SummaryHTC Sensation HardwareDesign and build quality

Review SummaryHTC Sensation HardwareDesign and build quality:

Measuring 4.96 x 2.57 x 0.44 inches and weighs 5.22 ounces, the HTC Sensation is a bit larger and heavier than its competitor, the Samsung Galaxy S2. However, it also feels sturdier in comparison, due to the aluminum frame that wrapped around the back, sides, and a small portion of the Sensation’s front. It has a unique concave screen design where the screen is slightly sunk into the bezel, which protects the screen and gives your fingers a tiny amount of feedback when you start to slide off the touchscreen. Overall the HTC Sensation looks very much like one of its predecessor, the HTC Desire S, which is a pretty good looking phone.


Display:

The HTC Sensation features a qHD (540×960) resolution display, which has 35 percent more pixels than most other smartphone, including the Galaxy S2, which only have resolutions of 480×800 pixels. The benefit of having a higher resolution display is that it could display more content on its 4.3-inch screen. Videos look fantastic on it as well. The screen brightness and viewing angle is good, but not as good as those with Samsung AMOLED Plus display.


Storage:

The handset comes with 1GB of onboard storage and 8GB of pre-installed microSD card.


Cameras:

The Sensation has an 8 megapixel autofocus camera with dual LED flash, and a VGA front-facing camera. HTC added the Instant Capture software to the Sensation that minimize lag between telling the phone to snap a photo and the actual capture. Overall the quality of the camera on Sensation is improved over previous HTC devices. Photos taken were clear and sharp, with good colour balance. The full HD 1080p videos taken with Sensation’s camera is also good in quality.


Ports:

There’s a headphone jack, a microSD card slot, and a MHL port which can work as both a micro-USB and a HDMI output with the appropriate cable.


Wireless Connectivity:

The Sensation 4G for T-Mobile USA will have HSPA+ – along with quadband GSM/EDGE, WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0.

HTC Sensation Software

The HTC Sensation runs on Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread, with HTC Sense, v3.0 UI on top. This newest version of Sense UI comes with quite a number of new feature such as a useful Active Lockscreen with app shortcuts, more 3D effects in the seven-pane homescreen, Facebook and Twitter contacts brought together with Google address book, and various tweaks throughout the UI that smooth over some of Android’s ruffles. Overall, the user experience on the Sense 3.0 is generally smooth, responsive and pleasing to the eye, although Engadget pointed out that there’s not much functionality over and above what you can obtain on a Gingerbread-sporting Incredible S. On the good side, CNet UK says that the HTC Sensation is the most customisable phone they’ve ever used.


Besides the usual Google apps and services that normally comes with Android, HTC pre-installed some of its own apps including the HTC’s Dock Mode which shows a recent Facebook update pulled from FriendStream along with weather and media shortcuts, Flashlight which uses the LED camera light as a torch, Locations which is HTC’s offline mapping system, Teeter game, HTC Watch, and HTC Reader app which is an ebook store powered by Kobo.

HTC Sensation Call Quality

Most reviewers generally found the call quality of the HTC Sensation to be good, with the exception of Techradar. According to them, the call quality on the HTC Sensation seems to be poorer than many other phones as their caller can’t hear them clearly from the other end with slight wind or in a bar environment. As mentioned, most other reviewers don’t have this issue and generally says that the call quality of the Sensation to be clear.

HTC Sensation PerformancePhone Performance:

Performance of the HTC Sensation is good, but not the greatest. With a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU, it’s fast and and responsive in day-to-day use. However when it comes to benchmark test, the Sensation is behind its biggest competitor, the Samsung Galaxy S2. For example, in one of the Quadrant Advanced benchmark test done by Slash Gear, the Sensation scored 2245 overall versus the Samsung’s 3504. The lower score of Sensation could be due to its lower RAM capacity (768MB instead of 1GB), and the low onboard storage (1GB), which force it to read data from the slower MicroSD card. Despite lower benchmark score, SlashGear says that they did not notice any difference between the two phones when using them side-by-side.

HTC Sensation Battery Life

The overall battery life of the HTC Sensation seems to be pretty decent overall. Engadget says that the Sensation consumes more power when they use it for shooting videos or pictures, but when not actively in used, or when it’s idle even with background update, it consume very little power. They concluded that the HTC Sensation will last for a good couple of days of casual use and its overall battery life is better than the Galaxy S2.


SlashGear on the other hand think that the battery life of the HTC Sensation is not as good as the Galaxy S2′s, and they found the Sensation to have around quarter of its charge left after one day of moderate use.


CNet UK reported that “the battery proved merely OK, lasting two days without charging under light use, with several widgets constantly updating and with GPS and Wi-Fi turned on”.

Conclusion

With its dual-core performance, high resolution qHD display, solid build quality, and useful HTC Sense software, the HTC Sensation is an outstanding Android phone. It’s hard to say which one is better when comparing it with the Samsung Galaxy S2, one of its biggest competitor. For now though, we are seeing more reviewers rating the Galaxy S2 higher than the Sensation.

