[Q] considering buying a sensation... - HTC Sensation

Amazon UK keep reducing the price of the sensation which is good for me, but I'm also wondering why.
I've read a lot of reviews and heard a lot of negative feedback regarding wifi, call quality, camera quality, dropouts etc
but then I've seen a fair few reviews that contradict those stated above, so I'm unsure.
I had a desire, loved it but hated the lack of internal space. Got a desire Z and hate the keyboard, so i've sold one and selling the other and want to get something new - desire like, but a bit more updated.
So for those who have it, is it worth buying or waiting til the next wave of phones are released?
HTC bought 51% of the Monster / Beats company and will be incorporating that into their future products. Using a phone as an mp3 player would require me to buy a bag full of batteries, so although it would be nice to have a beats integrated phone with my headphones, it's not a must.
Aside from the Evo 3D, I can't see any new phones on their site.

1. WiFi - Whether you call it the death-grip or not, holding the phone like you would a PSP limits the reception to the wireless router. I would assume this is a hardware limitation due to the position of the antenna(s).
2. Call quality - I haven't had any problems with this. I use it equally on WiFi Calling where I don't get service and at work where I only have 2G service. I don't have dropped calls nor problems hearing/being heard.
3. Camera - I find the S4G's camera to be spectacular! Pictures come out great, videos @ 1080 are fantastic as well. I'm very pleased with the camera on this, but remember - it is still a cell phone so compared to several hundred dollar cameras, I'm sure this isn't at the top of the list.
I would recommend it. The death-grip issue does bother me when playing games online or trying to surf the web, but it has only affected WiFi and not T-Mobile's service. It's a fast phone with a great camera, plenty of memory (~550MB usable) and 1GB ROM for your apps. It also comes with an 8GB microsd card as well. You could always wait for the next batch, but by the time those come out (Fall 2011, ICS era), they'll be planning the next release during the new year.

I have a sensation. I just bought it after I got an Atrix and was left wanting something smoothing and more well put together.
A little background and why I chose the sensation:
I started my android adventure with a galaxy s. That phone in itself is good but not great. So I downloaded a rom by Designgears and it was fantastic. The phone was smooth as butter and fast. I was instantly into android. Then I won an atrix and was ecstatic. On paper it was the cleanest phone around...on paper. In reality it was fast but choppy. The phone can't even run live wall papers without reducing the frame rate to nothing. Pinch to zoom was choppy as well and so was anything to do with photos. The only time I notice the dual-core processor was with heavy html/flash websites.
Then I decided to go for something a little more refined but I feared I'd miss the power of dual-core and I think 3D is lame. I tried out LG and their offerings but I felt their UI made it feel like I was a child. The low res screens didn't help. SE is fantastic but have no real offerings in the states. Samsung's GS2 is far too expensive. The sensation fit the bill. I went to a local store and tried it out and liked it. The keyboard is too overflowed with junk and the quick settings aren't as nice as samsung (those 5 icons in the notification bar). But the phone is quick and smooth and has some nice polish to it. I got mine for US$300 on craigslist. still under warranty too.
I don't regret the purchase. The only other phones I'd consider: GS2 and Xperia Arc.

To be more specific, the phone has 2.25gb ROM, 1.25gb of which is reserved for the user.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA Premium App

Think you will find most Sensation users are satisfied. Unhappy customers are always more likely to make a review than happy ones also so the amount of complaints are disproportionate.
I for one do but have death grip and I have no complaints.
Sent from my Leedroided Htc Sensation 4g!

Related

[Q] Do you regret buying your Sensation?

