It can have the same
name as HTC Sensation, but XL is not a simple update. The screen increases from
4.3 inches to 4.7 inches, and instead of 1.2GHz processor, XL has simple core
chip (1.5GHz). It also has Beats Audio mark, and is accompanied by Beats
headphones.
‘urBeats’ are better
than normal headphones that you have with new mobile devices but there is nothing
special in them. We cannot find them on Beats’ website, so it seems they are
not part of standard series. There is no option for Beats – when you play
music, a Beats icon appears at notification bar, and you can activate or neutralize
it. You receive more bass if Beats is activated, and the music is quite boring
without it.
XL does not run on
Android’s latest version – 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich – but just Samsung’s Galaxy
Nexus has the latest version of Google’s mobile operating system. However, XL
gets benefit from HTC’s Sense interface, which improves many Android functions,
and HTC promised to udgrade XL to Android 4.0 at the beginning of 2012.
In addition to audio
Beats, the phone has quite many things to provide. 4.7-inch screen just has
480x800 resolution, but it is surprisingly bright and brilliant, and we do not
find any coarse edge or pixellation when reading small words. In the test
together with Galaxy Nexus, XL’s brighter screen could be compared to 720x1,280
resolution of Nexus about clearness, which makes us wonder whether Nexus’s high
pixel density is rather excessive.
8MP main camera and
1.3MP front camera provide good image. The main camera takes picture in lively
colors with low noise, and can record 720p video. Besides exposure and white
balance, it provides many effects, and we like the fact that you can open flash
while recording video to provide more lights for dark scenes. Meanwhile, the
front camera can be compatible with Skype for video calls.
Performance is
excellent, regardless of simple core processor – user interface is still always
smooth, with a little unsmoothness we often see from Android. In SunSpider
JavaScript test, XL scored remarkable 2,435 points. We did not find any
lateness, even with many open apps.
XL’s batteries lasted
shorter than 7 hours in the new video test, which is equivalent to Galaxy Nexus
and average for an Android smartphone, but there is nothing able to compare to
surprising 12 hours playing video of iPhone 4. It is still rather good, and
with a battery saving app like Juice Defender, it is sure that you have a few
days of using from XL, depending on how much you use 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and
GPS.
XL’s internal 16GB
storage and lack of memory card slot can be problems with some people,
especially when user cannot access all 16GB. Once the operating system takes it
own part, you just have 4GB left for apps and about 8GB for files, which is not
much for your song collections, let alone video. Without memory card’s
flexility, you will have to connect XL to PC in order to change the files you
will bring with.
Another problem is
price. With the same amount of money, you can buy better phones such as
Motorola’s Razr and Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus. You seem to expensively pay for
Beats headphones, but we would like to buy one of the excellent phones
mentioned above and a better third-party headset.
Summary
Verdict. XL improved original Sensation at all aspects,
but there are better phones available with the same price, and we keep in mind
that there is micro SHDC card slot.
Smartphone. GSM 850/900/1800/1900, 3G 850/900/2100, EDGE,
HSPA, WCDMA, 4.7-inch LCD (480x800 resolution), 8MP camera, 16GB storage,
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB connection, 6.8 hours of talk-time, 15 days of wait-time,
133x71x10mm, 163g.
