We pit two of the more portable tablets, the Dell Streak and the soon-to-be-released Samsung Galaxy Tab, against one another to find out which one is worth your hard-earned cash
There’s practically a tablet for every occasion these days, with more and more being announced as the weeks go by. You’ve got the big screen boys, such as the iPad and the recently announced Toshiba Folio 100, and then there’s the small more portable devices, like the Dell Streak and the Samsung Galaxy Tab.
So, if you’re in the market for a smaller, more portable, tablet then both the 5-inch Dell Streak and the 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab are both attractive possibilities – but should you snap up the Dell Streak, or wait for the UK release of the Galaxy Tab?
It’s a tough call, but before you make a decision make sure you read our analysis of the two tablet devices.
Looks
Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder, but when you have a look at the two devices in question one thing becomes immediately apparent: the Galaxy Tab looks like a tablet and the Streak looks, well, more like a big smartphone.
And the Dell Streak has taken quite a bit of flack since its release with many claiming that it’s just a massive smartphone – which, if we’re honest, it kind of is. That said, having a phone facility is very handy, even if it is a bit bizarre talking into something that size. Nevertheless, during testing we got very attached to the Streak – we even began using it as our regular phone.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab, which also has a phone function as well, is quite a bit larger than the Streak at 7-inches, but it is still a lot more portable than the 9-inch iPad or recently announced 10-inch Toshiba Folio 100.
However, the Galaxy Tab is very much a tablet device, borrowing heavily from the iPad, and is on the whole a very sleek looking, carefully designed device – basically, it’s probably the iPad’s nearest rival in terms of overall build quality and sex appeal.
Unfortunately, the Dell Streak lacks the “wow factor” of the Galaxy Tab and, while opinion may differ on this contentious subject, we’re pretty much adamant that the Galaxy Tab kicks the Dell Streak’s proverbial ass in the looks department every time.
Verdict – Samsung Galaxy Tab
Operating Systems
Both of the tablets in question are powered by Google’s mobile Android OS. However, both run different versions of the infinitely popular mobile OS – Android 1.6 on the Streak (soon to be 2.1) and Android 2.2 on the Galaxy Tab. So in the present context, the Galaxy Tab is clearly the front-runner in this department having a superior version of Android onboard.
That said, the Dell Streak is eventually getting upgraded to Android 2.2, which is apparently happening before the end of the year, so in this respect it’ll be on a par – at least in terms of operating systems – with the Galaxy Tab.
Verdict – Draw
Imaging & Video
While the Samsung Galaxy Tab maybe a significantly more expensive device than the Dell Streak, you certainly wouldn’t know it by looking at the two device’s respective imaging specs.
The Streak has a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with dual LED flash, as well as point and shoot capability and a front facing VGA web cam. But that’s not all as there are so many features and options within the Dell Streak’s camera application that you’re absolutely spoilt for choice. Put short, the Dell Streak has a brilliant camera with reams of cool and very high quality built in features – so much so, in fact, that it’s probably one of the best Android cameras we’ve ever used.
The Galaxy Tab, on the other hand, features a rather lack-lustre 3-megapixel camera with auto-focus and LED flash. There’s also a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, and the device will apparently shoot video in a resolution of 720 x 480 at 30fps, which, unfortunately, gives the Streak’s VGA quality video recorder and absolute kicking.
So, overall, it is quite a tough call. On the one hand, you’ve got the Streak with a brilliant camera and average video recording capabilities. On the other, you’ve got the Galaxy Tab with brilliant video recording capabilities and a rather average camera. Also, we’ve yet to test the Galaxy Tab, so it’s difficult to make a fair choice because, as Steve Jobs said: it’s not always all about the pixels…
Verdict – We have to say a tie, as both the device’s positives and negatives cancel one another out: one has a good camera and rubbish video, the other has rubbish video and a good camera. Stale mate.
Screens
We’ve had a Dell Streak in the office for quite a while now, and its 5-inch TFT 480 x 800 pixel display is better than adequate in every respect. Web pages look good, videos render well and it’s a pleasure to open up well put together apps on it. In short, we don’t really have any complaints about the Streak’s display.
That said, in a head-to-head, being good sometimes isn’t good enough, and in this instance the Galaxy Tab is well in front of the Streak. Not only does it have a significantly larger 7-inch display, but it also has a lot more pixels packed into it – 1024 x 600, to be precise.
