As we await Google’s Honeycomb operating system to properly usher in the Android tablet era, new tablets—with earlier, less tablet-friendly versions of Android—continue to appear. The Dell Streak 7 ($199.99 with a 2-year T-Mobile contract) runs a re-skinned version of Android 2.2, and its 7-inch capacitive multi-touch-enabled screen makes it a direct competitor of the Samsung Galaxy Tab ($399.99, 3.5 stars). Despite the Streak 7 being a 4G tablet and the first with the speedy Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, it suffers from some serious shortcomings. Download and upload speed tests netted results more fitting for a 3G device. The photo and video viewing experience is weak, and video chatting is abysmal. Honeycomb may be on the horizon, but in the meantime, Android lacks a viable competitor to the top-notch Apple iPad ($499-$829, 4 stars).
Before we get to the good stuff, here’s what the Streak 7 will cost you: T-Mobile offers two different payment plans. The Overage Free Plan gives you 5GB of data per month; T-Mobile reduces data speeds and throughput once you exceed your 5MB monthly allotment. For new customers, the overage plan is $49.99 per month, and existing T-Mobilers get it for $39.99.
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The 200MB Data Plan charges you 10 cents per every MB over 200MB you use. This plan is $29.99 monthly for new customers and $24.99 for current T-Mobile customers. There are also three pre-paid plans: $10 (100MB, one week pass), $30 (300MB for one month), and $50 (1GB for a month pass).
All of these plans, of course, are on top of the $199.99 cost of the tablet itself.
Specifications
Operating System = Google Android 2.3 or earlier
Service Provider = T-Mobile
Screen Size = 7 inches
Storage Capacity (as Tested) = 16 GB
Dimensions = 4.7 x 7.9 x 0.5 inches
Networking Options = 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 4G
Design
The Streak 7 looks like most of its Android brethren, with a 7-inch, 800-by-480 display framed by a glossy black plastic case. A 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera sits above the screen when the tablet is horizontal, and Backward, Settings, and Home touch-sensitive controls are situated along the right-edge of the display. There’s a 30-pin connector on the bottom panel—the 30 pin-to-USB cable is included, and the USB end also plugs into the power adapter that ships with the Streak 7 for charging. Internal stereo speakers are embedded in the left- and right-hand panels, along with a 3.5-mm headphone jack (earbuds are included, unlike with the Apple iPad) and a snap-shut compartment that houses the SIM card and SD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32 additional GB) to supplement the 16GB of internal storage. Up top, there’s a Power button and Volume controls, and on the back panel, above the Dell and T-Mobile logos, the rear-facing 5-megapixel camera and LED flash.
Internally, the Streak 7 makes waves where no other tablet has: it features the first Nvidia Tegra 2—a system-on-a-chip with the first mobile dual core CPU. While we expect to see the Tegra 2 in many tablets in the coming year, this is a big deal—and we ran speed benchmark tests on the Streak 7 to show you just how big a deal it is. More on this later in the review, but suffice to say: It’s the fastest tablet we’ve tested. That said, with several Tegra 2 tablets on the way, the Streak 7’s about to have plenty of speedy competition.