Dell Streak vs. Samsung Captivate

Wirefly Learn » Resources » Cell Phone Comparisons

July 29th, 2010

Note: Below specifications for the U.S.-bound Streak remain unconfirmed.

Overview

In the smartphone kingdom, the Dell Streak (widely expected to land on AT&T) is in a genus entirely of its own. As what can best be described as the love child between a full size tablet computer and high-end smartphone, the Android-powered Streak rocks a huge 5-inch display that sets it apart from even the most well-endowed smartphones on the market. Meanwhile, the Samsung Captivate offers a sizable 4-inch Super AMOLED display of its own. The question, then, is how big is too big? And when does a smartphone become a tablet computer?

Key Differences

• Display: If display size rules all, the Dell Streak would be the undisputed champion.  Size and portability considerations aside (not to worry, we’ll get to that), the Dell Streak’s formidable display has an entire inch on that of the Captivate.  The Streak’s added display real estate makes for a great web browsing experience that approaches that of a larger tablet computer, although at 4-inches, the Captivate’s display is still among the largest displays on the smartphone market.  Because of its larger size and equivalent pixel resolution, however, the Streak has significantly less pixels-per-square-inch than the Captivate.  The Captivate’s vibrant Super AMOLED display also arguably provides richer colors and sharper images.
• Size & portability: Hanging out with the HTC EVO 4G and Motorola DROID X, the Samsung Captivate looks like it can almost hold its own against these two burly smartphones.  Sat alongside the Dell Streak, however, the Captivate looks downright petite.  On the smartphone size spectrum, the Streak is off the chart.  Although a sleek and slim device, the Streak is a substantial device in every other way.  The Captivate offers a great balance in portability and display size, and will fit easily in most pockets and purses. The Streak, however, will face an uphill battle if trying to squeeze comfortably in any tight area.
• Camera: Both the Dell Streak and the Samsung Captivate have great rear on-board cameras with autofocus.  The Streak, however, boasts a dual LED camera flash while the Captivate’s camera lacks a flash (although it still takes decent shots in low lighting).  In the camcorder department, the Captivate outperforms the Streak with its ability to record HD video at 720P.
• User interface: The Dell Streak has a slightly modified version of the standard Google Experience that adds some Dell enhancements. The Samsung Fascinate has a custom user interface called TouchWiz 3.0, providing users with a number of custom widgets, social networking integration, and unique menus and gesture commands. At the time of this comparison, the Dell Streak is running an older version of Android (version 1.6), while the Captivate is running Android version 2.1.
• Front-facing camera: The Dell Streak is equipped with a front-facing camera (VGA) for video chat.  Although its Sprint counterpart also has a front-facing camera, AT&T’s Samsung Captivate is without.
• Samsung All Share: Featuring DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) technology, the Captivate will be able to wirelessly send user-generated video content to other DLNA-enabled devices, such as TV’s, monitors and laptops.

Side-By-Side Comparison

	Samsung Captivate	Dell Streak
Wirefly’s Price (as of publish date)	$99.99	TBA
Carrier	AT&T	AT&T (unconfirmed)
Operating System	Android 2.1	Android 1.6 (expected to receive upgrade to 2.2 Froyo)
Interface	TouchWiz 3.0	Google Experience with Dell Enhancements
Display	4″, 480 x 800 Pixels, AMOLED	5″, 800 x 480 Pixels, TFT LCD
Data Speed	3G	3G
Global Roaming	Yes	Yes
WiFi	802.11 b/g/n	802.11 b/g
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 3.0	Bluetooth 2.1
GPS	aGPS	aGPS
Mobile Hotspot	No	No
Camera	5-megapixel, autofocus	5-megapixel, dual LED flash and autofocus
Front-facing Camera	No	Yes; VGA
Video Capture	HD; Up to 720p	Yes
HD Output	None	None
Apps	Android Market	Android Market
Adobe Flash Support	Adobe Flash Lite	Adobe Flash Lite
Storage Space	16GB on-board; Support for up to 32GB microSD card	Support for up to 32GB microSD card
Keyboard	Virtual QWERTY	Virtual QWERTY
Battery	Up to 5.83 hours talk time; up to 340 hours standby	Up to 9.8  hours talk time; up to 400 hours standby
Processor	ARM Cortex-A8 Hummingbird, 1GHz	Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250, 1GHz
Memory	RAM: 512MB	RAM: 512 MB ROM 512 MB
Microsoft Outlook Support	Yes	Yes
View Word Docs	Yes	Yes
Weight	4.16 oz	7.76 oz
Dimensions	2.53″ x 4.82″ x 0.39″	3.11″ x 6.02″ x 0.39″

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1. Dell Streak 7 Unboxing
2. Dell Streak strikes AT&T Friday, gets video overview
3. BlackBerry PlayBook vs. Dell Streak 7 vs. Apple iPad vs. Motorola Xoom
4. Android-powered Samsung Captivate to entice AT&T subscribers