Up next
Author

Dell has come out with their second tablet the “Dell Streak 7” (the first tablet was called the Dell Streak 5), the tablet is presented as an accomplished eReader and an overall multimedia device to consume music, photo and the web, but can it hold up against the other tablets in the market?

Design

The Dell Streak is a 7 inch tablet, the back of the tablet has a cheap plastic feel to it, on the right side they are only three Android buttons: Home, Menu and Back. The camera and microphone are located on the top front of the tablet. On the right, there are two covered ports for the SIM card and the SD card. There’s also one speaker. The other speaker is on the left side, along with a standard 3.5mm jack. In the back, there is a 5 Megapixel camera with a LED flash. The back has a light texture that improves the grip, but not by much I still felt like I really didn’t have a grip on it. You can find a connecting port that can be used with a Dell USB cable on the bottom of the tablet. For this to be a 7inch tablet it’s pretty heavy, I had to hold the tablet with both hands it feels heavier than it looks, so keep that in mind before you try to hold it with one hand, you might just drop it.

Display

I was really disappointed in the resolution of this tablet, At 800×480, you basically get the same resolution than most (recent) 3.5”/4.3” smartphones, except that the image is now on a 7inch tablet. If you are outside with this tablet be prepared not to see anything. Sitting outside with direct sunlight hitting the tablet you will not see anything, even in the shade I had trouble reading anything off this tablet. Qik Video Chat app, I was able to successfully chat with a friend using the 1.3-megapixel front facing camera, using this app over Wi-Fi you get a better quality video than using it over 4G. The cameras the 5-megapixel on the rear took decent shots, I wasn’t impressed with the quality. Streak 7 can record 720p video, but the video that was taken came out blurry and out of focuses every time they’re was movement.

Hardware

Dell Streak is running the version 2.2 of Android (need I say more) Dell Streak has in browser support for Flash. Which basically lets you can go to Flash sites. Web browsing was a little slow for my taste, some websites like G4 (gaming website) took a while to load, after a while I would just exit out of site and try again. You already have the Facebook and Twitter app already installed, Dell’s has its own full-screen widgets and launcher the good thing here is that if they aren’t what you like, you can easily delete them and customize the panes with regular Android widgets and apps.
Dell has preloaded its tablet with a few applications. Mine came with BrainPOP (an educational game for kids), Zinio (a magazine app), Kindle, Let’s Golf, Slacker Radio and Qik Video Chat apps. It also comes with Swype.
The battery life on this tablet is the worst I’ve seen yet, While on Twitter, Checking my email, and browsing the web within 4 hours the battery was died, to top it off it took me 3 and a half hours just to charge it fully, when the Samsung Galaxy takes an hour and a half to charge fully.

Conclusion

Yes the Dell Streak 7 is small and portable, yes it has a 7inch screen, but the software is out dated all tablets are now on Honeycomb, the resolution doesn’t make it any more useful. Dell Streak 7 is going for $349.99 but in my opinion for the same price if you want a 7”inch tablet with better resolution and which is running Ginger Bread 2.3 you’re better off getting the Samsung Galaxy. To me it seems like Dell didn’t put much thought or effort into this tablet, it seems rushed to me. This is Dells second attempt in the tablet world; let’s just hope the third time is a charm.

Specs

  • Operating System: Androidâ„¢ 2.2 (Froyo)
  • Processor: NVIDIA® Tegraâ„¢ 2 mobile processor
  • Display: 7” (17.78cm) WVGA 800×480 Capacitive Multi-Touch Screen with Corning Gorilla Glass
  • Camera: Front: 1.3MP Fixed Focus Rear: 5MP Auto Focus with Flash
  • Video: H.263/H.264, 3GP, MPEG4, WMV
  • Storage: 16GB of Internal Storage with support for up to 32GB additional storage using the user accessible SD, MMC, SDHC memory card slot
  • Weight: 1lb
  • Dimensions: 7.87 x 4.72 x 0.49 in
  • Storage: 16GB of Internal Storage with support for up to 32GB additional storage accessible SD, MMC, SDHC memory card slot

[ad#gstylead2]

You May Also Like