The Dell Streak Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on August 15, 2010 6:59 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Dell
- Streak
- Gadgets
- Mobile
The Camera
The Dell Streak ships with two cameras: a front facing 640 x 480 camera and a rear facing 5MP camera (2592 x 1944). Both are capable of recording video but only at 640 x 480. As you’ll soon see, given the quality of the sensors, it’s not a problem that the Streak doesn’t support 720p video recording.
The Camera app gives you the usual set of Android camera options. You can manually set white balance, adjust JPEG compression and even sync the camera to 50Hz or 60Hz signals for recording videos of displays.
The Streak has a dual LED flash on the rear facing sensor. The two LEDs are bright but not quite EVO 4G bright. There’s no auto flash option, it’s either on or off. On top of that you can’t use the flash while recording a video.
The size and shape of the Streak pretty much dictate that you want to use it in landscape mode, with two hands at that. The problem is holding the Streak naturally with two hands often puts your left finger over the camera lens. It’s not an insurmountable problem, but annoying.
I’ve already complained about how long the Camera app takes to launch and take photos. The problems don’t end there. The live view frame rate in the app varies from what looks to be 30 fps to probably half that if you point the camera at a poorly lit scene.
Taken with the rear camera
Taken with the front camera
At web resolutions the images the Streak produces are fine, but blown up to native resolution they leave a lot to be desired. The pixels are all very vague and over sharpened. Color reproduction is slightly off, almost as if there’s an overactive UV filter on all the time.
Compared to an iPad, you at least get a camera with the Streak. Compared to the EVO 4G or iPhone 4, the Streak’s camera isn’t very good.
Video recording quality isn't terrible but not great.
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RyanE - Monday, August 16, 2010 - link
hey, don't want to be a downer, but what about the Archos5. You can get a version with cell phone and it has all the multimedia goodness going for it. the only thing missing is a camera. Thoughts?repatch - Monday, August 16, 2010 - link
Propriety docking connector and LOCK TO ATT even at the full price??MAJOR FAIL.
dch58 - Monday, August 16, 2010 - link
Carrier locked to AT&T? I was pretty excited until I got to that part. I could even live with the proprietary cable (though I wouldn't like it).Great article, though!
fearsome - Monday, August 16, 2010 - link
1 its on ATT bad network and bad CS2 the screen is really way to low on resolution. A 3.6" old touch pro 2 runs the same resolution. I do want a 5" screen but not if it comes with no added pixels. That makes this phone completely worthless I could purchase any of the many high end smartphones out there and get this resolution in a smaller package.
fragemall - Monday, August 16, 2010 - link
Hi AnandOnce again a great review. Isn't the omission of the Samsung Galaxy S from the benchmarks a glaring one. Considering it is one of the fastest phones with one the best displays out there? Not to mention that it is also available from AT&T for $199. In fact its available from amazon for $50 with a two year contract :).
Stas - Tuesday, August 17, 2010 - link
2.2 or GTFOAndrej Gabara - Tuesday, August 17, 2010 - link
Any news on the 7 and 10 inch versions? I'd love a 7 inch version with higherresolution. The iPad only has 1024x768... not great for 10 inches.
bill4 - Thursday, August 19, 2010 - link
A Galaxy S review! Like to see where it sits next to all these other phones in the benches, and Anand's overall thoughts. Seeing as I recently bought a Captivate.evalese - Friday, August 20, 2010 - link
Oh, yes, they call him the Streak. He likes to show off his physique. If there's an audience to be foundHe'll be streakin' A-round invitin' public critique.
DoubleVanos - Saturday, August 21, 2010 - link
This might be a little bit O/T but how come there are no Galaxy S benchmarks in there - or a full review for that matter?