Android 
Ah the ol’ slightly updated phone trick. Nokia used to do it back in the day, when they’d make slight changes to a phone, either hardware or software wise, and release it with an ‘i’ attached to the model number. Android manufacturers have been pumping out devices like there’s no tomorrow, and HTC’s done just that with their ‘S’ and ‘Plus’ models this year.
Then there’s the HTC Sensation XE, which isnt really a new phone at all, but has enough incremental changes that allow it to be released as one. But does the addition of Beats Audio to the equation make this smartphone different from any other? Read on through our review to know.
The ‘Whats New’:
Although the specs are mostly identical, the HTC Sensation XE does get a boost. It boasts a dual core 1.5 Ghz processor over the original HTC Sensation’s 1.2 Ghz and you have 768MB of RAM, and 1GB of internal storage along with the 8GB from the microSD (expandable).
The screen has a resolution of 960 x 540 which makes it a little sharper (256ppi) than the average display resolution of 800 x 480 that you normally find on Android smartphones.
Then again there are HD screens already on their way, like on the Galaxy Nexus, so this isnt really anything to boast about. The screen is nice, large, bright and vivid but it’s definitely not the best one out there.
It’s nowhere as great as Samsung’s Super AMOLED screens and Nokia’s ClearBlack displays. But remember, technically the Sensation XE is already more than 6 months old.
Otherwise, call quality is just as good as it was in the first Sensation, and there’s now a 1730mAh battery to power things though (but more on that later).
We thought the Original Sensation was pretty decent by itself, so you might want to read our Ye Giant HTC Sensation Review, if you’re seriously thinking of buying this phone, because there’s a lot of things we wont repeat here in this review of the Sensation XE.
The Design:
The HTC Sensation XE is practically identical to the Original HTC Sensation, except for a couple color changes around, using red highlights inspired by the red color of the Beats brand.
You also now have red backlit controls at the bottom of the screen, and a red ring around the camera at the back, along with an actual Beats Logo.
We liked the design of the original HTC Sensation, so we liked the refresh as well, especially the clever way HTC put the phone together so that there’s no ugly joints, while still letting you have access to a removable battery and microSD card slot.
The entire back panel actually wraps around the sides, so the body appears to be one piece.
In reality it’s actually a metal frame inset with plastic panels.
Instead of sliding the back cover off the phone here, you slide the phone out of the back cover.
We also liked that the screen tapers towards the edges, which give it a very nice finish.
At 126.1 x 65.4 x 11.3mm and 151g, it’s quite heavy and large compared to most other Dual core smartphones nowadays. But the entire package works very well to result in quite an attractive phone.
It fits your hand very well thanks to all the curves around, and is generally comfortable to use.
Above the screen, you have a front facing camera for video calls, and a centrally located earpiece.
The earpiece follows the red highlight scheme of the Sensation XE, and admittedly looks pretty cool compared to the usual steel grey used by most manufacturers nowadays.
Below the screen, you have the usual 4 android capacitive shortcut keys.
That’s the menu key, edit/option key, back key and the search key.
There’s even red backlighting which looks pretty sweet.
On the left side, you have the volume keys, and a microUSB port which is used to charge the device.
At the top, you have a power key which is also used to lock the screen, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
On the right side, you have no ports at all. Keepin’ it minimalistic.
At the back, you have the dual LED flash, camera and single mono loudspeaker, with the HTC emblem etched into the steel center.
Definitely looks way cooler than the original.
The Software:
The HTC Sensation XE runs Android 2.3.4 with HTC Sense UI v3.0 on top of it. It’s exactly the same as the Original HTC Sensation, which is strange seeing how the HTC Sensation XL and HTC Rhyme have Sense 3.5 on them, with more enhancements and tweaks all around.
HTC has said that the Sensation XE would be upgradable to Android 4.0 Ice Cream sandwich eventually, so there’s that to look forward too. We’d assume HTC would have some manner of HTC Sense UI on top of it. Visually the Sense UI hasnt changed much over the years, and since less is more nowadays we’d hope HTC would take ICS as an opportunity to rebuild their Sense UI.
While some folks might find HTC’s Sense UI appealing, we arnt really too fond of some aspects of it. Especially the icons the manufacturer chooses to use.
The strange handling of streaming media, the way HTC Locations hijacks locations in your contacts/calendar.
Ofcourse there are apps on the Android market to fix it, like “Select Other Map for HTC” available free, but these things are somewhat annoying.
But that being said, HTC’s sense has the best catalog of widgets available compared to other OEM Android skins, working on the principle of letting you customize the seven homescreens with basically whatever you’d like.
There’s weather widgets, friend stream integrated social service apps, a great unlock screen that lets you head directly to an app on unlock, and HTC’s “Watch” video rentals if you’re in a supported region.
Navigating the UI is slick, fast and the browser renders pages quickly, with scrolling being as smooth as you’d expect on an Android phone.
You can watch full 1080p HD YouTube Flash videos with no niggles to speak of.
The onscreen keyboard is a little cluttered in our opinion, but responsive enough. Otherwise everything from the email client, the notification bar, to the browser is the same android experience with a hint of HTC Sense.
So yes, basically exactly what we though of the Original HTC Sensation (remember to read our review of it to get a more detailed idea).