I'm trying to decide which mobile to buy and I've narrowed it down to the Sensation and the Galaxy S 2, I've had the HTC Desire which was fine but more recently I've had and returned 3 HTC Incredible S handsets. All 3 suffered with signal drop on the O2 network here at my home (the Desire seemed OK).
After looking through the Sensation forum, I'm getting concerned that HTC may be loosing a grip as far as standards go?
Now that you've owned your Sensation, what do you think? Would you still buy the Sensation if you were once again in the Market for a phone?
Not really
What only makes me ever say I regret buying it is the spec increase only mere months after it's release. I love the phone, a few software problems, but that isn't a deal breaker. I was an early adopter and haven't really had any problems with it. Screen is great, no scratches, feels great in the hand. However between the two I wouldn't know what to pick. I love my Sensation and also want a Galaxy SII. It is really up to which one you can get your hands on. From what I can tell there is a better screen on the SII, but I prefer the resolution on the Sensation. However the Sensations speaker isn't fantastic, but I use headphones anyway so no big deal. Battery isn't too bad on the Sensation. I can easily get a days worth out of it. So to answer your question no I don't really regret the purchase.
I have no regrets. I have had to return two of them but the third one was perfectly fine. I had no problem returning them cause it never costed me a dime and I was never without a phone. If I were in the market today I wouldnt get it though. I would go for the Amaze. Also I am not a fan of Samsungs. They feel too light and cheap for me. I like my phones to feel like a solid piece of hardware and Samsungs just dont.
Thanks for the replies so far, much appreciated. I did actually post a similar thread in the Samsung forum a day or so ago.
I also posted my list of pros and cons over at the Hotukdeals site, would you say it's a fairly accurate list?
Galaxy S 2 Pros
S Amoled screen, great viewing angle
Better battery life than HTC?
Cons Plasticky/cheap finish?
Sensation Pros
High res screen
Build quality S
ense interface (OK, maybe just a plus for me)
Cons
Poor viewing angle P
oor battery life
Dust under screen issues (but not every phone) L
ooses Wifi signal in landscape/grip of death?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, but I wouldn't get one right now.
UKseagull said:
Thanks for the replies so far, much appreciated. I did actually post a similar thread in the Samsung forum a day or so ago.
I also posted my list of pros and cons over at the Hotukdeals site, would you say it's a fairly accurate list?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Battery life is just fine. Never had dust under my screen. The viewing angles are actually pretty dang good. Bright whites was out to yellowish but all the others hold fine even to extreme angles.
The SAMOLED screen on the TMobile GS2 is bigger but lower resolution causing everything to be really big. Perhaps root will fix that.
I am SERIOUSLY loving InsertCoin 3.2.7 which is a Sense 3.5 rom. The only Rom I've ever tried that was nearly as smooth and fast was an AOSP Rom on my mytouch 4g. It's like buttered silk AND I have 200mb free ram.
My ONLY con now is the app storage or lack therof. Even the low volume speaker was fixed via ROM and Volume+
I don't regret it. Too bad I have to say goodbye though....its a solid device with a lot of ongoing support and tweaks.
Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio
My main gripe about the Sensation is Sense 3.0. I've owned a heap of HTC devices and I'm just not sold on the new sense. There's an SGS2 on its way to me right now so I'll offer a more objective opinion when it arrives.
No regrets at all and it continues to rock with the Developers!
no regrets here at all. i have gone through alot of android phones through tmobile. i must admit this has been the best phone i have owned. If i was shopping for a new phone today i would go for the amaze over the sensation only bc of the higher specs. besides that this phone is amazing especially with CM installed. it felt like a brand new toy once i installed it
There is absolutely ZERO reason to get a Sensation right now (or ANY phone really), until the Nexus Prime details are (officially) revealed.
That being said, I also have zero regrets about purchasing the Sensation. It was hands-down *THE* absolute best phone for T-Mobile at the time and I've certainly loved using it for the past 4 months.
Bottom Line: If you're looking to purchase a smart phone in the near future, it would be foolish to not wait until the Nexus Prime is officially revealed. It has the potential to change the Android landscape, and while we don't regret OUR purchase of the Sensation, the Prime might make YOUR purchase an instant-regret. Just wait
I have to say yea i regret purchasing my Sensation. Not because of all the new Phones that are pretty much updated versions of it... but because of all the manufacture defects i've encountered.. such as dust build up around top and wedged in between the front camera that cannot be removed, Also randomly unresponsive screen due to static build up between the battery cover and pin. And the worst, a Screwed up headphone jack that decides to pause/play/skip music as well as make random calls whenever headphones are plugged in. Pisses me off that i need to carry an extra device (ipod) just so i can listen to music..
Im really conflicted as to what to do with my phone or whether i should switch to another device..
Samsung Galaxy S 2 has some great specs but the cheap flimsy plastic is a killer. (former Vibrant owner and hated the cheap toddler toy feel)
The HTC Amaze looks sexy as hell but at it turns out it has the same Battery cover design as the Sensation which will most likely lead back to Dust and unresponsive screen issues..
Hopes the Nexus Prime comes to tmobile and really hopes samsung doesnt screw it up by making it out of plastic so cheap that it makes a McDonald's toy look like a quality build
UKseagull said:
I'm trying to decide which mobile to buy and I've narrowed it down to the Sensation and the Galaxy S 2, I've had the HTC Desire which was fine but more recently I've had and returned 3 HTC Incredible S handsets. All 3 suffered with signal drop on the O2 network here at my home (the Desire seemed OK).
After looking through the Sensation forum, I'm getting concerned that HTC may be loosing a grip as far as standards go?
Now that you've owned your Sensation, what do you think? Would you still buy the Sensation if you were once again in the Market for a phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd definitely buy it again - I was also worried because of all the griping on this forum, but my Sensation's been perfect and it's the best HTC phone I've owned. Feels a lot better in the hand than the Galaxy S 2, has a better aspect ratio and (to me) a better, less over-saturated screen.
Plus, Sense 3.0 (with Android Revolution HD) is a dream to use.
I cant tell you how much I regret buying mine. Awesome hardware specs, huge screen, but HORRIBLE build quality and constant ongoing issues. In addition, Sense is just terrible and I do not think I will ever buy another Android phone that isnt bone stock with no carrier modifications. Its honestly not worth the headache waiting around for people to mod a ROM just so it can finally be up to par with a vanilla Nexus type phone IMO.
I bought my Sensation when it first came out in June. I have zero regrets buying it and it has been a great phone to date. I haven't really had any issues, although now I believe I have some dust under the screen. With that said, I still have no issue buying it then as it was the best phone on the market at the time. There is also tons of development for it - which I really like. I was actually looking at giving my wife the Sensation and upgrading to either the GS II or Amaze. I went and checked out both of those phones today and have to say I was underwhelmed. The GS II is big and has a plastic feel to it. I also noticed a lot of lag when scrolling thru the home screens and felt my Sensation (running ARHD ROM) was more responsive. Also, not really a fan of Touch Wiz. The Amaze is nice, and it is very similar to the Sensation. However I am not sure if it will get rooted (quickly) and the amount of development that it will get. Not sure if it's worth the upgrade.
My 02ยข....hope it helps.
krayziebydaflesh said:
I have to say yea i regret purchasing my Sensation. Not because of all the new Phones that are pretty much updated versions of it... but because of all the manufacture defects i've encountered.. such as dust build up around top and wedged in between the front camera that cannot be removed, Also randomly unresponsive screen due to static build up between the battery cover and pin. And the worst, a Screwed up headphone jack that decides to pause/play/skip music as well as make random calls whenever headphones are plugged in. Pisses me off that i need to carry an extra device (ipod) just so i can listen to music..
Im really conflicted as to what to do with my phone or whether i should switch to another device..
Samsung Galaxy S 2 has some great specs but the cheap flimsy plastic is a killer. (former Vibrant owner and hated the cheap toddler toy feel)
The HTC Amaze looks sexy as hell but at it turns out it has the same Battery cover design as the Sensation which will most likely lead back to Dust and unresponsive screen issues..
Hopes the Nexus Prime comes to tmobile and really hopes samsung doesnt screw it up by making it out of plastic so cheap that it makes a McDonald's toy look like a quality build
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
curious as to why you haven't gotten a replacement
F no! And many ppl sayig manafactuer defects, I just think bad use.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
Absolutely regret it. Sense was nowhere near optimized for the Sensation and it shows in the way that the fastest custom Sense ROMs for us are still a little bit slower than the newest stock HTC devices that run Sense 3.0. I will never buy a LCD screen phone again because it is worthless in the sunlight and is in general washed out in light. The speaker is bad; ROMs or Volume+ apps that barely increase the volume do not fix the fact that it is a hardware problem.
That said, I do enjoy tinkering with and using my Sensation. I still think it is perhaps the most beautiful looking device of the year, I enjoy the fact that we have decent dev support on here, and the screen res is enjoyable. I'm also really waiting to see what this phone can do with ICS and when CM7 comes out of Alpha or whatever (I'm very nitpicky and will only install full on ROMs that only have minor issues). In that sense, I'm enjoying what I can with this phone even though I wish I would have waited for a better one (but heck, I was put in a hard position because I had to get a new phone at the time the Sensation came out and it was the best Tmob phone available). But, if I was in the market for a new phone right now I would absolutely wait for the Nexus Prime. The SGSII seems like a good step up, but I would hesitate to get a phone that isn't a 100% upgrade over the Sensation (some things like the screen res are a step down).
I regret it. If I knew as much about this phone as I know now... I would've keep my Glacier.
Thing is a piece of crap, really. Sure, it has top specs... but software is a mess and build quality is dissapointing. I wanted to love it but I can't. Ready to sell if for whatever I can as soon as next Nexus device drops.
Sorry HTC, you really dropped the ball lately and I'm going to speak with my wallet from now on.
ZERO regrets.
I love this phone.
Amaze might be a slightly better hardware but it's ugly as F to me.
only thing XE offers is the headphones basically. Software we can get, no big.
having said that, if you are in the market now for a new phone I'd say wait til Nexus Prime is officially announced.
we don't know the full details yet but it should be a beast.

