HTC has come a long way since the Desire’s release last year — the Sensation is the Taiwanese manufacturer’s newest flagship phone, and it has some impressive specs, including a 960×540 qHD screen and a 1.2GHz dual-core processor.
HTC recently launched a website that provides the tools necessary to unlock bootloaders, and while we’re still left hanging on a concrete date for the tool to become available on Telstra-branded devices, the Sensation will no doubt be one of the more popular phones to be unlocked as it’s targeted at the sort of people most likely to experiment with custom ROMs and UIs.
Specs: HTC Sensation
Display: 4.3-inch 540×960 resolution
Battery: 1520mAh lithium-ion
Processor: 1.2 GHz dual-core
Memory: 768MB RAM, 1GB ROM
OS: Android 2.3 + HTC Sense
Cameras: 8MP rear camera; VGA front-facing
Price: $0 upfront on Telstra’s $79 Freedom Connect plan
Like
HTC is renowned for making well-built phones, and with the Sensation weighing in at 148g, it feels solid in the hand. It has a curved aluminium unibody design, the trademark rubberised back, and it doesn’t feel too large thanks to a smaller bezel. The 4.3-inch qHD Gorilla Glass screen is beautiful and resistant to scratches even in my klutzy hands — as with any screen, it’s difficult to see in sunlight, but images and text are exceptionally crisp and bright.
It has a fast dual-core processor that makes makes browsing the web and switching between applications a breeze. And while we’re perfectly happy with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) — we wouldn’t expect anything less on a flagship phone — there’s no reason why it wouldn’t be a perfect candidate for Ice Cream Sandwich, which is expected later this year.
I’ve never been a fan of HTC Sense (and I’m not the only one), but I can’t imagine the Sensation without it. It was a pain on some of the older, lower-specced HTC phones like the Desire, but the dual-core processor and more generous internal memory (thought not by much) makes it a pleasure to use.
One of the features that I love the most about the Sensation is its 8MP camera and 1080p HD video recording. The auto-focus is spot on and it lets you make custom image adjustments, such as sharpness, saturation, contrast, exposure, ISO, face detection, among others. It also comes with a bunch of different effects that make it fun to play with, but its lack of image stabilisation means it doesn’t really work as a point-and-shoot replacement.
No Like
There isn’t a lot to not like about the Sensation. Many of its downsides come from its strengths — namely high-end specs that make you want to do juice-sucking activities all day long. My other beef is with the usual Telstra bloatware that you can’t remove, but there’s more than enough space to carry all the apps you need despite the 1GB ROM being quite stingy compared to other similarly specced Android phones.
The Sensation comes with a relatively large 1520mAh battery, but despite having what’s supposed to be more efficient dual-core guts, even moderate usage will see you need to charge your phone by dinner time. Most days it would pop up a dialog and whine about being below 15 per cent battery before I was ready to put it down for the day.
The camera is great for taking pictures on the go, but there doesn’t appear to be an option to upload individual pictures from the gallery. You have to open up Facebook or Twitter and select the image from there. You can upload as soon as you take the picture, but you have to hit the “share” button before the preview disappears. That’s a major oversight for snap-happy people like myself, especially since the camera is good enough that you want to use it regularly for even the littlest things.
Should I Buy It?
Despite its few weaknesses, the Sensation is one of the best Android phones you can get right now, especially since it’ll soon have the freedom of an unlocked bootloader. It emphasises Android’s strengths in the best way possible, and it’s especially a delight to use if you’re into the social networking scene. Telstra’s little-talked-about HD Voice will also be appealing to those who make lots of calls, provided that the person you’re speaking to also has a HD Voice-enabled smartphone.
The HTC Sensation is exclusive to Telstra and available outright for $792, or $0 on a $79 Freedom Connect plan.
Kobol
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 12:46 PMDid anyone else get distracted by the hand in the pictures?
Elly Hart
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 1:11 PMHuh?
Christian
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 1:14 PMthe cool nail polish colour
Nick
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 1:56 PMyou havent seen hands before?
Graham
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 2:11 PMI think having the Elly’s hand in the shots gives a good indication of the size of the phone… unless of course she is tricking us and has giant man hands and the phone is actually the size of an iPad. ;)
Mav
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 12:56 PMOr u can get this on ebay for $520.
Plus, the fact that there is only 768mb of ram on a dual core phone is quite pathetic.
Wardski
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 6:18 PMAgreed. I’ve played with the Telstra version in JB’s and side by side my Galaxy S II I prefer the later.
The Sensation still gets real laggy with Sense UI, and to be honest the dual core CPU is totally out dated and slapped together being 2 x A8 cores, vs Samsung’s Exynos dual A9′s and even Nvidia’s got dual A9′s as well. If it had the Dual core TI CPU like the LG Optimus 3D, I’d consider it.
