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[Q] Could HTC have made the Sensation better?

First off, I am an HTC fan. I am intensely brand loyal so please DO NOT begin with Hater/fanboy retorts. This is not why I created this thread. I actually have questions, that I hope some of you can answer/weigh in on objectively for me. Here goes.
I have been waiting to upgrade from my HD2 for almost a year now. The HD2 was my first HTC phone and I was hooked on its build quality and versatility. I had been really excited about the Sensation until i saw some of its specs and equipment. Of note, there are three key areas that are of vital importance to me: Ram, Storage and Battery.
I "assumed" that the Sensation, being a flagship phones, was going to blow the doors off anything in the dual core category. But after seeing these spec comparisons (http://firstain.com/index.php/2011/...roid-bionic-vs-lg-optimus-3d-thrill-4g-fight/) not only does the sensation not lead, but up against its primary competition, it trails the Galaxy and even its won Cousin, the EVO 3D, in these categories making it third. More importantly it comes with the smallest internal memory of ALL the phones being compared...
1. My first question and observation is this. If the EVO 3D has 1 gig RAM and 4gigs internal, why did they NOT do this for the Sensation? This could have been accomplished. Why was it not at least matched to make the phone better?
2. With regards to RAM an its significance see the attached videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrCWYZkQRIo. (Go to the 7:35 mark). Why would a flagship phone be so limited out of the gate? This could have been addressed to make the phone better correct?
3. In terms of memory and how fast the phone will process functions, this comes from a review posted here:
"Flaws in this whole situation include the fact that while the Galaxy S II pairs its 1.2GHz dual-core with 1GB of RAM, the HTC Sensation uses just 768MB. Samsung’s device has 16GB of memory packed in, while HTC makes due with just 1GB. There’s an 8GB microSD card in there, but you can add a bunch more memory to the GSII the same way if you want. Davies notes the truth: “[T]here’s just no way that even a fast microSDHC card can be as quick as NANDFlash connected directly to the logic board, and that leaves the Sensation at a speed disadvantage.”
Do you buy what the reviewer is saying as opinion or fact? If fact, then, again, why is this offering by HTC not just below the Samsung rival, but that of the EVO 3D with its 1 gig RAM and 4 gig memory? Just questions, no flames please.
Lastly, anyone can attest, that has used a 4.3 inch HTC screen, that a primary complaint is battery life. I dare say that HTC customers make up the majority of people who put the Current Widget app on the map. We are always looking for tips and tricks to squeeze more juice out of the battery. With the screen being the biggest hog, I was sure that HTC would address this with the Sensation. Again, to their credit they did, but again in comparison to the Galaxy, EVO 3d and almost every other battery in the links above, is next to last.
Techradar's HTC Sensation Battery Review:
"We've always been slightly confused by HTC phones when it comes to the battery life, as they seem to offer wildly different experiences depending on who is using them it seems.
The HTC Desire was fine for us when it came to lasting a day, but others found it would be dead by 7PM. The Desire HD was more universally panned for a poor battery, but still some chastised our verdict of it being unacceptable.
Well, it's going to happen again with the HTC Sensation, as the 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.
We've cycled it a few times to see if it can be improved, but the same things happens: it holds charge averagely well mostly, but then will get very warm and discharge at a rate of 10% per hour... which is a familiar scenario with the Desire HD.
We constantly kept the applications killed and the notifications to a minimum - but it seems only turning off the background synchronisation altogether helped the issue. And don't even think about hammering the camera in the middle of the day, or you'll be without a phone come the evening for sure.
That said, we're going to request another sample to test this out with, as it's probably the poorest experience we've had on an HTC device so far, so it's only fair we test to make sure it wasn't just a diff unit.
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pho...-943466/review?artc_pg=7
Again, I am brand loyal so I will be buying another HTC phone, but to be honest, these three areas were major concerns when I bought the hd2 and still are impacting me since I still use it. I will probably hold off on the Sensation because I don't want another "hd2/hd7" situation happening again. I want the best that htc can offer and I don't think they did that "IMO."I just want to know what you think the reasons are for the lack of details to the Sensation - in particular since the EVO 3D will not have theses problems. Thanks in advance.
PS - I know no phones is "perfect". This is being asked in light of technology today and expectations of HTC's manufacturing expertise.

simply put yes...

Of course they could have made it better. 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal memory and a 1900 MAh battery like the Atrix. They could also have put a better screen in it (see Engadget's review: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/27/htc-sensation-review/). Anyways, I think the battery life is acceptable, as it can last a full day on heavy use and I'm already used to charge every night.

giorgisp said:
Of course they could have made it better. 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal memory and a 1900 MAh battery like the Atrix. They could also have put a better screen in it (see Engadget's review: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/27/htc-sensation-review/). Anyways, I think the battery life is acceptable, as it can last a full day on heavy use and I'm already used to charge every night.
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yeah, the thinking behind the features is a bit of a head scratcher to me. especially since I see the specs of the Evo 3D. maybe reaching the specs of the Atrix was not their intent with, but I the EVO clearly shows that they "could have" done a bit more for the Sensation. Its the "why not" that is thorn in my side. thanks.

It all comes down to sales and HTC will spec the phone to maximise their profit.
Some of us here at XDA will want the best of everything and be happy to pay for it.
But out in the rest of the world HTC have to be competative , and adding these upgrades will increase the handset price, and price for most people is a real factor in choosing a handset.
Between the SGS2 and the sensation there is very little differnce when you are using it, sure we can compare benchmarks and see a small difference but in the hand of the average consumer i think not. So HTC marketing team have estimated that this is the best set of features and price to maximise sales.

rumpleforeskin said:
It all comes down to sales and HTC will spec the phone to maximise their profit.
Some of us here at XDA will want the best of everything and be happy to pay for it.
But out in the rest of the world HTC have to be competative , and adding these upgrades will increase the handset price, and price for most people is a real factor in choosing a handset.
Between the SGS2 and the sensation there is very little differnce when you are using it, sure we can compare benchmarks and see a small difference but in the hand of the average consumer i think not. So HTC marketing team have estimated that this is the best set of features and price to maximise sales.
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First of all, thanks for the reply. I guess I have a hard time with this logic since I can clearly see that the EVO 3D is a step above the Sensation - and is coming to the market at the same time. Again, when I posed this question it stemmed from the fact that I have visual evidence of HTC having the capabilities to create a device that is on par or above the Galaxy.
I am just talking feature for feature. And in the three categories - that were important to me - the sensation was created below the bar. (Notice I DID NOT QUOTE BENCHMAARKS on purpose because I am willing to let the quadrant people make an app that "accurately" measures dual cores). The EVO and the Sensation will be priced relatively the same so I don't get the price factor making a difference. Hell, give me the specs of the EVO 3d and I will be the first in line on the 8th. That is all.

