HTC Sensation XL review

What is it?

A big-screen addition to HTC's Sensation range, with added Beats Audio features courtesy of Dr. Dre.

What's great: The colourful 4.7-inch screen, brilliant audio playback and multimedia apps, reliable call quality and extensive photography options.

What's not: There's no MicroSD slot, so you're limited to around 12GB of storage (after taking into account the space needed for the operating system) for your songs and movies.

The bottom line: It's not quite the all-conquering multimedia handset we were hoping for, but the HTC Sensation XL is still a quality phone for audiophiles.

Review
Other than a giant slab of screen, the main selling point of the HTC Sensation XL is its Beats Audio functionality. The HTC suits have managed to drag Dr. Dre out of his lab and into their own in the hope that he'll inject some audio magic and urban cool into their new handset. So does the NWA rapper's red b' stamp of approval really signify that the Sensation XL is a superior music phone? Or is it merely a b-side to the dual-core Sensation XE?

Looks-wise it's certainly distinctive, with an all-white front and metallic effect rear that detaches completely from the handset, granting access to the battery and sim card slot. Despite the large screen it doesn't feel like a comedy-sized handset when held against your ear, and the slim profile means it will still fit happily in most pockets.

Turn on the phone it's obvious that HTC are positioning the Sensation XL as a multimedia device. Of the seven home screens on offer, two are taken up with widgets for movie watching and music listening. The central screen also features said widgets in app form, along with a decent e-reader complete with eight free e-books to get your started - a nice selection of classics that looked good, but not amazing, on the Sensation XL.

Why? Well, although the 4.7-inch LCD screen is large and bright, its colour depth and contrast is no match for the Samsung Galaxy SII's Super AMOLED Plus goodness, or the Lumia 800's ultra deep blacks. And at only 480x800 pixels its not nearly as sharp as the iPhone 4S's Retina Display. That's not to say its poor; on the contrary, most people will find it more than adequate for movie viewing, reading or web browsing. But for a phone that's being touted as a multimedia beast, we'd have liked a little more wow-factor.

Audio-wise there's really little to fault Sensation XL. Getting music on to the phone is a simple drag-and-drop affair, with the pre-installed music player app performing well. If you really wants to give your ears a treat, plug in the UrBeats headphones included in the box, and enjoy the crisp vocals, thick, syrupy base and generally punchy audio tuning associated with the Beats brand; a small Beats logo in the notifications bar signifies that the Beats tuning profile is on. The earbuds themselves have a real quality feel and, along with the high-spec speaker and audio components packed into the XL, confirm it as one of the best music phones available.

All of which makes the decision to only include 16GB of built-in memory - a fair chunk of which is taken up by the HTC Sense interface, Android operating system and bundled apps - seem all the more strange. There's no MicroSD slot, so if you've got a large song library that you'd like to house on your phone, the Sensation XL isn't up to the job.

The same applies to movie viewing. Yes, you can rent or buy some (mostly rubbish) new releases via the Watch app (which is actually very well-designed and easy-to-use), but lob a few of your own films on to the phone and you'll soon be agonising over what apps or tracks you can delete in order to free up enough memory to receive your emails. It's especially galling as the Sensation XE has the MicroSD slot its XL cousin is crying out for.

Overall, we were impressed by the Sensation XL's 8MP camera. In decent light conditions the f2.2 lens produces sharp well-metered shots, and a vast range of effects and settings are available - everything from vintage effects and distortions designed to make your subjects look like Sloth from the Goonies, as well as more serious settings to tinker with like white balance, ISO and geo-tagging.

Face detection works well, and the camera's auto-focus was excellent: we hardly ended up with any blurry shots during our test. The dual-LED flash is also a welcome feature, allowing for competent low-light shots, as is the 1.3MP front facing camera. But video recording has not received the same level of attention - the lack of full 1080p shooting is a disappointing omission in a handset in the same price bracket as the Samsung Galaxy SII or iPhone 4S.

The camera can be accessed straight from the screen by dragging it into the Sense 3.5 'ring', as can one of three other (customisable) shortcuts - its just one of a number of stylish tweaks and upgrades found in HTC's Sense 3.5. A hefty flick across the phone will send all of the home screens spiraling to the back of the screen, as if caught in a tornado, and the Friends Steam does a good job of amalgamating all your social networking updates.

Web browsing is brilliant on the large screen, with pinch zooming and panning never once causing the phone to stutter. Call connections were solid and the sound quality clear and crisp; and the Sensation XL also maintained a strong wi-fi connection even when we were at a considerable distance from our router. And although it will still need a nightly charge, we found the Sensation XL's battery was an improvement on previous HTC handsets, handling a full day of average use with ease.

Verdict
So have Dr. Dre and HTC scored a hit with the Sensation XL? Well, yes and no. It's a quality device, with distinctive looks that will surely appeal to the Beats target audience of fashion conscious teens and twenty-somethings. But overall the Sensation XL is not as impressive as its small-screen cousin, the XE, and it lacks the visual oomph of the Samsung Galaxy SII or iPhone 4S. Limited memory undermines its credentials as a multimedia phone, despite the inclusion of some impressive apps and widgets for music and movie playback. It's not a chart topper by any means, then. However it's another solid release from HTC that, speaking in music terms, could well become a cult hit.

Essential info
Camera: 8MP with duel-LED flash
Video: 720p HD@30fps
Display: WVGA, 480 x 800 pixels, 4.7-inches
Dimensions: 132.5 x 70.7 x 9.9 mm
Internal Memory: 16GB storage, 768 MB RAM
Card Slot: N/A
Colour: White with metallic back casing
Weight: 162.5g
Touchscreen: Yes
Audio playback: 3.5mm jack and internal speaker
Operating System: Android OS, v2.3 (Gingerbread)
Processor: 1.5 GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm MSM8255 chipset
Battery Life: Up to 6h 50 min (3G)