Dell Streak review: Hands-on with the giant phone also known as Dell Mini 5

Update: Our full Dell Streak review is now live on the site. The original article is below.

Google is getting down and dirty with developers this week at the Google I/O conference, displaying a mile-long case that just may contain every Android phone in the world -- including public confirmation that Dell's tablet will be called the Dell Streak.

We've taken the Dell Streak, formerly known as the Dell Mini 5, for a test-run, although it was an prototype version that was running version 1.6 of Android. Dell hasn't yet confirmed what version we'll see on the final device. 

This beast makes giant phones such as the HTC HD2 look positively tiny, thanks to a 5-inch screen that makes the Streak clock in at 152 by 78 by 10mm. It does make phone calls, and you can even hold it up to your face if you don't mind looking like a pin-head, but Dell insists the Streak is primarily meant for Web surfing rather than voice chat.

It's got a gently customised version of Android, including Dell's own Twitter and Facebook widgets, pumped up on a 1GHz Snapdragon processor. There's a 5-megapixel camera on the back, which also shoots video.

We're incurable Web addicts, but even for us the Streak felt like a niche product. Like the Apple iPad, we love that it gives us instant access to the Web on a bigger screen, but we're not convinced we're going to drag aroung a giant tablet along with our smart phones and netbooks. Still, we liked that the Streak offered Android without diluting it like the Archos 5 tablet, and we found it easy to use and fast.

Company namesake Michael Dell let slip at a conference last week that we'll see the Streak exclusively on O2 when it comes to the UK.

Click 'Continue' to see us get our hands around the Streak.

The Streak makes phone calls, and you can talk into its microphone rather that just using a headset, but it's clownishly huge.

The Streak is meant for Web browsing, and it's got a fast 3.5G connection and Wi-Fi on board, as well as GPS and Bluetooth.

All the features of the Android operating system are also in place, including access to apps from the Android Market. Yeah, we know, it's insane.

Dell's added some features of its own to Android, including a way to navigate around your home screens and recently-used apps.

On the back, the 5-megapixel camera is joined by two LED photo lights.

Dell's own Twitter and Facebook widgets show live updates from your favourite feeds, and the huge screen definitely helps show all the info.

It may be a tablet rather than a phone, but you can dial the Streak using the on-screen dialling pad.