HTC Sensation XE

Editor's Review of the Sensation XE

The HTC Sensation XE is an improved version of the original Sensation, which managed to impress in our hands-on review. It's also the first of HTC's phones to arrive equipped with Beats Audio technology, so does HTC's Beat acquisition really bring anything new to the table?

Design & Build

The Sensation XE is identical to the original Sensation in terms of design, except for a few additional red highlights to highlight its included Beats tech. Like the original, the phone's rounded chassis makes it comfortable to hold, despite it lacking the high-end feel of the iPhone 4S.

It's not its unibody design that'll first catch your eye, however - it'll be the handset's 4.3-inch qHD (540 x 960) S-LCD display. As we covered in our HTC Sensation Review, this screen certainly manages to impress - especially when watching HD movies or browsing the web. The only downside is the display's Super LCD technology, which looks a little washed out when compared to the Super AMOLED Plus screen of the Galaxy S2.

It's under the hood where things begin to get exciting with the Sensation XE. The phone packs an impressively quick 1.5GHz dual-core processor - compared to the Sensation's 1.2GHz effort - and the increased power has resulted in a blisteringly quick user interface, and one of the best browsing experiences we're yet to experience.

OS & Interface

Like the original HTC Sensation, the updated Sensation XE is running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) OS - with an update to Android 4.0 no doubt in the works. Although Sense 3.5 has been formally introduced, HTC's older Sense 3.0 overlay sits atop the phone's Android software - the same as found on the handset's few-month-old sibling.

We're huge fans of HTC's Sense software, and Sense 3.0 by no means disappoints. For example, you get HTC's fancy new lock-screen, which lets you fire open an app without unlocking the phone. We're also fans of HTC's FriendStream widget, which is much more intuitive than Sony Ericsson's and Samsung's offerings.

Multimedia & Storage

The HTC Sensation XE's selling point is undoubtedly its Beats Audio technology. and you won't be disappointed. The bundled iBeats in-ear headphones - which usually retail for around £80 - are the best we've seen, and heard, with any mobile phone. Dubstep fans - rejoice, as the earphones (when coupled with the phone's "bass boost" profile) make bass-heavy music sounds fantastic, and no matter how loud we turned up the volume, we noticed no distortion.

However, although HTC claims that Beats Audio delivers the music "the way the artist intended" - if you a fan of classical music, the Sensation XE may not be the phone for you.

The 8 megapixel camera that graced the original HTC Sensation remains unchanged, but that's by no means a bad thing. This snapper comes equipped with an LED flash, which manages to add ample light to lowly-lit surroundings to created detailed, and natural-looking photos.

The camera is also capable of recording 1080p HD video, which as you've probably guessed, is similarly impressive. Footage recorded looks smooth and vibrant, and looks absolutely gorgeous on the phone's 4.3-inch screen. Using the phone's DLNA capability, you can fire it off to your HD TV, too.

Everything Else

As we mentioned previously, browsing the web on the HTC Sensation XE is, well, phenomenal. The phone's fast HSDPA and WiFi connectivity, 1.5GHz dual-core processor and stunning 4.3-inch qHD screen make browsing the web pretty-much faultless. Pages loaded extremely fast, and looked absolutely fantastic on the well-sized display.

Battery life is another of the HTC Sensation XE's improvements. While the original Sensation packed a 1520mAh battery, the updated model boasts an upgraded 1730mAh effort. Although we didn't notice a massive improvement, the HTC Sensation XE managed to last over-a-day of fairly-heavy usage.

Conclusion

With the HTC Sensation XE, HTC has taken an excellent Android phone and made it even better. The included iBeats headphones make this one of the - if not the - best phone on the market for music fans, and its 1.5GHz dual-core processor makes it one of the most powerful. The only *slight* downside is the handset S-LCD display, so if you're more interested in screen-quality than music, you might want to check out the Samsung Galaxy S2.