Buy or wait?

[Guest Metoo]

After following most of the threads here since the Streak launch it looks that history may be repeating itself, i.e. initial glowing review, followed by fundamental flaws discovered by frustrated users, some of which may be hardware related so never fixed?

e.g.

Contant loss of service on 3G

Regular restarts or turning itself off

Poor voice quality

Poor application stability and compatability (even when Ok on other Android 1.6 devices)

Easy scratching of case

What's the current opinion? Is the Streak all it was cracked up to be or is it best to wait until Samsung bring out their equivalent?

[Guest Andy Garton]

It's the usual issue of forums mainly being used to discuss (and solve) problems. Very few people are going to post regularly that everything is working perfectly ;)

From my point of view I think the Streak is great, just what I wanted from a pocketable mostly-a-tablet-but-sometimes-a-phone device.

[Guest WilhelmsBrick]

I'm very happy with my Streak, or Steak as its often called in my circle of friends. Does everything I need to at home and about.

Infact due to bricking my netbook and not being bothered to reinstall everything I'm using the streak in its place and its definately able to keep up pretty well. Sat in the garden listening to music and webbing it up. Most people arent getting it to be a phone first and I think if you take that into consideration the benefits outweigh any niggling bugs ATM.

[Guest courtlandre]

I haven't had any problems that cant be attributed to either android 1.6 or the big screen of the streak (aka programs written for a screen with low resolution).

[Guest Dogmann55]

@Metoo,

Well I'm not using mine for voice so can't comment on that but so far haven't suffered any of the problems you have listed and the only app problems I've encountered are a few that don't change to Landscape which is hardly a big deal for me and thats it everything else for me and my use is fine I'm pleased to say.

Marc

[Guest mrgdavies]

I am one of the people who has been suffering with 3g connection issues and random restarts (just swapped for a new device today, so far so good) but I can honestly say that I absolutely love my Streak and could never see myself going back to a smaller screen. I have no complaints about voice call quality and the speaker phone is amazingly loud and clear, I have noticed a couple of issues with some widgets not rendering correctly but apart from that no problems with apps. Overall i am made up with it.

[Guest TomDroid]

Got to agree with all the above, had very few issues that can't be solved by a quick look at the forums-it really is the best phone I have ever had!

And saying that, this seems to be the most knowledgeable forum that I've joined (and possibly the friendliest)

[Guest Metoo]

Hmm, worrying that most positive responses are from those that don't rely on the Dell as a phone and use it purely as a media player! Kind of defeats the point of a convergence device doesn't it?

[Guest courtlandre]

I use it as my main device. But I rarely use more than 100 minutes a month.

[Guest streak dan]

I use it as my only device aswell. I'd say if you spend hours on the phone then you're going to want a headset or something else. You also have to get used to the constant banter surrounding it...

[Guest popetodd]

Here's my take on it Metoo:

1) Contant loss of service on 3G:

I have not experienced this at all in 2 weeks of intensive usage.

What I have experienced is O2's dodgy network config where I can get hsdpa in my reception room but a move 25 meters to the back of the house has me running gprs. That is more an issue of inconsistent (incompetent?) network planning on O2's part.

2) Regular restarts or turning itself off:

From what I've been reading it is a case of the case flexing (when it happens in your pocket or when you put it down particularly hard) or some bit of software running on the kit, I have not seen this isue at all in the time I've owned mine.

3) Poor voice quality:

I get compliments on the voice quality when I use mine as a phone, perhaps it is more a matter of getting used to where the mic and ear speaker (in the case of muffled audio) are in relation to your ear and mouth.

4) Poor application stability and compatability (even when Ok on other Android 1.6 devices)

Had a couple of those issues, to be expected when most apps are currently written for portrait and not landscape orientation.

I suspect that differences in the hardware may contribute to some of the issues I've seen as well.

All in all though the problems have been minor, the apps nothing I couldn't find alternatives for or live without, or have been (in the case of portrait only apps made for smallish screens) something that I can live with until they get fixed.

5) Easy scratching of case:

Got me there. Mine has no scratches and I carry it everywhere in my front pocket.

But then I don't put anything in my phone pocket but my phone and am conscious of taking care of it anyway so I'd be surprised if I did tear it up this soon after getting it.

I am not surprised it has happened to others though, shiny plastic tends to eventually scratch no matter how careful you are.

I spoke with an O2 sales guy and he said one of the demo models they got last month did not survive the gorilla glass pen test as well, though he did caveat that a bit as the guy doing the test was trying REALLY hard to break it.

As for scratches on the gorilla glass, it's glass. It may be hard to break but that doesn't necessarily translate into hard to scratch. We can just be glad it's all capacitive these days and that the old plastic covered resistive screens are a thing of the past.

My HW6945 has very few scratch's (resistive screen) after 4 years but only because I have been extremely careful with it. What scratches it does have were way too easy to create on that plastic coating.

