Many of you thought that it was unfair of me to put the Dell Streak up against the HTC EVO 4G, Motorola Droid X, and Samsung Captivate in a benchmark battle. No one cried foul that the EVO was the only handset of the group that was running Android 2.2 (Froyo), which is 2 to 5 times faster than 2.1 (Eclair), but people were unhappy that the Streak was included because it has 1.6 (Donut). Given that I have nothing to do with which OS version manufacturers choose to put on their devices and that all four phones were running their latest firmware at the time of the tests, I don’t know how it could have been more fair. But I digress.
The purpose of this post is to confirm that yes, a newer version of Android improves the Streak’s benchmark scores. And thanks to an update to Engadget Mobile’s Android 2.1 preview yesterday and a message I got from Richard Lai today, we’ve got the actual numbers to prove it.
Linpack
- Android 1.6: 4.183 MFLOPS
- Android 2.1: 6.949 MFLOPS
Quadrant
- Android 1.6: 468
- Android 2.1: 767
Fps2D
- Android 1.6: 28 fps
- Android 2.1: 30 fps
An3DBench
Fillrate ST/MT
- Android 1.6: 10.97/10.77 MP/sec
- Android 2.1: 11.90/11.88 MP/sec
High object count
- Android 1.6: 4.33 fps
- Android 2.1: 18.07 fps
Multiple lights
- Android 1.6: 28.28 fps
- Android 2.1: 30.70 fps
High polygon count
- Android 1.6: 12.10 fps
- Android 2.1: 21.70 fps
Keyframe animation
- Android 1.6: 28.86 fps
- Android 2.1: 30.79 fps
Game level
- Android 1.6: 12.63 fps
- Android 2.1: 28.42 fps
Total score
- Android 1.6: 2317
- Android 2.1: 3521
As you can see, every single score has been improved. Some of them are negligible, but they’re still improvements.
So how does the Dell Streak with Android 2.1 stack up against the EVO, Droid X, and Captivate in these benchmark tests? It’s much more competitive, to be sure, but it still comes in last in most of the tests. It keeps up with the EVO, though—and that’s running Android 2.2—and gets the highest Fillrate ST/MT score in An3DBench.
Thanks, Richard!
thanks for posting this jenn
greatly appreciate it. helps me make my decision…i still haven’t decided, the captivate or the streak..but we’ll see 
thanks jenn
Thanks for the quick and impartial update!
Kinda figured some of the benchmarks were crippled by 1.6… I think Linpack scores have been out for the 2.1 build for a few days (the random person on modaco with 2.1 ran it) You know what would be really cool, If I could buy a streak to confirm these
So let me roll out my freshest theory about why Dell finds itself in such an enormous marketing snafu with the Streak. I suspect the initial rounds of “on again, off again” activity surrounding the US release was due to intense negotiations/battles between Dell and AT&T. Without detailing what all those battles involved, I now think they caused Dell to delay the roll-out well beyond their initial gameplan. But things were moving forward on the firmware-update front, as evidenced by the plans to update 1.6 to 2.1 in Europe. So, I think Dell found itself in an awkward situation with a lot of product (Streaks with 1.6, etc.) already distributed (or partially-distributed) and no really good way to effectively/efficiently upgrade the OS prior to trying to sell them. My guess is that Dell (and AT&T perhaps) were then faced with how to successfully market the phones under those circumstances. For tech-savvy buyers, it is not such a big problem to purchase a phone and immediately face the prospect of a firmware upgrade — but I also suspect the companies realized they were either going to virtually eliminate a substantial share of the potential market — who wouldn’t want to deal with that kind of complexity associated with purchasing a phone they just wanted to “work” out-of-the-box. So, does Dell (or AT&T) try to somehow upgrade at the store level? Or after sale? Or simply try to sell phones that are clearly out-dated at this point? No easy answers, I think. And so here we sit. Any better ideas?
Yes there is a simplier reason than that. ATT needed an estimate of how many devices using data would be using their weak network. When Dell came back with the presale figures, ATT was stunned and couldn’t allow the launch being it would have crippled the network. This is a usual ATT delay while they get their network up to speed.
well I know how we like to blame ATT (and rightfully so), this isn’t one. You cant even get the Streak in a AT&T store and the forecast i’m sure isn’t the cause for delay.
