Alex-Davies
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ElizabethS
The Bell HTC Sensation 4G is now available at Future Shop for $149.99 here.
When one thinks about industrial design, especially in tech, Apple always gets all the accolades for its products. While I admit that they do make some very pretty hardware, I personally think, at least when it comes to phones, that HTC makes the best-looking and best-built devices. Unlike Apple, who only have to design one handset per product cycle, HTC makes a wide selection of phones for multiple OS’s, and, by in large, each one is a beautiful work of gadget engineering.
HTC has had a long history with Android - the first Android G1 phone, and Google’s flagship Nexus One (that really pushed the OS into the mainstream), were made by HTC. When the Nexus One first came out, Google released a series of ‘making-of’ videos which showcased how much work both Google and HTC put into designing and manufacturing it. The video below shows that HTC’s phones are not just great to look at, but also incredibly well made. The new HTC Sensation 4G continues this long Android heritage.
We have already seen some great Android phones from HTC this year, like the Desire HD and Incredible S, but the Sensation is truly the next generation of smartphones, what some have dubbed ‘superphones’. It is HTC’s first dual-core phone, and only the third one available in Canada (after the Motorola ATRIX and LG Optimus 2x), and I have had the privilege of being able to test one out for a week. I have been very impressed with it so far – it’s certainly one of the best phones you can buy in Canada today.
Hardware Overview
The Sensation is built using HTC’s unique metal uni-body design, which they pioneered on the Nexus One. Unlike previous models, there are no removable plastic doors – the whole back and frame lifts off the chassis to expose the battery and SIM slot (you can see this in the picture slideshow below). The uni-body design allows HTC to make the Sensation very thin and light, but still very strong because it’s not all plastic, and it’s one of the thinnest and lightest phones available today. The Sensation’s contours fit perfectly in my hand, the soft-touch finish feels great, and the weight is reassuring and very balanced.
The screen is a 4.3” qHD (540x960) 16:9 Super LCD. It is very bright, and the resolution means its pixel density is very good – small text is very sharp, great for web browsing since you can fit more of a webpage on the screen and still read it. However I did find that the colours were a bit muted (at least compared to those on Samsung’s Super AMOLED screens), and the screen washed-out when viewing it off-axis. It is also very reflective, which took some getting used to.
The Qualcomm dual-core processor is snappy, and powers HTC’s new Sense UI 3.0 Android interface. While it is still debatable if you really need a dual-core processor on a phone today, since not many applications can take advantage of all that power right now, the Sensation did feel faster in everyday use compared to my current phone, a single-core Desire HD. Web pages rendered faster, task switching seemed quicker, and the extra power has allowed HTC to add some cool visual flourishes to the new UI.
The Camera on the Sensation is 8MP with a dual LED flash. While my Desire HD has the same sensor, the camera performance is much better on the Sensation – probably a combination of hardware and software upgrades. It focuses faster, and there is no delay from when you push the shutter to when the picture is actually taken. The low-light performance is still not the greatest. You can also now record video in 1080p, due to the additional horsepower the dual-core gives the phone, and it captures sound in stereo. I was, however, disappointed with the audio quality and performance in loud environments – there is no way to adjust the levels to capture clean audio – but then again it’s only a phone, so you can’t expect it to perform like a proper HD video camera. There is also a front-facing VGA camera for video calling, and while there was no pre-installed app, you can easily download Qik or Skype to do this (when a version of Skype is released that is compatible with the Sensation).
The battery is 1520 mAh, and is probably the most disappointing component of the Sensation. While it is bigger than both the one found in the HTC Desire HD and the HTC Incredible S it just doesn’t seem to last as long. I guess the dual-core processor, higher-resolution screen, and new elements of the Sense UI 3.0 software put a lot of strain on things, so while the battery life is not appalling, you should expect to have to charge up the phone at least twice a day with moderate use.
The Sensation supports HSPA+ 14.4 Mbps speeds, and when I speed-tested the phone I got an average of 7 Mbps. While this is nowhere close to the rated speed (and even further away from real 4G), it is still one of the fastest scores I have recorded. The combination of this network speed with the dual-core processor makes web browsing a joy on this phone.
