The HTC Sensation is an Android smartphone that falls in to the top end of the range of devices they manufacturer. We’ve been testing the Sensation over the last few weeks to see what it’s like and how it compares to other high end smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S2.
HTC Sensation Hardware
The Sensation has a large screen measuring 4.3 inches and is capable of showing 960×540 pixels in a qHD resolution. The processor is a Qualcomm dual-core Snapdragon. On the back is an 8 megapixel camera that can capture at full HD 1080p. A camera can also be found on the front that allows for video calls at a VGA resolution. Memory wise, it comes with 768MB RAM and 1GB ROM and has an 8GB microSD card supplied with it. For connectivity, it has all the usual such as Bluetooth, WiFi b/g/n and has sensors such as an accelerometer as well as aGPS. The operating system on the device is Android 2.3. The battery is 1520mAh which isn’t quite up to scratch as the Galaxy S2, but doesn’t perform badly at all. With other Android devices we have used, you can often get better battery life by switching off those functions you don’t always need.
We liked the design of the phone. The front 4.3 inch screen is covered with a smooth panel that is set back at the edges making the screen concave around the edges. Below the screen are 4 capacitive buttons which are the usual for Android smartphones being Home, Menu, Back and Search. Above the screen is a speaker, sensor, LED and the VGA camera.
On the left side of the Sensation you’ll find a volume button with the right side and bottom side being empty of buttons other than the small catch to release the back panel. On the top a 3.5mm headphone jack and power button can be found.
The back of the device looks similar to other HTC designs we have seen. The top left has a dual-flash and the camera lens along side a loud speaker and what looks to be a noise cancelling mic.
The HTC Sensation has a unique design within. The device is based around a metal frame to give the device strength. HTC describe it as a unibody made of aluminium.
HTC Sensation Software and Performance
The Sensation performs very well thanks to the 1.2GHz Dual-core processor. These newer CPU’s are beginning to make Android more enjoyable to use as there’s little lag between screen transitions and software loads up quickly. HTC have used Sense 3.0 on this device and out of all other Sense overlays, I actually found this one to be nice to use. When switching on the device all you do is swipe up the screen and with no lag at all, you are then taken with animation to the home screen of the device which shows a clock, weather info and several icons. One feature I quite liked was the slide down notification window that uses 2 tabs with one being notifications and the other showing toggles for GPS, WiFi, Data and other functions on the device. In total, there are 7 home screens that can be scrolled between for all your apps you have installed.
When compared to other modern smartphones, the HTC Sensation performs exceptionally well. We like the high resolution screen as well as the whole general experience which hasn’t been ruined by Sense.
Conclusion
The HTC Sensation is well built and uses an aliminium unibody design. It feels quality which is good. The dual-core processor runs extremely well and allows for smooth transitions and a better user experience with the phone. Although we’ve seen battery life better than the Sensation, it still performs very well in this area and shouldn’t put you off in any way.
Overall, a very good device.
The HTC Sensation is available on the Three network in the UK.
Update: Slight modification to specs.
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