HTC Sensation XE Review
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Review: Oct 2011 |
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Phone rating: 
In a nutshell: The HTC Sensation
XE builds on the strengths of the dual-core Sensation. With
an even faster processor, a massive 1730mAh battery and some
quality Beats Audio headsets thrown in for free, this has got
to be one of the best Android smartphones ever released.
Best buy: *Free* from Dialaphone
(Black or White).
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Despite being an outstanding phone in every way, the HTC
Sensation hasn't been able to match the huge popularity of the Samsung
Galaxy S2. But HTC aren't taking that lying down. The HTC Sensation
XE is an upgraded version of the Sensation that adds in:
- an even faster 1.5GHz dual-core processor, making it the fastest
mobile so far
- an even bigger 1730mAh battery, which is the biggest battery on
any mobile
- the Beats Audio software with custom made Beats headsets by Dr.
Dre, giving - you guessed it - the ultimate mobile audio experience,
if you believe HTC's marketing hype.
Do any of these features really make a difference? With the dual-core
Sensation already supersonic, an extra 300MHz of speed doesn't really
make a noticeable difference. Battery power is welcomed, of course,
especially in such a power-hungry device, so this is a definite plus.
And as for Dr Dre and his Beats Audio? Yes, it's a high quality headset
and switching on the Beats Audio software certainly enhances the music.
But some quality Sennheiser headphones and bass boost / equaliser settings
would achieve the same end result. Ultimate mobile audio? We doubt it.
So, HTC have taken an outstanding phone and made it better. It's certainly
a 5 star phone by our reckoning. And yet ... and yet ... the XE still
won't knock the Galaxy S2 off its top slot, even with the assistance
of Dr. Dre. Why? Because it's 30% heavier and 30% fatter than the stealth-like
Samsung. And because even though the XE has 4GB of built-in memory,
only 1GB of this is available to the user. Read our HTC
Sensation review for more details.
Features of the HTC Sensation XE include:
- 8 megapixel camera with autofocus and dual LED flash plus VGA front
camera
- 1080p HD video recording
- Display: capacitive touchscreen with pinch-to-zoom capability, 540
X 960 pixels (4.3 inches) with auto-rotate
- GPS receiver with digital compass, Google Maps, HTC Footprints and
geo-tagging
- Music player (aac, .amr, .ogg, .m4a, .mid, .mp3, .wav, .wma formats)
- FM radio
- SRS virtual surround sound
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email
- Ringtones: MP3 ringtones
- Internet: GPRS, EDGE, HSPA (14.4 Mbps download, 5.76 Mbps upload),
Adobe® Flash® Player 10
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, micro-USB 2.0, 3.5mm audio jack,
DLNA
- Memory: 1GB plus 768MB RAM plus microSD memory card (up to 32GB)
- Vibration alert
- Quadband GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) plus HSPA/WCDMA (900/2100 MHz)
- Size: 126 x 65 x 11.3 mm
- Weight: 151g
- Battery: 1730 mAh
- Talktime: 445 - 550 minutes
- Battery standby: 310 - 540 hours
Compare HTC
Sensation XE deals and HTC
Sensation XE White deals at MobilePhoneChecker.co.uk.
HTC Sensation XE Consumer Reviews
Love your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review this
phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so
please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive
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Average rating from 31 reviews:
Reviewed by Stephen O'Connell from UK on 21st
Feb 2012
I've had this phone now for a few months and I hate it! I got this to
replace an iPhone 3GS (which I lost) but it has been one disappointment
after another.
Texting on the phone is shocking. The touch screen isn't very good.
So often it has registered a different letter dispite me tapping the
same place on the screen twice. Pressing the space bar but it registering
a fullstop! I have wanted to smash the phone so mant times.
The phone has shut down on me sevral times and I have had to reboot
it by taking the battery out! I was expecting something like this though
after the o2 person told me to take the battery out at least once a
week! Apparently, you have to do ths with all Android phones!
