Samsung Galaxy S2 or HTC Sensation

TKD SC

Hi All,

Quick question - am finally taking the plunge to a smart phone! Current phone is a Nokia C5, but I can now get a free upgrade to one of the above. I'm not very techy or into games or apps etc, mainly want phone for calling, texting, photos and the odd bit of music and internet brousing.

So, any thoughts on which is best between those two? Ease of use is high on my list, and long batt life. Woman in Vodafone was recommending the HTC one over the Galaxy one. Had a look in shop there but no working models, but both looked similar and sales guy said not much difference really.

Would be great to get some feedback here to help with decision!

Thanks very much

Simon

Kimbot

I had the same question a few months ago and to be honest both are nearly identical but I chose the s2 over the sensation. The galaxy has a flash where the HTC doesnt. Read this and decide yourself tho:

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/htc-sensation-vs-samsung-galaxy-s2-961874

Brian

GS2 is miles better.

docentore

neither. LG Optimus 3G

EDIT: only disadvantage is poor battery life, but the phone is much better than pther two IMHO

Inquitus

jonny24ie wrote: »

I had the same question a few months ago and to be honest both are nearly identical but I chose the s2 over the sensation. The galaxy has a flash where the HTC doesnt. Read this and decide yourself tho:

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/htc-sensation-vs-samsung-galaxy-s2-961874

The Sensation has a 2 led flash.........

Inquitus

Baza210 wrote: »

GS2 is miles better.

No, it is not, I have both, GS2 has an edge in hardware, Sensation has a much better form and styling plus the added bonus of not looking like an iPhone knockoff. Would suggest you go and pick both up and buy the one you prefer the look and feel of.

newbie2

wow - I'n in the exact same boat - although I do already have a Desire. My big gripe is the storage space on the Desire (unless it's rooted) is sh1t. I like the look of the SGS2's screen, but it does look somewhat like an iphone. Does the sensation solve many of the Desires failings? (storage space and battery life for example)?

Cheers

Brian

Inquitus wrote: »

No, it is not, I have both, GS2 has an edge in hardware, Sensation has a much better form and styling plus the added bonus of not looking like an iPhone knockoff. Would suggest you go and pick both up and buy the one you prefer the look and feel of.

I too have had both. The Sensation certainly feels nicer in your hand... until it starts to flex, drop wifi, harvest dust from your pocket, and invert colours when you look at it sideways.

Inquitus

Baza210 wrote: »

Inquitus wrote: »

No, it is not, I have both, GS2 has an edge in hardware, Sensation has a much better form and styling plus the added bonus of not looking like an iPhone knockoff. Would suggest you go and pick both up and buy the one you prefer the look and feel of.

I too have had both. The Sensation certainly feels nicer in your hand... until it starts to flex, drop wifi, harvest dust from your pocket, and invert colours when you look at it sideways.

Not had one issue with mine in 6 months, and the insert coin ROM is awesome

Brian

Apart from Sense being rotten, I'm sure you're right.

Raekwon

Baza210 wrote: »

Apart from Sense being rotten, I'm sure you're right.

TouchWiz is even worse though

Brian

Not to me, at least not the version on the SGS2. The Sense designers are still acting like 13 year olds who have discovered photoshop tutorials for the first time and don't realize that pseudo-3D lighting effects make no sense in a tangibly-2D interface, ie a touchscreen.

Raekwon

Baza210 wrote: »

Not to me, at least not the version on the SGS2. The Sense designers are still acting like 13 year olds who have discovered photoshop tutorials for the first time and don't realize that pseudo-3D lighting effects make no sense in a tangibly-2D interface, ie a touchscreen.

It is all down to personal taste. I really like Sense and I find the Samsung interfaces to be really bland & boring, especially since the current one is on arguably the greatest Android phone ever made (to date). I do agree about the pseudo-3D aspect of the Sensation interface though, it's not great and certainly absolutely nothing compared to the LG Optimus 3D interface which is quite simply breathtaking IMO.

davyjose

Internal storage is an absolute dealbreaker with HTC phones, IMO. I'm using a lower spec phone than the sensation (wildfire S), but the storage on the sensation is still only 750MB. You'd be amazed how many apps rely on internal storage. I have to delete emails, sms, just to read twitter.

I'd wait for the HTC Amaze to come over here (16GB internal, currently on sale in the states), or better yet, the new Google/Samsung Nexus which looks like being an absolute monster of a phone.

confusedquark

davyjose wrote: »

Internal storage is an absolute dealbreaker with HTC phones, IMO. I'm using a lower spec phone than the sensation (wildfire S), but the storage on the sensation is still only 750MB. You'd be amazed how many apps rely on internal storage. I have to delete emails, sms, just to read twitter.

I've got close to 50 apps installed on my sensation and still have 842MB spare on internal storage! Total internal storage is 1GB - it might not suit everybody, but for most it should be plenty.

TKD SC

Well, I went for the Samsung Galaxy S2 in the end! Seems very close between the two phones, so hopefully was right decision! I'm coming from a Nokia C5 so will be very different anyway!

Phone should arrive tomorrow, so will see how I get on then!

Thanks
Simon

Sephiroth_dude

TKD SC wrote: »

Well, I went for the Samsung Galaxy S2 in the end! Seems very close between the two phones, so hopefully was right decision! I'm coming from a Nokia C5 so will be very different anyway!

Phone should arrive tomorrow, so will see how I get on then!

