HTC Sensation XL Review

Design and Screen size
Some may find 4.7inches just too large. Others may welcome the spacious screen size. HTC have evidently succumbed to recent trends of increasing screen sizes. When considering phones such as the Samsung Galaxy Note which boasts a whopping 5.3inch screen, the Sensation XL is no biggie. The device has been likened to feeling almost like a tablet so, sadly, users with short fingers may find difficulty in operating the handset.

Love watching movies/videos on the train home from work? The Super LCD screen produces an impressive bright and colourful resolution at 480×800 pixels so users can enjoy a great movie-watching experience. Despite the pixels being lower than the iPhone 4\’s display; the difference isn\’t too noticeable.

Although the Sensation XL screen is pretty huge, overall, the handset isn\’t too thick at just 9.9mm deep. The practical dimensions make the phone pocket-friendly. Despite this, the weight could be an issue for some users…

At 163g, the weight staggers over 25g more than the iPhone 4S. The hefty weight is mainly due to the aluminium shell and is definitely noticable.

The appearance of the phone is flashy looking despite a basic overall design, It is almost idnetical to the HTC Titan which is soon to be released. Silver aluminium runs around the back with a white gloss over the display and a white strip at the bottom of the phone.

The typical weighty design makes the Sensation XL an unmistakable HTC.

Beats

A set of Beats headphones come with the Sensation XL as standard. These will be in-ear buds, although, music-lovers can chase after a limited edition version of the phone which come with a white version of the Beats solo on-ear headphones. As expected, these badboys are larger in size and generally more powerful.

There is only one give away on the impressive HTC collaboration with Dr Dre and friends- a big red Beats logo on the white strip of the rear casing.

Inside the Android world

The Sensation XL runs on an effective 1.5GHz single-core processor and holds up to 786MB of RAM. From a users’ perspective all features should initiate a great improvement in speed for essential tasks, such as, playing hi-def video and opening apps etc.

With 16GB of internal storage, users may question the lack of expandable memory. In comparison to many other Android phones, the Sensation XL is falling behind on popular memory functions i.e. No microSD card slot. In addition, the total space is not actually useable as it is taken up by the system itself. Just 12.68GB out of the 16GB is usable.

The Sensation XL runs on version 2.3 of Google\’s mobile operating system; Gingerbread. HTC has improved its overall usability in terms of colour and neatness by layering its Sense interface since earlier models. Sense Version 3.5 is the new and improved system which has resulted in a slight change in the interface appearance along with benefits of access to the Android shop and being able to use Flash video in the browser.

Camera info

HTC has really gone all out with a wide-angle lens and low-light sensor for the 8-megapixel camera. These make a great combination for taking indoor shots. In addition, there are various specialist camera modes to compliment these functions, i.e. panoramic mode for scenic shots.

Overall

Beats headphones Vs. Enormous screen size

The key motive for buying the Sensation XL is dependant on the user. If you are familiar with the sturdy and trustworthy HTC design and fancy taking advantage of the Beats collaboration then this is the perfect phone. Best contract deals on the HTC Sensation XL are here