This brings me on to Android. I was so disappointed with it. iOS is
far superior. The market is truely terrible. Surely there's a finite
number of copies of Fruit Slice?
To sum it up, I would not recommend this phone to anyone. I think I'll
end up selling it and going back to my SE K800i.
Rating:  Reply
Reviewed by Zoe from UK on 11th Feb 2012
I love this phone for many of the reasons other posters have noted.
The Sense interface is fantastic and it is so quick and responsive.
Plus it does everything but wash the dishes lol. I'm on my second handset
however as the first one kept shutting down and rebooting. It has just
happened on the replacement handset too! Aaaaarrrgggh! Has anyone else
experienced this? I have read elsewhere that some other users have experienced
the same problem. It's not a cheap piece of kit so this really shouldn't
be happening...I don't know if it's a hardware or software problem.
Difficult one. I don't know whether to keep it but have two weeks to
make up my mind, so I'll just see if it happens again...
Rating: 
Reply
Reviewed by Sykes from Zambia on 31st Jan 2012
I've had my Sensation XE for two weeks now and what a phone it is! Well
done HTC! Some early negative reviews on this site had made me wary,
but having tasted the Wildfire S a few month ago (before I sold it),
I was basically sold on HTC and this handset in particular. Steep discounts
on the basic Sensation were also deeply tempting but in the end, partly
because the Galaxy Nexus was not yet available, I was determined to
get my full list price sim-free XE from Manila. I'm glad I persevered!
Coming basically from my eternal SE W810i (bought 2006 & still going
strong, BTW), this phone is more than a revelation: it's a whole new
communications experience. It’s everything my W810i was and much,
much more! I love the speed and responsiveness: "buttery smooth" as
some Asian blogs put it. I have audio and text Bibles in different versions,
YouTube movies and clips, countless MP3 sermons and songs, etc, and
yet I still have more than 2GB free on an 8GB SD car. And it's widgets
and apps galore in the Android Market. Other major pluses: (indispensable)
notification light, quality build, HD video recording, Beats ear-buds,
slick Sense 3.0 interface with pseudo 3D effects; easy-to-remove back
cover. Negatives: display hard to see in sunlight; have to charge it
at least once a day, ringer volume not loud enough to hear from another
room, coarse vibration 'sound'. Wishlist: dedicated camera button and
sound volume adjustment on inline Beats audio controls. If you think
my review is too gushing then read TechRadar's review. This phone really
IS that good.
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by Jesterbri from England on 25th Jan
2012
This is a quite incredible smartphone. I have used a HTC Desire for
2 years which I loved and upgraded two weeks ago. The phone is outstanding
and meets my requirements in every way. It's robust and the size/weight
is no problem. HTC Sense v3 is fanstastic and there are so many features
that I'm still finding out about e.g. you can put it in chargedock mode
and use it as a photoframe displaying your pictures....great on my work
desk whilst charging. Browsing speed is amazing and I experience hardly
any lag. Videos through flash player are 'sensational' and I don't use
my laptop anymore...it's redundant.!! The 8mp camera is great and androids
apps/games are just getting better and better. To me though the outstanding
feature is the Beats Audio. I use my phone a lot for music and the audio
quality through the earphones and also through a speaker doc is superb.
I've installed a 32gb memory card and now have the perfect media accessible
to me all day. I did look at the Galaxy S2 and Nexus but HTC Sense as
an interface won hands down to me and whist the screen display is slightly
better on the other two, the overall quality, build and features of
the Sensation XE won the day for me. Battery isn't fantastic but is
adequate and lasts the day on pretty high usage. I charge every night
but that's not a problem because I'm asleep.!! If you're in two minds
then just go and get this phone....you won't be disappointed. I don't
really know where a smartphone can improve from here but I'm sure HTC
have got their development team working on the next level.! All i know
is that I'll be happy for the next 21 months of my contract and I made
the right decision. GO GET IT...!!!!