What I will say is...
When the Desire HD Came out... people warned against buying it simply because people considered it a "stop gap" in lue of upcomming dual cores.
After seeing the HTC Sensation I will NOT be purchasing it. This phone is a HUGE let down comming from the Desire HD.
I will wait till the IPhone 5 comes out and when HTC will release a TRUE Flagship phone.
BTW Dumb poll options.
Add : No will not purchase.
Most reviews are giving the phone lower then 8. Desire HD got 9-10/10.
My inspire 4G has a better screen then the Sensation.

I just don't get why they wouldn't put a gig of ram like they did on the EVO 3D. That's my main (and probably only) gripe. I guess they could have put more internal storage, but that's not a big deal. Engadget said in their testings that the battery life was better than what they got on the SGS II, so I guess it depends on who you ask.

Maedhros said:
What I will say is...
When the Desire HD Came out... people warned against buying it simply because people considered it a "stop gap" in lue of upcomming dual cores.
After seeing the HTC Sensation I will NOT be purchasing it. This phone is a HUGE let down comming from the Desire HD.
I will wait till the IPhone 5 comes out and when HTC will release a TRUE Flagship phone.
BTW Dumb poll options.
Add : No will not purchase.
Most reviews are giving the phone lower then 8. Desire HD got 9-10/10.
My inspire 4G has a better screen then the Sensation.
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I am actually more dumbfounded than anything. I too was awaiting the arrival of this super phone but really am clueless about this phone in light of the EVO 3D's specs. I will wait as well. However, knowing HTC, they will release the proper sensation equivalent on at&t as a makeup for that crappy Inspire. Grrrrrrrr.
BTW, thanks for your "eloquent" poll suggestion. I tried to edit the post but did not see the option.

aNYthing24 said:
I just don't get why they wouldn't put a gig of ram like they did on the EVO 3D. That's my main (and probably only) gripe. I guess they could have put more internal storage, but that's not a big deal. Engadget said in their testings that the battery life was better than what they got on the SGS II, so I guess it depends on who you ask.
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“[T]here’s just no way that even a fast microSDHC card can be as quick as NANDFlash connected directly to the logic board, and that leaves the Sensation at a speed disadvantage.”
According to this, more internal memory would be extremely beneficial speed wise. For the simple fact that its dubbed the "flag ship" you would think they would add internal memory as a basic premium. Guess not.

The evo 3d only has more ram cause of the actual 3d recording and pictures ability. If the evo 3d has 4 gig rom then most likely it has only 1 gig accessible to the user. Cause the system and the nand need memory space as well.
Sent from my demonSPEED Glacier using XDA Premium App

steve austin said:
I am actually more dumbfounded than anything. I too was awaiting the arrival of this super phone but really am clueless about this phone in light of the EVO 3D's specs. I will wait as well. However, knowing HTC, they will release the proper sensation equivalent on at&t as a makeup for that crappy Inspire. Grrrrrrrr.
BTW, thanks for your "eloquent" poll suggestion. I tried to edit the post but did not see the option.
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Hm.. not sure how to edit polls sorry!
I agree... I dont think the Sensation is a true upgrade from the Desire HD.... For 1, the SLCD is inferior to the One on the Inspire 4G. Secondly Aluminum UniBody what??? I havent held the phone so I cant give an accurate representation however when I imagine Uni Body I immagine...Desire HD and HTC Legend! To me the Sensation looks like its not a Unibody simply because half of it comes off I cant say if any1 else will agree with me, but people who have used the phone say that it does no have the same sturdy feel as the Desire HD.
It seems to me as if HTC took what was good with the Desire HD and just doubled it. And sure that is a good formual... but when all of your competiion is doubling + improving it... doubling alone is not enough.
ATM even if u have the original Desire I would say skip on the HTC Sensation.
**Just so its clear I am a HTC Fanboy, but srsly... HTC has been doing this sort of stuff from the Windows Mobile Days... its getting really ridicules. Don't want to see this happening on Android.
Edit: For those who dont know what I mean.. .In Win Mobil days with HTC u generally brought phones every 2 Generations... simply because between generations there was not a very big difference between phones.
I feel HTC may again start doing this with Android... and it is very disappointing!

steve austin said:
However, knowing HTC, they will release the proper sensation equivalent on at&t as a makeup for that crappy Inspire. Grrrrrrrr.
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Haha, they basically are. It's called the HTC Holiday. The only difference I've seen in the specs is that it has a 4.5" screen and 1 GB of RAM. I'd link an article, but I don't have enough posts.

aNYthing24 said:
Haha, they basically are. It's called the HTC Holiday. The only difference I've seen in the specs is that it has a 4.5" screen and 1 GB of RAM. I'd link an article, but I don't have enough posts.
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Cheekie bastids!
Grrrrrrrrr!

The one thing I have to add is that RAM is relatively power hungry, so this may have been a factor after some poor battery performances in HTC phones recently.
After using this phone for a week, I can safely say It's not had any performance problems in my usage (web, gaming, video streaming, music playing, online purchases through apps, SIP and voice calls, 2g to WiFi connectivity). The only problem of note so far is that the music widget crashes Sense now and again, but having said that, it did with my HD2 on occasion too.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App

Bottom line is that yes they could have made it better, but like others have said it's all down to sales.
While the world is trying to grab the fastest dual core phones which are at around 1.2ghz at the moment, don't think for a minute that the technology doesn't exist to make a 2.0ghz phone with 2gig of ram and even more internal storage with an even fatter battery, because not only does it exist but they are probably already testing it for future phones.
As consumers, we will get what we are given and have very little input as to what that will be, we can moan and moan at HTC or other companies but at the end of the day, it's always down to them.
The sensation will be a great phone i have no doubt but to move from the Desire HD for instance would be a mistake, the Evo 3d looks to be the better HTC phone on paper and will probably win overall when compared to the sensation.
There will be a tonne of people who will see this as the latest and greatest and will make HTC a load of cash so it's a win for HTC and a loss for us (the consumer) again.
Just hope that the dev's on XDA and other places can do their magic and make these phones work the way they were ment to, not how the likes of HTC think they should be, which imho is barely acceptable.

