simonlang Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 About the phone, look here for a short overview: http://www.htc.com/e...c-sensation-xe/ History: I had probable less mobile- and smartphones than most of you. i started many years ago with a nokia 6610 used this for over a year, by then i decided to switch to a siemens s65v. it was more of a spontanous choice but if i were better informed the days back, i would not have done this switch. the camera was a joke and i could not use many "apps" because of some weird program-code on that interface. as i was short on money this phone still stayed 3,5 years with me when i switched to the first complete smartphone, the ipone 3G. i dont think many things have to be said about apple. we all know the superior build quality and it felt just right. jailbroken it on my first day and went on with this to do LOTS of customization stuff. i customized it that much that at the end it ended up being laggy and slow. i still remember i used to have found a customization tutorial to make the ipone look and behave like the htc hd2. you see that was probably the moment where my love for htc started! i loved the interface, the big clock and the fresh interface, i learned about sense. i was very close to buy the htc hd2 then but was not fully convinced yet - and a bit short on money. no full 2 years ago i got my first decent job and money came in and in november 2010 i ordered the htc desire. what i liked about htc: it had a nice, fresh user-interface and was still different to the iphone. for me it was not a copy (like for example samsung tried to do with the galaxy s1 and s2) but some other way. i loved the many possibilities android offered to just have it your way. microsdhc slot and removable battery was another strong point. i just wanted freedom. so i got the htc desire: and i used and customized it and kept it up2date as much as possible thanks to xda developers till yesterday. since yesterday i got me the htc senstation XE: Why i made the choice: since a few months i thought about what could replace my htc desire. i didnt want the ipone 4(s), and while i was very happy and convinced with htc (the desire fall down often, no real damages, amazing) i was also looking into samsung. end of last year i thought its either the htc sensation or the samsung galaxy s2. i was in store multiple times and hold both devices in my hands but neither convinced me. i thought im gonna wait for the samsung galaxy nexus but when it was released i just wasnt euphoric about it anymore. no microsdhc slot? dealbreaker :( i thought then i will wait for the galaxy s3 and definitely also thought lets keep watching what htc does. the sensation xe wasnt on my list of choices. it was quite expensive by then still and i thought better save a few euros more and get the galaxy s3. htc released the one X series, i liked but not loved the design, nor did i the fact that they went the apple way to remove removable battery (haha) and ditch the microsdhc slot. i said it already in other threads and do it here again. if i dont count on thesse things, then i can as well just buy an ipone and get the strong-points there. so i eagerly awaited the samsung galaxy s3 launch. i expected a revolution! and well. what did we get? a smartphone that really has strong internal specs but the looks, oh the looks .... :( :( :( i understand that they wanted to be save on the legal side against apple but please???? it just looks shocking for a 2012 phone. when i see the design of it i just feel many many years rolled back. after these, i just decided to go for a used phone. i waited months to have a super phone but samsung and htc let me down (mentioned above) so i thought better save some money, get a good used phone and be fine with it. i seen the price of the sensation XE already dropped, but it was still pricey. i loved the design and the red lines and the beats earphones that came with. in an android forum i then found a marketplace and one user offered a few months old htc sensation XE with lots of accessoirs and the most important thing, it had no scratches, no problems, nothing. i brought the price down from 330 to 305 euros which i found cheap for the goodies i got with it. ennough text i let some pictures speak now. sorry for the horrible image quality, i made it with the htc desire cam, but i hope you get the idea as you can see it came with original package + a leather case + a back-cover. for the phone itself. it feels really really high quality. it feels a lot more expensive than my old htc desire :p size its bigger, but i think i ll get fine with it over the next weeks. i remember it being the same when i upgraded from the iphone 3g to the htc desire. after a few weeks the size was normal and everything else looked small compared to it :) the screen: very sharp, clear and good resolution. text is a pleasure to read on it. the red-soft buttons and lines make that phone look tuned :) very stylish phone and a looker on the streets im sure. the headphones: havent tested them yet WITH activated beats audio, as i have no music on the phone yet due to my lack of time. however i used them to listen to di.fm livestream and while in the free version you get only 64kb there, the sound felt better, clearer than with my old inear phones. gonna have to test it on 256kb mp3s with lots of base (thanks god i love happy hardcore). going by previous reviews the beats-inears should shine there. small details: i dont have a clue why htc decided to place the micro-usb connector on the left side of the device. on the htc desire it was on the bottom and perfect to load. maybe there were some compromises to be made because of the internal design of the sensation xe i dont know. its not a big issue and i can live with it. htc sense: it came with updated sense 4. and while its fast (faster than my htc desire running miui) , i think once s-off im gonna get better and faster roms running on it, cause it still is sometimes a bit laggy. pros: - design - htc build quality - beats inears - removable battery - micro sdhc slot - notification led - dual led camera flash - price cons: - position of the micro-usb connector - it always could be lighter and thinner (but that goes for every phone i think) - its not brand new anymore. if you want a phone being still on the top field in 2013 better get the galaxy s3. my facit: very VERY happy with the phone so far. the beats earphones alone are probably worth still 80 euros, count the additional cases and covers, maybe 50 euros together, i made an amazing deal. i dont think for the money i was willing (and able) to spend i could have found anything better. why did i go with htc again? for me, the htc sensation XE is the last "good" htc phone. removable battery and micro sdhc slot together with android means freedom for me. the build quality is what i expect from htc, the desire never let me down there and im convinced the same goes for my sensation xe. we are gonna become very good friends over the next months im sure :) :) :) hope you like my (long) review. comments and additional questions are always welcome. thanks! 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simonlang Posted June 7, 2012 Author Share Posted June 7, 2012 edit: i now got all my mp3s on the phone and tried the headphones with beats activated on the music player. booom :o nothing short of spectacular. for the music i listen to, there could be nothing better :) :) :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xahid Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Congrats Nice choice & review :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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