Favorite thing about the MT4Gs

I like to know The Doubleshot is my 1st Dual Core phone. I traded a HTC Shift and an iPhone 3G (running Sense 2.1) for it. I've fallen in love with the Screen, and the CPU. The 220 GPU show's off while playing games. For me personally I enjoy the media features of a high end phone. I'm one of the lucky ones who have Unlimited Data still, and I live in a 4G heavy area. So I stream Netflix like crazy now, and being able to play all my old N64 games is nice. Haven't used my 3DS, or PS3 since I've gotten it. Anybody else madly in love with there phone, or do they have any issues (Hardware wise).
I'm right there with you. I've had this phone since the beginning of august, and still think it's a fantastic piece of hardware.
For me, top feature is seamless tv-out through RCA jacks.
Second best is the keyboard.
Third place is the dual-core awesomeness of the snapdragon s3 processor.
Bought this phone from T-Mobile's smartphone sale from two months ago and my G2 has been relegated to "backup" status ever since. It might be clocked a bit slower than my G2, but the stability, superior keyboard, and WORKING hinge more than make up for it.
Camera.
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using xda premium
I've only had this a little over a week now, but I love the phone.
My favorite features are the genius button (despite so many people changing it, My wife and I use it daily to run apps, GPS, send texts or make calls of contacts)
I also like the camera. I have taken some great pictures so far and it is really convenient and easy with some great modes.
Other than that, just the overall responsiveness of the phone is great. I havent made use of the TV out yet.
My biggest gripe is dropping from 4g to 2g indoors some places (seems to never go to 3g), and also battery drain.

Do you think ICS will make things any better for us/the Sensation?

