Pros and cons for Sensation

[Guest bpivk]

Hy guys

I'll switch my phone soon (in less than two months) and I'm looking for one that will replace my old HTC Desire.

I have been looking at SGS 2 and Sensation. I do know that this is a HTC forum so I'll probably get biased answers but I need some advice on both phone. Which one should I pick?

Here are my pros and cons for Sense:

+ I love the Sense interface

+ I like the design

+ Good specs

- Free RAM

- Internal storage

Here are my pros and cons for Samsung S 2:

+ Internal storage

+ ICS

I'm looking at SGS 2 just because I had a terrible experience using my Desire because I never had enough internal memory even after using a2sd and all the other options. Either the phone was slow or I didn't install the apps I needed. I'd also like ICS since I'm getting a new phone. Does anyone know if Sensation will even get one or will it be similar to Desire (almost abandoned after 6 months).

So can you help me decide?

[Guest Basil3]

I think you've made up your own mind.

If you like sense, you should go sensation.

Personally I find that one of the main positives of the sensation is the size in hand. I came from the DHD, which I found slightly too big, particularly when reaching to the top corner of the screen. I imagine the SGS II would be much the same.

Sensation will definitely get ICS, one way or the other, and it currently has great dev support which should continue through to the full arrival of ICS.

That's my 2c.

[Guest HoM3r]

I prefer the sensation, GSII use bad cheap plastic, if you have a µSD card storage can be the same, it should be update to ICS soon, i allways got 100 to 250 Mo of free RAM witch is enough ... for me, GSII is a joke, if you listen to the Benchmarks, you'll buy a GSII, but you'll not have Sense and your phone will be like all the others ...

[Guest RemzNL]

I had the same problem you're facing, but I chose for the Sensation XE.

These are the points why I chose the Sensation over the S2.

1. S2 is hyped

2. S2's screen might be better, but a lot of reviews claim that it isn't realistic(the colors).

3. S2 is made out of plastic, I like HTC materials better.

4. The HTC had a faster CPU on the model I chose

5. The battery is larger

6. LED indicator(My previous Galaxy Gio didn't had one, not sure if the S2 did, but I know HTC does)

7. Touchwiz is slower than Sense(although I flash AOSP roms)

8. Sensation has a better resolution

9. S2 does have more RAM/Internal Storage, although I doubt I really need the RAM because I would run AOSP and I got a 32gb MicroSD so 1GB storage for the important apps is enough for me(Like a SSD).

I hope some of these points help you.

And if you prefer my opinion over facts: Sensation!

[Guest bpivk]

@RemzNL: Yes some of your points do help.

@All: I didn't make up my mind yet and all the reviews are mixed that's why I'm asking. I did read that SGS doesn't have the excellent build quality but I did like the extra battery power (all the specs I've read list the SGS as the better phone battery wise) and I really need Internal memory so I'm scared of running out of it because the main reason for ditching my Desire is the memory.

Also I don't like the resolution on Sensations screen. I come from old Windows Mobile phones and I know that I had a lot of problems with apps and games not working because of the odd resolution on my phone. That was also a pro for SGS when I noticed it.

Edited December 29, 2011 by bpivk

[Guest Sam Bramel]

If you are concerned about battery life, Anker makes a very nice 1900 mAh battery for the Sensation. It sells on Amazon for 15.99 for one and 28.99 for a pair and a spare battery charger. Both are eligible for Amazon prime. And the battery vastly improves the battery life, up to 3-5 hours depending on use.

Sent from my HTC Sensation using Tapatalk

[Guest diable]

I have both and the S2 is hyped cause its the best phone on the market. The AMOLED screen has the blackest blacks with colors that just pop but it does have a lower resolution screen compared to the Sensation. The Sensation has a higher clocked processor but it pales next to the Exynos in the S2. In benchmarks the S2 is still the fastest phone on the market, it out performs the Galaxy Nexus and the Razor. The camera is second to the 4s in quality so pics look awesome plus its getting ICS from Samsung in January and there's builds of CM9 already out.