Thanks
Simon

where did you get it from and how much?if you dont mind me asking....I might in the market for one too

TKD SC

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

where did you get it from and how much?if you dont mind me asking....I might in the market for one too

Hi, I got it through my provider as an upgrade, was free initially, but then the offer changed from 2 weeks ago, so ended up paying 49.99, but got a package that suits me a little bit better, though would have preferred totally free phone!

westtip

Wait until you find the battery is gone after about 3 hours and you need to have it on charge virtually all the time you are at home or have access to a charger - if you are going away from home for more than 4 hours (ie a normal working day) take your charger - and if your clothes start to smell of burning its the firebomb in your pocket - the heat from this phone is dangerous and uncomfortable. I have one and mean to take it back - its the biggest heap of cr*p I have ever had. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Meesared

westtip wrote: »

Wait until you find the battery is gone after about 3 hours and you need to have it on charge virtually all the time you are at home or have access to a charger - if you are going away from home for more than 4 hours (ie a normal working day) take your charger - and if your clothes start to smell of burning its the firebomb in your pocket - the heat from this phone is dangerous and uncomfortable. I have one and mean to take it back - its the biggest heap of cr*p I have ever had. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

GS2?

clintondaly

I have the Sensation since the launch day and apart from a few software glitches which have been ironed out i think it is a great phone.
Previous poster mentioned the storage space for apps and deleting stuff,this can be overcome by installing an app(apps2sd) that will move alot of the apps which can be moved to the SD card.
in terms of battery,yes it is poor enough,but then again you can get several apps that actually increase battery life(they do work),there is also a battery available which is almost double the size in terms of capacity.
from a camera/video point of view the camera is excellent,the video is excellent outdoors.however indoors i would have expected it to perform better.
there is a good sync program on the HTC site that ties in with itunes etc. as i know alot of people have trouble with Android phones and have itunes as default media players on their PC's.
Yes the phone does tend to heat up a bit when charging but i think this only becoming apparent as of late and would expect HTC to address in a software update.
the phone itself is nicely styled and is comfortable in the hand.

i know people with the GSII and yes they are happy with them,however when some of them have had the HTC in hand they seem to compliment the look and feel of the Sensation and how robust it feels.

all of the above is only my opinion but i hope it helps

Clinton

westtip

Meesared wrote: »

GS2?

Samsung Galaxy S II thats the one comes in a little black box - complete heap of cr*p. It gets so hot I cn't put it in my pocket and the battery runs doan in about 3 hours. wouldn't recommend it to anyone. but if I am doing something wrong let me know, the first thing I would like to know is how I get rid of most of the pre-installed apps. I am probably being too harsh but I do need to sort out the problems of overheating and battery life, because it is driving me barmy, and the problem of hte heat is not when its charging up its when i have the dam thing off the charger.

Sephiroth_dude

westtip wrote: »

Samsung Galaxy S II thats the one comes in a little black box - complete heap of cr*p. It gets so hot I cn't put it in my pocket and the battery runs doan in about 3 hours. wouldn't recommend it to anyone. but if I am doing something wrong let me know, the first thing I would like to know is how I get rid of most of the pre-installed apps. I am probably being too harsh but I do need to sort out the problems of overheating and battery life, because it is driving me barmy, and the problem of hte heat is not when its charging up its when i have the dam thing off the charger.

Did you buy it sim free?or with a carrier?

TKD SC

westtip wrote: »

Wait until you find the battery is gone after about 3 hours and you need to have it on charge virtually all the time you are at home or have access to a charger - if you are going away from home for more than 4 hours (ie a normal working day) take your charger - and if your clothes start to smell of burning its the firebomb in your pocket - the heat from this phone is dangerous and uncomfortable. I have one and mean to take it back - its the biggest heap of cr*p I have ever had. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Well, I only got it yesterday so I may be too premature, but so far so good. I charged it fully up yesterday before using it. I then turned it on for first time last night and used it for a good 2hours trying to set things up etc.
I then left it on all night (obviously it was in standby mode) as it was my alarm for this morn. I've used it a bit today for some calls and texts and batt still seems to be at about 75%, so happy so far anyway!! Maybe if I used it a lot more during day it would run down quicker, but pleasantly surprised. Haven't noticed any overheating at all - it feels normal, just like old phone..

djPSB

There doesn't seem to be much between them going on online reviews, but the HTC sensation works out cheaper on Amazon so I think I'll go for that one.

Samsung galaxy S2
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004QTBQ2C/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

HTC Sensation
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004Z4SJ78/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

€20 in the difference.

castlepoint

I have the sensation and my wife has the s2.the s2 is a lot faster and easier to use but certainly fells very fragile.got an otterbox cover on it which beefs it up a bit.

darjon

Howdy

I've had the sensation, iPhone 4s and the galaxy s2 in the last 3 weeks and I must say that the galaxy is by far the tops.
Before anyone asks I must say I LOVE HTC phones. Their build quality is second to none. The sense interface is slick and a joy to look at BUT the battery oh lord the battery. With sense running it eats battery. I went from the desire s to the sensation and boy was I disappointed. I waited for this phone for a long time and it went back within 10 days. I was charging on average 3 times a day. The major problem is that if you want things to run smoothly and look good they have to sync regularly. This kills the battery life. I changed to the iPhone 4s as I did have the 3G some time ago and loved it. That went back the next day as with the 4s you have no option to turn off the 3G network. This both runs down battery very fast and really screwed me as I live just on the last piece of a 3G area which ment I could barely send texts and make calls. This seems to be a worldwide problem according to the apple forums.
Finally I get onto the galaxy s2. To be honest I was never a Samsung fan apart form their tvs but I have to say this deserves it's title of a superpower. It's quick and easy to use packed with 16gb of storage which the sensation is lacking. Battery life on mine is exceptional. I get 2 days no problem this is with bluetooth and wifi running. This may be down to not as many processes running in the background.
I will say its a bit plasticky and the interface is no way as slick as HTC but I think with the ice cream sandwich android update due in December I will probably forget all about it..