Purchasing an Android cellphone

[insaneYLN]

Hello Friends, as the thread name implies, I intend on buying an Android cellphone.


My personal options include
Samsung Galaxy S II
Samsung Galaxy S2 (S II) White - SAMSUNG UK - OVERVIEW

HTC Sensation XL
HTC Sensationâ„¢ XL with Beats Audioâ„¢ Product Overview - HTC Smartphones

HTC Sensation XE
HTC Sensationâ„¢ XE with Beats Audioâ„¢ Product Overview - HTC Smartphones

The first decision I need to take is to decide which of the above HTC Sensation smartphones do I choose and compare against the Samsung Galaxy S II.

I will apologise in advance before I pose a naive question.
Does the HTC Sensation XL run on a dual core processor? The link above does not mention this information as it does for the HTC Sensation XE.


Awaiting your suggestions and opinions.

[TheLetterD]

Hi insaneYLN! Its good to see how polite and formal you are and Im sure mods would hate me for saying this but there is no need to be SO formal!
To answer your question,
The Sensation XL surprisingly has a single core Processor. Even though it is 1.5 GHz proccy I wouldn't recommend it.
Both the Sensation XE and S2 are amazing phones... so at the end of the day it depends upon these factors:

Design : The Sensation XE is much more good looking than the S2 although the S2 is lighter and slimmer (XE- 11.3mm vs S2 - 8.4mm) and (XE 151 gm vs S2 116gm)

SoC (System on chip): On paper the XE's Processor is better than the S2's (1.5 GHz Qualcomm Scorpion, Dual Core VS 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex A9, Dual Core... Respectively )
Although I do not know which GPU is better the XE's Adreno 220 or the S2's Mali-400 MP... That you'll have to wait for someone else to answer or look up on the internet. Sorry

[aroraanant]

I personally would suggest you to go for Sensation XE.Its a beast...really a very good phone

or you can also check out Samsung Note.lil big but not that big that it can't fit in your pockets.

[insaneYLN]

Friends,
First, I apologise for the late response. I was bound by some family obligations.

Second, I thank you for your suggestions and advise.

I am inclined towards the HTC Sensation XE but the Samsung Galaxy Note is enticing as well!

I am in England and the HTC UK website lists Amazon UK as a retailer. The Sensation XE is about £100 cheaper on Amazon UK compared to other retailers such as Carphone Warehouse.

My only concern is, if I do purchase the phone on Amazon UK, will I be entitled to the official/standard warranty offered by HTC on the said cellphone?
I intend on calling the HTC UK customer helpline tomorrow and clarify my queries.

I will post back my findings!

I would suggest you to go with either HTC XE and compare it with Samsung Galaxy S2. I just love both phones. But now it is up to you and you have to make choice between the two. Let me tell you one thing that both are nice phone having great list of features.

[rajeevk]

Originally Posted by siddhipatel

I would suggest you to go with either HTC XE and compare it with Samsung Galaxy S2. I just love both phones. But now it is up to you and you have to make choice between the two. Let me tell you one thing that both are nice phone having great list of features.

Ya both are good. Here is a comparison between the two. Check on your own and decide. I will suggest Galaxy S2.

[insaneYLN]

I called the HTC UK customer helpline and an agent informed me that I am free to buy the phone from a retailer of my personal choice. The agent also guaranteed that I can avail the HTC standard warranty which is 24 months (2 years) for the handset and 12 months (1 year) for the accessories.


rajeevk, thank you for the comparison link. I did peruse through it. My major concern is the RAM in the HTC Sensation XE, which is of 768MB capacity as opposed to the 1GB of the Samsung Galaxy S II.
Will it be a drawback in the long run?

[TheLetterD]

Well if you are in UK then why not get the Galaxy Nexus ?
Also Check out the Moto Razr!

[insaneYLN]

Originally Posted by insaneYLN

My major concern is the RAM in the HTC Sensation XE, which is of 768MB capacity as opposed to the 1GB of the Samsung Galaxy S II.
Will it be a drawback in the long run?

Thank you for your suggestion TheLetterD, my Friend.
I must admit that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus or the Samsung Galaxy Note is beyond my budget.
The price tags they sport in the UK are exorbitant!

Hence, I have to decide between the HTC Sensation XE and the Samsung Galaxy S II.
My point of confusion is in the quote.

[Neo]

go for the HTC one cuz looks also matter. (I guess u will like to impress the hot girl next to you ).
you wont feel much difference in the performance.