I really was a HTC fanboy, both software and hardware wise, after seeing their first HTC Desire and later the Desire HD. That made me ditch the iphone and switch to android.
Recently, I am starting to regret having bought the Sensation. Build quality my arse. This phone is full of bugs and disappointments, my biggest issues being:
- Power Button issue (no its NOT software related, at least not with my unit and the "fix" don't work)
- Battery reading and jumping issues. My phone stays way too long on 100% and then takes a dive instead of showing the energy levels correctly. And no matter what it shows, when I restart it the percentage magically jumps up around 15%, only to drop swiftly little later. Yes I did calibrate the battery in Android and yes I did several charge-discharge circles with all my 3 batteries.
- Sluggish Performance. Yes there are "ultra-hyper-mega-omega-smooth" ROMs but it only helps so much, many menus still have an apparent lag when scrolling, most famously the appdrawer (when u install more than just a few apps) and whatsapp when scrolling through chat history.
Also, in Electopia benchmark, the highest I get is 30 FPS, with an AOSP ROM. SGSII users get 49 fps no problem and they don't need to OC their device to 8.7GHz like we do to achieve it. I know benchmarks say nothing but this is a game with nice graphics and I can actually SEE the performance difference with my own eyes.
-Touchscreen problem. It's gone now, yes. But come on! Who tells me this will not resurface after 2 years in a much more severe way?
- Loudness. The phonespeaker blows, when I show someone a song or vid on the phone you can barely hear it. Same problem for in-call volume. No, Volume+ does not really help and it makes sound everything like shiat. I thought the iphone had a bad speaker but now I actually think it was quite good after seeing the lower end of the quality spectrum
-Broken 3D engine and no official fix for it. I need to rely on devs to do their work? Screw you htc
-Camera. Nothing in particular except that it is not as good as I expected and it lacks some features even my old Sony Ericsson k800i had like burst mode etc. Yes you can have it if you install the camera apk from a different htc phone but there usually are compatibility problems. Plus, why can't my phone have a decent camera app of its own? Too much to ask, HTC? Guess their priorities are elsewhere.
- The phone was half-baked to begin with and got patched up to adress the most severe problems rather than being good at launch and "sensational" after updates.
I'm interested in your opinion wheter a future ICS RUU will make things any better. I would sell my Sensation now and probably go for a Samsung. The thing is, I have bought a cover and two extra batteries for it and I'm not looking forward to buying those accessories again, especially because Amazon doesn't ship to my country. And I hear folks say all the time how ICS will make our device shine because of native dualcore support etc. In that case, it might well be worth to wait a little...
The thing is, I just don't believe in it anymore. HTC seems more busy pushing out new models than refining current ones. Hell, since the launch of the first Sensation alone they have thrown 2 additional versions of it in the market, let alone the number of completely new phones released or soon to be released.
I think fragmentation is becoming a major problem with HTC. Look at the leaked 3.3.5 RUU that all the devs build upon, it's been around for forever. But the real thing never saw the light of day and now with ICS out, I think it never will. When HTC has a flagship phone, you can bet they will have a new one in 6 weeks time. The Sensation got replaced by the Sensation XE (Different ROM&Kernel, not just fancy new colours) and the Sensation XE got replaced by the HTC Rezound all in less than 6 months.
HTC announced they will release ICS for Sensation around March. By that time, the Sensation will be a second class phone with quadcores already in the pipeline. The way I know HTC, their first ICS build will be full of crap and bugs. But because they will be busy pushing out new phones, we will have to live with their halfdone work. And by that time, I will prolly get much less for it if sold than I would right now.
What do you think? Sell now or wait and hope/pray for improvement?
Look. If you really dislike the phone that much, sell it now. ICS will change many things; improve some, make some worse. That's just how it goes. Then they'll patch the issues with the next patch etc. But judging from your post, I'd recommend you sell it and get another phone. Just don't touch anything Samsung.
You better sell it if you hate it that much. Why most people buy HTC? Because they can flash anything they whant and make the device better than stock. (same with Samsungs Plastic Devices) I never had any of the prolems you are talking about on my XE with the same Hardware. The Sensation XE is my 4th HTC phone and all of them were great never got any problems (Hardware or Software). And when i read something about benchmark i whant to throw up. What does it help if you have high scores and you device is laggy? If the performance is good i don't care about scores. And like FnH84 said ICS will make much things better but some things worse but we are here at XDA and our devs will make it all perfekt. It only needs some time. Android is a "Hacker phone" (let's call it like this) Out of the Box it's not the best OS but you can modify it in every way you whant and that makes it unique. If you need a phone that works perfekt out of the box you should buy icrap or WP7 on this phones you can do nothing wrong and they are easy to use.
Greez
Sent from my Revolver powered Asus Transformer TF101 with Tapatalk
Why don't we just gather all the ones that got a "faulty" device and retards that have something against specific brands, me included I truly hate Apple , HTC samgay and all the rest brands and see which phone (brand) gets the most posts ala we hate, it sucks yada yada doo.
1. Sensation build quality is robust and good, I have had 3 units.
2. Sense is not for every one but some intend to like it.
3. HTC is one of the older players (the oldest) on the android market. They know how to create something that wasn't there f.ex dual core support gingerbread.
4. Great screen with great resolution.
5. Screw you I'm going home!
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk
You are exaggerating things... Practically HTC mobiles are the best out there...
There is still little bit of lag but didn't effect me personally when using as phone...
HTC developers are much better than those Samsung ones... Atleast we have HTC Sense which other brand developers drag their ass to port to their handsets...
I still love it and it's the best for me..
you don't like it then sell it... Bye bye...
Sensation happens to be my best HTC and android phone. I have fewer problems than with MT3G, Nexus1, MT4G. Very pleased overall, just my 2c worth
Sensation happens to be a great phone for me ... much better than the galaxy s II
Feeling lucky ... didnt have any of those issues ...
