HTC Sensation XL - Super Sized Phone

Super Sized Sensation

HTC appears to be aggressively building up the Sensation portfolio with the debut of three Sensation-branded devices within four months. The first member of the Sensation family, the HTC Sensation arrived on our shores in July, sporting a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, HTC Sense 3.0 interface and a 4.3-inch display. Three months later, the partnership with Dr. Dre spawned the second member, HTC Sensation XE which saw some splashes of red on its chassis and a speed bump to 1.5GHz. What does the third member, the HTC Sensation XL has that sets it apart? 

Key highlights of the HTC Sensation XL with Beats Audio Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread OS with HTC Sense 3.5 interface 4.7-inch S-LCD capacitive touchscreen / 480 x 800 pixels 1.5GHz single-core processor 768MB RAM Bundled HTC urBeats in-ear headphones by Dr Dre + Beats Audio Sound Profile 8-megapixel camera with f/2.2, 28mm wide angle lens / dual-LED flash 1600 mAh battery 132.5 x 70.7 x 9.9mm 162.5g

White Beauty

Is white in trend now or is HTC taking a potshot at Apple for having problems manufacturing white iPhones? Whatever the case, the Sensation XL is not the first white phone from the company (HTC Radar is also clad in white), the sheer size of the device amplifies the pristine white chassis which makes it visually pleasing. It is not too exaggerating to claim that the Sensation XL can give the white Apple iPhone 4S a run for its money. The only concern is its tendency to be dirtied easily by stains and unwanted smudges, which are even more obvious on a white chassis.

One of the most important factors when you are considering to get the HTC Sensation XL is no doubt the aspect of handling its large display. Having a 4.7-inch monster display is no kid's play. However, credit should be given to HTC for streamlining the Sensation XL to a mere 9.9mm thin, which most of us should have no problems fitting it into our pockets. As a matter of fact, we've even tried fitting a 5.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Note with success. Back to the HTC Sensation XL, its weight (162.5g) is also acceptable for a device of such dimensions. The problem arises only when you try navigating the screen with your fingers, especially with one hand only. Be sure to give it a try at your preferred retailer and not just gaze at the phone's huge screen.

HTC Sense 3.5 - Incremental Improvements 

First seen on the Rhyme, the HTC Sense 3.5 sees some incremental improvements over Sense 3.0. Among its new features are:

• more HTC widgets
• redesigned browser
• cosmetic changes to Gallery
• consolidated messaging in the People menu
• streamlined Weather widget on the home screen
• ability to remove home screen panels 

Similar to its Beat-Audio sibling, the HTC Sensation XL comes bundled with a custom-made HTC urBeats earphones by Dr. Dre. It also has a remote control for easy music controls and answering calls.

Is the XL's Performance Super Sized Too?

It's strange that HTC has opted for a single-core 1.5GHz processor in the Sensation XL when the earlier Sensation XE is running on a dual-core 1.5GHz processor. Our guess is that some hardware aspect had to give way in favor of supporting the larger 4.7-inch display without trying to dent the battery life performance too much. As a result, HTC might have opted for a single-core processor. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how the HTC Sensation XL fares against the dual-core competition (HTC Sensation XE and Motorola Razr) and a competitor in its own league, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S.

We have adopted two specific benchmarks, both of which are downloadable via the Android Market. The benchmarks are conducted on these devices from a fresh reboot on their respective stock firmwares. 

• Quadrant: It tests the CPU, memory, I/O and 3D graphics performance of a mobile device, giving you a general idea of how the device performs. 
  
   
• Neocore: It assesses the graphics performance of a mobile device. 

From the benchmarks above, the HTC Sensation XL delivered a pretty decent performance. The differences between the Sensation XL and its dual-core counterparts are not significant, considering that it runs on a single-core processor and has lesser amount of RAM compared to the leader, the Motorola Razr. When compared to the single-core Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S, the overall performance of the Sensation XL was better. This is expected as the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S comes with a slightly slower processor clock speed and 512MB RAM.

Benchmarks asides, our experience using the HTC Sensation XL was generally positive. What caught us by surprise was the fluidity of the Sense user interface. Switching between apps and home screen panels was like a breeze as we did not encounter any lags or awkward pauses (which the Motorola Razr unfortunately faced) . We also had no issues with the speed of the loading apps. Overall, the user experience was really top-notch.

Multimedia Performance

If anyone wants to talk about the multimedia aspects of the HTC Sensation XL, there are three main features, which are the 4.7-inch S-LCD display, the 8-megapixel camera with f/2.2 lens and its Beats Audio integration. 

If you haven't realized, the HTC Sensation XL has the second largest display ever on a mobile phone beside the leader of the pack, the Samsung Galaxy Note and its 5.3-inch display. The 4.7-inch display dominates the bulk of the front of the device and you can't help it but gawk at the huge amount of screen estate. With that massive screen, it gives us so much more room to work with on the Sensation XL. The viewing angles are impressive and color reproduction is great. The benefits of having a larger screen are more apparent when you are surfing the Internet, reading or playing games. 

The lingering question that many consumers have on their mind about the screen is at this display size and resolution, will there be a screen-door effect or a dotty display? Our take is that unless you have really sharp eyes and view the screen up close, the effect is barely noticeable.

The second multimedia feature of the HTC Sensation XL lies in its upgraded 8-megapixel camera module. In all honesty, HTC devices are not known for their imaging capabilities and hence fall short of meeting our expectations. It seems as though HTC heard our prayers and decided to improve the camera performance of its devices, starting with this phone - the Sensation XL. It now has the honor of being one of the rare few cameraphones in the market that has f/2.2 lens (Nokia N9 is the only other handset that has f/2.2 lens while the rest of the 8-megapixel cameraphones have aperture values ranging from f/2.4 to f/2.8.) We decided to give HTC another chance to prove itself with the Sensation XL and we were in for a pleasant surprise!

