[INFO]HTC Sensation review round-up

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Hello, I've had a look at the reviews of major sites out there and these are my conclusions so I thought I'd share with you.

Engadget praises the design, build quality and form-factor of the phone along with the exceptional battery life and the performance of the camera.
Below are quotes from Engadget's review:

[+] The Sensation is a simple and untainted joy in the hand.
[+] Folks that don't care to recharge their phone every single night can buy the Sensation safe in the knowledge that it'll last for a good couple of days of casual use.
[+] In our review of the Galaxy S II, its pixel density left a little something to be desired. The Sensation gives us that extra flourish with a 960 x 540 resolution.
[+] Calls on the Sensation were for the most part clear and competently handled.
[+] As to aural performance, the loudspeaker on the back does a decent job and output to headphones is particularly pleasing.
[+] Image quality is usually high on the Sensation, though some software irregularities do undermine the evident strength of the hardware on board.
[+] We must commend HTC for the intelligently designed dual LED flash.
[+] Video recording on the Sensation is simply effortless. The camcorder's ability to keep up with motion on screen is markedly superior to what we're used to as well.
[+] App launching in general is nearly instantaneous.

Engadget's score for the Sensation is 8/10, but they have put some pretty dumb statements on the negatives:
Display isn't as Super as on Galaxy S II
Sense 3.0 changes are mostly cosmetic
Locked bootloader

Sure, the screen isn't of the same quality as the one on the GS2, and they've found it to be poorer than other SLCD displays, but hey, there are a lot of pixels in there!
Their statement on Sense 3.0 is true, but isn't HTC Sense already the best overlay for Android? Now it got even better, but not as much as they would want. I can't really understand how this could be a bad thing... And the locked bootloader is a sorted out problem after HTC's announcements.

Now let's see the main points of SlashGear about the Sensation:
[+] The qHD screen on the Sensation is bright and crisp, the extra pixels leaving graphics and text smooth and very readable.
[+] What the raw figures don’t communicate is how responsive the Sensation feels in daily use. Side-by-side with the Galaxy S II, it’s hard to tell the difference.
[+] HTC’s shooter marks a significant step up in quality. No more drab colors or middling detail; no more murky indoor shots. Close-ups are clear and crisp.
[+] We had no issues with phone performance on the Sensation, with both parties sounding clear. Speaker performance is loud but prone to distortion at top volume.
[+] With medium to heavy usage throughout the day, and by the evening the handset was still showing around quarter of its charge.
[+] 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.

So, that's what SlashGear thinks about the Sensation. They didn't actually say anything really negative about the phone and I'm starting to think whether Engadget's reports on the screen quality are a bit exaggerated...

Another review here from Pocket-lint, and their thoughts on our beloved phone:
[+] Although it is a large device, it doesn’t feel too big in the hand.
[+] HTC have chosen to have the back cover wrap around the edges meet the display edges, so you still get that seamless look and feel.
[+] The Sensation's screen, apart from the high resolution, it also offers plenty of brightness, nice bright whites and vibrant colours.
[+] One new major upgrade is the lockscreen. Previously we’ve seen a lockscreen offering a little more functionality, but HTC have really gone to town on it
[+] Fire up the browser and you’ve really got space to roam around and take in websites.
[+] Video capture keeps up with the best offering Full HD video. 1920 x 1080 pixels at 30fps as 3gp. The results are pretty good too, with plenty of detail.
[+] The stills are nice, perhaps a little contrasty and over-saturated although the limitations of having a small sensor are apparent: it won’t replace your digital camera.
[+] We had no problems with call quality on the HTC Sensation.
[+] The battery didn’t perform as badly as we’d expected and we did get through most of the (working) day on a single charge

Pocket-lint's review wasn't that much detailed but it was good overall. They didn't note anything bad about the display, too. In fact they said the colours were vibrant and the brightness was very good. They seem satisfied with the camera, the new Sense 3.0, sound and call quality, the battery life and well, with the phone as a whole.

The last review I sum-up here is from TechRadar and it was pretty good too. Let's not forget that they had the HTC Desire as the best phone in their list last year (now that honor has been given to the Galaxy S II). Anyways, let me dive into the review and present you the main points:
[+] The design of the HTC Sensation is a little bit larger than its rivals, in that it comes in at 11.3mm thick, but still feeling comfortable in the hand.
[+] At medium brightness you can make out what's on the screen in direct sunlight but compare it to the iPhone 4 or the Galaxy S II and it's miles behind.
[+] The resolution is definitely a step forward, and the sharpness of the text is impressive.
[+] The Sense 3.0 interface is not as snappy as the Samsung Galaxy S2, but it's unflappable and we found very little slowdown throughout.
[+] Call quality on the HTC Sensation seems to be poorer than many other phones.
[+] The signal quality was excellent on the whole for the HTC Sensation, with up to 50% more signal reported in known weak spots.
[+] We've always been fans of the HTC keyboard, and we found keyboard accuracy much higher than that on the Samsung Galaxy S2.
[+] The qHD resolution makes web pages look as crisp as anything else on the market at the moment, and the pictures and video all pops with slick ease.
[+] The Flash integration is sensational (we're sorry) as videos will stream without a judder and will instantly leap to full screen.
[+] The sheer speed, functionality and slickness of the browser on the HTC Sensation means web browsing is a really great experience.
[+] Sonically, HTC has done well again with the Sensation.
[+] Video performance is perfectly respectable, although certainly not market leading.
[+] Take the HTC Sensation into the light, not even direct sunlight, and you'll have to instantly turn up the brightness as high as it will go, which washes out the picture.
[+] The Sensation's battery life, to us, seems woeful and not up to scratch. We're talking dead by 8PM with no push email, minimal Wi-Fi and about 30 mins of music and video at the most.

