Review of the Dell Streak 7 Tablet

The Dell Streak 7 tablet is one of the first tablets to run the new Tegra 2 dual-core processor and has all other tablets beat (at the time of this review) in the speed department because of that fact. Unfortunately, though, speed alone does not a great tablet make. Before I get to the problems with this Android tablet, let's look at the positives.

It has a very sensitive touch screen. In fact, it probably has the best touch screen I have ever used. There is no need to repeat touches or movements along the pad, as it recognizes even the subtlest contact flawlessly. This is great for somebody like me who enjoys a lot of games, as precision makes or breaks any gaming experience on a tablet.

It is ridiculously fast for a tablet. Apps run at speeds not seen before on any tablet, and games, which demand more of a processor than any other kind of app, ran smoothly. From Angry Birds to Bejeweled, I had nothing but perfection from the Streak.

That's basically the good news. I know it may not seem like much, but the speed alone left me very impressed. The bad news, however, is equally impressive in a negative sense. First off, this tablet is not a true 4G device. I know it advertised itself as one, but the download speed is simply not there. That's not to say it's still not fairly quick, but compared to other 4G devices, it is nowhere near comparable. Expect your friends with other 4G devices to be uploading and downloading content at sometimes twice the speed of the Streak.

Despite the tablet's amazing speed, it comes at a cost. The cost, in this case, is screen resolution. The screen of the Streak does not have the resolution of an iPad or Galaxy Tab, so even though the programs are running really fast on the Streak, they don't look as good.

The one app that Dell may as well not have included is the video calling app, as it really does not work whatsoever. It's not that the resolution is too low (which it almost is) or that the upload and download speeds are too slow. The program is simply too buggy.

Finally, there's the battery life. You're looking at around two hours. If that sounds pretty pathetic to you, it should. You will literally find yourself charging this tablet more than using it. This severely hampers the portability of the device and will disappoint any users hoping for a serious mobile machine. In short, while this tablet has the fastest tablet processor on the market, it falls short of being reasonable alternative to other Android tablets or even the iPad.

Sources:

1) http://www.dell.com/us/p/mobile-streak-7/pd?ST=dell%20streak%207&dgc=ST&cid=62921&lid=1577504&acd=91872,8,0,118279607,777872680,1300048334,,31990485,6664581521