HTC Sensation vs Samsung Galaxy S II

Breezer · 12-04-2011 9:46pm #1

Wow. I wait ages for a phone that genuinely entices me to upgrade from my Hero and then two come along at once.

Sensation Pros:
Previous good experience with HTC
Build materials - aluminium
Heavier (I know some would see this as a con)
qHD resolution
Dual flash
Development community

Galaxy S2 Pros:
Super AMOLED+
Far more internal storage
Not restricted to Vodafone at launch
Thinner
Slightly better looking (personal opinion, and only just)
More RAM

I want to see some samples from the Sensation's still and video cameras before I decide anything, since the Desire S's look so disappointing.

Anyone know anything about the differences in the graphics processors? Or does anyone making the same decision have anything to add?

Inquitus · 12-04-2011 10:00pm

I'd never buy a Samsung, the Dev community is not as strong, they aren't usually as generous with future updates as HTC either, that's the killer for me. Take Gingerbread as an example, there's a variety of super stable fully working HTC Desire Gingerbread ROMs and no day to day stable or fully working Galaxy S Gingerbread ROM.

The Samsung Galaxy S2 is a lovely phone, but I'll take the HTC Sensation thanks.

Venom · 12-04-2011 11:36pm

Inquitus wrote: »

I'd never buy a Samsung, the Dev community is not as strong, they aren't usually as generous with future updates as HTC either, that's the killer for me. Take Gingerbread as an example, there's a variety of super stable fully working HTC Desire Gingerbread ROMs and no day to day stable or fully working Galaxy S Gingerbread ROM.

The Samsung Galaxy S2 is a lovely phone, but I'll take the HTC Sensation thanks.

+1

Samsung have also had way to much drama with there last couple of top tier phones update wise, less than impressive build quality along with a very sub-par UI when compared to the offerings HTC have been putting out and HTC Sense.

Saying that, while the Sensation looks sweet on paper spec wise it will take alot for me to upgrade from the original Desire as its still a kickass phone but I reckon the next version of Android after Gingerbread will make dualcore's a must.

Breezer · 13-04-2011 12:00am

Venom wrote: »

Samsung have also had way to much drama with there last couple of top tier phones update wise

Has it though? Was that not only in the US?

less than impressive build quality

I don't like the plastic in the Galaxy S, but is it actually of poor build quality or does it just "feel" cheap?

along with a very sub-par UI when compared to the offerings HTC have been putting out and HTC Sense.

Tbh I loved Sense on my Hero at the start. I later switched to custom ROMs without Sense and when I tried to use Sense again I hated it. Of course the HTC still has the advantage that it'll probably get Cyanogenmod support a lot quicker.

BMF Plint · 13-04-2011 12:05am

there is a very stable release of gingerbread on the samsung. I put it on myself with odin. So please google things before you type

Atomic Pineapple · 13-04-2011 12:19am

Sense is the worst UI available on Android, I hate it so much that I simply cannot buy a phone with it on it no matter how impressive it is otherwise.

LukeS_ · 13-04-2011 12:32am

The new SGS2 with the new touchwiz looks really good IMO. Look around at YouTube videos etc. and it just has a few little nice features like proper transition effects etc.
The exynos processor in SGS2 looks pretty good too and has a good GPU. The Tegra 2 one doesn't look anywhere as good.

Haven't really seen anything on the new 1.2Ghz snapdragon but I'd say it'll probably be around par (poor Rory couldn't hit one on Sunday eh?) with the exynos.

mickoneill30 · 13-04-2011 6:58am

draffodx wrote: »

Sense is the worst UI available on Android, I hate it so much that I simply cannot buy a phone with it on it no matter how impressive it is otherwise.

I see your Sense and raise you Touchwiz.

Does the S 2 come with Touchwiz? Even if it does maybe the new version of Touchwiz is brilliant (I don't know as I've only used Touchwiz on the original Galaxy S).

Either way Touchwiz or Sense it's Android. Change your Launcher. I use LauncherPro and it's cool. It's all just preference though you have a choice. Launcher Pro / GoLauncher / ADW etc.

Inquitus · 13-04-2011 9:15am

BMF Plint wrote: »

there is a very stable release of gingerbread on the samsung. I put it on myself with odin. So please google things before you type

It's missing features and not stable enough for day to day imo. I took it off my Galaxy S for that reason.

god's toy · 13-04-2011 1:33pm

mickoneill30 wrote: »

I see your Sense and raise you Touchwiz.

Does the S 2 come with Touchwiz? Even if it does maybe the new version of Touchwiz is brilliant (I don't know as I've only used Touchwiz on the original Galaxy S).

