The Dell Streak Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on August 15, 2010 6:59 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Dell
- Streak
- Gadgets
- Mobile
The Display
The major selling point of the Streak is its 5” 800 x 480 LCD display, and it’s a pretty good display. The resolution is well mated to the screen size and everything is very easy to read on the display. After using the Streak, the iPhone 4 and similar sized smartphones just feel cramped. For making phonecalls they work well, but for multitasking and being productive, the Streak’s larger screen is an asset.
The display on the Streak get’s bright enough. At 366 nits the Streak is similar to HTC’s EVO 4G.
Black levels are very low for a smartphone LCD. The deep black is what helps give it excellent on/off contrast ratio:
While not quite as good as a Droid X or iPhone 4, the Streak is much better than most others on the market. Despite the strong on/off contrast I found that dark scenes in movies are still tough to make out on the Streak.
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jmunjr - Monday, August 16, 2010 - link
If I am forced to use AT&T then I'm not buying it. Being a techie I get razzed all the time about my ancient V195 flip phone. I'm not succumbing to the subsidy scam that goes on in pretty much only the USA. I want a choice and if companies want to force you to use a specific carrier to get their phone and allow those carriers to cripple the OS/phone then they won't have me as a customer. I work from home so my PC will blow away any smart phone no matter what the challenge.cjb110 - Monday, August 16, 2010 - link
could try importing an European one? Try www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=196312Adul - Monday, August 16, 2010 - link
Any followup going to be done on phones that have upgraded to Froyo like the evo, droid and soon incredible?nilesh_dd - Monday, August 16, 2010 - link
Sorry to barge in with my un-related request. But, is there any chance you will be reviewing the Samsung Vibrant/Captivate? I was interested in an AnandTech review of Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000, but I assume any closest phone will do.Thanks
Nilesh
wildkarrde21 - Monday, August 16, 2010 - link
I second this request for a review of the Captivate/Vibrant. Thanks for the informative review of the Streak, but I'm not sure why you guys reviewed the Dell Streak first when the Captivate/Vibrant have been out for almost a month now... I would love to hear Anandtech's opinion of the Captivate/Vibrant or even Epic 4G :)Anand Lal Shimpi - Monday, August 16, 2010 - link
The Epic 4G should be here this week - expect a review later this month :)Take care,
Anand
JimmiG - Monday, August 16, 2010 - link
Where does the Streak get its excellent battery life from? At first I thought "big device - big battery", but it's not that much higher capacity than the Nexus One (5.661 vs 5.18 Whr). They both use the Snapdragon platform so internally, the Streak looks like just a Nexus One with a bigger screen. Is it all due to software optimizations, or are there other significant differences hardware-wise?Imaginer - Monday, August 16, 2010 - link
Why not have the phone be with multiple carriers instead of this exclusivity BS. I like the fact that the device has two cameras for things like mobile skype and the battery seems decent. The keyboard if it is as bad as the review says, hopefully can be updated.adonn78 - Monday, August 16, 2010 - link
I would buy a version without the phone as I use a prepaid phone for $50 a month unlimited everything. AT&T is the worst network out there. I would love to have a nice tablet PC without the phone and would pay $300. Just to surf the web and have a GPS and video watching device.brianmc - Monday, August 16, 2010 - link
Anand, thanks for another great review I didn't expect from the site. I've been seeing commerical after commerical on the new Samsung Galaxy S phones, would it be possible to review one of them some time?Also I think it would be a good idea to have a Bench for the cell phones too! Only dreaming :)