I'd say go for it, for me the downsides can't even begin to tarnish the enjoyment I've gotten out of this kit.

Edited June 22, 2010 by popetodd

[Guest Metoo]

I use it as my only device aswell. I'd say if you spend hours on the phone then you're going to want a headset or something else. You also have to get used to the constant banter surrounding it...

I wouldn't be using much for outgoing calls, and I'm not bothered by the size. But I do need people to be able to get hold of me when that's the only device I am carrying. A phone that randomly rendered me uncontactable without my knowledge would make me want to smash the thing against a wall, as would constant interruption to a prime function like web browsing. Has there been any indication that O2 or Dell are taking these issues seriously?

[Guest courtlandre]

I wouldn't be using much for outgoing calls, and I'm not bothered by the size. But I do need people to be able to get hold of me when that's the only device I am carrying. A phone that randomly rendered me uncontactable without my knowledge would make me want to smash the thing against a wall, as would constant interruption to a prime function like web browsing. Has there been any indication that O2 or Dell are taking these issues seriously?

As far as I know, nobody at dell or sprint has mentioned anything about the loss of signal issue people are having. Keep in mind the 14 day return policy; most of us are not having the issue and receive phone calls just fine. I seems to be an issue with what area you are in.

[Guest tudorw]

definitely a keeper, switched to it as main my main phone from an HTC kaiser (m3100), much better call quality, speakerphone is loud and clear, no call's dropped, no random switching off, good app's are stable... There a fair number of apps I have tried that are just broken or badly written so I would blame many software issues with the app rather than the OS.

Coming from Orange the o2 customisation is minimal and generally useful.

Battery life is roughly a day, which is fine, given a replaceable battery you can take a weekend trip away with uncertain power availability!

I have an HDSPA connection here and speedtest.net app reports 1707kbps down and 1660kbps up, which is fine by me ;) Over WIFI I get 10600kbps down and 1889kbps up, so up speed on streak is as good as 24mb ADSL2 !

Edited June 23, 2010 by tudorw

[Guest courtlandre]

I have an HDSPA connection here and speedtest.net app reports 1707kbps down and 1660kbps up, which is fine by me ;) Over WIFI I get 10600kbps down and 1889kbps up, so up speed on streak is as good as 24mb ADSL2 !

Got 2843 down and 1607 up on HDSPA. I am basically on top of a tower though. Sad part is that my dsl line is only 5508 and 346 lol.

[Guest lobber]

I'm loving mine, I've had none of the issues mentioned so far. The only issue I do have which has been mentioned is O2's shoddy network. I've never seen a device switch between GPRS, EDGE and 3G so much. I am using it for data only and to be fair the mobile network hasn't bothered me too much as I use it on wifi mostly.

[Guest Loconinja]

I'm loving mine, I've had none of the issues mentioned so far. The only issue I do have which has been mentioned is O2's shoddy network. I've never seen a device switch between GPRS, EDGE and 3G so much. I am using it for data only and to be fair the mobile network hasn't bothered me too much as I use it on wifi mostly.

This is the potential deal-breaker for me. On T-Mobile, I pretty much get an HSDPA signal everywhere, but on O2 I'm lucky to get a signal at all. I need my Streak unlocked.

[Guest unfitguy]

I am really tempted by the Streak but I still feel on a mobile phone tariff its expensive. I only need 150 mins plus 500mb data and the best deal I can see for 18M is £40. Anyone secured a deal from anywhere or does anyone think it will drop once Iphone4 released. So tempted to get one now as contracts has expired but torn between Streak (front Camera and decent battery), X10 (now rooted at last but shocking battery), Motorola Droid X (if it comes to UK) and Galaxy S (but no camera flash)

[Guest craigdabbs]

I am really tempted by the Streak but I still feel on a mobile phone tariff its expensive. I only need 150 mins plus 500mb data and the best deal I can see for 18M is £40. Anyone secured a deal from anywhere or does anyone think it will drop once Iphone4 released. So tempted to get one now as contracts has expired but torn between Streak (front Camera and decent battery), X10 (now rooted at last but shocking battery), Motorola Droid X (if it comes to UK) and Galaxy S (but no camera flash)

i phoned up o2 upgrades, i got the phone for £50, 18m 300min unlimited text/data for £30 p/m. after 9 months i drop it down a tariff too

[Guest peekofai]

ask for the business tariff, it doesnt come with all the free wifi malarkey and you get the phone for free.

really good if you dont plan on talking too much. 300 minutes i think

[Guest Rhysd2]

I've had mine since release day. I use it mostly to surf/play games/email but have also used it to make calls and listen to music. I can honestly say I've had virtually none of the problems you mention. I did find the odd app that doesnt play nice but thats more to do with the screen size than the 1.6.