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Dell Streak with Android 2.2 review

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Verdict

The update to Android 2.2 brings numerous improvements to the quietly impressive Dell Streak, with the one notable negative being battery life

Review Date: 5 Jan 2011

Reviewed By: Tim Danton

Price when reviewed: £333 (£399 inc VAT)

Overall Rating

Features & Design
5 stars out of 6

Value for Money
5 stars out of 6

Performance
5 stars out of 6

When we first reviewed the Dell Streak we had some reservations, largely due to shipping with Android 1.6. In December 2010, however, Dell finally updated the software to Android 2.2, and we’ve been using it on a day-to-day basis for the past month.

Perhaps surprisingly, the change in underlying OS makes a big difference in a number of ways. In the main the changes are for the good – it’s now a much faster machine – but we do have some reservations about the impact on battery life. It’s enough to earn the device a recommendation, but note its weaknesses before you blow your cash.

There are four key areas that see a change: performance, battery life, the user interface and the keyboard.

Performance

If you want one simple reason why the Streak is now much better, just try loading Angry Birds. Under 1.6 it was usable but jerky; with the speed boost on offer from the upgrade to Android 2.2, which seems to fully unleash the power of Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon 8250 processor, it’s just as smooth as on an iPhone.

More objectively, version 2.2 completed SunSpider in 6 seconds compared to 18 seconds in its previous version. The BBC homepage (the full desktop version) loaded in 9 seconds compared to 11 seconds – another improvement, albeit small.

The key, though, is that we never felt frustrated by the Streak’s speed under Android 2.2. It was more than fast enough for any app that we threw at it.

Battery life

If only we could be so positive about battery life. This is the Achilles’ heel of the Streak with 2.2 installed: our 24-hour test involves a 30-minute voice call, downloading a 50MB file over Wi-Fi, forcing the screen on for an hour, listening to music for an hour, and using the Gmail application set to defaults to poll a test email account for the remaining time.

With 1.6 on board, the Streak had 60% of charge remaining after 24 hours. With 2.2, this dropped to 50% (to be strictly accurate, 46%, but we round to the nearest 10% to account for the lack of accuracy within most battery meters).

In real-world-use, you’ll be recharging it far too often, especially if you use background services. For example, we used both the Twitter and Facebook apps that sit on one of the home screens, and it was quite normal for the charge to drop from around 40% to almost nothing (or sometimes, nothing) overnight.

User interface

We have mixed feelings about the new user interface. The original didn’t have a huge number of differences compared to a “raw” Android installation, but the minor enhancements worked. For instance, you could click an always-present dropdown to quickly jump into settings or to access all the applications.

With 2.2, Dell has made more of its own mark, courtesy of the Stage interface. This translates into seven different homepages, each with its own theme: Web, for instance, shows five recently visited websites and offers a Google search box; Music includes thumbnails of the ten previous albums you listened to, and includes shortcuts to playlists and albums.

While that does give consistency with Dell’s other touch-based systems (such as on its Inspiron Duo), we missed the shortcuts of 1.6. If you need to head into settings, you now need to leap out of your app, and find settings in the list of apps (or add it as a shortcut to one of the homepages).

The keyboard

One big improvement is the keyboard, courtesy of Swype. In its first incarnation of the Streak, Dell used its own cramped onscreen keyboard with a number pad on the right. That could be convenient, but it also meant the keys were very small. As a result, text entry was quite slow except for the most nimble-fingered.

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Comments

User comments

Collision Course

This is the year that increasing screen sized Smartphones collide with shrinking sized Tablets coming down from the opposite direction.
Looking at the dell,I have a question.
When does a smartphone cease to become a smartphone and therefore be labled a tablet and vice versa, other than being labeled as such from the marketing departments of the manufacturers?

By Jaberwocky on 5 Jan 2011

14%, that's it?

With 1.6 on board, the Streak had 60% of charge remaining after 24 hours. With 2.2, this dropped to 50% (to be strictly accurate, 46%).

Apple Pro strikes again.

By Lacrobat on 5 Jan 2011

When does a smartphone cease to become a smartphone and therefore be labled a tablet and vice versa

Lack of a phone might be a big contributor.

By Lacrobat on 5 Jan 2011

Streak smart

I've just used my streak to browse the web and reply to five emails before stuffing it in my pocket without my other half noticing. Try doing that on an iPad. Oh and the Flash support is great too.

