$25.49
Final Words
Until we get foldable displays we’re going to see smartphone manufacturers experiment with larger screen sizes. While no one likes to carry around a giant phone, the benefits of a bigger screen are undeniable.
Browsing the full web is much more pleasant, especially on web sites that you have to interact with (e.g. logging in, filling out an order form, commenting, etc...). Typing on a large touchscreen can be a lot easier as well. Then theres’s the obvious advantage: viewing photos and videos is so much better on a larger screen.
From a screen and ergonomics standpoint, I believe Dell got it very right with the Streak. The phone/tablet is thin, looks good and is a pleasure to use in landscape mode. Sitting around with friends and showing them photos on the Streak is much better than on smaller smartphones. You get better picture quality on the iPhone 4, but it’s just easier to actually see things in a photo on the Streak.
The Streak’s battery life is great. It lasted me a full day of regular usage and the battery life test results put it close to the iPhone 4 in most situations, even besting the Droid X at times.
As a piece of hardware, I have no complaints about the Streak. The problems with the device are almost entirely in software. While the Streak has the potential to make web browsing, photo viewing or general productivity better than on a smaller phone, its horrid performance is a deal breaker for me. You can count how long it takes to snap photos in seconds, transitions between screens are choppy and even scrolling on webpages is slow. It’s not just irritating, it’s unacceptable for a high end smartphone released in 2010.
Launching with Android 1.6 was also a mistake. I suspect many of the performance problems to be solved by the 2.2 update later this year, but until then I view the Streak as untouchable.
Dell also needs to offer more customized versions of apps with the Streak to take advantage of the larger screen size. Dell doesn’t need to acquire a company like Palm to make this happen, it’s just a matter of dedicating resources to the problem. What makes or breaks something like the Streak is how well the hardware and software work together. Dell needs to do more to make the Streak feel like an iPad alternative/competitor and not just a large Android phone.
If Dell could've fixed the performance and done more to customize apps so they took advantage of the larger screen the Streak would’ve been a pocketable iPad. Unfortunately I don’t think the Froyo update will be enough to fix this. The UI needs to be butter smooth and Dell needs to invest more time into app customization. Gingerbread could bring what’s necessary, but that’s a 2011 discussion at this point.
HP/Palm? Your turn.
So it's definitely the most direct competitor for the streak at this point, until its successor arrives this fall. Would be great to get a back to back review, especially now as most of the teething issues the device had due to its early launch are resolved.
If only it had the resolution of the iPhone, I am much more likely to watch a movie on a larger screen, than on a smaller one.
Sometimes I do my Insanity/P90X workouts off my phone too, this large screen size is going to be much better. -- still waiting for these smartphones to have pico projectors and louder speakers, though.
I hope it doesn't come in a color like brown! ;)
I'm still waiting anxiously for Anand to review one of the Galaxy S variants!! Thanks for the good review on the Dell, though.
Perhaps a Streaker would be better off using bluetooth and keeping that whopper in their pocket...
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The Streak looks like it could have been the ultimate media device. Something to replace the iPod touch. Some of use still like having dedicated devices that don't eat away at the battery life of their smartphones. Oh I miss the days of 3-4 days battery life of dumbphones.