[Sarath]

SGS2 also having sold so many units will have better support both by Samsung and by the XDA mods in case you feel like experimenting

[aroraanant]

Originally Posted by insaneYLN

Hence, I have to decide between the HTC Sensation XE and the Samsung Galaxy S II.

GO for Sensation XE as almost every S2 suffers from a screen problem(a manufacturing defect)

[noob]

wait till March and get Galaxy S3

[mrao]

Originally Posted by aroraanant

GO for Sensation XE as almost every S2 suffers from a screen problem(a manufacturing defect)

Umm..what makes you say that?

[aroraanant]

Haven't you seen guys complaining that they have experienced yellow screen issue or tint issue etc and there are so many other issues that have been posted by the users of S2

[ajaymailed]

i am using S2 since a month, had no issues with the screen, infact its AMOLED display is probably the best if you ask me.

Sensation XE has two strong features- Sense UI & Beats Audio.

Galaxy S2 has 2 MP Frontal Camera Vs Sensation XEs VGA,
16 GB of internal memory Vs Sensation XE 4 GB
4.3 inch AMOLED Display 217 PPI Vs 4.3 Inch SLCD 256 PPI.

S2 has bit more RAM while Sensation has 300 Mhz more clock speed. I dunno if it makes much difference when it comes to daily usage.

if you prefer excellent audio then you must probably check out beats audio in reviews. Sense UI is as amazing as ever but when you weigh it against AMOLED Display, it probably becomes to harder choose between the two.

[aroraanant]

If I would be at OP's place I would have picked XE anyday without any confusion or much thinking

The only phone from Samsung I like is the Note but thats me so now let the OP decide

[ajaymailed]

Originally Posted by aroraanant

If I would be at OP's place I would have picked XE anyday without any confusion or much thinking

The only phone from Samsung I like is the Note but thats me so now let the OP decide

have you checked out beats audio? how good it is.

[aroraanant]

No I haven't checked it as the device very rarely available at local showrooms and if it is available also then don't open the packing n all.
But I am eagerly waiting to get hands on this handsome devie

[red dragon]

Nothing is special about Beats audio.
It is just an eq,the earphones/headphones coming with it are definitely better than the stock iem that comes with gs2 though.

[xtremevicky]

I say wait.

Wait for Nexus .

[insaneYLN]

Thank you for all your genuine suggestions my Friends.

Originally Posted by ajaymailed

S2 has bit more RAM while Sensation has 300 Mhz more clock speed. I dunno if it makes much difference when it comes to daily usage.

Sense UI is as amazing as ever but when you weigh it against AMOLED Display, it probably becomes to harder choose between the two.

Yes ajaymailed, I am also concerned whether the less amount of RAM in the HTC Sensation XE hinder the performance of the device in the long run of usage?
Also, I seemed to have been oblivious of the display types of the said devices. Thank you for highlighting it.
I reckon the AMOLED display of the Samsung Galaxy S II is superior to the S-LCD display of the HTC Sensation XE.


I await your further deliberations.
Thank you all once again.

[aroraanant]

^^
For Dual core processors 786 RAM is enough.1GB ram won't be utilized
And if we see S2 has 480 x 800 pixels,217 ppi pixel density where as XE has 540 x 960 pixels,256 ppi pixel density screen.So XE screen is better
And also the processor in XE is better.

[red dragon]

^^Pixel density is not everything.
I have both the gs2 and a xe(loan from a friend) with me now.
Regarding screen-XE wins in browsing(small texts appear clearer without zoom in XE)
but that is about it.
When you see side by side GS2`s screen absolutely blows away XE.
Colours seems washed out,viewing angle is comparatively poor.
I can not find any colour banding in the GS2 with 2.3.6 android.

XE does have a decent screen,but is not comparable with SAMOLED or the ip4 for that matter.

The worst thing about XE is the battery life...I hated the GS2 for having a poor battery,but this htc flagship is by far one of the worst I have seen.
I charged it overnight,put it in airplane mode and looped a 30 minutes 720p mp4 video clip..and to my horror,it lasted for a mere 3hr 15minutes.
Brightness was set to minimum watchable level indoors.

Today I played the same clip with gs2,this time data was off,but not in airplane mode....it easily crossed 5hrs with 20% still remaining(brightness set to minimal watchable indoors)

Agreed,the GS2 is non stock and is tweaked to squeeze out the best possible battery/performance ratio and the XE was complete stock(I could not underclock it with set cpu,so could not play with the settings),but still do not know,who is the culprit here...
My guess would be the Sense u.i. or the power guzzling cpu(which can not be undervolted).