TBH, I’d rather get the new HTC Evo 3D when it hits shelves down here, even though its got the same Snapdragon Dual core A8 core..
Troy
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 1:05 PMI reckon the back looks ugly, and htc sense too. I’ve got a galaxy s 2 and have already convinced 3 others to get it with more considering
Elly Hart
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 1:13 PMI reviewed the Sensation without having had any meaningful hands-on time with the Galaxy S II. It’s quite possible this review could have turned out differently!
Christian
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 1:16 PMIt would REEEEALLY be worth having a comparison of the two phones (side by side, Death match, winner takes all…etc) as many people would go for either of the phones
Mike
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 1:51 PMThis.
FWIW I’d say the S II comes out on top. Better battery, display that rivals this one, 8MP camera and 1080p video too, 1Gb ram instead of 768Mb, and 1.2Ghz ARM
panderiz
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 1:55 PM+1 for samsung galaxy S2, but would rather either phone over a shitty iphone.
Greg
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 2:21 PMThe comparatively low res screen on the SGS2 is its major downfall. After using the Sensation it is difficult to go back to a lower resolution.
Elly Hart
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 2:45 PMGreat idea!
Pmac
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 2:11 PMSensation vs SGS2
http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/article/385740/htc_sensation_vs_samsung_galaxy_ii_smartphone_showdown/
Sam
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 2:30 PMI think it comes down to where your priorities come as to which is the better phone. I haven’t used either, but I’ve heard that they each excels the other in different areas.
While the screen is definitely competant in the SGS-II; many have said the Sensation’s screen edges ahead. The SGS-II has been criticised for feeling plasticy – where as the aluminium chassis HTC uses has been popular for a while now. Though for some lightness of the SGS-II may be a positive.
On the other hand, I’ve also heard that the SGS-II tends to perform better on benchmarks, and has more RAM.
cayal
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 1:49 PMhappy with my Xperia Arc droid phone.
measureincm
Tuesday, September 6, 2011 at 2:30 PMhaha youre so easy to impress
panderiz
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 1:54 PMStill rather my S2, but not a bad job by HTC. Hardware specs very similar, just slap on cyanogen and enjoy either phone.
Sean
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 2:04 PMre: uploading of photos
you can upload photos via the gallery app, but you need to press the share button at the bottom first and then select how you want to share it. A bit counter-intuitive but oh well.
Also if you choose to share via normal facebook i think it only lets you pick one at a time, but if going through facebook for htc sense you can select more than one =/
ozoneocean
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 2:15 PMI’ve been using my HTC Sensation for a few months now… 2 or 3? Something like that.
It’s fantastic for taking good pictures, as long as you up the contrast by 1 point and don’t point it at direct light sources. But the settings can be used to tweak it for decent shots in a variety of conditions.
You can share any individual pic just by tapping it to bring up the option. Maybe the reviewer’s model didn’t have a recent update or something- not surprising with Telstra versions.
-The lack of a dedicated camera key is a pain in the arse though.
It’s generally very fast to use, rarely gets bogged down. And it turns on almost instantly- mainly because it doesn’t actually shut down, but goes to “sleep” with things still saved in the memory… Which means you have to tell it to restart if things DO start to get weird, and that’s not something you naturally think to do.
There is some bugginess too that shows up occasionally… But I think that it mainly has to do with it not using memory that efficiently.
I used my phone extensively in the US on the T-mobile network that purports to be 4G. It was generally very fast, playing all content on the web perfectly, including flash vids and things like that.
Overall, iphone users were the ones most impressed by the look and speed of my phone as I travelled the US, which I found interesting. But when it comes down to it a phone is just a phone, they all have the same features now, it’s just that some are newer than others. So stick with what you know and are comfortable with.
Anyway, it’s a decent beast, but not really a massive jump over something like the Desire.
Tb
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 2:15 PMNice hands on, but isn’t this review a bit late to the party? Anyone that wanted a Sensation got one ages ago, and those that tried it and couldn’t handle Sense went and picked up a GSII and never looked back (myself included).
PS what we all really want to know, is how does it feel in your jeans pocket? I simply couldn’t handle the heft of it. People say that my GSII is too light and thin, but I strongly disagree. I have dropped it twice (on a hard wood floor) and it didn’t skip a beat, a heavier phone would have been met with more consequences I would think (a la my old 3GS which was a bloody floor magnet).
Although I guess you probably carry it around in a bag :)
ozoneocean
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 2:27 PMI have tight jeans and it fit in there just fine. It didn’t feel too heavy. Was ok in the lower pockets of my travel shorts too. I dropped it on a hard wood floor once an it was ok.
