HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio first impressions

late bloomer? not neceesarily. Esp now that it is updated to Android 4.0 (Ice cream Sandwich), the system, interface and speed upgrade is noticeable and significant. The price of Sensation XE nowadays is around 23,000-25,999 pesos.

Buy legit HTC phones in MemoXpress (cyberzone sm megamall), Digital Walker (eastwood mall, robinsons mall, MOA) and HTC shops (MOA, SM Megamall)

Note, that when you buy Sensation XE, its not updated yet to Sense 3.6 and Android 4.0. By default, its Sense 3.0 and Android 2.3.7

as much as i want to help you with the step-by-step guide in updating your Sensation XE as well as comparison to 2012 flagship smartphones, yugatech no longer allows posting of links. you can email me at aeab****@****.*** if you have queries.

late bloomer? not neceesarily. Esp now that it is updated to Android 4.0 (Ice cream Sandwich), the system, interface and speed upgrade is noticeable and significant. The price of Sensation XE nowadays is around 23,000-25,999 pesos.

Buy legit HTC phones in MemoXpress (cyberzone sm megamall), Digital Walker (eastwood mall, robinsons mall, MOA) and HTC shops (MOA, SM Megamall)

Note, that when you buy Sensation XE, its not updated yet to Sense 3.6 and Android 4.0. By default, its Sense 3.0 and Android 2.3.7

To update it, just follow the guide in the links below:

http://deciphertech.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/just-married-ice-cream-sandwich-finally-hits-htc-sensation-xe/

For comparison to high-end 2012 products, you can also refer here:

http://deciphertech.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/test13/

and here

http://deciphertech.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/the-messiah-complex-the-htc-one-x-hands-on-review/

te only difference is that i update it to ics then i factory reset it… bugs wer gone but this mobile network turning on by itself is annoying.. i downloaded DATA ON-OFF in the market apps at least i cud do to prevent it from turning on automatically.. im worried of my bill this month cuz of this bug… crazy…

hehe… i think i miss that charging stuff, i really belivd that 100%-0% cycle is healthy, draining it to 0% then fully charge it.. im gonna try ur practice sir. and that flight mode and low wifi signal making ur system work harder i like that.. i never come to think if it.. heheh.. and im gona try to download System Panel… yeah iv tried to order mugen battery from ebay that was bfore i knew that it is not gonna ship here in asia.. im gonna try to contact that user u refferd to.

just another thing, hav u noticed this abnormal restart in ur fone? since i bought it in december iv kinda experienced it like 2 times, the second time was just hours since im posting this.. it happend after i fully charged it then minutes later the fone is heating up after a minute it just restarted.. i was using wifi and gps 15 minutes after it was fully charged.. i dont knw wat the heck is that?!

hmmm… that rooting stuff? i think im gonna study it first before im gona brick this fone (lol)man i luv this fon! i dont want to brick it… hehehe.. maybe after the warranty.. lol

tnx sir Cipher it was an honor to hv ur extended batt life tips for stock sensations.. tnx and belated happy new year! advance chinese new year.

@shacer –

I already posted this in tipidcp forum. I feel obliged to post this to help you out because I think you might have missed some of the adjustments in managing battery life.I hope makatulong din sa iba:

its because I’m a heavy user, so i devoted a lot of time in researching and testing ways to extend battery life of smartphones, esp with Sensation XE. I discovered a lot of things and applied it to my HTC. In line with this, I would like to share the following tips and personal experiences:

DISCLAIMER:

These practices are done in stock (unrooted) Sensation XE. I also did the same to an iPhone (except for Android-related adjustments). These might even give rooted models better battery life due to access in many processes like under-clocking, disabling Sense, change of launcher, etc.) These practices greatly improved my stock Sensation XE’s battery life (personal experience). Kindly share your own experiences if these suggestions really helped.

Extending Your Sensation XE’s battery life 101:)

1. Do not believe that you have to do the following:
(a) initial charge your battery on its first use for an X number of hours (4-6+ hours usually)
(b) drain your battery before you charge it full

Its a little strange, somewhat a conspiracy (hmm…) in the mobile world to dictate consumers via user manuals to initially charge or drain your battery before charging for optimum battery performance. Contrary to that, these practices actually DEGRADE the battery life your lithium-ion batteries.

Here are the eye-openers:

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/do_and_dont_battery_table

Note that it is actually suggested to charge your fone (lithium-ion powered) as necessity dictates. DO NOT let your battery run below 30% and most of all, NEVER drain it. I personally charge my fone when it reaches 40% (lowest)-70% (highest – most recommended). This practice supports better battery life and performance. If possible, if your battery dropped to 70% or less, charge it!