Verdict – Galaxy Tab
Processors
Both the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Dell Streak have 1GHz processors at their core: the Streak has a Snapdragon processor and the Galaxy Tab has Samsung’s own Cortex A8 Application (Hummingbird) Processor with PowerVR SGX540.
At first glance, you’d assume that because they both have 1GHz processors there wouldn’t be much in it in terms of performance – unfortunately, you would be wrong.
And Samsung’s Hummingbird’s processor has been shown to generally out perform Qualcomm’s Snapdragon with things like web page rendering, loading times and overall smoothness whilst running – in other words, there's less lag.
That said, there isn’t much in it and the whole Snapdragon Vs Hummingbird issue is one that is debated fiercely all over the web – although, generally speaking, we have experienced some serious lag issues on the Streak whilst we’ve had it… But maybe this will be resolved with the soon-to-be-released OS updates.
Check out this video by Pocket Now, which does some detailed speed testing on both Snapdragon and Hummingbird-powered devices.
Granted, it does look close, but in the context of these two devices and, based on what we’ve experienced whilst using the Streak, we’d be extremely surprised if the Samsung Hummingbird processor lost out to the Streak’s Snapdragon.
Verdict – Galaxy Tab
UI
The Dell Streak features 6 customisable homescreens that can be loaded with widgets, apps, shortcuts, folders and contacts. One thing we really liked about the Streak’s UI is that it’s very easy to use, there’s absolutely no learning curve whatsoever for Android veterans, and while the appearance of it maybe a little on the dull side, the homescreens are infinitely customisable and this means you can seriously tweak it to your very own exact preferences.
At the moment, though, the one thing letting the Dell Streak down is the fact that it is only running on Android 1.6. Nevertheless, this is set to be remedied this week with the roll-out of Android 2.1, which will bring with it a whole host of well known Froyo goodies.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab, on the other hand, is one slick customer. The UI onboard is Samsung’s ever-improving TouchWiz, which we’ve seen and praised on the Galaxy S smartphone.
However, where the Galaxy Tab comes into it’s own though, is through the care and attention Samsung has put into creating Galaxy Tab-specific applications like its Music and Readers Hub, which feature a dedicated newspaper, magazine and e-reader. There’s also a cool email client with a unified inbox and two pane window display, as well as a rather good looking stock calendar application.
Plus, there’s also access to both the Samsung Apps Store and the Android Market, giving you even more choice over what apps, widgets and games you can download.
Overall, it has to be the Galaxy Tab as victor in the UI department. It’s TouchWiz UI is infinitely slicker, glossier and has a lot more going on inside it than the Dell Streak’s offering, which would go a long way to explaining its astronomical price tag – it’s more expensive than the iPad!
Verdict – Galaxy Tab
Storage
In terms of storage there is a big difference between the two devices. The Dell Streak comes with 2GB of internal and is capable of supporting 32GB via its MicroSD card slot.
The Galaxy Tab, however, comes in two flavours: 16GB or 32GB of internal memory. Both models also support 32GB via the Tab’s microSD card slot.
Verdict – Galaxy Tab
Overall Victor – Galaxy Tab
Overall we love the Dell Streak, it’s versatile, easy-to-use and is very customisable. In this respect, we found that when we were using the device on a regular basis we began to neglect our actual mobile phone, which speaks volumes about the Streak’s phone capabilities.
The Streak also has everything that you’ll need on a day-to-day basis such as, 3G, phone functionality, apps, widgets, storage and portability. And once it gets Android 2.1 – and hopefully 2.2, before the end of Q4 – it will be an absolute powerhouse of a device.
That said, in terms of hardcore specs and performance we really can’t see it competing with the slightly larger – and very “sexed-up” – Samsung Galaxy Tab. In this respect, then, maybe it was unfair to compare the two devices…
Or maybe it wasn’t. You see whilst the Tab beats the Streak in many respects, it isn’t the end of the world as the Streak and the Tab while being very similar are also very different, as well as being targeted at different demographics. For example, the Dell is a lot more sensible and will not impress those that have iPads on the brain.
Consequently, the Galaxy Tab, with all its glitz and glamour and slick UI could very well cost Apple a lot of business in the coming months and years – and it is for this reason, as well as the generally higher specs, that we salute you Samsung for making such a good tablet device. Kudos.
Original from:
http://www.knowyourmobile.com/comparisons/584221/samsung_galaxy_tab_vs_dell_streak.html
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