Software Overview
When the Android OS first came out, one of its biggest failings was the UI. It was unintuitive and unrefined, a far-cry from the iPhone 3G’s UI. HTC realized that if they were ever going to compete with the iPhone, they would have to make Android more user-friendly, so the next generation of Android phones from them, starting with the Hero, came with HTC Sense, or Sense UI. Sense smoothed out the rough edges of Android, both visually, by making it more attractive with a unified look, and by making it more user-friendly, by improving the ease of use and including functionality missing from the core Android OS.
Since then Sense UI has widely been considered to be the best UI built on top of vanilla Android, and while each successive update of Android from Google has improved its core functionality, Sense still brings a lot to the table. At the heart of it, HTC has integrated functionality that you would normally have to download a 3rd party app for, so you’ll find Twitter and Facebook updates integrated into the phone, and a lot more widgets that you can put on your home screens.
On the Sensation, HTC has upgraded Sense UI to version 3.0, running over Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread). Some of the new features include new live-lock screens - you can choose from screens that display weather, stocks, photos or social media updates while the phone is locked. There are also new shortcuts that allow you to unlock the phone straight into a specific app, such as the camera or dialler. While I did find most of Sense UI 3.0's upgrades very useful, especially the live-lock screens, it did feel a little sluggish in some areas than the previous 2.0 version found on my Desire HD (though it’s hardly noticeable).This is something that I am sure HTC will improve with future updates.
HTC has also included some new applications, such as HTC Watch, which is their own online movie-rental and download store. Content you download can be watched on your phone or on your TV if you hook up the phone via an optional HDMI cable. There is also an e-reader application that links to the Kobo store, and Polaris Office is pre-installed so you can view and create Word and Excel documents.
Another great application that HTC includes is their Locations mapping software. You might wonder why you would need another mapping application if the phone already comes with Google Maps. Well, the reason is that Google Maps needs to be connected to the internet at all times to work, and uses up your data. Locations has offline map data provided by Tom Tom stored on the SD card, and the Sensation includes mapping data for both the US and Canada. The only catch is that if you want to use the navigation functionality of Locations, you have to pay extra.
Lastly, since the HTC Sensation 4G is available on Bell, it comes with some pre-installed Bell apps. While most of them are superfluous, the Remote PVR app, that lets you program your Bell PVR from your phone, is pretty useful (if you subscribe to Bell TV). Also the Bell TV & Radio app lets you watch live TV and on-demand video content from a surprisingly large variety of channels, including HBO. Of course there is a monthly fee for this service.
Overall impressions
The HTC Sensation 4G is certainly an impressive phone, and probably the best HTC phone I have used. It looks great, is extremely well made, thin, light and very powerful. However, it is not a perfect experience, but then again what phone provides one. Sense UI 3.0 includes some great new features, but does feel a little sluggish at times, and the battery life is not particularly good. However if you are in the market for a new smartphone today, I would certainly take a long look at this phone.
Full Tech Specs:
Processor: Qualcomm 8260 dual core 1.2 GHz Snapdragon
Platform: Android 2.3 + HTC Sense 3.0
Memory: 768 MB RAM, 1 GB internal storage, 8 GB microSD card included
Display: 4.3-inch super LCD qHD (540x960) screen
Network: HSPA+ 14.4 Mbps /GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz
Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n
Camera: 8 MP main camera with autofocus, dual-LED flash, VGA front-facing camera, 1080p HD video capture
Dimension, Weight: 126.1mm x 65.4mm x 11.3mm, 148g
Battery: Rechargeable lithium-ion battery 1520 mAh
Mobile Hotspot: Supports up to 8 Wi-Fi-enabled devices
Video: Video calling enabled
Slideshow of pictures of the review model I am testing:
Official HTC Sensation multimedia superphone video:
You can learn more about the HTC Sensation 4G on the official HTC site here, and at Bell here.
The phone is available now from Bell at Future Shop here, and is $149.99 on a new 3 year contract, $549.99 no term.
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