Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)There's a lot to love - fast multi-tasking, large screen, 7 home screens and the overall feel, but I've run into a few disappointments as well.
To be fair, most folks will only use this device for social networking, web browsing and casual photos. You will find some hiccups & occasional bugs. For those of you power users who actually make videos, download movies, run lots of apps at once and use the power that it has to multi-task, you will see Sensation shine. It's almost better at high speeds.
DUAL-CORE MULTI-TASKING: Impressive. You can leave the browser open in the midst of playing a video, open Angry Birds, open music player, video player, Google Earth & pan about - all at once, then hop between these power-hungry apps with barely a hiccup. Hardcore multi-tasking will neither tax nor crash this device. Very impressive. The dual core doesn't make the unit faster than a 1.2ghz single core. It simply allows it to maintain 1.2 ghz speeds on more than one task. Impressive, but don't expect magic.
As for speed, HTC's heavy Sense 3.0 user interface makes the phone less snappy than other dual core units. Not so much of a lag, just less snappy. Sense takes up 3 of the 4gbs of onboard memory. I run into more hiccups during everyday use, than when I'm doing heavy multi-tasking. However, Sense 3.0 is so glam, it makes *every* other phone look dated.
For the record, you can't close an app w/in the app. You must open up still another app (task manager) to close them. A bit of an annoyance, but seeing as Sensation can handle quite a few, it's no big deal... unless you're shooting in 1080p. More on that below.
CAMERA: Mixed bag. Camera is good. Video recording is quite good & realistic in 720p. If you're shooting yourself, however, the video camera is actually pretty bad. It takes a bit of luck & know-how to press the on-screen record button & have the camera focus on where you will stand. It's almost worthless for recording yourself for YouTube. What's more, Sensation can barely handle 1080p. You'll surely have to close every other app to shoot in 1080p & reboot if you wish to watch it right after. Sensation is more at home w/ 720p HD.
The "stereo" recording is a joke. Of my five smartphones, this phone is the worst at recording sound. It plays back in quiet staccato - HD look, LD sound. I still use my non-HD phone for recording videos of myself. It's like buying a Benz but having to tow an old Honda behind for reliability and the basics. Buying an HD device & still having to use a basic one just for decent sound? Really?
As for video editing, you can only trim. You can't merge or overlay music/text like my 'dated' Symbian can. You'd think a high-end, 1080p recorder w/ 'stereo' sound would come w/ decent editing software. I feel ripped off. Android doesn't offer any decent video editor apps either because Androids have issues of fragmentation. If you'd like an Android phone that trims, merges & overlays text, the Samsung Galaxy S2 does. No Android video editor is as robust as iPhone or even Symbian, though.
CONNECTIVITY: I haven't had a problem with 'death grip'. The Sensation manages to hold its WiFi connection no matter how I hold it. However, I cannot program the browser to open w/ WiFi. On my 'dated' Symbian, I hold '0', the browser opens, WiFi connects, page loads - one step. This is the kind of engineering I'd expect from a high-end device.
The phone cannot be programmed to automatically accept bluetooth files from my computer. If I bluetooth photos to Sensation from the next room, I must stop what I'm doing, go to the phone, scroll down & click to allow each file to transfer. My 4-year old Symbian can be programmed to automatically accept files w/o interruption. This 'super phone' requires more steps.
I live in one of T-Mobile's 4G regions. The connection is strong and fast, even when downstairs. A pleasure.
Sensation used to allow me to upload directly to YouTube, then it changed its mind. I Googled the issue, and it's a fairly common Android problem. This, along w/ poor sound recording, no video editing & problems trying to push on-screen record whilst having the camera focus on me, makes for a very disappointing experience for anyone making YouTube videos, or simply self-vids.
CALENDAR: A bit convoluted & requires a lot of steps, but offers many options. Synching with other calendars can be tricky because their alarms don't always register.
SYNCH: Think twice before synching with your Gmail account. Android will add, not just your personal contacts, but *every*... single... person you've *ever* emailed, along with their photos, MSN, Facebook, Twitter & personal info. One, big, convoluted mess of folks I've emailed once years ago, old appointments, duplicate contacts. Android will have Google invading every corner of your life & being. Can be a curse or a blessing. I suggest cleaning up your Gmail account before synch.
WEB BROWSER: The browser is great, but it crashes on me more than I'd like. I am a heavy user, mind you. I recommend downloading Dolphin Browser HD. It's free, is better with tabs, and bookmarks are one slide away. It has never crashed on me and, **unlike most Android programs, it offers the option of 'minimizing' *or* completely exiting it *and* clearing the cache at once.**
SPEAKER: Simply too quiet for phone calls and music, even w/ all settings turned up. Big minus for me. 'Angry Birds' plays very loudly, though.