I somewhat agree with OP, not everything, but certain points.
It did feel half-baked to start with. 2.08 base feels a lot more sleek though, shame they have not finished it, would be nice to have as an option, fully stable option I mean if they (HTC) **** up ICS.
Assuming HTC actually optimise Sense for ICS I can only see the Sensation getting better. Yes it runs now but I've had to make my own ROM for it. Does it bother me? Not in the slightest!! I enjoy it!!
The build quality of HTC handsets is second to none. I've had the HD2, Desire and now the Sensation and they just feel right. A nice bit of weight is reassuring, it means I know it's in my pocket.
OK, the camera isn't as good as other manufacturers but if I was that interested in taking a picture I'd use a camera (shock horror !!!)
End of the day if you're not happy, flog it and get something 'better'. Otherwise, enjoy what you have and look forward to more awesome ROMs from us Devs
What many people like to forget is, that higher display resolution is always a trade off between look and performance.
Of course the Samsung S2, with slightly better Hardware, performs better... It has only 800*480 Pixels to render.
I'm happy with my sensation. Of course it could be better, but there is no device out there that satisfies all my needs. And the sensation is the one that gets closest to that task.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
+1 Sensation..best phone out there, at least for me.
Vipeout said:
I really was a HTC fanboy, both software and hardware wise, after seeing their first HTC Desire and later the Desire HD. That made me ditch the iphone and switch to android.
Recently, I am starting to regret having bought the Sensation. Build quality my arse. This phone is full of bugs and disappointments, my biggest issues being:
- Power Button issue (no its NOT software related, at least not with my unit and the "fix" don't work)
- Battery reading and jumping issues. My phone stays way too long on 100% and then takes a dive instead of showing the energy levels correctly. And no matter what it shows, when I restart it the percentage magically jumps up around 15%, only to drop swiftly little later. Yes I did calibrate the battery in Android and yes I did several charge-discharge circles with all my 3 batteries.
- Sluggish Performance. Yes there are "ultra-hyper-mega-omega-smooth" ROMs but it only helps so much, many menus still have an apparent lag when scrolling, most famously the appdrawer (when u install more than just a few apps) and whatsapp when scrolling through chat history.
Also, in Electopia benchmark, the highest I get is 30 FPS, with an AOSP ROM. SGSII users get 49 fps no problem and they don't need to OC their device to 8.7GHz like we do to achieve it. I know benchmarks say nothing but this is a game with nice graphics and I can actually SEE the performance difference with my own eyes.
-Touchscreen problem. It's gone now, yes. But come on! Who tells me this will not resurface after 2 years in a much more severe way?
- Loudness. The phonespeaker blows, when I show someone a song or vid on the phone you can barely hear it. Same problem for in-call volume. No, Volume+ does not really help and it makes sound everything like shiat. I thought the iphone had a bad speaker but now I actually think it was quite good after seeing the lower end of the quality spectrum
-Broken 3D engine and no official fix for it. I need to rely on devs to do their work? Screw you htc
-Camera. Nothing in particular except that it is not as good as I expected and it lacks some features even my old Sony Ericsson k800i had like burst mode etc. Yes you can have it if you install the camera apk from a different htc phone but there usually are compatibility problems. Plus, why can't my phone have a decent camera app of its own? Too much to ask, HTC? Guess their priorities are elsewhere.
- The phone was half-baked to begin with and got patched up to adress the most severe problems rather than being good at launch and "sensational" after updates.
I'm interested in your opinion wheter a future ICS RUU will make things any better. I would sell my Sensation now and probably go for a Samsung. The thing is, I have bought a cover and two extra batteries for it and I'm not looking forward to buying those accessories again, especially because Amazon doesn't ship to my country. And I hear folks say all the time how ICS will make our device shine because of native dualcore support etc. In that case, it might well be worth to wait a little...
The thing is, I just don't believe in it anymore. HTC seems more busy pushing out new models than refining current ones. Hell, since the launch of the first Sensation alone they have thrown 2 additional versions of it in the market, let alone the number of completely new phones released or soon to be released.
I think fragmentation is becoming a major problem with HTC. Look at the leaked 3.3.5 RUU that all the devs build upon, it's been around for forever. But the real thing never saw the light of day and now with ICS out, I think it never will. When HTC has a flagship phone, you can bet they will have a new one in 6 weeks time. The Sensation got replaced by the Sensation XE (Different ROM&Kernel, not just fancy new colours) and the Sensation XE got replaced by the HTC Rezound all in less than 6 months.
HTC announced they will release ICS for Sensation around March. By that time, the Sensation will be a second class phone with quadcores already in the pipeline. The way I know HTC, their first ICS build will be full of crap and bugs. But because they will be busy pushing out new phones, we will have to live with their halfdone work. And by that time, I will prolly get much less for it if sold than I would right now.
What do you think? Sell now or wait and hope/pray for improvement?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never had a problem with power button, battery, touchscreen or 3D engine.
Speaker, I agree with you, could be better and louder.
Camera, what you expected? It is only phone camera. For me picture quality is very good. And I don't need burst mode, it is unimportant feature.
Performance is very good. UI acceleration is disabled by default to save battery life, you can simply enable it.
SGS II has better performance in 3D, but Sensation has 35% more pixels.
Agreed with the OP, but then again like others have said, Better build quality than any other manufacturer, Sense (at least for me), and the ability to flash whatever the **** you want makes me buy HTC phones. Even though I wouldn't mind a S2 right now, but the screen resolution kills me on that, everything is just huge!
im in the same boat like you i loved htc sense and i still love htc sense
but the thing that really put me off from andriod is because the software and hardware limitation
firstly i want to write about my experience with htc hd2 my first htc phone and i loved it because of big screen but the downside was that any rom i installed on it used to drain my battery madly
if i used my phone for a while the battery used to drop like there is no tommorow
