back to article HTC knocks out the Beats

HTC has officially unveiled the HTC Sensation XE, the first of many handsets to feature Beats audio technology. Essentially a refreshed version of the HTC Sensation, the XE packs a faster processor, better battery life and of course, the Beats audio tech which HTC recently acquired a controlling stake in. HTC Sensation XE …

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  1. Marky W
    Pint

    "knocks out the Beats"

    Sounds like a euphemism for a 5 knuckle shuffle.

    The beer icon represents a "hand shandy", obviously.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    500 quid for a (...) mobile, right.

    1. Gordon 10

      What planet have you been living on.

      There are loads of phones around that price point.

      If you don't like the price by something cheaper.

      1. hammarbtyp

        Do we need more processing power?

        Just have with my orange San Francisco. and I have to ask the question what do I get with a £500 mobile that I don't get with my SF(apart from a lighter wallet). Maybe I can play angry birds faster. If so that's not a great selling point to me.

        I wonder whether we have reached a point, a bit like PC's processor speeds and camera sensors mega pixels where upgrading is pointless because the majority are not even using the power they have now, but phone makers are constantly pushing us to upgrade by telling us we will have more power and hope we will not notice that we don't needs it?

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Coat

        I do know there are "loads of" phones around this price mark. And I stand by what I said in the first post.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      You're not wrong, OP. When e.g. ZTE Skate is £200-ish, how can this justify pushing three times the expense? Sure, there's a better CPU and no doubt other bits in there, but not threefold so. I know the bill of materials on phones and tablets typically aint cheap, but I'm sure a large part of that is market manipulation (i.e. because component manufacturer X can charge however many gazillion to Apple, they do the same for everyone else).

  3. GM2502

    It's a 4.3" screen, not 4.7".

    Already have a Sensation, don't think I am going to change for a 300Mhz and 200MHA battery. Might go and get a set of thos headphones though !

  4. EddieD

    Boot locked?

    Or unlocked, as promised?

  5. Piro Silver badge

    Oh dear..

    "Beats audio"? It's just some tacky stuff made by Monster Cable.

    Nice small upgrades to the phone, but I'd rather by a back without "Beats audio" written on it.

  6. carl 10
    Unhappy

    Not for use on public transport but...

    Why still the same HTC tinpan sound speakers? Nokias of 3/4 years ago (I'm thinking 5800 Xpress Music, Communicator E90) had impressive stereo speakers built in, sadly this no longer seems a priority for manufacturers (or consumers?) today.

    1. Reg Varney
      Windows

      Good!

      [grumpy old codger icon goes here] The crappier and less air the internal speaker can move the better; last thing I need is a new wave of yoof phones with codger-baiting capability

      1. carl 10
        Unhappy

        I feel your pain, but...

        ...Let's be honest if the kids at the back of the bus are going to be belting out crappy "music" at the maximum volume their phone allows, it sounds a whole lot worse when blasted through a tinny single speaker.

        I actually value having decent built-in speakers (note - in the plural) for example, for when I want to listen to internet radio whilst doing DIY jobs about the house or sorting out the garden. Many phones are simply inaudible as soon as you start making the slightest background noise! If I do want to listen to music or a video on my phone (unobtrusively, whether at home or elsewhere) why do I have to carry/use headphones if I want half-decent sound quality?

        I'm puzzled as to why the speakers in smartphones are one aspect that apart from not improving have actually gone backwards in quality in the last few years. The only answer I have come to is that they have lost out to the somewhat ridiculous quest for a phone with the thickness of a sheet of paper.

  7. DEAD4EVER

    htc sensation xe

    hum looks nice with the bits of red on it hum might get one hehe. least most android phones are cheaper than those alternerative ones with a half bitten apple logo.

  8. swisstoni

    Sounds great, just get rid of the silly logo and I'll take one.

    Oh and maybe throw in some decent headphones from a recognised audio brand like Sure or Sennheiser.

    1. Sir Crispalot
      Headmaster

      Shure-ly some mishtake

      So recognised that you spelled it wrong!

  9. JB
    Unhappy

    That's all we need...

    ...school kids on the bus to work with one of these!

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    why red buttons?

    Is red button lighting a good idea? It simply is not as visible as the usual white..

  11. BenR

    More to the point - couldn't they have been a bit more generous with the RAM and the storage to make it a refresh worth getting excited about?

  12. Jon Massey
    Mushroom

    Bleh, Beats audio...

    Overpriced crap, IMHO. No great surprise, given they're also part-owned by everyone's favourite cable rip-off merchants, Monster.

    1. uncle sjohie

      Actually

      There are some good reasons to buy monster cables, especially their higher end hdmi cables with guaranteed bandwidths. Those reasons don't apply to your average home, so in that case it's a waste of money. But if you have a dedicated home theatre room, you don't want to rip out the wall to replace the hdmi cable going to your new and shiny 4k projector hanging on the ceiling in 2 years time, and then it starts to make sense to spend a few hundred quid on a more futureproof hdmi cable. There are some interesting youtube video's comparing cheap, medium priced and the hig end monster cables, with a skeptical audio-journalist and testing done at the Aussie moster cable lab. The results may be an eye-opener. :-)

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