The jury might still be out as to whether the Streak is a tablet or a smartphone, but today Dell officially entered the Indian smartphone market with two Android handsets. In what is a change from the general trend, these phones have been introduced in India first and will be seen in other markets later – we cannot applaud that loud enough. Getting to the phones themselves, both of them are totally touchscreen devices, run Android 2.1, and are called the XCD28 and the XCD35.
The names of the models seem to be derived from the display sizes of the devices – XCD28 have a 2.8 inch display, while XCD35 has a 3.5 inch one. Both phones come with FM Radio, access to Microsoft Email Exchange through Activesync, 3.2 megapixel cameras and the whole gamut of connectivity options (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, et al).
The prices? Well, the XCD28 carries a tag of Rs 10,990, while the XCD35 comes for Rs 16,990. What’s more, both come with the one year Advanced Exchange Warranty that assures users with an immediate replacement option if faced with any hardware issue with their Dell smart phone – now, that is something. While the XCD28 is immediately available in the market, the XCD35 is expected to hit stores in December.
Of the two, we must confess we were more impressed by the XCD35, which at that price, is one of the least expensive 3.5 inch touchscreen devices in the country, although we would have preferred a five megapixel shooter at that price (which is in the region of the HTC Wildfire).
We will find out just how good they are when we get our mitts on them, which should hopefully be sometime soon. And to return to the matter of the Streak, we should be seeing the upgraded to 2.2 version of it soon too. But that is another story. And it is not really a smartphone…or is it? Well, that is another story for another day, but as of now, Dell is officially in the Indian smartphone market.