and max battery life used to be 2-3 hours but if when i used to leave it on stand by it used to lst 8-9 hours and that was not used and battery used to die so i got so mad with it that i sold it and bought htc senstaion
the thing with sensation was i had more memory higher resoulation and it was capable of recording 1080p at the same time it had a front camera but the bad thing in sesnation is battery life and check my post where my battery lasted 2 hours and i think this is piss taking.
i have a iphone 4 which i borrowed form my cousin for test this week and this phone blew me away because i left wifi on for 1 day and 5 hour while it was on stand by and guess what it only lost 2 percent in the long time where as my senstaion would have died in 7-8 hours
the good thing about iphone was its software and harware work flawless toghether even though i admit when i'm gonna give this back to my cousin i'm gonna say to him its **** because i cant admit its better in hadrware
but software wise its the best phone out there.
bad thing about iphone 4 its heavy like htc senstion and it has very smal screen and i personally hate it this is the only reason i choose htc rather than iphone
---------- Post added at 08:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:27 PM ----------
i also did a camera test and iphone was much smmoother and i;m talking about front camera because if i move my camera it laggs bad and does blur where as iphone despite having the same spec camera is much clearer while at the same time it is much better but about the back camera i personally think htc is better and that is my personal choise(i forgot how to write it). in senstaion the front camera is so dark in low light while at the same time iphone is very clear.
personally i think htc and other company should stop brinig phone for a while and rather they should try to perfect the software on our phone because this is really making andriod looking bad
Vipeout said:
HTC seems more busy pushing out new models than refining current ones.
...
The way I know HTC, their first ICS build will be full of crap and bugs. But because they will be busy pushing out new phones, we will have to live with their halfdone work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In this regard, HTC is no worse (and is better than) other Android handset manufacturers. I was an early adopter with the Samsuck Behold 2, which saw only very limited updates. Every company is pushing new models, either because most consumers are spoiled and always want the latest and greatest, or as a side effect they don't need to support phones beyond 1-2 years because carriers subsidize phones when contracts are renewed.
In general, software rarely gets faster when new versions are released, and I doubt that ICS will perform faster than what we have now unless HTC seriously thins out their Sense UI overlay. I also expect that HTC has a common code base between what we'll get on the Sensation and what future phone releases will use, so I doubt what we get will be any worse than new ICS HTC handsets.
8.7ghz dam bro ur phone must be an oven lol
To those who say they have no battery issues:
Does your battery not stick at 100% longer than it should? It stays at 100% even after 30min of intense use and then sharply drops instead of declining i a linear way. Do you not have different battery level values after restarting the phone? Afaik it is a common problem with the Sensation caused by bad drivers. There is even a thread dedicated to this.
And it can not all be blamed on the higher pixel count. Electopia is a 3d game that measures your fps. There is an option to run it at WVGA resolution (800x480), meaning it is rendered in exactly the same resolution as the SGII. The game runs at aprox. 20 fps slower than on the sgII. Now this is not some synthetic benchmark, this is real world performance where the game simply runs smother on the sammy.
I just checked my roommate's SGII performance within whatsapp. He can scroll through the entire chat history in real time, back and forward with no delay. Mine has VISIBLE lag and doesn't respond as well, it stutters alot when scrolling up the list. Don't tell me its because it has to render more pixels, its a messaging program ffs! This happens with EVERY Rom (With or without Sense).
I am surprised no one shares my view on those issues because it's basically a compilation of often here mentioned issues plaguing the Sensation. And I know HTC made some damn fine phones, but the Sensation just doesn't live up to their past standards.
No I don't feel the need to always have the fastest and best thing around. I was evaluating pros and cons between the Sensation and SG2 for 6 whole weeks before ultimately going for the Sensation. I knew the Samsung had better benchmark results and more power but I was like "I don't need a ****ing racing car, a nice sports car will do it just as well". But I simply cannot put up with sluggish menus/scrolling behaviour. Not in 2011 and in the age of dual core processors. See, if only the Sensation was really snappy with my daily tasks, I couldn't care less for benchmarks.
But folks will always say the same things like "it has more pixels to push" or "mine runs super smooth" when in fact it runs the same way as mine and they just don't mind a bit of choppiness.
I HATE the plastic toy phone feel of the Samsung devices, but damn those phones fly. Probably I'm alone with this, but choppy and sluggish menus and scrolling behaviour gives me eye cancer. And it's something I can't live withon such a premium device.
Please keep the "if you don't like it then sell it" comments to your self, they add nothing to the discussion and you are not telling me anything new.
Well I am considering the Galaxy Nexus now, despite not having the most fancy gpu unit available.
Probably I'm alone with this, but choppy and sluggish menus and scrolling behaviour gives me eye cancer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then you need to go to a hospital, stat. Here's the deal, 99% of people who dislike this phone either return it or sell it, and get something they like. They don't go to a dev forum specifically designed for the phone in question and ***** about it.
Point is, if you don't like it, get something else.
Get the motorola atrix, or even the lg g2x and then tell me this phone is buggy.. hahah, the moto atrix even with CM 7 was more laggy than this phone stock. with more ram etc. camera flys past both phones. sure its not better than the amaze but look at the price differance.
I think ICS will make the Sensation a little bit smoother.
That said, I overall don't really like my Sensation. It was an under-spec'd, half-baked phone from release. I really wish my phone upgrade would have been now, because I would have been all over a real performer like the Galaxy Nexus. Unfortunately, I'm stuck with my Sensation for another year and a half or so, and I doubt I'll be able to make it that long.
Having a phone that performs like a toy is worse than having one that feels like a toy. I didn't buy a damn phone just to touch it. I bought it to use it, and there are tons of phones out there that perform better.

