Features square off: Apple iPhone 4S vs. HTC Sensation XL

Apple iPhone 4S vs HTC Sensation XL

The challenge

HTC Sensation XL is a multimedia-rich version of HTC Sensation 4G, which arrived in stores to face up to iPhone 4 and Galaxy S II mid this year. The reworked version of HTC Sensation, particularly known for its Beats Audio integration, is another splendid smartphone. It is now to confront iPhone 4S, the most recent version of Apple’s flagship smartphone. A comparison between iPhone 4S and Sensation XL has huge significance, then. Apple has already revealed its iOS 5 run iPhone 4S; and HTC has just announced its Sensation XL, which will land in stores late this year. Read on the article to see a detailed comparison between the smartphones.

Comparison Attributes

1. Dimension and weight

Both in weight and size, iPhone 4S is apparently the champion. The new iPhone is with the dimensions of 115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3mm and it weighs at just 140g. Meanwhile, HTC Sensation XL has the dimensions of 132.5mm x 70.7mm x 9.9 mm and the device has a weight of 162.5 grams.

Winner: Apple iPhone 4S.

2. Display

Like iPhone 4, the new iPhone 4S also highlights the much-crazed high resolution Retina Display. You have a 3.5-inch LED-backlit IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 640 x 960 pixels. With a ppi of 330, iPhone’s display is marvelous, indeed. The display also features accelerometer sensor, three-axis gyro sensor and proximity sensor for auto turn-off of keypad.

In comparison, HTC Sensation XL has a large 4.7-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. The only factor that gifts edge for HTC Sensation XL over iPhone 4S is that it has a large display. But as far as clarity and pixel resolution are concerned, Sensation XL falls short to iPhone 4S.

Winner: Apple iPhone 4S

3. Operating System

Apple iPhone 4S in enriched with iOS 5, the most drastic iOS upgrade ever. The new iOS version has many incredible features like iCloud, iMessage, Notification Center, Reminders and much more. Meanwhile, HTC has not clearly mentioned on which version of Android, Sensation XL will play on. As the device is to actualize late this year, we can just presume that HTC will be launching the product on the new Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Apart from Android, Sensation XL will feature HTC Sense, the company’s own user interface for its Android products.

Winner: Apple iPhone 4S.

4. Multimedia aspects

HTC has tied up with Dr. Dre Beats Audio to bring a marvelous music experience on Sensation XL. The smartphone will come up with Beats Audio software tweaks and headphone. And so, the new HTC smartphone will be a feat for music enthusiasts. The phone supports audio formats like m4a, .mp3, .mid, .ogg, .wav and .wma and video formats like gp, .3g2, .mp4, .m4v and .wmv.

Apple iPhone 4S, at the same time, is not with any special multimedia facet. However, the device is one of world’s top multimedia products with features like iCloud music service, audio/video player and supporting all important audio and video formats.

Winner: HTC Sensation XL thanks to Beat Audio.

5. Camera

Amazingly, both iPhone 4S and Sensation XL sport 8-megapixel rear cameras. But the former offers the much-coveted 1080p video capture, while the latter provides only 720p video capture capability. iPhone 4S also features touch focus, geo-tagging and face detection. For video chatting, iPhone 4S only has a VGA camera, while Sensation XL has 1.3-megapixel camera.

Winner: Apple iPhone 4S

6. Price

Apple iPhone 4S has three prices as per internal memory choices. The 16GB model is priced at $199, 32GB model at $299 and the brand new 64GB at $399. Meanwhile, HTC has not announced price details of its upcoming Sensation XL.

Winner: No winner. Pricing details of Sensation XL are not available for a comparison.

7. Target Audience

With Sensation XL, HTC might have an eye on audiophiles. Thanks to Beats Audio, music lovers might adore the smartphone. But Apple, in the meantime, might be looking to glue up its iPhone 4 users on the platform with a powerful iteration.

Winner: Apple iPhone 4S. Tech world has been waiting for the product for a long period.

The Verdict

Quite simply, the ultimate winner of the above comparison is iPhone 4S. Backed by a mammoth iOS 5 and many unrivaled features like iCloud, face detection, Siri voice recognition and many others, the new HTC Sensation phone won’t be able to defy iPhone 4S. Even though, the smartphones will show up a tough battle in market, especially if Sensation appears on Android 4.0 ICS. Then, it will be more a clash between iOS 5 and Android ICS, of course.

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