2. One of the major battery-draining process in Sensation XE is the Sense (UI) itself. I believe its UI is the biggest advantage of HTC versus gazillion of smarthphones in the market today. However, its Sense UI consumes too much battery, tagged along with 1.5GHz dual processor and 4.3 display. So adjust the following:

(a) Minimal animation esp with Weather widget
(b) 25% or less for Screen brightness
(c) Uncheck Background data unless you are about to perform AutoSync.
(d) Do not flood your homescreens with energy & data refresh-intensive widgets like Facebook, News, Youtube, Friend Stream and email widgets. You shortcut and apps instead. Widgets are eye-candy and give you convenience of being updated on the dot, however, they demand more energy and lots of data-fetching ( be it via wifi or 3G). HTC is a huge FB fanboy that it always data-fetch Facebook. Come Ice Cream Sandwich, this might change for better, (or for worse, with constant data-fetching with Google+ instead)
(e) Lockscreen: Use wallpaper or Clock version and not the animation heavy like Weather, Photo Album, Friend Stream, etc
(f) Do not use live wallpapers since it consumes tons of juice out of you battery.
(g) turn off GPS, Bluetooth, Haptic feedback, Orientation, Vibration if you’re not really using it (or need it)
(h) Uncheck “Enable always-on mobile data” esp when not using Mobile Connectivity
(i) Do not insist on using wifi if your wifi signal is pretty low. Low signals prompts HTC system to exert more effort (thus energy as well) in scanning wifi reception. Same thing goes to 3G signals. If you’re about to sleep and you your signal is still zero bar, might as well turn it off or activate flight mode. I have experienced leaving my phone @ 100% battery with zero cellular signal til morning (my location s*cks) and guess what, when I woke up my battery turned 30% (even without using the phone)!!!
(j) Download Juice Defender (even the free one will suffice) – somehow helps extend your battery’s life
(k) Download System Panel & Android Assistant – these will selectively kill processes working in the backgrounds, which are mostly not essential, like a game you just paused, facebook collecting data in the background, etc…
Do not make a mistake of downloading apps that intends to kill processes every single minute and no user-control — these will suck your juice contrary to its actual intention to preserve it
(l) Use your lovely iBeats instead of sound-trippin’ with speakers (and more importantly, the speakers do not give justice to its superb audio performance)
(m) Do not leave your XE in an extremely hot location (like leaving it inside your car under direct sunlight)
(n) DO not use your fone as much as possible (though sometimes its inevitable) if its charging
(o) If possible, turn it off before you charge your fone. This is extremely helpful in extending your battery’s life.
(p) Charge straight to 100% as much as possible (though staggered charging will not harm necessarily your battery unless done in an almost-drained state)

3. For your peace of mind, you should:

(a) Purchase Anker 1900mAh extended batteries + charger (as replacement or backup)
(b) always bring your charger =)

I know some of these suggestions will definitely change the “functionality and wow-factor (pogi points!)” of your droll-worthy Sensation XE. However, if your done with the pa-pogi era (we all love to showoff our Sensation XE and kick some SGS2 & Iphone’s butts on the first months of our fone,) and soon, when practicality calls and you need more juice (especially if your on a local or foreign trip and you need more juice in Kodakan moments, video recording for the memories and email/FB updates), you really have to exert more effort in conserving your battery. If you can’t give up most of the things stated above (same reason i did not include refrain use of games), you can always hand-pick what tips that apply to you and your mobile lifestyle.

Mugen Power 1950mAh actually fits perfectly with Sensation XE and available in the philippines via ebay, amazon, etc… (however, its 181% more expensive than Anker…price+postage will rip you Php 2,382)

Mugen Power 3600 mAh is the big/thick one, the price will make you Php 5,000+ poorer =(

Mugen Power 1950mAh (around $45) and 3600 mAh (around $105) and Anker 1900mAh ($16)

Mugen Power is HUGE physically. Anker is slimmer.

Hey dude Cipher, my posts was actually agreeing that perhaps my expensive iPhone 4s was not as impressive as I thought it was after having the more which is identical to a sgs2. This chick then starts throwsing nasty shit.
talking about breeding, you kitty *&%$. I don’t care if your a tranny, man, lesbian, homosexual, poor, rich, fat or thin, what I care is how you initially threw shit at me without reading the entire blog
If you read the blog and I assume you can read because you can write, minus perhaps comprehension skills, you would have understood my post was accepting defeat to Ciphers ideas regarding the galaxy being a superior choice. Your an embarassmeng to the woman of this world, you dumb %&*-.

hi markaznar,

wow,what a breeding. Poor upbringing clown. Your parents must be itching to abort you waaay back. Pity you. Oh by the way, your still OFF-TOPIC. read your freakin’ post!. Nobody’s even asking for your opinion and out of the blue you’re selling your stuffs and talkin’ about Note. who the heck’s asking for that?

and oh, you have no respect for women. shame.