[Q] Upgrading from an Inspire/DHD, thoughts?

I've been using my Inspire since last spring and it's really an excellent phone, especially with custom ROMs and kernels. Build quality is excellent, battery is decent, at 1.2ghz still plenty fast enough for all my uses. It really does everything I need it to.
I've been eyeing up the HOX as an upgrade in June, but is it really worth it? Other than the new (gorgeous) screen and a faster CPU, it doesn't really do much more than my Inspire does. As a photographer, the camera isn't a huge deal to me since I'll bring around my DSLR if I want to get legitimately nice photos.
Someone is willing to buy my Inspire for $150, so money isn't the problem. I'm just afraid to drop my Inspire for the HOX, with some of the problems I've been seeing around here. My Inspire is rock solid: I've dropped it plenty and it still holds up, no weird screen issues, multi-tasking works... it seems like all the problems the HOX is having my Inspire doesn't.
Any thoughts from someone who's went this route? Thanks!
Just looking at the GHz number on a CPU alone is not a good comparison of how a phone performs. Older phones like the Inspire really don't hold a candle to the One X. The thing is perfectly smooth within the OS, and opening many apps is nearly instantaneous (that would take several seconds on my old phone). It feels a world apart from my old Desire Z (same generation as the DHD, just slightly slower CPU and less RAM). No, it won't do anything that your Inspire doesn't already do. But the One X is so much more fluid and snappy, it just makes for a much more pleasurable experience overall.
The strength of a camera phone is obviously not in its picture quality when compared to a DSLR camera, but rather in catching the moments when you don't have your "real" camera. I love a camera phone for catching the spontaneous moments with my toddler, when I don't have my DSLR. And for sending those pics by MMS to my wife or other family. For that purpose, the camera on the One X is spectacular. Just about makes point-and-shoot cameras moot, with the great picture quality and nearly zero shutter lag. If you don't use your camera phone in this way, the camera on the One X probably won't make much difference. But if you make any significant use of a camera phone, trust me, the camera on the One X will impress you.
The multi-tasking "issue" depends a lot on how you use your phone. For me, I don't run lots of simultaneous apps. Music Player or Pandora work fine simultaneously with Navigation, and that's about as much simultaneous apps I run for the most part. Browsers reload a little more often than they should, but the only (minor) annoyance I've noticed. But I know people have legit complaints about certain apps not working simultaneously, or things like games having to reload after getting an SMS.
My One X doesn't have the light leak on the screen that some have experienced. Hard to say how common it is. But I'm guessing most of them are fine. You can't really fault a new phone for a random defect, as all phones have some kind of defect. And you can always ask to power on at the store, and check for the light leak, if you're really that concerned about it. (they powered on my phone anyway).
The phone isn't perfect. But to me its just an outstanding phone. Wired magazine called it "the best Android phone you can buy right now, period".
My HTC One X came with the bottom of the screen peeling off [its sealed down with glue, so it can be removed to access the interior parts] but where I purchased it from in store, they replaced it right away with no issues at all. But the replacement unit I got works just fine. NOTHING wrong with it, which I love.
In comparison to the HTC Aria -> Sony X10i;
The X10 seemed to be much snappier than the Aria.
X10 -> HTC One X;
Wow. Just, Wow. The X10 had a 1ghz processor which I was content with, but having a more powerful processor was so nice. Angry birds on the old X10 was somewhat buggy, but I'm yet to have a stutter or halt with the One X.
The ONLY thing I must warn against, is the AT&T One X model, Because we have locked bootloader. Sure, a Root [which is so nice to have<3] but as far as rating goes, I have to give it a 7/10. ONLY way to get those 3 more points, Would be a custom rom and underclock. My phone already lasts the whole day with my usage but on days when I'm bored at work or on lunch break and want to watch a video, I'd like the power to pass the time.
So all in all, 7/10. Locked Bootloader, No custom roms are the only issues I have.
I do not regret buying the One X though. I purchased the white one because in store it looks flashy but any smudge [food, dirt, whatever] comes right off with a bit of pressure and your fingernail.
There's no need to upgrade from an inspire, unless you want to show your phone off. That being said, the difference is certainly noticeable inin almost all aspects. Personally I'm most imposed by the display quality. Battery life is a bit better when comparing stock to stock, but about the same to a rooted and custom ROM inspire. I only upgraded because I show off my phone a lot, especially to my friends who are phone salesman, and because I use it more than anything else I own
One thing is the same, crap speaker. What is it with htc and low speaker volume?
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
punkkloser said:
One thing is the same, crap speaker. What is it with htc and low speaker volume?
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My speaker is quite loud, louder than my captivate and iPhone 4 anyways.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
Thanks for all the opinions everyone! It definitely does seem to be a better phone in most regards, and as someone who is constantly trying to keep his gadgets as up to date and fast as possible, the upgrade seems obvious.
And, as dreid89 said, I sure wouldn't mind showing off a bit. With that nice new screen and snappy UI, gotta shot some of those Apple fanboys up
Now... the matter is waiting until my upgrade and (hopefully) getting the HOX through Amazon since it's so much cheaper!
I recently upgraded from the inspire to the HOX and I would tell you this, do it. Do it as fast as you can because it is totally better. I was rooted running a custom rom and HOX still smokes it on every level. Battery life is better, screen is amazing, beats audio is better. I then sold my rooted inspire on eBay for $255. Right now the HOX is $119 at amazon wireless. I came out ahead $140 bucks. Totally worth it. The only regret I have is not being able to get the phone in white. I originally ordered it in white but apple screwed me over there. Not sure how but amazon has the gray in stock.

