by George Heymann
HTC officially launched its latest Android super phone, the HTC Sensation on T-Mobile today . The phone is very stylish, thin and relatively compact considering the phone features a 4.3” qHD (540×960) pixel display.
In the brief time I had with the 1.2 GHZ dual-core processor equipped handset it handled all of the applications and functions well. Menu screens snapped open, and applications loaded very quickly. The phone comes with Android Gingerbread 2.3.3 OS installed as well as the latest version of HTC Sense 3.0 overlay.
Although I prefer a pure Google experience phone, HTC did a very nice job with the Sense overlay. HTC Sense 3.0 features custom HTC widgets with social network integration, animated displays, as well as a host
Retail Associate Manager Melanie Murrain shows off HTC Sensation 4G on Launch Day
of customization features. It looks great and adds both convenience and functionality without substantially impacting performance.
The feature that most impressed me was the 4.3” qHD display, it looks fantastic. The pictures and videos just don’t do it justice. I didn’t expect the jump in resolution from (480×800) to (540×960) to make such a huge difference, but it does. The screen is both sharp and vibrant, I just love it.
The biggest disappointment with the phone was HTC decision to include 4GB of internal storage of which only 1GB is user addressable. I struggle with the 8GB of internal storage included on my LG G2X. Although both phones storage can be expanded by adding a microSD card (up to 32GB) not all Android applications take advantage of external storage options.
The HTC Sensation is $199.99 with a 2 year contract after a $50 MIR or $549.99 without a contract.
HTC Technical Specifications below: (Quadrant Score: 1870)
- Processor: Dual core Qualcomm® Snapdragon™, 1.2 GHz
- Operating System: 2.3.3 Android (Gingerbread)
- Internal Memory: 768 MB RAM, 4 GB Internal Storage (1 GB user addressable)
- Display: 4.3” (diagonal) qHD (540×960 pixels)
- Network: GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
- GPS: GPS/AGPS
- Camera: 8 megapixel autofocus rear camera with Dual LED flash, VGA front facing camera
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi®: 802.11 b/g/n, 3.5 mm audio jack, SDHC capable microSD card slot (8GB card inc.)
- Battery: 1520 mAh LiIon
- Dimensions: 5″ (L) x 2.6″ (W) x 0.44″ (T)
- Weight: 5.2 ounces