[Guest bonesy]

I have both and the S2 is hyped cause its the best phone on the market. The AMOLED screen has the blackest blacks with colors that just pop but it does have a lower resolution screen compared to the Sensation. The Sensation has a higher clocked processor but it pales next to the Exynos in the S2. In benchmarks the S2 is still the fastest phone on the market, it out performs the Galaxy Nexus and the Razor. The camera is second to the 4s in quality so pics look awesome plus its getting ICS from Samsung in January and there's builds of CM9 already out.

Im pretty sure if our sensations ran AOSP (Fully Functional) it would out perform the S2 Hands down, I have a sensation and my wife has the S2 which she hates and wants her old wildfire s back (believe it or not!) at the end of the day you could install thousands of apps and still have space plus if your on here i dont think you can stick a rom for long.Ill never sway from HTC, Nothing compares in my honest opinion

[Guest bpivk]

Thanks for the info guys. I still don't know which phone to choose so I guess I'll have to go with the old coin drop. :)

The biggest and actually the only thing that bothers me on Sensation is the 1gb internal memory. Even my wife's Ideos X5 has 1,5gb for apps.

Edit: I've just checked and all my apps installed take about 700mb of internal storage. So is the 1024mb of free Internal storage the whole partition (including the storage that rom uses) or is it 1024mb minus the 300mb (give or take a few mb) that the rom uses?

Edited December 30, 2011 by bpivk

[Guest HoM3r]

There is 1175 mb just for your apps, the total internal storage is 2 Gb, just look this screenshot ;)

PS : I got something like 120 apps (a lot of games) , and more than 300mb left

Edited December 30, 2011 by HoM3r

[Guest bpivk]

@HoM3r: Thanks for the info.

I've crunched the numbers (or should I say checked the Data/app folder on my tablet) because I want similar apps on my phone as well and they take about 1gb of memory (around 850mb to be exact) so that probably wouldn't be enough seeing that the data/data/ partition also needs some internal memory and I don't want to constantly monitor my memory usage. It seems that I'm just used to my tablet having 28gb of Internal Storage so it will probably be better to have a device that will have a similar capacity. It's a shame and I'm really sorry to let HTC go (I sold my Desire a few hours ago and I already miss it).

Thanks for all the advice. I really appreciate it because I couldn't make up my mind (and I'm still on the edge). My provider will probably run out of SGS2 (that would be my luck acting up again) and I'll purchase a Sensation in the end. :)

Edited December 31, 2011 by bpivk

[Guest HoM3r]

Yes HTC is realy bad for internal memory and the worst was the HTC Desire, this was a powerfull smartphone ( exactly like the Nexus One) but 250mb of internal memory dedicated to /data was a joke ...

[Guest jimakos29]

I have both and the S2 is hyped cause its the best phone on the market. The AMOLED screen has the blackest blacks with colors that just pop but it does have a lower resolution screen compared to the Sensation. The Sensation has a higher clocked processor but it pales next to the Exynos in the S2. In benchmarks the S2 is still the fastest phone on the market, it out performs the Galaxy Nexus and the Razor. The camera is second to the 4s in quality so pics look awesome plus its getting ICS from Samsung in January and there's builds of CM9 already out.

Come on m8. I don't own a sensation BUT... I Got an sgs2 in July and the screen was a joke. Ok the black was amazing but the white was Blue? Plus on some colours the screen would just mess up bigtime. Try watching angry birds sky with less than full brightness and then come back and talk to me. Quality did suck and it burnt a pixel within 2 weeks. Thankfully they took it back as DOA and I got an o3d. Now that HAS a wow factor. It is very close to performance to sgs2 (both on stock fw) according to benchmarks and then benchmarks aren't everything and you should know that. Real life performance is what matters and there my o3d is as smooth as sgs2. And don't go telling me about sgs2 camera cause it aint that good at all. There are many phones with better cams than it. And it doesn't outperform razr in any way on stock rom. My bro got one and it is trully amazing. Bottom line is I don't regret getting my o3d to replace the sgs2 and I would go htc over samsung any day of the week just because they are more reliable...

[Guest Небо]

i was crossshopping those, plus evo 3d and other 3d thingies. i chose sensation and i'm glad i did.