From what I have read, it looks like the Sensation has only the qHD upgraded from DHD, I am waiting for more deep reviews for the camera.
Speaker and screen sunlight performances are the same!
If only we could get a SGS2 with Sense 3.0...

i dont think ram is a big problem on this phone ...
i often get 170 mb free ram after kill all apps with taskmanager ...
i think when we need it we can get it .... especially if we want the most free ram we can get when we want to play games and stuff...
i dont think any app uses more than that at the moment

dladz said:
Bottom line is that yes they could have made it better, but like others have said it's all down to sales.
While the world is trying to grab the fastest dual core phones which are at around 1.2ghz at the moment, don't think for a minute that the technology doesn't exist to make a 2.0ghz phone with 2gig of ram and even more internal storage with an even fatter battery, because not only does it exist but they are probably already testing it for future phones.
As consumers, we will get what we are given and have very little input as to what that will be, we can moan and moan at HTC or other companies but at the end of the day, it's always down to them.
The sensation will be a great phone i have no doubt but to move from the Desire HD for instance would be a mistake, the Evo 3d looks to be the better HTC phone on paper and will probably win overall when compared to the sensation.
There will be a tonne of people who will see this as the latest and greatest and will make HTC a load of cash so it's a win for HTC and a loss for us (the consumer) again.
Just hope that the dev's on XDA and other places can do their magic and make these phones work the way they were ment to, not how the likes of HTC think they should be, which imho is barely acceptable.
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Samsung Galaxy S II breaks 1m sales record in Korea
http://androidcommunity.com/samsung...essor-in-1h-2011-plus-4g-galaxy-tab-20110530/
The article above clearly shows that you can make a quality product, "push" the envelop on current current technology, get great reviews, break sales records AND sell it a price higher than the Sensation. The technology is there and some company's are using it now.

rp-x1 said:
The one thing I have to add is that RAM is relatively power hungry, so this may have been a factor after some poor battery performances in HTC phones recently.
After using this phone for a week, I can safely say It's not had any performance problems in my usage (web, gaming, video streaming, music playing, online purchases through apps, SIP and voice calls, 2g to WiFi connectivity). The only problem of note so far is that the music widget crashes Sense now and again, but having said that, it did with my HD2 on occasion too.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
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How many hours can you go performing theses functions before you have to charge up again?

NEED an HONEST USER opinion PLEASE ^^,

ive posted a soliciting opinion in the galaxy s II forum..of corz most of the answers was inclined to having a galaxy s2..
im torn to choosing between htc sensation and sgs2.
ive read many users opinion and complaint regarding so many issues about htc sensation..one of which is the "death grip" on wifi radio.some are the unresponsive touchscreen and the screen acquiring dust overtime...compared to sgs2 yellowish tint problem and the back side being very hot..
so i want to solicit opinions to the real htc sensation user before buying it..viewing angle is not an issue for me coz i really dont want others on my side to see what im doing with my phone specially when im texting or something..
so if any of u has a hands on with htc sensation and the sgs2..please i need ur help..im using xperia arc as of now and want to buy a phone with dual core cpu ^^,
thanks and more power

Working in a mobile shop I get to play with phones all day. When it come to death grip all smart phones have it sensation and gs2 included. I chose the sensation purely on the build quilty. The galaxy s 2 is plasticy and feels cheap but the screen is amazing. When it come to faulty units HTC has less issues than other manufactures and I see less returns on them too.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App

Honestly it's really hard to pick between either.
I honestly went with the Sensation because I like HTC due to their customer service. They were friendly to me and replaced parts on my Touch HD. After heavy usage and heat it went crazy and then HTC fixed it for me even though I bought it internationally and shouldn't have gotten any warranty.
That's not to say Samsung has horrible customer service, it's just after that I very much stayed with HTC.
I could be a rare case though.

I own both phones and without question IMO, the sgs2 is the best android phone available. I do like the build quality of the Sensation better but I don't care how it feels I only care about how it works.

jlevy73 said:
I own both phones and without question IMO, the sgs2 is the best android phone available. I do like the build quality of the Sensation better but I don't care how it feels I only care about how it works.
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ok..im aware that using benchmarks, etc, sgs2 is really the best..but when im watching reviews, send UI is somewhat on the plus side for me compared to sgs2 touchwiz..im not sure coz honestly i havent held any one of the 2 phones yet..i hope soon coz im really planning to buy one..
since u own both these device, did u xperince a lag using htc sensation?and on ur recommendation, u would recommend sgs 2 basing on the overall user experience?

Benchmarks mean nothing.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App

I bought Sensation, because I love good built phones (I don't want to pay 450€ for mobile phone, which is from cheap plastic...) . And because I prefer Sense to TouchWiz.
But anyway, I have a suggestion for you. Flip a coin and say that head is Sensation, and number is SGS2. And when the coin will be in air, you will know which side you hope to be. And then buy one phone, which you are hoping to fall. And not the one that really falls =)
Hope it helps

Sensation vs SGS2
I bought my sensation because:
Stylish (not similar to other devices- ex. apple suing samsung)
Sense UI (best UI, hands down)
Power consumption
Screen (Less power consumption)
Built Quality
P.S.
Death grip can only happen if intentionally done (check youtube)
SGS2 screen technology (AMOLED) "drawbacks include reduced brightness and colors that are often over-saturated. OLED screens also suffer an awkward aging effect, where the red, green and blue sub-pixels will deteriorate and lose efficiency at different rates, which causes brightness and color consistency to worsen over time. While improvements are being made, it's important to understand that this display technology is still relatively immature." ....Engadget
http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/19/engadget-primed-all-mobile-displays-are-not-created-equal/

If you can, go to the store and try both. You will see which one you like better
Swyped from my HTC Sensation

I was actually torn between getting these two, at one stage I placed an order for the SG2 - lucky paypal was being slow with giving me my money from the sale of my iPhone - Thus after a day I cancelled the order and re-ordered the Sensation purely for the qHD, aluminium unibody and build quality along with what I thought and hoped would be the faster phone!
Hopefully over the coming months the gap will close between the two phones, remember that at 1.5GHz this phone benchmarks better that the SG2 and HTC under clocked it to 1.2GHz, also in benchmarks the phone is pushing something like 25% more pixels

jlevy73 said:
I own both phones and without question IMO, the sgs2 is the best android phone available. I do like the build quality of the Sensation better but I don't care how it feels I only care about how it works.
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Joshhedge said:
I was actually torn between getting these two, at one stage I placed an order for the SG2 - lucky paypal was being slow with giving me my money from the sale of my iPhone - Thus after a day I cancelled the order and re-ordered the Sensation purely for the qHD, aluminium unibody and build quality along with what I thought and hoped would be the faster phone!
Hopefully over the coming months the gap will close between the two phones, remember that at 1.5GHz this phone benchmarks better that the SG2 and HTC under clocked it to 1.2GHz, also in benchmarks the phone is pushing something like 25% more pixels
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thanks bro..im just thinking regarding the back cover..the upper lip of the cover is like coversing the upper part of the phone right?when covering it, the upper part of the back cover that is covering the upper part is sealed well?i mean dust will not likely to go inside freely?and also to the side?that is one thing im worried about coz i dont want dust to go inside the phone for example..as what others are saying that there are dust inside the screen specifically...