Either way Touchwiz or Sense it's Android. Change your Launcher. I use LauncherPro and it's cool. It's all just preference though you have a choice. Launcher Pro / GoLauncher / ADW etc.

Here's a question, can you get a launcher that can make android look like stock?

mickoneill30 · 13-04-2011 2:26pm

god's toy wrote: »

Here's a question, can you get a launcher that can make android look like stock?

I don't know. I'd guess probably not easily. You could probably get a rom with the stock launcher but I don't care enough to do that. Maybe Launcher Pro can be customised to look like stock. Try out the free version and if you don't like it, it's easy to uninstall. A handy app is Home Switcher. It allows you to change which launcher is your default one. Handy if you're messing about with different ones to try out.

BMF Plint · 13-04-2011 7:47pm

Inquitus wrote: »

It's missing features and not stable enough for day to day imo. I took it off my Galaxy S for that reason.

what features.
did you download the official leaked version. it works fine:cool:

seanybiker · 13-04-2011 7:50pm

Don't the new htc's have a signed bootloader. That's a bit of a balls unless that's already sorted

theteal · 13-04-2011 7:52pm

seanybiker wrote: »

Don't the new htc's have a signed bootloader. That's a bit of a balls unless that's already sorted

Just the incredible s afaik

evolutionqy7 · 14-04-2011 12:34am

Ugh seems HTC has a problem :S

http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/13/galaxy-s-ii-benchmarked-makes-other-phones-cry-in-shame/

Professey Chin · 14-04-2011 12:37am

Not really. Those quadrant scores matter a lot less then people seem to think. And they can be skewed by almost anything (eg a desire with a DATA2SD script has been known to hit scores similiar to the galaxy s 2 there. Same with the HD2 running android roms).
Plus I wouldnt piss on touchwiz

evolutionqy7 · 14-04-2011 12:39am

Its not just quadrant.

Either way we will see when both phones will spend about a month out in the wild.

Though a lower score on Sensation might be due to the fact that it has a higher resolution

seanybiker · 14-04-2011 1:35am

The name sensation kinda sucks. I know its only a name but its not cool at all.

floggg · 14-04-2011 10:59am

For me it's the Samsung hands do. I prefer HTC sense to Touch Wiz, and I would hate to have to deal with all the crap with Kies but at this point, offering such poor internal storage is just stupid on the part of HTC.

I have a Desire at the minute, and while a great phone, i still have to carry my iPod with me most places unless I plan out my weeks listening in advance (and that's with a 16gb sd card).

I'm going with a 32gb S 2 and leaving the iPod at home for good!

deekster · 14-04-2011 12:43pm

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/compare/HTC-Sensation-4G,Samsung-Galaxy-S-II/phones/5188,5106

This is going to be a tough choice to make. I'm on a NOKIA N900 and have been biding my time to switch to Android. It will be one of these.

HW-wise Samsung seems to be edging it: More expandable memory (to 32GB - same as N900

) and lighter.

More likely whichever gets to market first will get my Euros...

mickoneill30 · 14-04-2011 12:49pm

Is the maximum card size on the Sensation a misprint? I've a Desire HD with 32GB in it at the moment. They'd hardly be going backwards. Or would they?

Edit: Actually GSMArena says 32Gb.

Paparazzo · 14-04-2011 1:43pm

A decent battery would be nice

Squeeonline · 15-04-2011 1:52am

SGS2 comes with TW4 which doesnt look all that bad. Seems to have borrowed UI ideas from WinPh7. No idea how it'll perform though.

The HTC sensation does look quite good. 1.2ghz dual core, so same clock speed as SGS2. Quadrant benchmarks aren't all that reflective but they are fun. I do believe the 3500 speed of the SGS2, as it's just over double what I get on my SGS1.

CombatCow · 15-04-2011 11:21am

deekster wrote: »

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/compare/HTC-Sensation-4G,Samsung-Galaxy-S-II/phones/5188,5106

This is going to be a tough choice to make. I'm on a NOKIA N900 and have been biding my time to switch to Android. It will be one of these.

HW-wise Samsung seems to be edging it: More expandable memory (to 32GB - same as N900 ) and lighter.

More likely whichever gets to market first will get my Euros...

Actually the lack of increased internal space on the Sensation is quite disappointing, with my desire im always having to pick and choose what apps I wanna keep, the SII has an impressive 3gb while the sensation still has 1gb :S

**actually it has twice what the Desire has, my bad! /hands money to HTC

Zagato · 15-04-2011 7:28pm

floggg wrote: »

For me it's the Samsung hands do. I prefer HTC sense to Touch Wiz, and I would hate to have to deal with all the crap with Kies but at this point, offering such poor internal storage is just stupid on the part of HTC.