GLITCHES & BUGS - Quite a few: Sensation randomly assigns my personal photos as album art on most of my music. I don't know why it chooses these particular photos. Sometimes it downloads random artists like Nat King Cole as art for Moloko. I don't even have Nat King Cole. There are a few YouTube vids about this, so it wasn't just mine.
At one point, my lock screen was only half of the screen. Another time, Sensation rebooted and came back to life w/o the icons for apps installed on my memory card. The apps are still there, but the icons were replaced w/ the Android bot. Nothing too serious, but surely a bit moody. It performs much more smoothly when you're working it. It seems to prefer working in dual-core mode, so take it to task, use what it has, treat it like a Porsche.
ERGONOMICS: It looks & feels expensive - muted, matte, mocha-grey look, that shiny ear piece grill and a screen so large & user interface so slick that iPhone-users always remark. The curved back and narrower screen, make for a good fit for such a large phone. The glass curves slightly upwards to protect the screen when laid down. I love attention to detail.
The earphones are made for Dumbo, however, - pretty large & uncomfortable. The charging cord is short & stiff so it limits range of motion. I use an extension cord.
iPHONE USERS: Unlike the iPhone, Android phones are extremely customizable. They aren't simply portals for apps. So, they require a bit more set-up which can be frustrating for those who are used to out-of-the-box fun. The reward is a customized experience. Getting every program & setting to correspond and synch isn't always so fun, however. To this end, Android may initially frustrate iPhone users who are used to nothing but squares on their screens. If they don't mind a little set-up & confusion in the beginning, they'll be rewarded with a much more personalized, high-tech & customizable device than the iPhone. Sometimes the glitches & bumps are a bit frustrating for a first-time user.
iPhone is like a Lexus - smooth, slick, quiet, efficient. You can't choose gears; you can't hear or feel the engine shift. A fairly dependable, bland & seamless experience. You get in and enjoy a nice prefabricated ride. iPhone is sort of the tract home of high-end devices.
Androids are like BMWs. You choose your own gears, you feel & hear the engine rev and shift. You feel more bumps in the road. You get in and manipulate the machine. If you can't drive a stick, you might be a bit frustrated whilst learning.
Neither is 'better,' just different ideologies. Though, iPhones do feel rather basic & low-tech when compared to high-end Android devices.
CONCLUSION: In two week's time, this $600, dual core, HD Android "super phone" has proven to be gorgeous, impressive, great for web browsing, apps, 720p recording/viewing and all with wonderfully customizable home screens. When it comes to multi-tasking, customization & tricked-out interfaces, Sensation basically KICKS BUTT! It purrs right along. ...It has also proven to have questionable recording qualities, be sporadically glitchy & inconsistent at times, but you won't find a single high-end device that doesn't have some issue. iPhone 4 users are walking around w/stickers on their phones so they won't drop calls.
This is no finely-tuned V6. It's a somewhat temperamental V12 with a large screen, fly user interface, bling factor, HD, Android apps, 7 home screens & a thirst for tasking. ...but, yes, I still wish it was a little less moody with the basics & I wish the sound recording was on par with the visual.
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HTC Sensation Z710E Unlocked GSM Android Smartphone with 8 MP Camera, Wi-Fi and GPS - No Warranty - BlackA multimedia superphone in the palm of your hand Want to be entertained like never before? On-demand movies look great with a stunning qHD display, and they sound crystal clear with Hi-Fi audio technology. The HTC Sensation also includes an immersive HTC Sense experience making this phone easy-to-use and a top entertainer. The premium design, complete with contoured glass edging, feels great in your hand. The HTC Sensation is a multimedia superphone. Premium design HTC Sensation features unibody aluminium construction for a premium look and solid feel. The glass is contoured along the entire edge of the screen. Not only does it feel great when you glide your finger over it, but it also protects your screen from grit and sand when it's face down. The qHD display is true widescreen, so it serves up an uncompromised movie watching experience. Powerful performance HTC Sensation is powered by a blazing fast 1.2 GHz dual core processor. Apps start up instantly and switching between them is seamless. The dual core performance really comes to life when pushing your phone to its limits, like when you're listening to music, downloading email in the background, and surfing the most visually rich websites all at the same time. Hollywood on the go with HTC Watch HTC Sensation brings you an unprecedented movie watching experience with HTC Watch, offering a full selection of Hollywood blockbusters. Just make your selection and start watching the show seconds into the download. HTC Watch also keeps tabs on your Internet connection and ensures you get an uninterrupted viewing experience. Features: Operating System Android with HTC Sense Dimensions 126.1mm (L) x 65.4mm (W) x 11.3mm (T) / 148g (Weight) Screen Size 4.3-inch Camera 8 Megapixel Memory Type microSDHC Card Manufacturers description: Instant Capture Camera: Remember that time you pressed the shutter button and had to wait while
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