DAMAGE_INC29 said:
thanks bro..im just thinking regarding the back cover..the upper lip of the cover is like coversing the upper part of the phone right?when covering it, the upper part of the back cover that is covering the upper part is sealed well?i mean dust will not likely to go inside freely?and also to the side?that is one thing im worried about coz i dont want dust to go inside the phone for example..as what others are saying that there are dust inside the screen specifically...
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Dust will go inside the phone from the top and from the camera holes. I clean the inside 1's a week, but dust does not go inside the screen. the good thing about the sensation design is that you can replace the cover with a new one if you damaged it and it will be like new as long as you don't damaged the screen.
I think you should go to a store and play with both phones and decide for yourself which one you like best. Both are great phones with plus and minuses. If you like the design and plastic build of the SGS2 then buy it. I would have bought the SGS2 if it was designed like the sensation.

n1kon said:
Working in a mobile shop I get to play with phones all day. When it come to death grip all smart phones have it sensation and gs2 included. I chose the sensation purely on the build quilty. The galaxy s 2 is plasticy and feels cheap but the screen is amazing. When it come to faulty units HTC has less issues than other manufactures and I see less returns on them too.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
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i also like the built quality of htc sentation compare to the sgs2..
when u were playing with both phone..particularly htc sensation, did u notice any lag when opening apps or games or something?how abut in browsing

I have tried very hard to try to recreate this "death grip" and I cannot do anything to lose signal! I wouldnt even put that into your equation right now. As far as the screen, my screen is very responsive an accurate but I do have a bit of dust under it but that is more a minor annoyance. I am a little bias as I am a sensation owner, but Im just saying, I use to be a stock android guy and hated sense, but sense 3.0 is bomb! I would take the sensation over the sgsII almost any day just because of sense 3.0. (Its that good) And then again everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

DAMAGE_INC29 said:
i also like the built quality of htc sentation compare to the sgs2..
when u were playing with both phone..particularly htc sensation, did u notice any lag when opening apps or games or something?how abut in browsing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a bit of lag in stock roms but I never use a stock rom I'm all for customs
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App

I've have owned the sgs2 and currently have the sensation.
The only reason I changed over is cos I missed sense UI, if that isn't a problem for you then I'd say get the galaxy s2.
Galaxy s2 is faster, web browsing is faster, the camera and colours are brill, the speaker is louder and in my opinion better.
I've noticed my sensation hangs on web pages, apps don't open as quick.
Im not sure if I'm correct on saying this but to me it feels that sense 3.0 isnt supposed to run on this device even though my old desire hd handled it flawlessly.
I understand when people say that touchwiz looks very iphonish, and I agree also.
The one thing that bugged me with the galaxy s2 is defo the fact there is no notification light.
I'm gonna finish now and will probably get flamed but its just how I feel.
Like I said I come back to HTC cos I missed sense, but if ur not bothered bout UI then I'd say get galaxy s2.
Hopefully HTC bring out an update that would make my device fly.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium

dazza_84 said:
I've have owned the sgs2 and currently have the sensation.
The only reason I changed over is cos I missed sense UI, if that isn't a problem for you then I'd say get the galaxy s2.
Galaxy s2 is faster, web browsing is faster, the camera and colours are brill, the speaker is louder and in my opinion better.
I've noticed my sensation hangs on web pages, apps don't open as quick.
Im not sure if I'm correct on saying this but to me it feels that sense 3.0 isnt supposed to run on this device even though my old desire hd handled it flawlessly.
I understand when people say that touchwiz looks very iphonish, and I agree also.
The one thing that bugged me with the galaxy s2 is defo the fact there is no notification light.
I'm gonna finish now and will probably get flamed but its just how I feel.
Like I said I come back to HTC cos I missed sense, but if ur not bothered bout UI then I'd say get galaxy s2.
Hopefully HTC bring out an update that would make my device fly.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
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Click to collapse
No Flaming here just manlove I totally agree with you. I switched from touch HD to sensation. I would have bought SGS2 if it was designed differently. I think it is a great phone except I just can't get over the design, it is ugly

I'm going to speak primarily of the Sensation because I have no experience with the SGS2:
Pros:
Build quality (although I honestly don't get why people think this is such a big deal when a lot of people put covers on their phone)
UI (I need to stress that VISUALLY I like Sense 3.0, you'll see what I mean later)
qHD resolution
Design (basically same category as build quality)
Web browsing (qHD makes it really nice, and I've also read that the SGS2 doesn't automatically rewrap text when you zoom in/out like the Sensation does)
Cons:
Screen tech (I will never buy a LCD phone again; LCD is absolutely worthless in direct sunlight and bright areas and I can't see my phone's screen in said situations; and plus as SAMOLED+ technology matures they'll take care of problems like the yellowish tint)
Speaker (there is no way for me to put this other than to say the Sensation's speaker is absolutely ****ty; my brother's old MyTouch 4G has a WAY louder speaker and it's an older phone)
Processor (this is sort of a time-related thing, because in a technical sense the Sensation's chip actually has some advantages on paper like asynchronous cores; the problem is is that Gingerbread apparently doesn't have adequate dual-core support and I don't believe an asynchronous dual-core phone will do as well as a synchronous dual-core phone until ICS, but even then we'll have to see what does better)
UI (while I also put UI in the Pros section for its looks, I have to say that Sense 3.0 is laggy as **** on the Sensation and is not optimized; I'm saying this while I'm on one of the faster custom ROMs, which still is laggy; I don't like the looks of Touchwiz like many on here, but I would kill for its smoothness)
Camera (not that it's bad, it's quite good, but reviews are unanimous that the SGS2 camera is even better)
Internal memory (1 GB vs. 16 GB; need I say more?)
RAM (768 MB vs. 1 GB; again, need I say more?)
Deathgrip (I know people will say that all phones experience deathgrip issues, but I don't think most have it as bad as the Sensation does)
Battery (this is minor, because the battery life is pretty decent, but most top-line phones are coming out with upwards of 1700 mAh batteries these days)
That sums up my views, I may be missing a few points here and there. The only things I like about my Sensation are the design and build quality, the UI, and the qHD resolution. Otherwise, I honestly think that the Sensation was completely out-spec'd even at the time it came out.