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by Greavesy from England on 14th Jan
2012
The BEST phone i have ever had! better than an iphone as it does pretty
much exactly the same, but has monster beats by dre technology/headphones
(which are outstanding) and makes this phone better in my eyes. The
above statement says high cost? not at all! i paid 20 quid for the handset
and only 21.50 a month, cheaper than my old blackberry 9700 (which i've
now realised is a poor phone). the heavier weights gives it a feeling
of "more for your money". rediculously fast and also has a 16gb sd card
with it! what a great deal! BUY THIS PHONE!
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by ali from uk on 11th Jan 2012
Awsome phone takes a few flat charges before batt gets conditioned.
Any one who buys a smart phone then moans about the battery needs to
buy a little 9.99 phone then you will get a week from it. all smart
phones eat up the juice i cam get a full day moderate use and still
have 50 percent or more left
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by Jeffery from Malaysia on 7th Jan 2012
Got it a week ago, great phone, great sound but batt life is extreme
poor (heavy user) 100% at 8am, but by 1pm i am down to 28% ... with
all task killer, batt saver etc install also won;t help much.
Rating:
Reply
Reply by Richard Waring from uk on
8th Feb 2012
Get another battery
Reviewed by JC from LONDON, UK. on 5th Jan 2012
GOT THIS PHONE ON THE 11/11/11. THOUGHT I WHOULD GIVE IT A TRY AFTER
A FEW DAYS, THEN I WHOULD RETURN IT IN EXCHANGE FOR AN IPHONE, BUT IT
TURNED OUT THIS PHONE WAS QUITE BRILLIANT...I'M QUITE HAPPY SOMETIMES
OVER THE MOON...DECIDED TO KEEP IT...HAVEN,T CHANGED MY MIND SINCE THEN
AND UP TO NOW. Perhaps only a better version of this fantastic phone
can make me change it. An HTC with 4quad processor, a better screen
like an AMOLED. A LESS WEIGHTY VERSION PERHAPS ARE The only reasons
I whould go get another phone....till then chances are that whould come
into reality before the end of 2012. Which means that I'll be using
this phone for a couple of months
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by thomas from hungary on 4th Jan 2012
unbelievably fast phone with a 1.5 GHz dual core processor, this phone
is the most powerful smartphone in the market. easily used and spontaneous,
and with the great camera, i guess this is ultimate phone available
for now. i used an iphone 4s and galaxy s2, but still this beast is
the fastest. still don't know why the media is ignoring it?!!
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by elnaggar from egypt on 29th Dec 2011
This phpne realy smart phone i don't want Any thing more Thank's htc
team
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by rob from uk on 29th Dec 2011
Awsome phone very fast no lag, I moved from the galaxy's 2 which was
laggy at times i have not yet had any lag on the htc, The screen doesnt
match the galaxy 2 but it's still pretty good, Good build quality Feels
good in the hand takes a few flat charges to get the battery conditioned
mine is better than it was when new, htc will be updateing firmware
to ice cream sandwich in a few months.the sense interface is the best
you can get well designed, the sansung ui is pretty dull to say the
least.
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by liz from uk on 27th Dec 2011
I got the phone in November and I have to say I was worried it would
be a bit big and masculine for a girl of my size (very small hahaa)
but you get used to the size very quickly and without the red wall paper
it looks much better! Aside from looks its a brilliant phone, sound
is good, display is good, camera is surprisingly good! And its SO fast!
my only tiny issue would be that it can get very hot whilst using the
mobile internet! I can't wait for ics which will undoubtedly make it
even better!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Paul from UK on 21st Dec 2011
Remarkable phone my first HTC after many years of owning Nokia cannot
see me ever leaving HTC let alone going back to Nokia. Got mine on the
1/12/2011 and still learning about it all but what a device. Shame the
beats Audio is only for music but I dare say that will change in the
near future. Comes with a 16GB SD card other manufactures should learn
from this. Very solid unit.Outstanding.