What do you think about this phone? (Sensation/XE/4G)

What do you think about the phone now? and What did you thought about this phone when you bought it?
Average phone, definitely not top of the line performance.
Software features (sense and all) are good, but the device lacks the performance punch that it should have.
Hardware quality is above average as well.
After ICS, although the overall UI feel is less sluggish, the phone has lost its performance, specially while playing HD videos.
I would say, not that well supported by the company, specially in India.
Final word: Not buying again from HTC.
better than the iphone 4s.
sent from the Nudy bar, one handed.
the Sensation is a good phone, no doubt. the only thing I dislike about it is the way the antennas are built into the back case...
A phone that was underspecd from the start. Less RAM than the competition, unbelievably lacking in storage, and S3 was the worst SoC of the 2011 dual core generation. Lag city. Many people avoid new S4 phones just because their experience with an S3 phone was so bad (which sucks, because S4 is actually a good SoC aside from the GPU). The mono block design turned out to be a sham, and instead we got a completely removable back that led to radio issues and a death grip problem worse than most phones. Add to that power button problems and dust under the screen, and I'm wondering where this HTC build quality is that I based my decision to get this phone on.
The good? The camera is pretty good. The qHD resolution was above average at the time. I find the 4.3" format factor perfect. Visually I think the Sensation is one of the best looking phones of all time. I would enjoy it if I didn't have high standards, and I simply can't stand how much it lags and how hard the screen is to see outside.
Sent from my Sensation using xda app-developers app
Screen is hard to see outside I agree but the worst issue for me it's speaker sound is horrible...
Camera does a good job in daylight low lights aren't so good however,
At the time I bought it, it was indeed a good phone but I think that now there are much much better phone's out in the market..
I think it still does a decent job performance wise and I don't face laggs
Now I think this phone is getting old and I should buy something new but the development is quite good so I'll stay for a while.
Last thing : battery is sh*t even whit extended battery's..
Sent From My Sexy Sensation Running Aokp.
I got this phone a few weeks ago because it was cheap and has a removable battery/sd card (as opposed to the newer ONE series).
What I like about it - Feels good in my hand (weight, robustness, etc), the haptic feedback is much better than the competitors', a large community and many ROMs to explore, battery life (with an aftermarket battery).
Don't like - Screen viewing angle is narrow, a bit too big (I prefer screens 4 inch and under for a phone).
All in all - It's a decent phone for it's price.
That's my opinion.
There are some better ones now, but it holds up well against many others!
It's a cool phone. S3 is a decent processor, I don't find it to be the worst of 2011 though. From experience, I would say it goes Samsung's Exynos 2011 > S3 > Whatever the hell OMAP was out at the time > Tegra2.
Sense is just too slow, that's the problem. I don't mean a bloat issue, I've debloated Sense - removing about 200MB of uselessness out of Sense and it doesn't speed up. Forget Sense 4 being "much lighter than previous versions" too. It's not - it's just that the first phones to have it feature S4 processors that keep up really well. Check out a video of the One V - same old Sense.
Take the S3 processor and slap on some AOSP like CM or AOKP, and the phone flies.
The best phone in the world imo.
Sent from my Sensation XE with Beats Audio Z715e using xda premium
+1
Not buying again from HTC
(less battery, RAM...)
Its a cool phone, then the custom roms made it cooler..
I actually got this phone as a replacement for mytouch 4g out of warranty so i only paid $5 for it. I gotta say i really love it, I don't have battery issues (lasts me a full day), no lag (senseless), its fast to me. Definitely not the best with new phones coming out every month, but i like it
When I first got this phone, I was completely underwhelmed. It lagged hard on stock gingerbread, had zero aosp support, signal was poor, wifi deathgrip was almost a deal breaker and battery life was crap. Add in sense restarts every other day and I was ready to return my phone for... a G2X. Lol!
Nowadays, ICS has improved the battery life a lot and our devs have come a long way in making the Sensation smoother and more attractive. So I guess I don't hate my Sensation like I used to, but I rather like it now. It's not the fastest phone out there, but it does what I need it to do. Poor signal and deathgrip are still there, but meh whatever. I like my Sensation enough to stick with it until my contract is up.
Not the best phone, but has a wealth of rom support. I have a Samsung galaxy s2 that's just sitting on the shelf because I enjoy the Rom support on the sensation more than actual hardware difference.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using xda premium
its a good phone overall but the things that make me hate it are the antennas because of the deathgrip issue and also the speakers are too quiet.
Thanks to the roms and mods available I still love my sensation! I get bored with one thing I just change it! Love the fact It's highly customizable ! After rooting I really started to love it again thanks to the developers !
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using xda premium
If you compare with Iphone 4s:
Advantage: Bigger screen, Rom customization, multi tasking. Awesome HTC interface!!
Disadvantge: Battery is not good, back cover problem.
Comparing to any android phone out there, Sensation is top notch.
I've waited 4 months for this phone to come out after hearing/seeing rumors everywhere that finally an 4.3in Android phone is coming out on T-Mobile.
I love it, still till this day after using it for 1 year, I love this phone. The battery is awesome if you install custom roms/kernels plus the anker battery.
Love the screen size and resolution. Form factor; love it, slim and tall.
It's still not as smooth as Samsung phones, but **** with AOSP roms, and overclocked kernels and custom roms, you'll get there.
Cons, RAM ****ing seriously HTC? 768MB of ram meanwhile the GalaxyS2 has 1GB? The dust underneath the glass.
Other than that, love the fact that the whole back cover is the housing for the phone, if it ever gets any deep scratches, all I need to do is swap out the back cover.
Wrong thread.

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