HTC Sensation XE hands-on

Introduction

Out of one party and into the other - HTC is showing off yet more hot gadgetry and we’re going hands-on with it. After yesterday’s Rhyme launch, today we’ll be playing with an even hotter piece of smartphone technology. The Sensation XE is not only the new HTC flagship, but its also the company's first dip into the audiophile pool.

  
HTC Sensation XE official photos

The Sensation XE was officially announced a week ago and now we get a chance to play with it for the first time. Needless to say that we were pretty excited as it represents quite an improvement even over the already impressively specced Sensation. We are talking an even faster dual-core CPU (1.5GHz vs. 1.2GHz), an updated Sense UI (v3.5) and the addition of the highly regarded Beats audio to the mix here.

For starters, here's a quick overview of the HTC Sensation XE key specs:

HTC Sensation XE at a glance:

• General: GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 14.4 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone
• Dimensions: 126.1 x 65.4 x 11.3 mm, 151 g
• Display: 4.3" 16M-color qHD (540 x 960 pixels) S-LCD capacitive touchscreen; Gorilla glass
• Platform: Dual-core 1.5 GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 220 GPU, Qualcomm MSM 8260 Snapdragon chipset
• RAM: 768MB
• OS: Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread)
• Memory: 1 GB storage, microSD card slot (16GB in the box)
• Camera: 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with face detection, touch focus and image stabilization; Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps, dual LED flash, VGA front facing camera
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 3.0+HS, standard microUSB port,
GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack, FM radio, TV-out (MHL)
• Misc: Sense 3.5 UI, DivX/XviD codec support, Beats audio enhancements and headphones in the package, 1730mAh battery, built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor, gyroscope sensor, ultra-fast boot times

Beats Audio is the result of HTC and Beats by Dr. Dre teaming up and will come in the form of special sound processing on the inside and a special Beats headset in the box.

  
HTC Sensation XE

The headset will be called YourBeats and they are a variation of iBeats (iBeats, YourBeats… yeah). They sport a full set of controls for the media player and the Beats functionality becomes active only when using the headset (sorry, loudspeaker).

And when we say the headset, we mean the headset - regular headsets will get some improvement over, say, using them on a non-Beats phone, but not as much as the YourBeats headset gets.

Once you plug in a YourBeats headset, a special icon pops up in the notification area with a button to disable Beats.

Beats has its reserved spot in the notification area

The Sensation XE being a music-oriented phone comes with a 16GB microSD card right out of the box - plenty of room for a respectable music collection.

But enough about the headset. Now head over to the next page for our hands-on impressions of the HTC Sensation XE itself.

Design-wise, the Sensation XE is nearly identical to the original model, but for the Beats logo and red highlights. Yet those make quite a lot of difference and, in our opinion, make the phone a lot better looking.

    
The red accents work really well on the HTC Sensation XE

The antennas of the Sensation XE seem to be in the same places as on the original Sensation, which may lead to some deathgrip issues, but maybe HTC found a way to deal with those. We'll have to test it extensively to make sure and there's no time to do that now.

That aside, you still get the slightly concave shape of the screen (which is a Gorilla glass for extra scratch resistance) and the not-quite-a-unibody design at the back.

    
The HTC Sensation XE sides

The battery has been beefed up to 1730mAh to make up for the faster CPU and probably even have something to spare for the music player. Curiously, the bigger battery fits in both the old Sensation and the EVO 3D - it's a pretty tight fit, but it is possible to interchange batteries between those two.

Dimensions of the HTC Sensation XE haven't perceptibly changed since the original model.

 
The Sensation XE is the same size as the original Sensation

The YourBeats headset has an in-ear design, which has an advantage over the regular earbud design - noise insulation. The headset sports media controls buttons - next and previous buttons, plus a play/pause button that also works as an answer key.

They have an undeniably attention-grabbing design, which younger users will surely find appealing, but the bright red cords might put some of the older ones off.

    
The YourBeats headset included in the retail package

You also get a carrying pouch - not the one in the photo, but HTC assured us that there will be a pouch included in the box.

 
The headphones carrying pouch design will change, but it will be provided in the retail package

We were quite disappointed to find out that the Beats technology is purely software-based - there's no special audio hardware on the inside. But then again this means that it can be ported to other HTC phones, so it's not all bad.

We gave the HTC Sensation XE and the YourBeats headset a listen - there is a difference and the sound is richer and deeper. There's a noticeable change when using Beats with non-Beats headphones too, but it's not nearly as big.

As far as the loudpseaker is concerned, there's no change whatsoever - Beats isn't available when you are using that. The original model posted Good marks on our loudpseaker test, which makes it acceptable but not very loud and you should be expecting a similar performance from that one.

HAVE A GREAT LOOK!!!...