Unboxing the Dell Streak

The Dell Streak, Dell's peculiar five-inch smartphone/tablet, appeared in our offices wrapped in a cloud of mystery (and a FedEx box). While we're moderately sure that this is the model Dell will offer for sale to AT&T customers on July 27, Dell wouldn't give us many details other than to say we're free to review it, and AT&T wouldn't respond to our request for comment.

So we give you first: the box. Notice that the Dell Streak's box doesn't have any AT&T logos anywhere on it. The device's software doesn't have any AT&T logos on it, either – no AT&T Music, no AT&T Navigator.

The Streak is surprisingly light, slim, and broad. It comes with a quick-start guide, metal back, AC adapter, USB cable, wired headset, and a 16 GB MicroSD card - but notably no SIM card, or at least our mysterious review model didn't.

We're in the middle of testing and writing about this unit, but for now, take a look at our unboxing slideshow or peek at our earlier hands-on from last month.

The Streak is going on sale sometime soon, for a price that we haven't been able to get a clear answer on but that could be around $500. Really, we'll get you more details as they arrive.

About Our Expert

Sascha Segan

Former Lead Analyst, Mobile

My Experience

I'm that 5G guy. I've actually been here for every "G." I reviewed well over a thousand products during 18 years working full-time at PCMag.com, including every generation of the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S. I also wrote a weekly newsletter, Fully Mobilized, where I obsessed about phones and networks.

My Areas of Expertise

US and Canadian mobile networks
Mobile phones released in the US
iPads, Android tablets, and ebook readers
Mobile hotspots
Big data features such as Fastest Mobile Networks and Best Work-From-Home Cities

The Technology I Use

Being cross-platform is critical for someone in my position. In the US, the mobile world is split pretty cleanly between iOS and Android. So I think it's really important to have Apple, Android and Windows devices all in my daily orbit.

I use a Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1 for work and a 2021 Apple MacBook Pro for personal use. My current phone is a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, although I'm probably going to move to an Android foldable. Most of my writing is either in Microsoft OneNote or a free notepad app called Notepad++. Number crunching, which I do often for those big data stories, is via Microsoft Excel, DataGrip for MySQL, and Tableau.

In terms of apps and cloud services, I use both Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive heavily, although I also have iCloud because of the three Macs and three iPads in our house. I subscribe to way too many streaming services.

My primary tablet is a 12.9-inch, 2020-model Apple iPad Pro. When I want to read a book, I've got a 2018-model flat-front Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. My home smart speakers run Google Home, and I watch a TCL Roku TV. And Verizon Fios keeps me connected at home.

My first computer was an Atari 800 and my first cell phone was a Qualcomm Thin Phone. I still have very fond feelings about both of them.

Read the latest from Sascha Segan

Read full bio