HTC Sensation Expert ReviewsVlad Savov from Engadget says:Given Rating: The HTC Sensation is an extremely accomplished device, but there’s no getting around the feeling that it underwhelms. While it is indeed a dual-core speed demon like the Samsung Galaxy S II, HTC’s latest doesn’t exhibit quite the same level of UI responsiveness and is furthermore saddled with a signed bootloader that prevents users from improving things themselves. Our biggest issue is with Sense, whose fancy new graphics and improved lockscreen utility can’t hide the fact that the core UX hasn’t materially changed from the days of the Hero.


In terms of design language, HTC is a monoglot and proud of it. The Sensation doesn’t break with the company’s established styling, yet its subtle physical refinements add up to make it a veritable pleasure to hold and to operate. Combining these excellent ergonomics with the phone’s superior battery efficiency and generous qHD display resolution makes the Sensation a formidable foe for Samsung’s celebrated new flagship. Given the choice between the two, we’d opt for the Galaxy S II for its brilliant display and snappier performance, but that’s just a matter of preference. Ultimately, you’ll have to decide what it is you value most in your Android superphone and pick the one that fits those needs best.
Flora Graham from CNet UK says:Given Rating: The HTC Sensation swaggers with smart-phone confidence. Its beefy metal case, huge screen, powerful dual-core processor and glossy user interface make it feel like the alpha phone in the mobile pack. Despite a few software slip-ups here and there, this phone justifies its name.


For a lighter phone that makes less invasive tweaks to Android, check out the Samsung Galaxy S 2.
Gareth Beavis from Techradar says:Given Rating: Whether it’s just that we’re getting spoilt by the quality of the HTC range or that the brand simply can’t innovate at the electric pace it managed when it made Android smartphones good enough for the masses, the HTC Sensation doesn’t get our pulses racing like other models in its range have.


HTC Watch needs to a larger range of movies and TV shows before we can even begin to assess whether it’s going to take off or not – and the price seems a little high at this early stage.


We love the Sense UI still, and the ‘Unlock Ring’ is a cool addition to the party – we still want the notifications to be more interactive, but overall it’s still a neat idea.


The design of the phone is different and, in our eyes, pretty premium with the metallic feel and steel grill – the weight feels solid in the hand and the screen size is impressive and sharp.


It’s still not one of HTC’s best, but one we’d definitely recommend over a number of other phones in the marketplace and if you’re an HTC fan or just looking to get one of the cutting-edge dual core devices, we suggest you seriously think about the HTC Sensation.
Rosemary Hattersley from PC Advisor says:Given Rating: HTC calls the Sensation a ‘multimedia superphone’ and given its razor-sharp screen, generally decent video playback (excepting Adobe Flash) and great audio, we can see why. If you can handle its sheer size, this is both an excellent phone and a superior entertainment player.
Chris Davies from Slashgear says:It’s a good time for Android smartphone fans. The Galaxy S II has already proved that devices running Google’s OS are certainly capable of stepping out from underneath the shadow of the iPhone, and the HTC Sensation is evidence that Samsung’s win can’t be dismissed as a one-off aberration. In Gingerbread form, Android has matured into a stable platform with growing choice in the Android Market to support it.


With strong devices, of course, come difficult decisions, and choosing between the Sensation and Samsung’s Galaxy S II is perhaps the most difficult to-date. Both have their hardware strengths: the Sensation’s qHD display lends itself well to browsing and ebook reading, while the lower-resolution Super AMOLED Plus of the GSII is better suited to multimedia. Samsung offers more RAM and internal storage, but the Sensation never felt at a loss aside from in the benchmarking apps themselves. Meanwhile, HTC Sense feels more thought-out and complete than TouchWiz, and the out-of-the-box experience with the Sensation is more polished than that of the GSII.


Neither is a bad device nor a bad choice; our gut reaction is to think of the Sensation as the consumer’s phone and the Galaxy S II as the Android fan’s phone. Broad brushstrokes do neither any great favors, though. HTC’s attitude to mods may dissuade the Android faithful, but those looking for a solid, well-designed smartphone with a premium feel and refined combination of hardware, software and services will be served excellently by the HTC Sensation.
Hannah Bouckley from T3 says:In many ways the HTC Sensation is outstanding. The metal build is exactly what we expect from a smartphone of this calibre. Performance is exceptionally good, loading programs quickly, ensuring the phone never feels slow. HTC Sense is great too; sure there are a few things we’d like to see included, but the more efficient UI is still the best on an Android handset.  Our main criticism is the screen, which is good, but not as good as the Samsung Galaxy S II. But to be rated as almost the best Android handset on the market is no bad thing.
HTC Sensation VideosHTC Sensation SpecificationWeight5.22 ouncesScreen Size4.3-inchResolution540 x 960CPU1.2 GHz Qualcomm MSM8260 Snapdragon (duaRAM768 MBInternal Storage1 GBExternal StorageSupports up to 32GB microSD card, 8 GB pre-installedBattery Life8.25 hours talk timeFront Camera8 MPRear CameraVGABluetooth3.0Operating SystemAndroid 2.3 (Gingerbread)