The Beats Audio:
With their partnership with Beats by Dr. Dre, HTC has one of the hottest music headphone brands on their side. If anything it means you get a pretty fantastic (and somewhat expensive) set of headphones in the retail package, and it’s something that’s rare with most mobile phones nowadays.
You get a nice pair of iBeats Red-Cabled In-Ear type headphones, with a set of small, medium and large silicon tips to make sure you get a good fit for your ears. There’s also a nice little Beats-branded pouch to keep them in.
You can use the Beats earphones with any device, but the inline remote might not work with all mobile phones.
The remote has nifty little keys for Play/Pause/Redial, and to skip tracks.No volume controls unfortunately.
The headphones are excellent quality, and there’s no denying the brand value if that’s important to you.
The Sensation XE has Beats Audio software to partner with the headphones. There’s a toggle-able sound enhancement that’s available where you the options for SRS and virtual surround sound were previously available. The sound enhancement works fine with any pair of headphones, incase you were wondering.
Though that being said, HTC says the Beats headphones have custom audio profiles built in (which you don’t have access to). Beats handled our favorite genres of music pretty well, with plenty of bass, and the headphones offer good sound isolation.
Still, I dont think every genre of music outside of R&B, Hiphop or heck even Dubstep would sound as good on the iBeats. You dont have too many sound options either.
The music player lets you control it from the notification area, and from the lockscreen, and even has a widget as you’d expect, so it’s easy to control your playing music.
Worth pointing out though, is that the beats audio sound enhancements is only available in HTC’s default apps, like the music player or the gallery video player. If you use something like Spotify or BBC’s iPlayer, you dont get any Beats enhancement. Which kinda makes this phone a little limited.
The Camera:
The camera on the original HTC Sensation was pretty decent, and it’s the same offering here. There’s HTC’s instant capture which means the phone is focused on the subject before you press the onscreen button (no dedicated camera key unfortch). There’s touch-to-focus too which means you can get as creative as you’d want to.
The results are decent enough, but a little dull. Here’s a couple image samples from the HTC Sensation XE. Just to give you a better idea:-
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Coming to Video, there’s full HD 1080p video recording with continuous auto-focus and stereo sound. Unfortch the sound recorded isnt really very good, and the data rate on video capture is a little slow. In good light the video is fine, but in low light the camera struggles a little bit. We also thought the video capture at full 1080p was a little choppy. 720p videos are fine though. Here’s a couple full HD Video samples:-
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The Battery Life:
The removable 1730 mAh battery is an improvement from the one used with the original HTC Sensation. It’s not the highest capacity around but it’s close. At the moment, getting through a moderately busy work day is a bit of a struggle with the Sensation XE. You’ll want to make sure you have a charger around. There’s not really much change with the increased battery capacity, probably because even the cores are operating at faster speeds now.
The Video Overview:
Here’s a video overview of the HTC Sensation XE. Just to give you a better idea:
The Conclusion:
Rating: 
As the first Beats Audio mobile phone, the HTC Sensation XE, probably should have been more than just a slight update to a current phone. When the Sensation launched back in May 2011, it was a fantastic phone. Today it feels much different.
With Android 4.0 released, and HTC Sense 3.5 already available on some HTC devices, the Sensation XE is already lagging behind a little bit. Whether the Beats Audio side of things will actually mean anything to you, depends on how you consume your media really. If you arnt willing to stick with HTC’s apps for listening to music or watching videos, you wont have the software enhancements because they arnt supported device-wide.
But over the last week we’ve been using the HTC Sensation XE and it’s never really failed to deliver. It does everything you’d want, is stable, fast and still attracts attention, especially those red-cabled headphones which have plenty of street cred. Though that all being said, the battery can barely last through a day of heavy usage, and the camera isnt above average.
If you’re thinking about buying the HTC Sensation XE as a dual core Android smartphone, there are alternatives, like the new, better spec’d Motorola Razr, the ol’ Samsung Galaxy S2 or even the Galaxy Note. Though we think it’s much better than the LG Optimus 2X. If you’re thinking of buying it as a music phone, well you read what we though about it two paragraphs above.
If you’re an Original HTC Sensation owner and you’re feeling a little bit jealous about the Sensation XE, dont be. Just get a better pair of headphones.
At the end of the day, the HTC Sensation XE is a powerful handset, with great audio performance mostly thanks to the headphones in the box, an okay screen and a decent camera. The Beats audio isnt integrated throughout though and the awkward release date means it doesnt have the latest verison of Android, or the latest version of the Sense UI itself. It’s a comprehensive device right out of the box, but it’s just an incremental update over the original. If anything you only get a cooler brand value, thanks to the Beats Logo on the Sensation XE.
Clinton is currently based in New Delhi, India and is executive editor for UnleashThePhones. He is responsible for all editorial decisions, and covers all forms of Mobile and mobile-related accessories.
Cj is addicted to caffeine, social media, and technology. Always up for a good conversation, you can reach him through the contact form, his website, on Google Plus 
or on Facebook or Twitter: Follow @clintonjeff
Just 3 stars rating about this machine??? Fcuk off.....This is the best mobile in current market in all aspects.....I think your the only person given the low rating in the world...Some of the readers will change their opinions bçoz of your bull shit review.....
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