unlocked cell phones. the wifi and email are great for keeping in touch with my clients. my wife and daughter love theirs for the games. keeps em quiet in the car seems some people have a problem with the size but i’m ok with it. much better than my tiny unlocked blackberry phones. anyways i got 3 and i like it. ipad was too big and my old pearl was a little ant compared to this. also got my phone unlocking and blackberry unlock codes for free! got my last couple streaks at unlockthatphone.com pretty good. 2 thumbs up on this device.

  24. Dell streak camera sucks big time. it takes scrapie pictures, music player suck too the sound not even come close to iphone 3gs. Firmware still 1.6. come on. where is the update?. Just an average phone comparing to iphone 4.