HTC Sensation Hardware Review (Video)

Following up on our unboxing of the super-hot HTC Sensation, we take a closer look at the hardware of the phone in this video. Not surprisingly, the Sensation has the now iconic HTC look: it has the chrome earpiece, rounded edges along all four corners, and capacitive buttons below the screen. What makes the Sensation a bit different than other HTC devices is the contoured glass that features concave edges all around the screen. While the special glass adds no functionality to the device, it looks and feels nice. 




The HTC Sensation is a powerhouse on paper. It's packing Qualcomm's first shipping dual-core CPU in the Snapdragon family of chips, and it clocks in at 1.2GHz. There is 768MB of RAM on the Sensation, and about 1GB of ROM. For imaging, the rear camera takes photos at 8MP and video at full 1080p, while the front-facing camera can take VGA photos and video. The screen is HTC's first qHD display, providing 960x540 pixels over a 4.3" area. It's also interesting to see a 16:9 aspect ratio display come on an HTC. This makes the screen a bit taller than we're used to on their other devices. 

The Sensation deviates a bit from the unibody metal design of the previous HTC flagship, the Desire HD. On the Sensation, you get a plastic battery cover which actually covers most of the device...even the front-facing camera and earpiece. The trouble with this is that pocket lint might find its way into the front camera and earpiece over time, necessitating that you use compressed air to keep the area dust-free. 

In-hand, the Sensation has a very high quality and substantial feel. It's not a lightweight, but it's also not heavy enough to be noticeable in the pocket. 

Coming up soon we'll take a thorough look at the Sense 3.0 software of the Sensation.