I have Sensation for about three months now! I came from a HD2 ( a special case ) and i was expecting the most powerful smartphone in the world. At first i was disappointed (before S-off ). The lag that everyone is talking about WAS there! The phone wasn't really laggy but it was not as i expected. The apps were launching really fast but i knew it could get much better. The gs2 was at the time a lot faster. The normal user couldn't tell the difference and every day experience was the same if not better ( i prefer sense ui too ). I'm writing in the past tense because after the S-off and with a custom rom (IC 2.3.5) my Sensation is blazing fast ( almost as i want it to be ). Anyway, you should go and try both of them. GS2 is a great phone and if you choose to buy it you won't regret it. It's a matter of personal preference! I prefer HTC's quality, looks, qHD screen, customer service and Sense UI. You may prefer the Super Amoled Plus, more built in memory and RAM. It's your choice .

I love my Sensation. Bought 5 of them for the family. Haven't had any issues. Especially now that updates are out and bugs are getting fixed (not to mention custom roms), the Sensation is a super sweet phone.

Should i upgrade?

Hello sensation community
Currently i am a proud owner of a HTC desire s and i want to upgrade my phone. I am looking for me with a better battery but also a bigger screen and a faster processor. I very much like the build quality from HTC and their unique unibody case. So the sensation is on my list. Would you recommend this phone to me?
I have also some questions
Is it easy to s-off, root the phone and to apply custom roms?
How long last the battery with medium/heavy usage (heavely whatsapp/sms?
And do you guys think i can play upcoming android games?
I would really appreciate some answers
Thanks in advice
- Jahai
Sent from my HTC Desire S using xda premium

I have HTC Sensation. It was very easy to S-OFF it and install custom ROMs. Usually I charge it every evening, but after overnight charge it can hold 2 days if used very slightly. Havy usage will kill it during one day for sure There are also batteries with extended capacity, like Anker, available.
Considering performance, I think this phone has a great potential that will be unleashed with ICS.

Jahai said:
Hello sensation community
Currently i am a proud owner of a HTC desire s and i want to upgrade my phone. I am looking for me with a better battery but also a bigger screen and a faster processor. I very much like the build quality from HTC and their unique unibody case. So the sensation is on my list. Would you recommend this phone to me?
I have also some questions
Is it easy to s-off, root the phone and to apply custom roms?
How long last the battery with medium/heavy usage (heavely whatsapp/sms?
And do you guys think i can play upcoming android games?
I would really appreciate some answers
Thanks in advice
- Jahai
Sent from my HTC Desire S using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The development is getting much better in here ics is fully working only need to charge at might with a day of heavy usage, double that with moderate, everything with regards to custom roms is simple,
However the desire s is a Good phone, wait a little while there's a few new phones round the corner ike the htc ville or the sg3
Sent from my CM7 Sensation XE using xda premium

Jahai said:
Hello sensation community
Currently i am a proud owner of a HTC desire s and i want to upgrade my phone. I am looking for me with a better battery but also a bigger screen and a faster processor. I very much like the build quality from HTC and their unique unibody case. So the sensation is on my list. Would you recommend this phone to me?
I have also some questions
Is it easy to s-off, root the phone and to apply custom roms?
How long last the battery with medium/heavy usage (heavely whatsapp/sms?
And do you guys think i can play upcoming android games?
I would really appreciate some answers
Thanks in advice
- Jahai
Sent from my HTC Desire S using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey, I've owned the HTC Sensation z710e since launch and I can tell you I'd actually advise NOT to get it. It's branded as a fast phone but truth be told it really isn't. When I've asked about the speed compared to sgs2 they say sense slows it down so i used an aosp rom, still slower, until i overclocked till 1.7ghz, it was just a bit better. The phone has over-heating issues, the bottom of the screen and back cover get extremely hot after about 10-20 mins use. There is also a rather pathetic death grip issue, at the top AND bottom of the phone. I'd go for a samsung phone, deffinately. Apart from these three rather annoying facts, it's extremely easy to root and run roms.

sensation lover said:
hey, I've owned the HTC Sensation z710e since launch and I can tell you I'd actually advise NOT to get it. It's branded as a fast phone but truth be told it really isn't. When I've asked about the speed compared to sgs2 they say sense slows it down so i used an aosp rom, still slower, until i overclocked till 1.7ghz, it was just a bit better. The phone has over-heating issues, the bottom of the screen and back cover get extremely hot after about 10-20 mins use. There is also a rather pathetic death grip issue, at the top AND bottom of the phone. I'd go for a samsung phone, deffinately. Apart from these three rather annoying facts, it's extremely easy to root and run roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't wanna make this into an argument but I don't have any of these issues and with ICS the phone is buttery smooth handles 3D games easily like gta and need for speed, out if the box its pants, it doesn't get over heated bit it will at 1.7 the death grip is there but only if you put your whole hand over the back of the phone
Sent from my CM7 Sensation XE using xda premium

I'd have to agree with whynot66, also note that a lot of the complaints/problems about the sensation (ie. dust problems, overheating) are coming out of a very vocal/unlucky minority. After all, users with no problems don't post "HEY I HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH MY PHONE!" threads.
Personally, my phone runs super smooth and with ICS I get 60 hours battery life on one overnight charge and medium usage.
I would recommend adopting a wait and see approach though, since the next generation is about to be unveiled.
Side note, isn't it crazy that a generation of phones only lasts for a year tops? And I used to think console generations are short...

