Dell Streak vs Samsung Galaxy Tab

Tablets are seen in some many ways to become the future of mobile computing, and just like how we witnessed Android's rise to prominence last fall, we're beginning to see the same unraveling with Android powered tablets this season. Unexpectedly finding itself in an unusual predicament, which is mostly attributed by its categorization of being a mobile phone, the Dell Streak became one of the first likely candidates to bring Android to the new tablet market. Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy Tab seemingly took much of the attention seeing that it embodies all the rich and up-to-date features from the open platform. Needless to say that both are competing in the same space as they attempt to capitalize on the this growing trend, but which Android device is right for you this holiday season?

Design:

The Samsung Galaxy Tab finds itself being larger in stature than the sleeker looking Dell Streak. In fact, the Tab's screen size easily accommodates the entire body of the Dell Streak. With the Tab, its design doesn't particularly come out as striking since it resorts to following the expected looks of any other tablet. And when compared to the Dell Streak's slim profile and clean surface, the Tab is ofcourse not that pocketable. It's not to say that the Dell Streak is entirely better, but for this comparison, there's no denying that it tucks away a bit more inconspicuously. As for construction, the Streak's implementation of solid hard plastic and a metallic rear cover stands well versus the slick plastic body of the Tab – which has a tendency to scratch.


The term bigger is better always manages to constantly come around with any comparison, but the Tab's sizable 7” TFT display is its most striking figure as it quickly envelops the smaller 5” display of the Streak. Despite packing WVGA (480 x 800) resolution on the Streak, the small text lacks enough sharpness to make it easily distinguishable. Conversely, the Tab's equipped resolution of 600 x 1024 is quite suitable as it exhibits proper sized text – while offering a superior level of quality. Luckily, both offer passable viewing angles and usage under outdoor conditions – plus, they're able to produce some distinctive looking colors.


The volume rocker and power buttons all cling on the right side of the devices, but the Tab's raised dedicated power button is easily felt over the recessed one with the Streak. However, the two-level shutter key on the Streak is appreciated in quickly launching the camera app – while the Tab requires you fumble through its menus. Some other commonalities between the two tablets are their front facing cameras, 3.5mm headset jacks, evenly spaced capacitive buttons, and proprietary charging ports.


In the rear, the Tab sports a fixed focused 3-megapixel camera with an LED flash while the Streak shows off its might with its 5-megapixel auto-focus camera with dual-LED flash. Thankfully, you can remove the rear cover of the Dell Streak to gain access to its SIM card slot, microSD slot, and more importantly, its removable battery. Regretfully, the Tab's battery is not something that you can replace willingly seeing that its casing completely shuns any prying fingers from exploring its innards.

Interface and Functionality:

Even though both offer all the wonderful features of the core Android experience, the similarity abruptly ends there since the Tab clearly feels like the more polished of the two. Fortunately, they're packing 1GHz processors under the hood, Hummingbird for the Tab and Snapdragon for the Streak, which makes for a great sense of responsiveness when navigating across the platform. However, it's the Tab's choice of running Android 2.2 that undeniably makes giant leaps over the Streak's outdated Android 1.6 experience. (NOTE: Please note that the Dell Streak has been updated to Android 2.2, which fixed many of its issues and added new functionality to the device. See our revision article for an updated opinion of the device!) With such a huge gap, the Samsung Galaxy Tab is treated to the greatest and most up-to-date features – like Exchange server support, multiple Gmail accounts, Flash Player 10.1 support, and mobile HotSpot functionality.

Love it or hate it, the customized experience of Samsung's home brewed TouchWiz 3.0 UI on the Tab is heavily adored over the uncharacteristic layout of the Streak. For those already accustomed to using Android powered smartphones, the transition is seamless with the Samsung Galaxy Tab, but it require a bit of adjustment for the Dell Streak. Granted you're still presented with a boatload of personalization with widgets, shortcuts, and wallpapers, the fresher appearance of Android 2.2 on the Tab excels in offering additional niceties like live wallpapers and specific widgets that are only provided for devices running the latest version of the platform.



It's almost deceptively annoying in attempting to adjust in using the Streak's on-screen keyboards since it doesn't fully take a grasp for its screen size. In actuality, the awkwardness seen with even the landscape option makes for some challenging issues in speed typing. And that's the reason why composing messages on the Tab is more gratifying with its extra large buttons and uniform layout. Moreover, it offers the Swype keyboard as an alternative to the stock multi-touch one.



Furthermore, the Tab takes advantage of its screen display since certain native apps are redesigned to make use of the real estate – like the Contacts app. Ultimately, both have access to the myriad of third party apps available in the Android Market.



Internet and Connectivity:

Exuding a satisfactory level of performance in web browsing, there are some items that we like and don't like with each. For starters, the Dell Streak's Android 1.6 experience means no Flash Player 10.1 support, but thankfully it's still more than usable with its peppy load times, smooth kinetic scrolling, and barely responsive pinch gestures for zooming. (NOTE: Please note that the Dell Streak has been updated to Android 2.2, which fixed many of its issues and added new functionality to the device. See our revision article for an updated opinion of the device!) On the other hand, the desktop experience is pretty much replicated on the Tab with Flash content playing correctly. However, it's also its biggest weakness as it hampers the overall scrolling speed which can be laborious at times for sites that offer a lot of graphically-intensive content. Aside that, the better looking display of the Tab combined with its size makes for a slightly better experience.