Elly Hart
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 2:49 PMThat’s exactly why I think HTC build quality is so good. The number of times I dropped and chipped my Desire… it just kept on trucking on.
The Sensation has the sort of design that would mean I’d have no problem sticking it into the back of even my skinny jeans. Well, at least compared to the design of the boxy iPhone 4.
Greg
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 2:16 PMTelstra apps can easily be removed with temproot.
Other than that a fairly balanced, accurate review.
ozoneocean
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 2:18 PMOh yes, it’s pretty too and durable, which is one of the main reasons I got it. A hi-spec phone should always have the looks to match, or else, why bother?
Steve
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 3:28 PMGood-looking phones are a very post-2007 phenomenon anyway. Everything before that looked for garbage, and costed several times what our smartphones do now.
Johnny P
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 2:36 PMpfft save your money and get an iphone 5 when it comes out. No micromanaging task manager, reliable stable OS more apps to choose from, supporting a company with innovation rather than a copycat. It just works
ozoneocean
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 2:47 PMAll those points you listed are your own invention with no bearing on reality at all and really quite deliberately trollish in the context of this artificial.
That said- if you like iphones and are happy with them then yes, you should definitely wait for the iphone 5 or 4gs or whatever it will be called! If you’re comfortable with an OS and used to it then it’s better to stick with the same manufacturer when going for an update.
Steve
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 3:25 PMThe only point that held water in fanboy nonsense was the app store being stronger on IOS, and even this is becoming a moot point with the accelerating adoption of Android.
-2.3 is stable and reliable. Or do you know any better?
-Android doesn’t need task manager apps anymore and hasn’t since pre-Eclair days.
-Apple does not innovate anymore. Even a cursory glance over IOS5′s features show copying at every level (Android notifications, Blackberry Messenger, Wireless Syncing etc). No doubt, Apple’s September keynote will have Jobs pretending that they’re brand new features… which they are really, just for iPhones.
How’s the kool-aid tasting?
BenDTU
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 3:29 PMOne day I’m going to understand what Kool-Aid actually is and why drinking it is considered a bad thing.
trk
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 4:44 PMToday is that day. Be excited!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_the_Kool-Aid
“Drinking the Kool-Aid” is a metaphor, used in the United States and Canada, that means to become an unquestioning believer in some ideology, or to accept an argument or philosophy wholeheartedly or blindly without critical examination. The phrase can sometimes have a negative connotation, or can be used ironically. The basis of the term is a reference to the November 1978 Jonestown Massacre,[1][2] where members of the Peoples Temple were said to have committed suicide by drinking a “Kool-Aid”-like drink laced with cyanide.
ExplosionsHurt
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 5:43 PMOh. So it’s US stuff…
Richard
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 5:11 PMApple doesn’t innovate anymore? Sure, if you say so.
It’s not like Android 2.3 was a particularly exciting release that came with all kinds of new features and tricks.
boris
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 3:05 PMI’m waiting for the Nexus Three (Nexus Prime?) before I upgrade my Nexus One
iPhone 5, Galaxy S2 and Sensation will be ‘meh’ when that awesome 720p display comes out.
Anyone who can wait until Xmas (might be earlier but this is Australia) should wait for an Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) phone.
p.s., Elly Hart is soooo good looking
BenDTU
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 4:28 PMWhy does every phone HTC put out these days look exactly the same?
Ozoneocean
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 4:52 PMWhy do the phones from ALL manufacturers look the same as the rest of their ranges? :)
Companies tend to develop signature looks and house styles.
The one thing to be thankful for here is that HTC is at least pretty distinguishable from the iphone range, the same can’t be said for the current crop of Samsungs, which is quite unfortunate.
Mr_herkt
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 4:45 PMI have played with the Sensation (and owned a Desire HD before) but have now got the SGS2. Its amazing, and all the talk of the screen not being great is simply rubbish. Its a excellent screen, and the device in general is possibly one of the best gadgets I have ever owned.
and to Johnny P’s comment ‘pfft save your money and get an iphone 5 when it comes out.’ save your apple fanboy wank. Its getting pretty dry.
ritik
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 6:17 PMsomething new and better always comes along…already there are rumours of a 1.5ghz dual core beast being released by htc in a few months (i think its codenamed the htc vigor)
ritik
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 6:18 PMplus its rumoured to include beats by dr dre in it, would be a great idea if true
james_whatsit
Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 12:56 AMany one else know anything about that sgsII with a hardware keyboard being released on at&t over in america? is anywhere offering imports? is it still quadband 3G?