I have a Desire at the minute, and while a great phone, i still have to carry my iPod with me most places unless I plan out my weeks listening in advance (and that's with a 16gb sd card).

I'm going with a 32gb S 2 and leaving the iPod at home for good!

Just to warn you, just got this in an email from Clove:

At the moment there is no news on the availability of a version of the SGS2 with 32GB internal memory. At this stage we are not sure if a 32GB version will ever be released.

The price of the Samsung Galaxy S II is GBP 440 pounds + VAT.

The official launch date of the Samsung Galaxy S II is Sunday 1st May. This is a bank holiday, as is Monday 2nd May, so the first orders will be shipped on Tuesday 3rd May.

Zascar · 16-04-2011 5:51pm

Paparazzo wrote: »

A decent battery would be nice

This will definitely be the swinger for me. As much as I love my Desire the battery is horrific. Which one will be better? Would underclocking it improve the battery life much?

CombatCow · 16-04-2011 6:17pm

Well it should be more efficient due to hue dual core and the battery is a bit bigger than the desire... Will be intresting to see a hands on review tho.

jesus_thats_gre · 16-04-2011 6:20pm

Inquitus wrote: »

I'd never buy a Samsung, the Dev community is not as strong, they aren't usually as generous with future updates as HTC either, that's the killer for me. Take Gingerbread as an example, there's a variety of super stable fully working HTC Desire Gingerbread ROMs and no day to day stable or fully working Galaxy S Gingerbread ROM.

The Samsung Galaxy S2 is a lovely phone, but I'll take the HTC Sensation thanks.

This is ultimately was led to be selling my Galaxy S and getting a Desire HD.

Ironically enough though, I think that Samsung are pushing out the official Gingerbread update for the Galaxy S at the moment.

Squeeonline · 16-04-2011 6:40pm

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

This is ultimately was led to be selling my Galaxy S and getting a Desire HD.

Ironically enough though, I think that Samsung are pushing out the official Gingerbread update for the Galaxy S at the moment.

If the XDA and dev community keep pushing and pressuring samsung, they might put more than one person on smart phones that arent their newest. Small groups on XDA are producing products are superior to anything released by samsung.

Venom · 16-04-2011 9:12pm

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

This is ultimately was led to be selling my Galaxy S and getting a Desire HD.

Ironically enough though, I think that Samsung are pushing out the official Gingerbread update for the Galaxy S at the moment.

The amount of firmware updates is what separates HTC from the likes of Samsung and Nokia who issue as few firmware revisions as they can before dropping a phone for there latest offering.

nellocono · 26-04-2011 11:45pm

anyone know what the difference in screens is going to be like and how much of a difference is it?

I like the SGS2 but I dont like the touchwiz interface especially compared to sense 3.0...

Decisions, decisions...

evolutionqy7 · 27-04-2011 2:34am

It will be the usual

HTC will use SLCD with higher resolution so everything will be very clear and cripsy.

Samsungs will have great color reproduction but it wont be as clear and it will have lower resolution. I cant wait to see the SAMOLED + to see did they get rid of the news paper like clarity of the screen in certain colours and shapes.

Irish Gunner · 08-05-2011 9:59pm

I am currently a Nokia N900 user and upgrading and was going for the HTC Sensation but now looking at Samsung Galaxy S II. I am an Android noobie so have done all the googling etc on each. I have never used a Samsung nor HTC. The Galaxy has more memory and the HTC but can the HTC memory be expanded with an SD card as I would look to have some Music apps etc on the phone ?

evolutionqy7 · 08-05-2011 10:42pm

HTC has an SD card slot to be expanded up to 32GB

Galaxy S2 comes with 16GB internal and can be expanded via MicroSD up to 32GB

Though i have to say internal flash memory that sammy will be using would perform better any day over a microSD card. Speedier access to memory and wouldnt consume as much battery life as micro sd would

Stench Blossoms · 10-05-2011 1:46pm

Has a date been set to when either of these will be released?

Kenny Logins · 10-05-2011 2:16pm

S2 is out in UK already, Sensation on 19th. Should be available here very soon.

evolutionqy7 · 10-05-2011 2:34pm

Next month or July the latest for S2

Will know more when once i finish college

10-05-2011 7:28pm

I got my s2 from the uk a few days ago, I was going to hold out for the sensation but so far so good. Recently had an IP4,DHD and now the s2. The screen vibrancy makes a show of the DHD and is very much comparible to the IP4, also its great to have a speaker that you can actually hear, thats my one pet hate with HTC phones, utter ****e speakers!

