HTC Sensation 4G for T-Mobile Reviewed

Web Browsing

When it came to web browsing, the HTC Sensation 4G was extremely powerful. This is mostly due to Qualcomm working closely with HTC to make certain that phones running their latest processors are capable of great in-browser graphical performance and scrolling, among other features. The best illustration of this is visible in the Vellamo scores that we got. Just a note, Vellamo is a web benchmarking tool developed and used by Qualcomm, but it is generally accepted as a quality web benchmarking suite. The pinch and zoom on the Sensation was also some of the most responsive web browser pinch and zoom we’ve ever seen.

Additionally, because of the HTC Sensation we found ourselves wishing that news sites and other websites didn’t deliver mobile web pages because they were too boring for the Sensation. We ended up trying at every opportunity to switch to the full site because the Sensation had no problem showing the site in its complete capacity and full quality. With this phone, there is little need for some of the extremely restrictive apps that many websites create. With this device and Flash 10.3, the incredible web-surfing experience in the browser really eliminates any need for dedicated applications. On top of all that, the ability to quickly switch between windows with almost zero graphical lag made concurrently browsing on multiple web pages highly efficient and easy to do. This is mostly due to the fact that the HTC Sensation is a dual core phone with a decent GPU, as well as ample memory to run many web pages and apps at the same time without slowing down.


Text Input

When it comes to text input there are very few good options on an Android device that does not have a keyboard. The most common of these is Swype. Swype has been integrated into the majority of today’s Android smartphones as a solution to slow and inaccurate touch screen typing. The HTC Sensation 4G features Swype but realistically, it does not really need it as much as its smaller-screened counterparts. The 4.3” screen is actually impossible to Swype with in landscape mode and you’ll find yourself just typing on screen with almost 100% accuracy. However, in portrait mode you’ll find that Swype becomes much handier as you can literally type away with one hand very quickly and with decent accuracy. Although admittedly with Swype you will still find yourself occasionally becoming frustrated Swype’s choices for words. Nevertheless, the text input on this device is decent and eases the yearning for a physical QWERTY keyboard phone, compared to smaller screened phones.