Background
I was an iPhone user and very proud of it! I managed to get my 3GS 16GB iPhone in February 2010 for free on a £35 / month contract and was happy that I had beaten the system to a certain extent!
Unfortunately, my contract came up for expiry and I was faced with a challenge – do I just continue with my contract and my perfectly fine 18 month old phone or do I get a new toy? No contest really!
So, next question, iPhone or not? If I do go with it then I would have to pay for a new phone (bleugh!) as well as an increased cost per month due to my excessive usage and the reduction of free data that comes with a new plan. Alternatively, I could make the dreaded move to Android and get a better phone for free, cheaper contract but I would have to sacrifice the magnitude of apps available from Apple. After much deliberation I went for the Android and then decided that the HTC Sensation would be the right phone for me. To be honest, one of the deciding factors was that I was able to send my old 3GS off to one of these recycling companies and get £150 for it!
So, why the HTC Sensation? Its simple really, its one of the best phones out there both technically and visually. I wont go too into detail about the specifications but its important to point out a few main ones:
- 4.3 inch touch screen
- Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS
- 1.2Ghz dual core processor
- 768MB RAM
- 126mm x 65mm x 11mm
- 8MP Camera with HD video capabilities.
Basically what the above means is that phone itself is REALLY fast. Im not that technically minded but I know that two processors is better than one! I also know that it is important to have high amounts of RAM which this does. It also has a 4.3 inch touch screen compared to the 3GS which was (I think) about 3.5 inches and this obviously means that the phone itself is bigger than the 3GS although it doesn’t feel to bad. It has an 8MP camera with dual flash aswell which takes a very good picture. Finally, it has the latest version of Android – Gingerbread – which means it comes pre loaded with all the latest stuff!
Design
Looking at the dimensions of the phone, it should measure up to be quite big yet somehow it manages to feel quite small. The phones weighs about 150g and has a very nice curvature around it which means it fits nicely in your hand. It is made of hardened plastic but apparently has elements of aluminium as well.
Looking at the front of the phone, you will see a nice 4.3 inch screen with 4 buttons at the bottom of the handset – home, menu, back and search. At the top of the phone you will find a video camera, speaker and a notification light.
On the left hand side of the phone you will find the micro usb slot used for charging and connecting up to the computer as well two big buttons for turning the volume up or down.
On the right hand side there is nothing to be seen.
On the top of the phone you will find the 3.5mm headphone jack as well as the sleep / power button.
Interface
As the Sensation is one of the first phones to roll out with Gingerbread it already brings it a step ahead of the competition.
For those who are unaware, Gingerbread is Android’s equivalent to iOS 5 from Apple. It is the latest operating system and of course brings with it some neat improvements over the previous one.
One of the first things you will notice on Gingerbread is that scrolling between the pages is in 3D as if each page is kind of rotating round an invisible tube. It looks pretty funky to be honest!
As well as this, you get the usual ability to add widgets onto your homescreen. For those unfamiliar with this, a widget is like a shortcut that you an interface with. For example, you can get a Facebook widget which will automatically update to show the latest activities.
However, my favourite thing is on the lock screen. Normally, a lock screen has nothing but the time on it or something and a slider to unlock the phone. The HTC Sensation has a large ring at the bottom of the screen which you need to slide up in order to unlock the phone. Just above these rings, you also get 4 shortcuts of your choosing which you can drag into the ring to open them up quickly – genius!
Connectivity
Nowadays, connectivity is a big thing in phones. The phone, of course, comes fully equipped with wi-fi and the speeds I have personally got have been excellent. Looking at independent tests, the speeds seem to compare favourably against other similar phones. As well as this you can also set up your own wi-fi hot spot for a PC to share your connection should you require it.
Connecting the phone up to the computer will also offer you more choices. You can either charge the phone via usb or letting you use its backup program called HTC Sync which works in a very similar way to iTunes in that it backs up your contacts, messages, etc should you lose your phone or transfer to a new one.
The phone does of course also have Bluetooth.
Battery
As per usual with what seems like almost every phone now, battery could be better! When I first got the phone I got about 8 hours of use out of it which was worrying. However, after 5 or 6 times of letting the battery die then fully charging it the battery is now lasting around 24 hours which is acceptable. Its also worth noting that charging time is quite high at about 3 hours. I have found that some of the free programs on the Android market do help though, in particular Juice Defender seems to be pretty good.
Call Quality
This is really the most important thing and I have actually found that it is one of the weakest areas of the phone. I would like to point out at this point that I do have a gel cover on my phone which may perhaps make a difference but I have found that if I am outside then I struggle to hear people and people often struggle to hear me.
HTC Sense
The Sensation also offers you connection to HTC Sense which is an internet site which allows you to control your phone from wherever you are. Basically the idea is that you can never really loose it and if you do or it gets stolen then you can turn it off and even wipe it remotely.
Although it sounds somewhat useless, its useful for times when you leave your phone at home and are able to log into the website and divert your calls
Other
- Internal memory is 1GB which compared to the likes of an iPhone is pretty poor.
It does come with an 8GB memory card which does help though.
- You can download Google Navigation which is a free sat nav and works brilliantly!
- The Search button on the front of the phone is really handy and searches depending on where you are so if, for example, you are on the home screen, Search will look through the phone or onto Google. If you go on to the Android market, the search only searches on here – very handy!
- The screen itself looks amazing – it is bright and crisp and watching movies on it makes you realise just how amazing it is.
Costs
I am on O2 who gave me the phone for free as well as 300 mins, unlimited texts and 1GB internet for £31 month on a 24 month contract. For £30 per month, Three will give you more texts and minutes but I don’t use that many plus who really wants to be on the Three network?!
Overall
I love the phone! In terms of a comparison with my old 3GS there isn’t one but then again these phones are 2 years apart so you would expect a big difference. I am so glad I got this phone and, even though the choice of apps isn’t as big as Apple’s, would make the same choice over and over again.
HTC Sensational! 