The interface is also fine,Touchwiz is not causing me any problems, the only things I miss are the HTC widgets which are definitly better, also I like the bulky/solid feeling of HTC phones, the S2 is very light and doesnt feel as durable gorilla glass or not, none the less its a savage phone I'd reccomend it without any doubts

Zascar · 10-05-2011 8:04pm

So what exactly is touchwiz like in comparison to HTC Sense? I have a desire right now, gagging to change it, would go for the Sensation but 02 are not doing it apparently. What is it about Sense that you miss exactly? I have not had a Sansung phone but I had a play with a Galaxy S a few times and don't like it nearly as much as normal Android, especially some of the custom roms available for the desire etc - however I'm guessing the S2 will have some cool roms of its own.

How is the battery? Any indication as to which phones has better battery life so far?

Zagato · 10-05-2011 8:22pm

Zascar wrote: »

- however I'm guessing the S2 will have some cool roms of its own.

This is what is making so difficult to decide, S2 will be easier to flash ROMS to, and therefore probably have more developers working with it, because the bootloader is not locked, and Samsung have released the source code today.

I think I would prefer the feel of the Sensation, but I'm sure I'd get sick of Sense after a couple of months, and be looking for a custom ROM.

Zascar · 10-05-2011 8:34pm

Why will the s2 be easier to flash roms? I have the desire and although when it works flashing roms is easy enough, way to often I encounter problems and its a bloody nightmare so I don't risk it any more

higginsshane70 · 10-05-2011 8:35pm

Sensation is great phone i think i would choose it instead of Samsung.

evolutionqy7 · 10-05-2011 8:56pm

higginsshane70 wrote: »

Sensation is great phone i think i would choose it instead of Samsung.

I think in the same way. But i just favor internal storage alot more over SD card. Just the whole nightmare of getting the error cause you didn't have enough internal memory is a nightmare.

I know A2SD and all that crap but its not the perfect trouble free solution. Dont want to be fidling for hours rooting and flashing custom rom to be able to store apps on the SD card properly.

Why i would chose Sensation is higher Resolution, unibody design and strong dev community.

S2 is for SAMOLED+, better speaker phone, larger battery, lock screen button at the side and not the top (too awkward for me when its at the top), internal flash storage.

Im not including performance cause ill defo wait till both come out.

Zagato · 10-05-2011 11:41pm

Zascar wrote: »

Why will the s2 be easier to flash roms? I have the desire and although when it works flashing roms is easy enough, way to often I encounter problems and its a bloody nightmare so I don't risk it any more

Desire and previous HTC phones have been easy to flash ROMs because HTC have been passively allowing it, by not putting any significant obstruction in the way. The Sensation and all new HTC products now will have a locked bootloader, which is (we're getting way beyond my level of comprehension of these things now) essentially something that needs to be bypassed in order to flash a new ROM. The unlocked bootloader was (I think) one of the reasons why devs chose to mod HTC phones particularly, unlike Motorola who have always had a locked bootloader -having said this, it's not like there are no custom ROMs for Motorola phones.

I guess what I'm saying is that the SGS II will not have this issue and so it will be a bit easier for the likes of me to flash a custom ROM

Stench Blossoms · 11-05-2011 8:45am

Zagato wrote: »

Desire and previous HTC phones have been easy to flash ROMs because HTC have been passively allowing it, by not putting any significant obstruction in the way. The Sensation and all new HTC products now will have a locked bootloader, which is (we're getting way beyond my level of comprehension of these things now) essentially something that needs to be bypassed in order to flash a new ROM. The unlocked bootloader was (I think) one of the reasons why devs chose to mod HTC phones particularly, unlike Motorola who have always had a locked bootloader -having said this, it's not like there are no custom ROMs for Motorola phones.

I guess what I'm saying is that the SGS II will not have this issue and so it will be a bit easier for the likes of me to flash a custom ROM

This throws another spanner in the works now.