By stefani on 5 Jan 2011

The things left unsaid

I own both an iPad and a Dell Streak. I bought both with the previous non-multitasking operating systems installed. The iPad was my first experience with owning an Apple product. I have been very happy with its performance and it was a breeze to upgrade to iOS4.2.

The Dell, on the other hand, has been an absolute b**ch! The upgrade was a disaster from start to finish and would take way too long to describe. Then there was the whole reinstallation of apps thing. When things turned nasty, I called Dell, got put through to a fellow in the Philippines, and was told that no-one there knew anything about the Streak and that I needed to call my Telco, Optus. I dutifully did as advised and Optus told me they knew nothing about the Streak (even though they sold it to me on a plan) and that I should call Dell. What a fiasco!

Anyway, with a whole heap of luck, absolutely no help from either Dell or Optus and a complete day wasted, I managed to get things up and working with Android 2.2 installed.

So was it worth it? Frankly, no. I find the new interface to be clunky crap. At least the old 1.6 GUI looked smooth, if slow. The new GUI is rubbish. For example, it looks like it was designed for a screen with different dimensions. When the phone is in portrait mode, there is overlap from one page to the next so you see icons from the other pages, but you can't activate them without swiping pages. Also, things don't seem to work the way they previously worked. For example, I can no longer allocate ring tones to specific callers unless I install a 3rd party app and a work-around. As usual, one step forward and two steps back. Also, the order of the various icons on the main screen keeps changing, depending on what app you used last. That might make sense to some, but I like to know where my app icons are, especially when I am in a hurry and want to launch something without having to go searching for where Dell decided to hide its button.

Do I wish I had purchased an iPhone 4? No, there are too many question marks over the hardware problems. What I really wish is that Dell had put the thought into the O/S and the software on the Streak that Apple put into the iPad.

By BeacoAnalysis on 6 Jan 2011

The things left unsaid

By BeacoAnalysis on 6 Jan 2011

Stage

Don't be put off by the comments about the Stage UI. It's horrible - but easy to remove as it is really just a series of widgets. You are then back to the desktop where you can install your own shortcuts and widgets as with 1.6. Didn't the reviewer try this?
I bought the Streak as it seems just about as big as I'd want to carry around with me. The Tab was tempting but I just couldn't see myself popping it in my pocket when I nip round the corner. With 2.2 I'm very happy with the streak - the system is responsive, multi touch is great, and swype is genuinely useful once you get used to it. Furthermore, I don't see why battery life of 40% remaining at the end of the day is regarded as a problem.

By keithh14 on 6 Jan 2011

@The things left unsaid

@ BeacoAnalysis

So buy an iPhone 4 and take it back if you have reception problems.

As a package its everything that the iPad is, but even more refined.

I live in a remote location with very poor reception and the iPhone 4 gives me the best reception of any mobile phone that I have owned.

By alexbowden2 on 3 Feb 2011

Dell Steak 5 Reviews: Poor Customer Service & Poor Product Quality..

I bought my Dell Steak 5 last May 27, 2011. After a week I found black
dots that are spreading on the side of the screen. I returned it to
Asianic Parksquare. Their findings was LCD Problem – No sign of
physical damage and scratches. I did not even drop it. The scratch
free GORILLA GLASS still has a factory screen protector when I
returned them for service.

June 25, 2011, I received a text message that my warranty was void due
to crack LCD.. Oh my God! I waited for 3 weeks and I should pay for
the service. I only bought a Dell Steak because it has a clone look of
my Dell Inspiron Laptop, a twin or a smaller version of my Laptop.. If
only I know that Dell Steak 5 quality and durability is not good, I
should have buy an iPhone 4.. P27,000.00 + the additional services for
my Dell Steak 5, It will cost a lot, might be higher than iPhone 4..
They (Asianic)will contact me again for the additional cost for the
service.. Disappointed, but what can I do, I chose to buy Dell Steak 5
instead of iPhone 4.

Guys, everyone, do not believe on those falls advertisements that say
this and that.. I rely on the brand-name of DELL, but now I learned my
lessons.. Not every products has the same qualities and not all
expensive brands/products has a good quality.. Now it scares me to see
DELL on the mall displays..

Today, 06 July 2011, after waiting for 1 month & 1 week, I never hear
from them..

I am still hoping and praying that someone could help me ease my
disappoinment to DELL Products and its Customer service.. I also do
hope and pray that my hard earned money for my Dell Steak 5 purchase
is worth it..

Peace out..