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by Laney from Wales on 22nd Nov 2011
Had this phone since release after being crapple for a couple of years,
absolutely love it. Really quick to respond to input and nice bright,
crisp display. A joy to watch video on and the music player sounds really
good, if you upgrade the headphones as i have it sounds even better
(the beats phones aren't really all that great ) Lots of apps, widgets
and other things to keep you happy for a long time :D. Very much recommend
this phone.
Rating:
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Reviewed by RIAZ from UK on 20th Nov 2011
What can I say about this phone that hasn't been said already.. HTC
have really gone all out with this new flagship phone.. the XE has got
an awsome camera that now comes with some basic editing soft and also
special effects. I've used the Samsung touchWizz UI and I have to same
HTC smash them with their sense 3.0 UI..imagine what the sense 3.5 is
is going to be like. It's true the battery life has improved massively
and with the new task manager installed it helps you save precious battery
life. The phone is on the heavy side but I prefer it like that is it
feels well made and robust unlike the Samsung s2. The only drawback
with this phone is that the beats audio only works the music and nothing
else. I know HTC have just released the codec to all the developers
to incoparate the beats audio in thier apps. All I need now is for the
ice cream sandwich update to arrive then I will be showing all those
apple fanboys what they are missing.
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by tommy from london on 17th Nov 2011
I love this phone soo much I was worried about the memory in the sensation
xe but you get a 16gb card free in the box I've not had a problem soo
far I got on the 4th November my battery is brilliant I take my phone
off charge at 5am and it can last right the way through till 11-12 in
the morning with heavy use. The beats headphones included are great
thy cancel out all the noise around you and all your hearing is your
music no hissing or wind when your walking just you fabulous music.
The android market has so many apps in I'm spoilt for choice and I like
the fact that you can move your apps to the memory card to save your
phone being clogged up. If you haven't got this phone you don't know
what your missing .
Rating:
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Reviewed by hetmi from France on 16th Nov 2011
in one word I love it...
Rating:
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Reviewed by mrmick from uk on 11th Nov 2011
Had phone for about 2 weeks, and was very impressed, keyboard is a doddle
in landscape with corrective txt and predictive too internet is lightning
fast, everything it does it does well. Camera, vid and sceen top notch,
pity the ram couldn't have been more, always killing tasks no longer
needed to free mem & keep batt above 50%. but will last 8hrs of play
/ work. This will still be an above average phone in 2 yrs time, especially
with ics on board. Def 5*.
Rating:
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Reviewed by shaft from UK on 10th Nov 2011
Have had this phone 3 weeks now and I must say I am impressed with the
endless options for theming/customising. Sorry to all the iPhone 4 users
but I have defected to this and have not looked back. May I add my iPhone
4 was jailbroken but as a standard non rooted phone, this knocks spots
off the iPhone 4...sorry. 10/10. Can't wait for Ice Cream Sandwich.
Rating:
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Reviewed by john ward from uk on 10th Nov 2011
Just recieved my new HTC Sensation Xe,after having the Sensation.Very
impressed with this phone,build quality is robust,good looking and the
bigger battery and the faster processor makes a difference.HD video
recording is first class,along with the beats headphones this is one
of the best Mobiles i have had.....recommend this phone no problem
Rating:
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Reviewed by Rubayet from Bangladesh on 29th Oct
2011
My wife owns a S2 , I bought the Sensation XE . First the UI in HTC
XE is way better than S2. True Samsung S2 is lighter and slimmer. BUT
the sensation XE feels awesome in your hand. Music quality is top notch,
beats Ipod anyday. I would say XE is really like having a powerful computer
in your hand. I would highly recommend this phone.
Rating:
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Reviewed by shaft from UK on 29th Oct 2011
Love this phone, theming is a killer. Had jailbroken iPhone 4 for 6
months and this knocks spots off it as standard. 5 stars super phone.
Rating:
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Reviewed by John from England on 22nd Oct 2011
What can I say, amazingsound, superfast camera and brilliant UI, with
sturdy build quality. Everything else needs to try to catch up.