Used dice player in both,and I am sure stock Samsung player would give better battery life.

[insaneYLN]

Hello Friends

I have a general query concerning the Android platform. Does each major version of Android have specific pre-defined hardware requirements?

For example, will Android 2.3 [Gingerbread] or Android 4.0 [Ice Cream Sandwich] be stable on a 600-800MHz processor? Or does it depend collaboratively or solely on the amount of RAM the concerned device has?

A friend of mine has the Sony Ericsson Xperia X8, which has Android 2.1 [Eclair] pre-installed on it. The 2.1 is the only official update available from Sony Ericsson.
My friend intends on rooting his device and performing subsequent upgrades - 2.2, then 2.3 and finally 4.0, with passage of time.

Personally, I am unaware if any or all of the above 3 updates/upgrades are available "unofficially" for his device.
Since the Xperia X8 runs on a 600MHz processor, are there any limitations with regards to his upgrading endeavours?


Awaiting your apt responses.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by insaneYLN

I have a general query concerning the Android platform. Does each major version of Android have specific pre-defined hardware requirements?

NO.

Originally Posted by insaneYLN

For example, will Android 2.3 [Gingerbread] or Android 4.0 [Ice Cream Sandwich] be stable on a 600-800MHz processor? Or does it depend collaboratively or solely on the amount of RAM the concerned device has?

ram matters but as long as it has 256Mb ram, Android will run. but the free ram will be less and hence hamper running apps.

Originally Posted by insaneYLN

A friend of mine has the Sony Ericsson Xperia X8, which has Android 2.1 [Eclair] pre-installed on it. The 2.1 is the only official update available from Sony Ericsson.
My friend intends on rooting his device and performing subsequent upgrades - 2.2, then 2.3 and finally 4.0, with passage of time.

why? why not directly jump to Android 4.0 (or 2.3 for time being) when a stable custom rom is launched.

Originally Posted by insaneYLN

Personally, I am unaware if any or all of the above 3 updates/upgrades are available "unofficially" for his device.
Since the Xperia X8 runs on a 600MHz processor, are there any limitations with regards to his upgrading endeavours?

600Mhz should be considered as bare minimum for Android 4.0 & 350Mb ram is needed else there is a chance of slowdown & maybe some kind of low memory error msg.

XPERIA X8 Android Development

check the link (or give it to your friend). Android 4.0 rom is already available in the form of Cyanogenmod 9

[sanoob.tv]

well i have used sgs2 for a month,n my frnd recently purchased htc sensation xe with the help of TDF members.

sgs2-lighter,slimmer,good display.

htc sensation xe-unique looks,heavier,special beats edition(awesome)
n the dr.dre earphones,man its awesome.best earphones i ever tried on.good quality sound and noise cancellation.

both models promises ics 4.0 update(may be april 2012)

if you like Sony ericson phones,many TDF members suggested waiting for Sony ericson Xperia s..

and the Earphones that comes with HTC sensation only work with HTC sensation XE.it didnt work with my Walkman wt19i,nokia,or galaxy s2.

https://plus.google.com/photos/10352...COid5cbOlP-rCw

[Sam]

^^ exactly what i read. the headphone only with with XE cause it has special software by Dr.Dre to recognize and work with the headphones. BTW, what is the sound quality with normal headphones?

[insaneYLN]

Thank you very much Sam for clarifying my queries and providing that valuable link to xda-developers.
I am a novice and a dunce in the field of mobile computing.

Pardon my stupidity, but I am a bit confused with your following quotes -

Originally Posted by Sam

ram matters but as long as it has 256Mb ram, Android will run. but the free ram will be less and hence hamper running apps.

600Mhz should be considered as bare minimum for Android 4.0 & 350Mb ram is needed else there is a chance of slowdown & maybe some kind of low memory error msg.

I wish to learn as much as I can and whatever I can from all of you my Friends in the hardware and software realms of mobile computing.

[Sam]

^^ my pleasure

well Xperia X8 have only 256Mb ram of which some is dedicated to graphics processor, some for the system and rest is available to user (~50Mb). so ICS may not be smooth for now but once CM9 is stable, it'll for sure.

also as X8 have Qualcomm MSM7227 600Mhz processor so it'll run Android 4.0 just fine. no lag or anything. the only problem can be with lack of ram. 256Mb is way too less most of the time.