MoodyTunic said:
I'd have to agree with whynot66, also note that a lot of the complaints/problems about the sensation (ie. dust problems, overheating) are coming out of a very vocal/unlucky minority. After all, users with no problems don't post "HEY I HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH MY PHONE!" threads.
Personally, my phone runs super smooth and with ICS I get 60 hours battery life on one overnight charge and medium usage.
I would recommend adopting a wait and see approach though, since the next generation is about to be unveiled.
Side note, isn't it crazy that a generation of phones only lasts for a year tops? And I used to think console generations are short...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+ 1 that I bought the xe when it came out didn't know it was just an overclocked sensation till I got it only had it about 6 months and I'm thinking about quad cores lol, console generations are slow in comparison the ps4 will have to be something special tho
Sent from my CM7 Sensation XE using xda premium

Draw back to having the latest phone is that you will be stuck with stock ROM from HTC, development only happens for popular phones and the rate of new models mean no-one spends time learning to code for them.
Look at the HD2, well past it's use date and still going strong because of the huge and expert user base, they've performed miracles with it. I was surprised when I moved from HD2 to Sensation that so little coding has been done for it, no offence to devs, but AOSP is still a while off yet and all the ICS releases are tweaks of a stock ROM leak.
I hope the release rate of new phones slows, otherwise the userbase gets more and more fragmented. Looking at HTC's drop in sales I think they must be realising that cutting edge hardware on it's own itsn't enough, it needs excellent software to shine.
Next time I buy a new phone I'm first gonna check which phone the best devs are buying, then follow them.

whynot66 said:
The development is getting much better in here ics is fully working only need to charge at might with a day of heavy usage, double that with moderate, everything with regards to custom roms is simple,
However the desire s is a Good phone, wait a little while there's a few new phones round the corner ike the htc ville or the sg3
Sent from my CM7 Sensation XE using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds very good. With my Desire S I'm already used to charge it every night so that isnt a problem. But with my current phone i can't always have mobile data on, for whatsapp, facebook, etc. I would really appreciate it if i could have allways mobile data on and use it for textings, no much downloading or surfing, just texting
And do you guys can give some information about battery life? Pls with the screen on time otherwise it would been senseless
Buying another battery like the 1900mah anker isn' a problem either
I don't want to buy these phones cause as mentioned already the developement isnt really big, it's at the beginning of the growning then. Otherwise will these phones be at high prices :/ maybe 450-600€ (europe).
I've heard that the developement on the sensation is very far progressed, is it right?
sensation lover said:
hey, I've owned the HTC Sensation z710e since launch and I can tell you I'd actually advise NOT to get it. It's branded as a fast phone but truth be told it really isn't. When I've asked about the speed compared to sgs2 they say sense slows it down so i used an aosp rom, still slower, until i overclocked till 1.7ghz, it was just a bit better. The phone has over-heating issues, the bottom of the screen and back cover get extremely hot after about 10-20 mins use. There is also a rather pathetic death grip issue, at the top AND bottom of the phone. I'd go for a samsung phone, deffinately. Apart from these three rather annoying facts, it's extremely easy to root and run roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the moment I'm using my Desire S with a optimized Sense 3 Rom and it is 75% smooth and thats with a 1GH singlecore processor. So i think the 1,2GH Dualcore processor of the Sensation will be satisfying my needs for speed and smoothness
Besides that I'm to this "overheating" and the death grip. In my opinion its pretty normal for a aluminium-uniboy-phone
I wouldn't go for Samsung as I don't like the plastic case. I don't care if it is high quality plastic or not, I simply don't like that as much as the aluminium unibody from HTC. And I really like HTC Sense, also don't care if it slow downs the phone, I really like the options on Sense and how it is user friendly + the looks so Samsung isn't really an option for me.
A short information, on my current phone, the Desire S, I have to get S-Off (simply with the revolutionary tool, very easy), then install a custom recovery like cwm or 4ext (adb push or as PG88IMG.zip per bootloader, easy too) and then can flash a zip for superuser/root or custom roms.
So I am already used to adb/fastboot commands and can use these as well as update zips within the bootloader. Is it the same on the Sensation or are there any other steps to do?

I have had mine for a week or two. I do not have death grip issue or any of the issues some report to have. I recommend this phone. I absoluty love it. It is not as fast as my g2x but it also doesn't have all the bugs my g2x has. This phone looks great runs great and I do not regret purchasing it.
Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio using xda premium

Jahai said:
That sounds very good. With my Desire S I'm already used to charge it every night so that isnt a problem. But with my current phone i can't always have mobile data on, for whatsapp, facebook, etc. I would really appreciate it if i could have allways mobile data on and use it for textings, no much downloading or surfing, just texting
And do you guys can give some information about battery life? Pls with the screen on time otherwise it would been senseless
Buying another battery like the 1900mah anker isn' a problem either
I don't want to buy these phones cause as mentioned already the developement isnt really big, it's at the beginning of the growning then. Otherwise will these phones be at high prices :/ maybe 450-600€ (europe).
I've heard that the developement on the sensation is very far progressed, is it right?
At the moment I'm using my Desire S with a optimized Sense 3 Rom and it is 75% smooth and thats with a 1GH singlecore processor. So i think the 1,2GH Dualcore processor of the Sensation will be satisfying my needs for speed and smoothness
Besides that I'm to this "overheating" and the death grip. In my opinion its pretty normal for a aluminium-uniboy-phone
I wouldn't go for Samsung as I don't like the plastic case. I don't care if it is high quality plastic or not, I simply don't like that as much as the aluminium unibody from HTC. And I really like HTC Sense, also don't care if it slow downs the phone, I really like the options on Sense and how it is user friendly + the looks so Samsung isn't really an option for me.
A short information, on my current phone, the Desire S, I have to get S-Off (simply with the revolutionary tool, very easy), then install a custom recovery like cwm or 4ext (adb push or as PG88IMG.zip per bootloader, easy too) and then can flash a zip for superuser/root or custom roms.
So I am already used to adb/fastboot commands and can use these as well as update zips within the bootloader. Is it the same on the Sensation or are there any other steps to do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am with you, I absolutely love sense!. I have held and played with samsung phones especially the GS2 and plastic doesn't feel anything like aluminum and SGS2 just looks ugly. SGS2 is a great device except for its choice of materials and design, I would have bought one if it wasn't too ugly. Sensation is a nice phone and except for the dust under the screen problem that I have, it is absolutely amazing. But since it is 2012 and quad core phones are coming, I suggest you wait for htc Edge or anything that is quad core.