Rating:
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Reviewed by connor from london on 20th Oct 2011
I've had the XE for about two weeks now, and other than apps having
to be force closed occasionally (which is the apps fault no doubt),
I have had no problems what so ever. And comparing my iPod with £60
Phillips o Neil headphones, the custom sound set up is easily on par,
if not better. Not bad considering its against a dedicated music player!
I would honestly recommend this to anybody wanting to buy a new phone.
Rating:
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Reviewed by James from UK on 18th Oct 2011
Outstanding phone. With beats audio the quality of music playback is
breathtaking. Easily better than an iPod or any phone i've ever used.
I usually don't use supplied headphones with phones, the ones supplied
with this one are brilliant beats branded ones. Watching movie trailers
was literally like being in the cinema with ambient sounds and bass.
Phone runs smooth with a powerful processor, which makes up for the
smallish amount of RAM. Build quality is excellent whilst still looking
stylish. My only gripe is the lack of onboard storage which doesn't
really effect me.
Rating:
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Reviewed by steve from uk on 17th Oct 2011
Still only 1 GB of storage not good enough when Samsung have 16 or even
32 and micro sd expansion slot. The new HTC coming out has 16GB built
in but its a shame for the people who have already bought the sensation
and now the XE HTC good build and ui although the heavy sense does cause
lag come on up your game and release phone with more memory once in
a while instead of not up to par phones every month
Rating: 
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Reviewed by Paul from UK on 17th Oct 2011
Decided to give an android phone a go, after years on a iphone and becomimg
bored of it... Had this phone a few days now and Im impressed so far.
Very quick loading, even on 3G and super fast on wi-fi. Android market
has alot of decent apps and most are free. You can customize the handset
as much as you want and so much easier that my prev iphone. Classy mobile
phone, and much more value for money than the usual iphone update.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Jimmy from Scotland on 15th Oct 2011
After finally joining the behemoth that is Android OS I can safely say
it has been the best mobile phone OS experience of my life. Add to that
this excellent bit of hardware and the combination is most likely the
most powerful phone on the market. Great to use, fantastic battery life,
free headphones worth ~£100, not bad. The only worrying thing is why
this is not getting the press and popularity that the SII, 4S and the
upcoming nexus prime get....some sort of anti HTC agenda?
Rating:
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Reviewed by Paul from UK on 14th Oct 2011
Motorola Atrix Review: And to cap it all, the Atrix has the grandmother
of all batteries - a 1930 mAh Li-Ion cell.
Rating:
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Reply by Mobile Phones UK from UK on
14th Oct 2011
Lol, we didn't even read our own reviews! The XE's battery is of course
the second biggest.
Reviewed by AndyWH from England on 14th Oct 2011
Hi I am now just past 24 hours of owning the Sensation XE, and I must
say it is by far the best and most complete phone I have ever used!
I have used it quite hard for the first 24 hours with about 5 hours
of wifi, an hour of bluetooth and about 3 hours of listening to music
and it is still about 20% charged! I have previously used a Samsung
Omnia 2, an Iphone 3G and have borrowed my daughters Samsung Galaxy
S2 which comes close but felt too flimsy for me. The build quality of
the XE is great it feels strong and robust and as a 'bloke' it does
not feel too light or that you need to hold it gently in hand to use
it. I have large 'sausage' fingers according to my daughter and I find
the on screen keyboard a breeze to use and the icons and 'buttons' are
easy to use. The sound quality is very good, but is a bit base heavy,
so would be better suited for those into bass and drum, however when
passed via bluetooth into my car stereo (Sony), sounds absolutely great
and the Dr Dre software is available this way as well. So to sum up,
I am very very happy with this phone and look forward to using it for
the future, I will definitely be recommending it to my friends and colleagues.
Rating:
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Reviewed by massivedwarf from England on 4th Oct
2011
Just been through 3 blackberry 9900 and had enough so just got the sensation
xe. Only one thing to say about it amazing
Rating:
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