The Dell Streak has the ability to place voice phone calls, which is the striking feature that's lacking on any of the US versions of the Tab, but it's worth noting that it's offered with the European version. And if you happen to find yourself in an area lacking data connectivity to the network, you can always switch to using Wi-Fi that both devices offer. However, the Tab goes a bit further by including Mobile HotSpot functionality to share its cellular data speeds with neighboring devices via Wi-Fi. And much like other wireless devices, Bluetooth is on board to allow a variety of devices to connect to them.

Camera and Multimedia:

If photography is your thing, there's no question that you'll want to stick with the Dell Streak with its sharper looking images that are complemented with its reproduction of vibrant colors. With the Tab, its lack of auto-focus produces some blurry closeup images which shows off its inability to capture fine details and contrast differences. However, some may find it still pleasing nonetheless, but nowhere close to what the Dell produces. In a stunning twist, the Tab's flash is by far the better of the two in illuminating low lit shots since the Streak's dual-LED flash even fails in lighting up figures that are only 3 feet away.

Solely due to the fact that the Tab has a higher video recording resolution of 720 x 480, which is DVD-like quality, it manages to capture slightly more detail over the VGA (640 x 480) videos of the Streak. Furthermore, the Tab captures it the smooth rate of 29 frames per second as opposed to the somewhat jerky movements of the Dell Streak's mark of 20 fps. In all honesty, they both do a good job in this category, but don't be overly impressed when smartphones push the threshold with 720p capture. (NOTE: Please note that the Dell Streak has been updated to Android 2.2, which fixed many of its issues and added new functionality to the device. See our revision article for an updated opinion of the device!)


Samsung Galaxy Tab Sample Videо:




Dell Streak Sample Videо:



In this comparison, the better looking presentation of the Samsung Galaxy Tab's music player interface makes for a tasteful experience. Naturally, both music players will display customary items like the album cover, track information, and controls, but the Tab's coverflow-esque appearance stands out over the static carousel of the Streak. Additionally, the Tab offers a wide variety of equalizer settings to better improve the output of its audio quality – which is plentiful in tone. With the Streak, its speaker produces some crackly tones and strains at the loudest volume setting.


Although both are more than ideal as they managed to load a movie trailer encoded in MPEG-4 1280 x 720 resolution, the Dell Streak's playback has some evidence of choppiness, while the Tab plays at a very smooth rate. Plus, the bigger the screen is, the better, when it comes to watching videos.

Since the two tablets are preloaded with 16GB microSD cards, it should be more than sufficient in handling the needs of most people – plus you can always replace it with a 32GB card.

Software:

Seeing that the Android Market is in place with both tablets, it shouldn't take long for most people to download and install third party apps. But out of the box, it's quite noticeable that the Tab packs far more apps than the Streak. Specifically, the Samsung Galaxy Tab comes installed with apps like AllShare, Blockbuster, Kindle, Lets Golf, Samsung's Media Hub, Slacker and ThinkFree Office. Moreover, the Tab even includes an app that converts it into a full fledged Digital Frame that will play a slide show with your photos, display the calendar, and even acts as a world clock – plus, it's integrated with the music player. As for the Dell Streak, the only apps you'll be greeted to are some expected ones – like the Amazon MP3 Store, Quickoffice, and Voice Control powered by Nuance.

Performance:

While using the Verizon version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab, we didn't experienced any connection issues during our time testing it. Moreover, the same can be said for the Dell Streak which we have connected to AT&T's 3G network.

You won't be disappointed with either device in the battery life department as they managed to exceed our expectations. Even though the Tab easily accommodated our usage by providing a solid two days of mostly web browsing and watching YouTube videos, the Dell Streak's mark of three days on normal usage will easily make it the favorable weekend road companion.

Conclusion:

As it seems, the Samsung Galaxy Tab reigns on top of the Android tablet market right now with its solid performance and up-to-date experience. Although the Dell Streak is still trying to find a niche for itself, its outdated Android experience doesn't particularly make it the most suitable tablet solution on the market. Despite boasting a very good camera and phenomenal battery life, it doesn't play to the needs of strictly tablet users out there. Sure the Android Market and eventual upgrade to Android 2.1 might make it a tad bit more polished, but it doesn't exhibit the Tab's already superior offerings from a tablet perspective. As for Samsung's pride and joy, its remarkable ascension to the top of the Android tablet market is quite fitting, but it still requires some fine tuning to truly make it a standout competitor outside of the Android space. (NOTE: Please note that the Dell Streak has been updated to Android 2.2, which fixed many of its issues and added new functionality to the device. See our revision article for an updated opinion of the device!)

Dell Streak vs Samsung Galaxy Tab Video Comparison: