HTC Sensation review

It seems these days for a mobile to get that ‘Flagship’ status of a manufacturer’s best phone then it has to have the muscle of a dual core processor behind it and with HTC it’s no exception….

Enter the HTC Sensation.
This offering from the Taiwanese manufacturer is the latest in their line of sleek and sexy smartphones and this review will take you through the good the bad and even the potentially ugly of what the HTC Sensation has to offer. So without further ado, here we go…

HTC Sensation Review

Design & feel

We have always been strong admirers of HTC’s consistent ability to churn out premium and good looking mobiles albeit a little similar but quality nonetheless.

Now to say that the HTC Sensation is a razor thin phone would be doing it a favour as when compared to some of the competitor’s offerings such as the iPhone 4 or the Samsung Galaxy S II then there’s no getting around it; it simply is bigger.

But in our humble opinion that isn’t such a bad thing. Ok if we’re talking comparing the likes of a brick shaped mobile phone against something as slim as a couple of credit cards you’re going to start asking questions but in the case of the HTC Sensation we’re talking a few millimetres difference.

In the grand scheme of things the extra weight (even though small) gives the Sensation a more premium feel. Couple this with the smooth aluminium unibody and you get a firm sense of assurance that it can hold up against every day little knocks and bumps and won’t leave you with your heart in your mouth every time it slips out of your hand and plummets towards the likes of a carpeted floor.

The HTC Sensation’s screen measures in at 4.3 inches and the display sports a qHD pixel resolution of 540 x 960. And for those that aren’t fluent in resolution measurements then we can inform you that 540×960 will give a very sharp and crisp image, as most other phones linger around the 480 x 800 pixel resolution mark.

The screen is bright and vibrant, so reading text on screen is very clear. This is especially evident on web pages, where the words automatically get auto scaled up or down depending on whether you’re zooming in and out, which is a nice little touch.

To take things one step further HTC have also made the screen ever so slightly concave. This not only keeps the screen lifted off surfaces to avoid scratches but also gives a noticeable level of feedback when scrolling from left to right. As your finger slides up towards the perimeter of the display you get a real screen ‘Sensation’.

Camera

No self respecting smartphone these days would be seen without sporting a camera which had at least 5.0 megapixels or above.

It is a good thing then that the Sensation not only fits this requirement but builds upon it. With an 8.0 megapixel effort at the back accompanied by a dual LED flash and a VGA lens at the front. The main 8.0 megapixel shooter is very adept at taking some quite nifty shots.

Thanks to the intelligent autofocus the HTC Sensation will look for the optimum light levels to give the best exposure and contrast in the pictures. It isn’t an exact science though and as with all camera phones you can expect that it won’t be replacing any snazzy digital cameras just yet.

Still… for whacking out your pocket and taking a snap in a hurry you can’t really go wrong.
The VGA at the front is also more than enough for taking a quick mug shot of you and your mate or for simply getting in a spot of video calling when Wi-Fi is available.

Internet

With a 4.3 inch screen, a qHD display and Flash 10.3 integration the HTC Sensation is in our opinion the best HTC phone for surfing the web bar none.

Because it runs Android you aren’t limited by the absence of Flash player. This grants the Sensation a sort of all access areas multimedia pass for the web. Videos will load instantly without even a hint of a judder and a long press will force the multimedia into a full screen pane for your viewing pleasure.

You don’t have to just stick to one website at a time though. The HTC Sensation gives you the option to open up new tabs and scroll through them at your leisure. And if you’re worried about a lagging in performance, don’t be, the dual core processor keeps everything ticking along nicely although, maybe not quite as fast as some of the other dual core handsets out there.

One of the nicest features of Android or more specifically HTC web browsing is the option to share nearly all your web content. So for example if you want to share an interesting web page or article, then you can.
Or if you want to copy text, as well as the usual paste you will be given options to share this out further on other platforms. With such a wide range of options you can go far beyond just your basic shares on Twitter and Facebook.

With HTC’s latest version of Sense (their user interface) and Android on board ‘the World Wide Web is your oyster’.

Battery life

The rise and fall of many a smartphone can rest with its battery life. I mean what’s the point in having a fantastic all singing all dancing smartphone if it dies on you in the early hours of the afternoon after a full nights charge?

Fortunately the HTC Sensation has enough juice in its locker to keep it just about chugging along for a whole day with fairly heavy use.

Although this is not ideal for those of you who are used to the batteries of yester year which seemed to keep going and going, this is unfortunately the harsh downside of some of today’s smartphones and in this case the HTC Sensation.

Verdict

The HTC Sensation is another well stocked weapon in HTC’s mobile arsenal and is more than worthy of filing into the high ranks of today’s premium smart phones.

With its classy design and premium feel you are immediately aware of the quality that a phone like the Sensation carries with it. However, this quality and sleekness is not just limited to the exterior of the phone as the features that help show off this phones true potential also reside deep within.

Unfortunately for a premium phone you do need a premium battery and this is worryingly something we aren’t sure the Sensation carries. Sure it can try and tide you over until the end of the day but with heavy use the idea of playing a lottery with your phone battery isn’t ideal.

For all it’s good points it is hard to pick out where the Sensation falls short, (other than the battery of course) however if we really had to knit pick then it would be for the display technology. The qHD display is of a very good quality and by all accounts better than most, however when placed directly against the likes of a super AMOLED you do start to see a clear difference in clarity, reflectivity, and battery consumption which incidentally backs up our previous qualm.

We still love all the other new features that the likes of HTC Sense and Android can bring to a phone like the Sensation and are sure that in terms of sheer performance and usability the Sensation really is at the threshold.

If you’re looking to get a cutting edge dual core device, with an exceptional build and quality built in features then we have no problem in recommending to you the HTC Sensation; a phone that really does live up to its name.

**What do you think of the new addition to the HTC range? If you’re lucky enough to have had your hands on the HTC Sensation or you have read another HTC Sensation review somewhere else then share your thoughts and let us know what you think by commenting, or if you like over @e2save on twitter