Hi Gudo. sorry for the late reply (got my b*tt dragged in Ad Congress for a week). I think the primary factor you should consider is your budget. Can you afford it to purchase right away, or you can manage to wait a little longer to complete the fund needed? If you need the phone asap, go get one which fits your budget (Nokia and Samsung are good, cheap options). Also, its very important that if you eye for one gadget, you should have at least 10% additional fund (lets say 1.5k-2.5k if your eyeing for a smartphone)to “accesorize” your new gadget. Its not a sort of “luho” but an additional investment to secure your investment (your smartphone). This should be used in adding up premium screen protector, capdase/otter/belkin, halo or caselogic. this is IMHO, important esp if you’ll purchase a top-of-the-line (and expensive) smartphone.

I myself if a very clumsy guy, one of the major reason I contained myself for buying wafer-thin smartphones (like Droid Bionic or SGS2) because I always put my phone in my pockets and tends to drop it too many times. I bet i will break into two once i forget that I inserted it in my jeans’ back pocket (which I always do when I’m cramming). In line with durability, HTC has the industry reputation of manufacturing one of the toughest lines of phones.

For your queries:

Q: Would it be worth paying a little extra for the XE?

A: Definitely yes! In terms of built – the aluminium-rubber unibody built for toughness and solid-grip is a big plus. The rubbery-finish, the curve, and the weight is perfect your grip and safe handling.

Q:Can it survive simple day-to-day use with normal handling or do I have to handle it with care?

A: The “bare” Sensation XE is tough enough (as tested by my peers who also owned one who are bold enough not to use screen protector and case). The gorilla glass screen is sturdy, a scratch-resistant top-notch glass. The armor-like aluminum+rubber built is tough-as-h3ll. My wife accidentally drop my Sensation XE @ 4 feet but not a single scratch nor a problem have occur. But personally, (esp that i’m clumsy and OC), regardless how tough this phone is, i believe you should also give conscious effort to protect it (esp that its so expensive), thats why I use screen protector and casing, plus a pouch (when i’m on-the-go) too which also serves as iBeats keeper. Its simply protecting your investment (and you worked really hard for your cash, right?)

Q:Do you know of any good case for added protection for the XE, such as Otterbox cases?

A: I’m using original Capdase hard-jelly case for HTC Sensation. It fits well, light and compact, and comes with screen protector. Otterbox, IMHO, is a no-no since its very bulky, somewhat heavy, which will make your Sensation XE (which is heavy enough) annoyingly heavy. Plus, the built, the curves, the over-all look of Sensation XE is a head-turner already, the otterbox will ruin its beauty. Just use Capdase. Thin, tough, and light, and it compliments the Sensation built.

Q:Isn’t it too big for your pocket at 4.3 inches, and probably more with a tough case on?

A: Not at all. Aside from my slacks (our uniform), i always place mine (XE) in my jeans pocket. It fits well in pockets, with enough space to slide your hands in. Note that it even has Capdase on it. Using Otterbox is a different story…

I hope this will help, and thanks for the compliments, Gudo!

Regards,

Cipher

i beg to disagree cypher sir, mine went from steel cold to very warm within 10 minutes of 3g usage..

congrats! good thing for us, HTC already announced (today) that Sensation XE (along with HTC Sensation and HTC Sensation XL, as well as the HTC Rezound, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G and HTC Amaze 4G)will surely be upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich early next year! Hurraaaay!

Early happy new year to us! ^_^ i cant wait!!!

http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/07/htc-announces-specifics-on-ice-cream-sandwich-upgrades/

Joko dmn? Saya jg org Indo tapi lagi di Phils. Translate that, @Cipher LOL. Anyway, got my hand on this phone 2 weeks ago in Mongkok, it’s quite impressive.

translation: (from Indonessian)

I’ve bought the HTC Sensation XE and the phone is very good indeed

*tahnks Google Translate! =)

most of your so called “nobela” are fictitious and offers less insights. Im very sorry if my so-called “novel/ads” is quite long. Excited lang ako cguro. I just shared my insights and personal experience so that people can have a little glimpse of whats actually happening behind spec sheets and a review in actual experience. I do not advertise coz (1) im not even a freakin’ employee of HTC, (2)I dont get anything from it, and (3)im not a fanboy of any brand. Im even a (current) user of iphone and samsung smartphones (thats why i CAN compare) And yeah, I love SG2.

Peace! =)

thanks. i saw it @ P24,500 in widgetcity, is it advisable to buy in there? or have you heard of any issues bout the phones from widget city?

may htc sensation po ba na 22k lang yung price range?

iphone 4s < galaxy s2 < sensation xe.
nuff said.