Hey Jenn, do you want to see some amazing numbers. Write a blog and ask how many people that are buying the Streak would add some type of data plan with it. I think the number has to be somewhere in the 90% range.
this is really cool it beats the EVO in overall score i think this is great. makes me really happy
Hi Bryan,
Just go for the Captivate. I waited so long with Streak and gave up on it last week. Decided to purchase Captivate online. It’s the best decision that I made. You will not disappoint with Captivate.
what are you talking about?
total score for streak on 2.1 is 3521
total score for EVO in 2.2 is 3384
Yeah, this is a bit of a reach. They allow millions of iPhones to be sold, but the numbers for a phone that’s being advertised as a tablet and has very little pub or exposure worry them?
I know a number of people who have no intent on getting a data plan, simply for self discipline reasons.
Wifi is a good fit for a lot of people.
My estimate will be more along the lines of 65% data, 35% voice and text.
Well, my iPhone screen’s numbness just extended over the unlock bar, so it’s effectively now a paperweight. It would’ve been really handy if Dell had the slightest clue of what they were doing right now, but i’m not sure if that’s the case.
So I decide if I try to use an ancient backup phone for the next 2 weeks hoping the Dell is released with an acceptable price, or I just end this misery and get the Evo, even though I’m not excited about it at all.
FWIW, the EVO is a great phone. Swing by goodandevo.net if you get one.
Yeah, and friends have said the same, I’m just not that interested. After 2 years with the iPhone I was looking for something more exciting and different, not just the standard bearer for phones. Either way, the Evo 4g is 2009 technology, while the Streak is at least 2009 technology with a huge screen.
If I can’t have a 1.5 ghz that will be relatively future-proof for a 2 year contract, I’d at least like something unique.
Streak (= 2010 technology) with 1.6 (= 2009 technology) will not be sold in the states.
I predict that the Streak will be launched with 2.1 – late August.
Neil Everette and the Dev Team must be working overtime.
+1 for overtime, -5 for being late and missing all deadlines
I lost interest in waiting on the streak, they missed their opportunity with alot of people back in July. Most have moved onto other phones and networks (Droid X comes to mind). Im waiting till first of the year for the Galaxy S2 with 8mp cam 4.3 inch super amoled screen,1080p video, 2GHZ cpu and 64gb memory. Streak will be long forgotten by then.
that’s what i’m thinking. i’ve been waiting for almost two weeks now, with constant dissapointment. i’m not sure if it’s Dell, or if it’s AT&T… but i’m going to wait maybe another week…. so we’ll see
I had a play with a Streak in an O2 store here in Cambridge UK. The shop’s wifi was broken and it’d not been activated so it wasn’t possible to judge how good it might be. Add on the fact that O2 don’t sell the Streak accessories and I’d be surprised if people were buying large quantities – for me at least, half the attraction of the streak is the dock to connect to car or home tv/monitor.
I am surprised Dell gave O2 an exclusive on the device, as it is competing head on with the iphone which has a strong associated with O2, especially when O2 staff seem utterly clueless when it comes to android in general.
Hi Jenn,
This is probably a moot point but i just ran the Quadrant Standard and An3DBench on my Streak which has a stock 1.6 Android and got very different results from what was reported above. Is there something i am missing? I bought my in June here in the UK and have done nothing to ‘boost’ performance in any way. Just curious. Btw, is there any news on 2.2/Froyo update, i did not bother installing the 2.1 (which i heard eventually turned out to be more bad than good). Below are the results.
Thanks
————————————————————
Quadrant
Android 1.6: 468
Android 2.1: 767
Mine: 659
An3DBench
Fillrate ST/MT
Android 1.6: 10.97/10.77 MP/sec
Android 2.1: 11.90/11.88 MP/sec
Mine: 11.28/11.37 MP/sec
High object count
Android 1.6: 4.33 fps
Android 2.1: 18.07 fps
Mine: 14.30 fps
Multiple lights
Android 1.6: 28.28 fps
Android 2.1: 30.70 fps
Mine: 29.73 fps
High polygon count
Android 1.6: 12.10 fps
Android 2.1: 21.70 fps
Mine: 14.61 fps
Keyframe animation
Android 1.6: 28.86 fps
Android 2.1: 30.79 fps
Mine: 29.79 fps
Game level
Android 1.6: 12.63 fps
Android 2.1: 28.42 fps
Mine: 15.12 fps
Total score
Android 1.6: 2317
Android 2.1: 3521
Mine: 2778
I think the streak has hampered and destroyed its reputation and more and more people are moving away from buying stuff from them. Personally, i have been waiting for the streak for the last 2 months, and just before the scheduled delivery date they extend it for another week! The mobility staff has zero clue to what is happening. See the dell streak forum with shipment delay and poor customer service.