1.5 dual core is the true measure the development is steadily growing. I have mobile data always on and/or wifi. We're running sense 3.6 leak. But htc will be releasing ics officially soon with sense 4.0 once that is released it will be even better. There is some exceptionally skilled devs around here too
InsertCoin 4.5.0

brusko1972 said:
I am with you, I absolutely love sense!. I have held and played with samsung phones especially the GS2 and plastic doesn't feel anything like aluminum and SGS2 just looks ugly. SGS2 is a great device except for its choice of materials and design, I would have bought one if it wasn't too ugly. Sensation is a nice phone and except for the dust under the screen problem that I have, it is absolutely amazing. But since it is 2012 and quad core phones are coming, I suggest you wait for htc Edge or anything that is quad core.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats are exactly my thoughts except the part with the waiting
i don't need a quadcore and i can't see where a quadcore could improve something. the most apps on the market are for singlecores and dont take any advantage from more cores. even the dualcore isnt really used, its still useful especially for sense but i didnt see the point in using quadcores. its the same as the ram. for what do you need, let me say 2gb ram, if all the time 1,4gb are free? if you use a device with 768mb of ram and you only use 500mb it isnt a advantage for you to have 2gb of ram. its useless, and in my opinion its the same qith the amount of cores of the processor. we shouldnt move to quadcores if we dont optimized the dualcore to the max.
as always just my thoughts

Jahai said:
And do you guys can give some information about battery life? Pls with the screen on time otherwise it would been senseless
Buying another battery like the 1900mah anker isn' a problem either
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery life for me, with the Anker 1900, is between 24 to 36hrs with phone, data, wifi and sync on all the time - that's with 5 to 6hrs of the screen being on.
For the S-off, root and CWM the sensation is pretty similar, there are several sticky threads you need to read.

Yes it is easy to S-off, root and flash custom ROMs and I havn't had any real issues with it. However, I had a Desire S before my Sensation and I wouldn't say that it was a very big jump between the 2, I agree with a few others on here that you are better off waiting until something else comes along that is worth the extra outlay for a more significant upgrade.
With regards to battery life I have found it to be similar to the Desire S, although the Sensation has a bigger battery it also uses more power so I get a similar amount of life out of it, less than a day at my reasonable heavy usage level.

Something to note, the asmp design of our dualcore Snapdragon is definitely not optimized for performance, and the supposedly powerful Adreno 220 gpu is either overrated or htc just gave us crappy drivers for it.
So like someone said above me, the real world difference between Desire and Sensation will probably not be huge. The Sensation is a good phone, but if you want raw power for gaming, you might want to wait and see what comes down the pipeline.

I also wouldnt go for the Sensation now. The step from Desire S to the Sensa just isnt big enough to justify investing the money. Just wait for a month or two and get the latest model than....which most likely wont be much more expensive then the Sensa XE is now.

ipotoEJ6 said:
I also wouldnt go for the Sensation now. The step from Desire S to the Sensa just isnt big enough to justify investing the money. Just wait for a month or two and get the latest model than....which most likely wont be much more expensive then the Sensa XE is now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but the sensation xe is on a price level were i wouldnt even considering it.
the sensation is now on a price were i really think about upgrading, the screensize of my desire s does really annoying me with the time, its simply to small.. i've looked in shops and tried different phones with different sizes. and 4,3inch fits perfectly for me, 4,65 or even 5,3 is just too big were 4 is a bit too small

I'd say wait too, more so since you're already coming from a good phone.
Hopefully, MWC will push prices of older phones down a little and let you see what new stuff there is too.

Should I buy the Atrix or Sensation?

Considering either: Atrix($172), Atrix 2($266), Sensation($200), or Sensation XE ($250)
I know most people are going to say the differences are not that big, and that I should just buy the one I like the best. Problem is I can't go to store and try them out. I'm buying them online in China.
The two most important things would be GPU and battery life. I want a good gpu, since that will be the limiting factor for games and such. Battery life is important because if the battery is dead I can't use the phone. I got a 16gb sd card, and don't really like to use internal memory except to install apps.
I hear the Sensation and Sensation XE differences are very little. Does the larger battery of the XE actual contribute significantly to the battery life?
Also, what is this sense stuff? I don't like crap and bloatware on my on my phone. I don't use special features (search, voice stuff, and other crap). So I'm a bit concerned that HTC sense will just get in my way and piss me off. My last phone (Huawei U8800) was stock 2.3 and that was awesome. I make phone calls, view office documents, read books, listen to music, check email, and play games. I don't do widgets, social stuff, movies, camera and pictures. I'm most likely run stock (unless sense really sucks), rooted, and overclock the CPU and GPU.
I'm leaning towards the Sensation, but the bigger battery on the XE looks nice. However HTC sense worries me, so I have the Atrix and Atrix 2 as a backup plan. Thanks for the advice in advance.

Hi, being a sensation user, I would suggest the XE. I did try motorola atrix in two stores some time before. Both the atrix phones were slow even with all the dual core stuff. But I don't have an idea of Atrix 2.
For me sensation is fast and smooth. Also it has lot of support if you're interested in custom ROMs. I bought HTC Sensation 4g in US and installed a custom ROM. The actual phone was 1.2GHz dual core, but now it's running at 1.5GHz
Sense actually gives the phone a different look and feel from the original android (and I love that ). It might have been a burden on older phones, but in the era of multi-core phones, it won't matter much from performance point of view.
Overall sensation is a pretty good phone from my point of view.

I got the HTC Sensation XE and i can tell you that this is a great phone... If you read something that says that this phone sucks in this forum or in another forum is OK, all phones have their pros and cons... and this phone is really fast, smooth, and let me tell you that the Sense is the best i've have ever seen... when correctly modded this phone can rock!! The support is excellent, the forum is really active and works a lot making new roms and fixing problems, however if you want a new phone i will choose the big brother, the new HTC One S right now...

I'd like to get the HTC One, but I am rather destructive with my phones. I once had a Nokia bar phone that got ran over 3 times, and left in the rain for 2 days, and still worked afterwards. I go through smartphones at a pace of about one a year, including 2-3 repairs. I wish they built smartphones with the same quality as the old Nokias. My last phone (Huawei U8800 - awesome phone for the price) had to have the speaker replaced, then the digitizer, then I broke the MBR, then some motherboard problems. It lasted 1 year, 2 months. So now I'm buying a new phone.
Anyway, Got the Sensation XE for $244 including overnight shipping. Not too bad for China. Thanks for the advice.

Congratulations on your Sensation! Enjoy

Still a good phone to buy?

