Dell Streak from O2 running Anroid 1.6 - Physical

I've mentioned writing about this little device before.. well its finally here! I've been using the phone for a couple of months. I've pretty much always used Nokia phones before but started to get fed up of the half hearted approach that seemed to be setting in. the Ovi Store was complete pants too so.. I ventured off one day and found the Dell Streak.

So, an Android phone. I've slowly been switching over to Googles apps etc for a couple of years now. I really like their interfaces, I like the fact I don't have how "wonderful" their product is shoved down my throat constantly a-la Apple. The programs are free which is nice but even better.. they work! and they all talk to each other.. which makes an Android phone fantastic! If you're already using gmail, google calendars, google contacts etc.. then switching to Android will be easy and very very handy. If you're not using any or all of those products then you'll slowly find yourself converting over time. I only used Gmail and found the calendar/contacts options cumbersome and ultra basic, especially the contacts function, which has come under a lot of criticism but credit to Google, they listened and have changed it.. its much much better and far more user friendly now.. but enough of that.. on to the phone.

I'll split this entry into sections, physical, software interface, apps, tips

The first thing you'll notice about the device when it turns up is how lovely and well presented the box is.. little things. The device itself feels really well made, just the right weight too, not too light as to feel cheap, not too heavy as to feel like a brick. It comes with a protective "sock", USB charger lead and wall socket adapter (read my previous post to find out how to get it to charge off any USB socket), the hands free set is wired and had the headphones that feel like they're inserting themselves directly into your brain.. great for sound quality but make you feel like you're heads about 3 atmospheres below the rest of your body.

Switching the handset on for the first time was a pretty cool experience. Hold the on button for a couple of seconds and the 3 lights, which depict 'back' 'options' and 'home' slowly brighten and then dim again, looks very swish. Then the Dell logo appears in black and white in the centre of the display before the phone fires up. It doesn't take any longer than any other smart phone I've ever used to start up and to be honest.. how often do you ever switch off your phone?

The handset itself has very few 'buttons'. Across the top is 'power' 'camera' (which with Android 1.6 doesn't automatically start up the camera...) volume adjustment, 3.5mm headphone socket port. The bottom of the phone is where you'll find the irritating charging/data port. The cameras lens is situated on the rear of the phone and positioned quite close to the left hand corner, poxy location... Hold the phone as you would normally to take and picture and you'll see what I mean, your left hand covers the lens so you end up holding the phone in quite an awkward way you can also end up looking a little demented, plus I don't fancy this things chances in any sort of fall onto a hard surface, so holding it with finger tips doesn't feel particularly safe.

The charging port looks like an iPods, which initially seemed like a good thing in that I'd be able to utilise the existing leads I had as multiple chargers for it.. alas not. I just looks the same.. it isn't and iPod leads don't fit. I thought all mobile phones were supposed to be going towards a standard charging port.. if so there's no sign of that happening any time soon. I checked out Dells website for secondary chargers (seems a little vulnerable to only have one), when I got this phone (2 months ago) the charging leads were priced at £25!.. they're now down to £13.61 which still isn't cheap but at least its not prohibitively expensive for what is essentially a USB lead.

Other irritations early on were the cost of ALL the other parts available for the Dell, the car holder kit was £50, very expensive when you still had to physically plug the charger into the handset then sit the phone in the cradle rather than the whole thing being done in one movement as with Brodit Active holders. Its now down to £29. The reviews were full of complaints regarding price. I'm glad I didn't give in and buy one now. I developed my own holder which I shall tell you about in another posting.

The screen is spookily scratch resistant. I haven't used the sock and just place the phone in my pocket (screen against my leg). Oddly the size works well in a pocket (if you're a gent - not so sure about lady pockets) its just the right size and thinkness that it looks remarkably discrete. So far the phone has remained in 'as new' condition. The only down side about the screen, as with all touch screen phones, they end up looking like the back window of a car that's had kids in it on a long trip.

The home, options and back buttons on the right hand side of the phone behave like the touch screen. there's no feedback like you receive with the on/off buttons. I think its a great design touch as it seems like an extension of the main screen. The phone vibrates with each touch of these buttons.. which is still annoying and I wish there was an option to switch it off. Under the settings tab there appears to be ticky box asking if you'd like it or not however it doesn't seem to effect anything.

Overall this is one of the nicest made things I've ever owned. My B5 Passat had exceptional build quality, better than my current BMW in fact, I would say this phone is the B5 VW Passat of the mobile phone world!