On the other hand, TechRadar has many complaints about the Sensation. I'll start with the battery life, and say that it has been proved by the members of the forum here that the battery is indeed very well-performing on the Sensation, so I think there was something really wrong with the configuration on their review unit. They also seem to be bashing the brightness of the screen. However, they didn't mention anything about the colors. Another thing they found to be poor was the call quality, as they report that on a noisy environment they could be barely heard by the other part and communication was impossible. As much as they complain about the call quality, they are very happy with the reception, though. Among the things they liked are the increased resolution, the keyboard, the performance and the sound experience of the Sensation.

I hope you liked my round-up!

This is the greatest review

Thanks

this is a nice post & all, but seriously, there's already a post for reviews (& your roundup) that you could have put this in. Why create another post?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1048090

Originally Posted by xnifex

this is a nice post & all, but seriously, there's already a post for reviews (& your roundup) that you could have put this in. Why create another post?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1048090

Thanks, and well, I posted it in a new thread because it is pretty lengthy for a reply. The purpose was to compare and constrast the different reviews available, so we can see the opinion of different people, summarized in one place.

The only thing I'm worried about in the Sensation is the screen. Next to the GS2 it looks really washed out. As for the performance, everyone said it is very snappy and fast as you can see.

Originally Posted by giorgisp

The only thing I'm worried about in the Sensation is the screen. Next to the GS2 it looks really washed out. As for the performance, everyone said it is very snappy and fast as you can see.

Of course it looks washed out next to the GSII. taken from the GSII review from engadget:

...4.3-inch display here doesn't use one single backlight as LCD screens do, and instead only illuminates the pixels that are needed to actively display content. This is the reason why it can generate truer blacks than any backlit panel...

taken from the OLED wiki:

Wider viewing angles & improved brightness: OLEDs can enable a greater artificial contrast ratio (both dynamic range and static, measured in purely dark conditions) and viewing angle compared to LCDs because OLED pixels directly emit light. OLED pixel colours appear correct and unshifted, even as the viewing angle approaches 90° from normal.

AMOLED seems to just be the better screen technology. As long as LCDs are going off of one backlight, they're going to look washed out when viewing from odd angles. The only reason HTC is putting in SLCD over AMOLED is due to shortages.

Originally Posted by xnifex

Of course it looks washed out next to the GSII. taken from the GSII review from engadget:

taken from a forum post from android forums:


AMOLED seems to just be the better screen technology. As long as LCDs are going off of one backlight, they're going to look washed out when viewing from odd angles. The only reason HTC is putting in SLCD over AMOLED is due to shortages.

Actually, I have an AMOLED Desire and the screen's colours are very vivid, and the blacks are the deepest I've ever seen, they are perfect. I just can't stand the PenTile Matrix (it is really really annoying, you have to live it to believe it) and the fact I can't read the phone's screen outdoors. Now with the S-AMOLED Plus these problems are solved, but I'd rather opt-in for a more established technology this time (my second smartphone) and of course the better resolution is nice to have too.

I hope there won't be shortages on the upcoming ultra-high resolution and with superb contrast Toshiba screens later this year.

Originally Posted by giorgisp

Actually, I have an AMOLED Desire and the screen's colours are very vivid, and the blacks are the deepest I've ever seen, they are perfect. I just can't stand the PenTile Matrix (it is really really annoying, you have to live it to believe it) and the fact I can't read the phone's screen outdoors. Now with the S-AMOLED Plus these problems are solved, but I'd rather opt-in for a more established technology this time (my second smartphone) and of course the better resolution is nice to have too.

I hope there won't be shortages on the upcoming ultra-high resolution and with superb contrast Toshiba screens later this year.

yeah it was stated in the engadget review that they fixed that. I've never seen why the PenTile Matrix is bad. care to point me to some articles that show it? I'd really like to see. My buddy had the original Galaxy S & I thought the screen looked great, but didn't actually sit there with it for a long time to notice anything wrong.

Originally Posted by xnifex

Of course it looks washed out next to the GSII. taken from the GSII review from engadget:

taken from the OLED wiki:


AMOLED seems to just be the better screen technology. As long as LCDs are going off of one backlight, they're going to look washed out when viewing from odd angles. The only reason HTC is putting in SLCD over AMOLED is due to shortages.

It looks washed out next to the Incredible S as well:

http://www.viddler.com/explore/engadget/videos/2794/

Originally Posted by george232

It looks washed out next to the Incredible S as well:

http://www.viddler.com/explore/engadget/videos/2794/

I forgot this video. hopefully it's better with the tmous version

nice post

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Nice reviews and great post. Thx dude.