HTC Sensation XE Android phone (preview)
- — 04 November, 2011 10:00
Described as a "mega-powerful, multimedia superphone", the HTC Sensation XE is an update to the existing HTC Sensation. It's the first smartphone in the world with integrated Beats Audio, which promises to deliver superior sound quality compared to competing smartphones.
• HTC Sensation review
• The best upcoming smartphones in 2011
We're not sure exactly what XE stands for (Xtra Edge?), but the basis of this new smartphone naturally comes from the original Sensation, a phone that was only released a short time ago. The Sensation XE features a near identical chassis, the same design and an identical screen as its predecessor. You get the same 4.3in qHD display, the same 8-megapixel camera and the same unibody aluminium design, though the touch-sensitive Android buttons now light up red instead of white, and the Beats Audio logo is emblazoned on the Sensation XE's battery cover. Both the edge of the camera lens and the grille covering the earpiece also get a coat of red paint.
The Sensation XE's upgraded audio quality is a direct result of HTC's strategic partnership with the Beats By Dr. Dre audio company. When used with the included Beats in-ear headphones, HTC claims the Sensation XE uses a personalised sound profile that will result in exceptional audio quality. The premium headphones include the Beats branding, signature red cord and come with in-line volume and playback controls.
The HTC Sensation XE also differs from its twin brother is under the hood. The XE has the same dual-core processor as the original Sensation but it's been overclocked to 1.5GHz (up from 1.2GHz). This means it should power along slightly quicker. It also gets a bigger batter — 1730mAh compared with 1520mAh. Though the jump in juice isn't likely to be huge, any improvement in battery life is a welcome one in our books. The Sensation XE also has 4GB of internal memory compared to the original's 1GB — however, only 1GB of it is user accessible.
One aspect of the HTC Sensation XE that hasn't changed is the 768MB of RAM. Considering HTC has upped the processor and the battery, we would have liked the XE to get a RAM boost to at least 1GB. While the original HTC Sensation was not a sluggish smartphone by any means, simple processes like swiping between home screens, zooming out to display a 'helicopter view' of current home screens, and swiping to open the lock screen would benefit from extra RAM.
The Sensation XE will be available from 9 November exclusively through Vodafone. It will be sold for $0 on Vodafone's $59 cap over 24 months.
Comments
Paul
Wed 21/09/2011 - 20:42
By now it's well known that the XE has the same processor as the original. Just the original one was downclocked to 1.2 Ghz by the firmware
Joe
Thu 22/09/2011 - 05:53
XE stands for eXtreme Edition, and the original Sensation also had 4GB internal and 1GB user accessible. In fact, the phones are actually identical hardware wise, including the SOC which was underclocked on the original Sensation.
Ross Catanzariti
Thu 22/09/2011 - 09:33
Xtreme Edition - that makes sense. Thanks for the info Joe!
Ximno
Mon 10/10/2011 - 15:15
Still waiting for this!!! The helpful folks at the Telstra shop didn't know anything about them...However, they were all running the Original Sensation...
I want one now...
Peterson
Tue 25/10/2011 - 17:24
Ok, I'm just happen to be one of the few people who uses a Mercedes bluetooth audio. So, while connecting the phone to the car's stereo, the sound comes out worse than my old phone, samsung vibrant. No doubt that it has the best sound quality while using the earphones, but I spent nearly three hours on the road, which also means three hours away from the earphones. So a software fix from the HTC will be greatly appreciated.
GLO
Sun 29/01/2012 - 11:26
I'm also finding thatvthe BT audio quality incredibly poor given the specs of this phone.
I have tried it with in our 2 Mercedes with Viseeo MBU1000 and new MB3 aswell as the Supertooth HD kit.
Any improvements coming?
John Snead
Wed 21/09/2011 - 14:57
Phone buyers are like kids in a candy store with these phones. Comparable phones are the Evo 3d and the Galaxy S2. The sensation is a great phone and the most attractive phone I've seen all year. What makes a phone fast is the RAM and not necessarily the processor. I current have a My touch4g which has more RAM the the Sensation. It is also faster on opening apps, and turning on the phone, and all touch screen responses. Still a great phone, I need more RAM