Looking to get new phone. Options are SGS2, Sensation 4g or LG Optimus L9. Buying used, shooting for the galaxy first but is the sensation a good fa back? Hoping to get something that could last me a year if I don't get the next IPhone. I know, bad word sorry. Ill get the soap
Sent from my LG-P500 using xda app-developers app

still is a good phone. I have chosen the Sensation over the used SGS2 and Iphone 4 last xmas.

I think its still good but i would personally would choose a gs2 over this phone reasons arent many though i would because i need a bigger screen for my thumbs, its actually a little faster than sensation and i can make it look like a galaxy s3,,, downside is that screen is lower than the sensation, build quality feels cheaper, camera seems better on sensation.... over all gs2 will win with speed, buy a case for your phone makes it feel better, camera is still good and lets be real we dont use all the roms out there so we just need a few developers that can work on a few roms like cm10.1, the gs3 rom that works on s2, and it is a great phone if u dont wanna spend on an s3 since the s4 is right around the corner
Sent from my HTC Sensation

Sensation all the way! I think it's still a great phone, although the S2 is getting an official JB update.

I don't need official jelly or ice cream or kitkat. Ill put a custom rom on whatever i buy, offical roms tend to get bogged down with bloat and take forever to come out.Yea IDk about the s4 even, that would be like 600 dollars and in 6 months I won't have that so I'll stay under 300. If i could i'd be getting the nexus but just low supply and just over my budget. Want a good camera, speedy enough to play a handful of games, not going to tackle GTA, stuff like cut the rope, angry birds or songpop. I casual game on phones, got a console for hardcore gaming.part of me likes to tinker with all the roms and stuff but a bigger part of me is annoyed at that and would just like a stress free phone but I have to deal with it for now

I miss flip phones they never broke down at least not any of the ones i ever owned... remember when a phone was for phone calls and text and the sometimes web browsing for myspace or google
Sent from my HTC Sensation

I recently bought my Sensation XE for £130. The way I looked at it is that it is not worth spending more than £150 on a second hand phone because the Nexus 4 is only £240. The SGS2 at the time was selling for about £190 second hand. So I decided to save some money and have a play with the sensation.
I've found that premium accessories for the sensation are very cheap when compared to the SGS2. I guess they are trying to flush out stock for the sensation as the SGS2 is still available new.
Rom development on cyanogenmod is a bit further behind on the sensation if that is important to you. There is a wealth of roms to play with on the sensation and that situation should get even more interesting with the asian htc one s recently getting updated to jelly bean. The ICS roms work the best so far but JB 4.1 roms are solid for use. JB 4.2 is on the horizon.
I can't say which phone is better but the sensation is not bad.
Hope this helps.

yea i think that does help. I may just save some coin and go with the sensation.guess If it last 9-10 months, I can look at my options then.

Press thanks if you like

I was doubting between sg2 and sensation over a year ago. Still regret my choise (going for sensation).

well here's what I'm looking at. galaxy is 244, and the price fluctuates a bit. the sensation is 178. I want to shoot for the galaxy but I would like to save the 66 bucks, but I think what if I need to stay with the phone I get for a year, what will hold up best in terms of use. I want it to be speedy, doesn't have to be quad core speedy but I'd like it to not hang when I select and app or unlock the screen. 3g, 4g doesn't matter, as long as its decently fast to stream Pandora. If i do any uploading of vids it'll be on wifi mainly. Think screen washout in sunlight and camera quality both front and rear are my big concern. I have read some issues with gs2 getting bootloops without being rooted or rom-ed, i also worry about scratches on the glass buying used. guess my worries are the same as buying a car. want it to get me through without worry but not cost me my life savings (or lack of),

screamline458 said:
well here's what I'm looking at. galaxy is 244, and the price fluctuates a bit. the sensation is 178. I want to shoot for the galaxy but I would like to save the 66 bucks, but I think what if I need to stay with the phone I get for a year, what will hold up best in terms of use. I want it to be speedy, doesn't have to be quad core speedy but I'd like it to not hang when I select and app or unlock the screen. 3g, 4g doesn't matter, as long as its decently fast to stream Pandora. If i do any uploading of vids it'll be on wifi mainly. Think screen washout in sunlight and camera quality both front and rear are my big concern. I have read some issues with gs2 getting bootloops without being rooted or rom-ed, i also worry about scratches on the glass buying used. guess my worries are the same as buying a car. want it to get me through without worry but not cost me my life savings (or lack of),
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the sensation, wife has the s2. She likes it, I don't. I like mine, she don't
I was thinking of getting a Nexus 4 recently mine was doing some random **** (slow, homescreen reloads etc). Not really anything huge just annoying. But after thinking about it, I couldn't afford to drop that kind of money on a phone when I could be putting it towards other stuff.
I was wanting to root it for ages so finally did it. It improved a crap load! I did notice my battery wasn't really lasting through the day though. Again, I wanted to get a decent one for a while so I thought, new battery = cheap "new" phone.
It's working a treat.
The wife is starting to get annoyed with the s2 now as well - can't help with the specifics but I think it's just doing little annoying things as well.
We've both had ours for over 2 years. They're both running strong but after giving the sensation a freshen up, it's got a new lease on life. I think if you rooted etc the s2 you'll get similar results.
Personally, if you're looking at saving money and only want it to last a year - Sensation. I don't think it'll be that much slower than the s2 (in fact I think mine is faster than the wife's). And you can put the $60 towards the new beast. I really don't think the s2 is $60 better.

The Sensation has a terrible battery life. Stay away!

ungraph said:
The Sensation has a terrible battery life. Stay away!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually mine is pretty good !
Sent from my HTC Sensation using xda premium

lg 9
No one has talked about the lg 9 I would suggest looking at reviews and the forums here. I've played with it. It was nice, not too cheap feeling. Pretty snappy, but it was new and few apps installed. The camera has never impressed me on m sensation. The lg is only a five mega pixel so I would guess they saved money here, though tmobile is offering it for around 200 new,

it still is a pretty good phone, and running pretty smooth with a custom rom

I have a sensation 4g (lot of battery drain) but I have a new battery that is 1900mAh.
With custom rom, its blazing fast. But i'd recommend SG2 anyway because I'm korean.

Will you be tethering or otherwise requiring faster data? SGSII is HSPA+42. Sensation is HSPA14.
For me, the difference at home is 2-3mbps vs 7-11mbps, and in the city, can be 4-6mbps vs 12-18mbps.

Still a good phone but with a reasonable price, or I'll save more for a Nexus 4

no tethering. Nexus 4 would be nice if there it wasn't sold out and I had another 100 bucks for it
bought the S2