HTC Sensation XE

Android smartphone with Beats Audio bass booster

Snap Happy

The XE's 8Mp camera is almost the same as the one in the previous Sensation, with a dual LED flash, autofocus and face detection, as well as the "instant capture" feature which allows you to take snaps quickly. It’s the best camera I’ve yet seen on an HTC phone, which might sound like damning with faint praise, since the company's cameras have often been a bit rubbish, but this one is actually not bad.

 

Click any sample image for the full-size version

Among the unique features HTC brings to Android is HTC Watch, which lets you download and watch films on the go, including a few big name recent titles, such as The Social Network and Green Lantern. Rentals cost £3.49, download £9.99.

HTC Locations allows you to search for local shops and restaurants, and you can pay to upgrade to its turn-by-turn navigation capability - for £3.99 a month, or £26.98 for unlimited usage - though why you’d want to when Google Navigation already offers this is a mystery.

The Sensation's battery has been beefed up from 1520mAh in the vanilla version to 1720mAh in the XE, which is always welcome, though you won’t notice that it’s extended the phone's runtime by much. In practice, it delivered a little over a day of heavy use, so par for the course, really.

Verdict

The HTC Sensation XE is a terrifically high powered handset with a speedy processor, lush screen, HTC’s best camera and now it’s best ever sound too. ®

Thanks to Clove for the review sample.

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