I think I'll hold off for a month or so after the Sensation is released before buying to see if the bootloader gets unlocked. I'd hate to have a phone that I couldn't mess around with and change the ROM

theteal · 11-05-2011 8:56am

Zascar wrote: »

So what exactly is touchwiz like in comparison to HTC Sense? I have a desire right now, gagging to change it, would go for the Sensation but 02 are not doing it apparently. What is it about Sense that you miss exactly??

touchwiz is ok but it's basic and a bit annoying. i really hate the way you can't change the dock apps at the bottom of the screen (launcher pro has me spoiled). the main things you'll miss from sense will be the widgets (weather/clock, bookmarks etc) but alternatives can be easily found. personally, i mostly missed the facebook integration, not that I use it a whole lot but the way it auto puts photos to contacts is something you get very used to

Stench Blossoms · 11-05-2011 10:00am

*Display
HTC Sensation : 4.3-inch SLCD 540 x 960 pixel resolution [Gorilla Glass]
Samsung Galaxy S 2 : 4.27-inch Super AMOLED Plus 480 x 800 pixel resolution [Gorilla Glass]

*Processor
HTC Sensation : 1.2 GHz Qualcomm MSM 8260 Dual-core
Samsung Galaxy S 2 : 1.2 GHz XMM6260 Dual-core

*Camera
HTC Sensation : 8-megapixel back with autofocus, dual-LED flash, VGA 1.3-megapixels front
Samsung Galaxy S 2 : 8-megapixel back with autofocus, single-LED flash, 2-megapixel front

*RAM
HTC Sensation : 768 MB
Samsung Galaxy S 2 : 1024 MB

*Internal Memory
HTC Sensation : 1 GB
Samsung Galaxy S 2 : 16GB

*Weight
HTC Sensation : 148 grams (5.22 ounces)
Samsung Galaxy S 2 : 116 grams (4.09 ounces)

*Size
HTC Sensation : 126.1 x 65.4 x 11.3 mm
Samsung Galaxy S 2 : 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.49 mm

*Battery
HTC Sensation : 1520 mAh
Samsung Galaxy S 2 : 1650 mAh

From XDA http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1032175

higginsshane70 · 11-05-2011 10:34am

Zagato wrote: »

Desire and previous HTC phones have been easy to flash ROMs because HTC have been passively allowing it, by not putting any significant obstruction in the way. The Sensation and all new HTC products now will have a locked bootloader, which is (we're getting way beyond my level of comprehension of these things now) essentially something that needs to be bypassed in order to flash a new ROM. The unlocked bootloader was (I think) one of the reasons why devs chose to mod HTC phones particularly, unlike Motorola who have always had a locked bootloader -having said this, it's not like there are no custom ROMs for Motorola phones.

I guess what I'm saying is that the SGS II will not have this issue and so it will be a bit easier for the likes of me to flash a custom ROM

Damn i didn't know that they will block bootloader... this is awkard situation, Motorola just unblocked it and HTC which was soooo user friendly block it...

higginsshane70 · 11-05-2011 10:35am

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

*Display
HTC Sensation : 4.3-inch SLCD 540 x 960 pixel resolution [Gorilla Glass]
Samsung Galaxy S 2 : 4.27-inch Super AMOLED Plus 480 x 800 pixel resolution [Gorilla Glass]

*Processor
HTC Sensation : 1.2 GHz Qualcomm MSM 8260 Dual-core
Samsung Galaxy S 2 : 1.2 GHz XMM6260 Dual-core

*Camera
HTC Sensation : 8-megapixel back with autofocus, dual-LED flash, VGA 1.3-megapixels front
Samsung Galaxy S 2 : 8-megapixel back with autofocus, single-LED flash, 2-megapixel front

*RAM
HTC Sensation : 768 MB
Samsung Galaxy S 2 : 1024 MB

*Internal Memory
HTC Sensation : 1 GB
Samsung Galaxy S 2 : 16GB

*Weight
HTC Sensation : 148 grams (5.22 ounces)
Samsung Galaxy S 2 : 116 grams (4.09 ounces)

*Size
HTC Sensation : 126.1 x 65.4 x 11.3 mm
Samsung Galaxy S 2 : 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.49 mm

*Battery
HTC Sensation : 1520 mAh
Samsung Galaxy S 2 : 1650 mAh

From XDA http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1032175

Damn, right now i've got to test both and find out if there are some differences but Samsung's specifications seems to be better.

evolutionqy7 · 11-05-2011 11:13am

Dont always trust the spec sheet

FastFullBack · 11-05-2011 11:17am

theteal wrote: »

i mostly missed the facebook integration, not that I use it a whole lot but the way it auto puts photos to contacts is something you get very used to

There's an App on the market SyncMyPix which does this. I recently changed ROM to Cyanogenmod which has no sense. SyncMyPix was able to add all my FB pics to my contacts and I've it setup to run nightly to update any changes.

HTC Sensation vs Samsung Galaxy S II

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