Last but not least, the third main feature of the HTC Sensation XL is the Beats Audio integration. The strategic partnership and investment between HTC and Beats Electronics LLC set the groundwork for a new era in mobile audio. As the bundled earphones and Beats Audio sound profile are the same as the HTC Sensation XE, you can read up on our assessment of the earphones and audio quality of the phone here. Basically, the overall audio experience is catered more towards bass-heads.

Being a super sized multimedia phone, it is a shame that HTC has removed the microSD memory card slot on the Sensation XL and substituted it with 16GB of internal storage. It becomes even more frustrating when you realize there is only up to 12GB of available storage for multimedia content such as music and videos. This seriously hampered its capability and appeal of the HTC Sensation XL as a multimedia powerhouse to substitute portable media players. Unfortunately, this is not the most aggravating issue with the phone that we found. More on that in the following section.

Battery Performance

Our final performance benchmark is perhaps the most gruelling of all - the battery test. The test includes looping a 480 x 800 pixels resolution video under the following conditions:

• Screen brightness and volume at 100%

• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on 

• Constant data stream via email and Twitter

For this test, we pit the Sensation XL against its sibling, the Sensation XE, the ultra thin Motorola Razr and see how it fares against a phone with almost similar specs, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S.

As expected, the HTC Sensation XL struggled to stay alive in our battery test. It clocked one of the lowest battery mileage of 234 minutes (nearly four hours) in our continuous video looping test. The 1600mAh battery was unable to support the power hungry 4.7-inch display and the power draining 1.5GHz single-core processor. This is evident from the performance of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S, which outlasted the Sensation XL by more than an hour and a half despite having a smaller battery capacity. We attributed the difference due to the smaller 4.2-inch display (and partially the slightly slower 1.4GHz single-core processor) of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S which together draw less power (as seen in the second graph for power consumption matters).

Our findings were consistent with the results in the Power Consumption graph where the HTC Sensation XL fared the worst. It is logical to assume that the display is the main culprit for the dismal performance of the Sensation XL. The combination of a hefty weight, mammoth dimensions and poor battery life also resulted in the Sensation XL obtaining the lowest ratio in our Portability Index.

During our normal day-to-day usage, the phone barely made it through one day with occasional web surfing, playing games and text messaging.

The Giant Falls Short

Generally, most reviewers look forward to ending a review with a good note, but that's only if the product delivers all its promises. The HTC Sensation XL was one of those devices that seemed great at first hand handling, but it faltered in a few key aspects to make you think twice. It's not a bad phone, but there are reasonably good options that offer more and cost less - other than the huge screen though.

From the onset, we really liked the pure white chassis of the Sensation XL as it breathes some fresh air to its line of Sensation models, which were beginning to look dull. HTC also showed (unintentionally) that making white phones is not as difficult as a fruity company has made it up to be. The design team at HTC managed to pull off a 9.9mm thin super sized phone that sports a vast 4.7-inch display. The huge display is marketed as a key selling feature of the Sensation XL and there is no doubt  about it. Having the extra screen estate means viewing more things at one go, better gaming experience and a more pleasing visual experience.

Despite its dimensions, we had no problems fitting the phone into our jeans pockets (front and back). Handling and build quality of the Sensation XL was also generally good. Software-wise, we were glad to see HTC making constant refinements to the Sense interface to improve the user's experience. Although HTC Sense 3.5 has minor changes, it surely beats doing nothing. The other key area which we really liked was its improved camera performance. Similar to Apple and its iPhones, HTC has finally pulled its socks and equipped the Sensation XL with a powerful 8-megapixel camera with f/2.2 lens. Truth be told, we were blown away by the surprising good imaging quality from the camera of the Sensation XL. In fact, it is easily one of the best 8-megapixel cameraphones in the market right now.

Unfortunately, the Achilles' heel of the Sensation XL is also its display. We guess that it is either an oversight on HTC's part or a design choice to pack such a huge display while taking a toll on the battery performance. With the time spent and the functions used on the phones these days, battery life is becoming a major concern among smartphone users these days. We also wonder if the single-core processor used, though a decision to try and minimize the power drain on the Sensation XL, is also the weak link to its battery performance. As studies by leading processor companies like AMD and Intel have shown, having more efficient cores to get work done faster consumes less power than a higher power drain of an often utilized single-core processor that's running at higher clock speeds to keep up with the increase in tasks and processes. With the lack of monitoring aids, we can't be too certain yet in the case of the Sensation XL, but this leads us to our next question: with the market brimming with dual-core smartphones and the arrival of quad-core smartphones next year, how viable is the Sensation XL as a choice to consumers at this point in time? While the Sensation XL held its own against the dual-core competition in our benchmarks, we can't be certain how it would fare in newer emerging applications that could be designed for multi-core processors in mind. We're still far from any usage shifts happening yet, but future-proofing as much as possible is a natural instinct when buying any new tech product.

Retailing at a price of S$908, the HTC Sensation XL is a tough sell. Even among its Sensation family, you can find the Sensation XL trailing behind the likes of the Sensation XE. The HTC Sensation XE is priced at S$868, which is $40 cheaper and yet provides better performance and a slightly longer battery life. Consumers will also find the recently launched Motorola Razr as a better deal (if they can put up with the user interface). Its battery performance and build quality rank among the best and it is a reasonable buy at S$888. Other than the larger screen and great imaging quality, we can hardly think of any reason why consumers would consider the Sensation XL. With not much tangible gain in screen real estate over the Sensation XE and other 4.3-inch sized phones, the XL is in a tough spot trying to market its sole key advantage.

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