From China With Love: Dell’s Android Phone

Dell’s reportedly going to show up a little bit late to the Android party with its Mini 3i, which has already debuted in China. Still, it’s better late than never, especially for a phone that looks kind of like an iPhone, but rounder and slimmer. A tipster tells CrunchGear that the phone feels “cheap and plasticky, like the [Palm] Pre,” but he expects Dell to upgrade the phone for its import to America.

For specs, there’s a 3.5-inch touch screen with 360 x 640 resolution — same as the iPhone — a 950mAh battery, a mini USB port and a microSD card slot. A camera, which was 3.2 megapixels in the Chinese version, will be bumped to 5 megapixels, the tipster says. The existing Mini 3i doesn’t have 3G or Wi-Fi support, but maybe Dell will change that as long as it’s upgrading. As for software, Dell has been messing with Android, breaking the functionality of some apps, though CrunchGear doesn’t explain the advantage of these modifications.

If this rumor pans out, it remains to be seen who will carry the phone when it comes to the U.S. I think AT&T’s out, partly because of the Mini 3i’s resemblance to the iPhone, and partly because it hasn’t adopted Android yet. I could see Sprint passing on this as well in favor of the Palm Pre, but beyond that, it’s a toss-up. [via CrunchGear]