I totally agree with you man, this is silly and a total waste of time, /amen

Sorry sir but your 2 cents are all opinions and not facts, they are all your opinion. You want facts? learn to read benchmarks. We are not discussing bang for the buck here because if we were, I would have a totally different argument here. Remember your precious sgs2 (ours, since I own 2 myself) will depreciate really fast given how fast android phones evolve, in a years time that android your holding will be completely archaic and not even fully supported by the manufacturer anymore at that point. An iphone is created once a year only, making its resale value far more substantial, lets not even get to the economics of things because for starters mobile phones are an expense altogether and never an investment to begin with. Moving along, what makes you think some people care how much an object cost, well, I dont and I bet some people dont as well, so your argument is silly, you want good bang for the buck, get a decent notebook and a nokia phone end of story. Once you learn how to read benchmarks then lets talk, if not come over or I can go where you are and lets compare speeds to show you that an iphone is faster. Bigger is nto better for me, it’s a mobile phone remember? that’s what tablets are for, ZZzzz Again, harware wise except its 3g radio of 14.4 mbps everything in an iphone is better, again, I am not talking about price. You can’t afford one, don’t buy one, it’s not the end of the world, but stop throwing shit around. You want me to prove my point, lets meet and run some benchmarks, it’s the onyl way to settle this, becuase you are all opinions, I do nto care about your opinion, and I bet some people don’t as well, everyone is entitled to their opinion, what matters are facts. 091785*****, call for a meet up, tired of typing and reading your short fairytales

@cipher
1. the international sgs2 does not have hspa 42 mbps but only 21 mbps.
2. More durable, certainly due to the fall test a samy fanyboi did, DUN, its made of plastic versus glass and metal, obviously.
3. Bigger screen means better? If I need a bigger screen I have an ipad. Bigger by .77??? a huge difference? lol
4. Thinner at its thinnest point, yes, but not at it’s thickest point, the bottom. Sgs2’s bottom is thicker than the iphone
5. Lighter? duh, again, plastic much? cheap cheap material. Don’t want to even touch that topic.
6. Again, faster clock speeed yes, but is still beaten in benchmarks LOL@you and heres a link go look at it http://maypalo.com/2011/10/11/iphone-4s-vs-every-android-device-benchmark-test-result/
7. Iphone 4s a beta phone? lol again.
8. Siri is on beta, that is correct, and I never even mentioned siri, I only use it while driving and that’s that, i do not care much for it.
9. The sgs2 will not get ics right away given, ics is built around omap which sgs2 is not using, it’s using exynos, and looking back nexus s was also built by samsung right? but how come the galaxy s1 got updated months months after a nexus s phone got it’s update??? And this is considering both were using almost the same internals, same processor and gpu.
if you must have an android phone, wait for the nexus prime, guaranteed to get an update fast and it’s ota update is sweet with no ugly touchwiz

@Cipher
Bullshit. Sgs2 does not beat iphone 4s I have them both. Even with flash turned off on the sgs2, iphone 4s still beats it even at 800 mhz per clock vs 1.2. You might start and say it’s due to safari optimization, and that ice cream sandwich will fill the gap. And my answer would be, perhaps, however, given samsung’s track record, that update “might” come and if it does, I can guarantee you, it’s not gonna be anytime soon. Going back to hardware, the sgs2 resolution sucks compared to iphone 4s, and if screen real estate is your concern while web browsing, the reader option is readily available, making web pages even easier to read, far far easier than the sgs2. And lastly, something that is undeniable, the iphone 4s has the MOST powerful smartphone gpu in the world, not an opinion but a fact which beats the archaic designed 2008 mali 400mp4. I’m no apple fanboy, but man, stop the bullshit.

reviewers (GSMArena, Engadget, Gizmodo, etc) claim that Sensation XE’ battery life is 9-12 hours. Mine’s last a lil’ longer at 14 hrs with total abuse (full auto-sync, wifi, mobile internet, downloads, you-tube, FB, mp3 and music video-playing, ebook reading, games, etc).

With conservative use, my juice lasts up to 26 hrs. Conservative means photo-ops, texting, calling, internet, FB, playing around with my phone, with conscious use of brightness, mobile connectivity, deactivation of GPS and autosync, plus utilization of apps and battery manager)

Fortunately, the infamous “death grip” – when you hold the unit in the top portion of the phone and the wifi signals’ dead – is only for old Sensation. Sensation XE, XL and AMaze dont have it anymore. I personally tested it myself on XE, no problems nor lags at all, and definitely no death-grip. The same way as the upgraded Iphone4S resolved its predecessor’s (iphone4)issue with its antenna