HTC Sensation 4G for T-Mobile Reviewed

Camera and Photography

When it comes to camera and photography, our testing methodology is the same as with video. We took photographs with the phone and the exact same photo with our Nikon D5100 in order to compare the two. The photos were from the exact same perspective, same composition, and same lighting conditions in order to remain as fair as possible.

Shot with the HTC Sensation 4G at full res

Shot with Nikon D5100 at full res

Shot with HTC Sensation at full res

Shot with Nikon D5100 at full res

In terms of the HTC Sensation 4G, we found that the photos came out very well and were taken very quickly. This is thanks to Qualcomm and HTC working together to implement an instantaneous photo; once the subject is in focus, the phone immediately takes a picture. This is in contrast to other cameras on smartphones which have generally had lag that results in many lost photo opportunities.

Shot with the HTC Sensation 4G at full res

Shot with the Nikon D5100 at full res

Based on the photo comparisons above you can see that the HTC Sensation does indeed take high quality photos which require very little retouching. In some photos we found that the phone actually shot closer to the RAW files that our DSLR shot in terms of color richness than the JPEGs the DSLR took. We did this to allow a comparison since our D5100 can shoot in RAW+JPEG mode. Also, in some situations the camera did have a little bit of ghosting which could have been a result of both the lighting conditions and the sensor or some camera shake. This leads us to our biggest complaint about photography on this camera.

One of the main things we found lacking on the HTC Sensation 4G is an actual hardware button for the camera. Granted, the instantaneous photo snapping significantly reduces camera vibration/shake but it does not make taking photos comfortable or convenient. A simple hardware button would make this phone a much better camera without many improvements in terms of UI or software. We also noticed that this phone does not have in-camera HDR, which is disappointing when considering the level of quality that the sensor is capable of and the fact that the iPhone has had native HDR for quite some time. We also reviewed a lot of the flat to low lighting photographs and noticed that there was a lot of noise; specifically chroma noise. This was a little discouraging, so we assume that either this sensor is not really intended for 8MP or that there needs to be improvement in the camera software.

Picture taken with front-facing camera

There is also a VGA front facing camera which takes mediocre photographs but serves itself well for front facing video chat.

...Extra shots from the HTC Sensation...