HTC Sensation or Galaxy S2?

[E28]

So, I'm looking to upgrade my phone since my contract is running out. Currently I have a Samsung/Vodafone 360, and it's a piece of 🤬. Both of these phones would be on a £21.50 a month 2 year contract, and there is £10 difference in the one-off fees (The S2 being the slightly more expensive one). I'm torn between these 2 phones. The screen is better on the S2, and I prefer the look of it, but software-wise, HTC Sense seems like a much better UI. I've used what is essentially the same software as is on these 2 phones, as one of my friends has a Desire S, and my mum has a Galaxy ACE.

Has anyone on GTP owned or had experience with these phones, and which is the better phone?

 

[G.T]

I have a Galaxy S2 (after moving from the original Desire) and absolutely love it.

I've not had experience with the newer Sense UI on the Sensation but I haven't really missed moving over to Samsung's Touch Wiz. It's apparently vastly improved over what the original Galaxy S used and has 90% of the features my old Desire did (albeit a little harder to use/find).

The screen on the S2 is AMAZING, and so is the performance. But the main reason I went for the S2 was because of the screen - it's a light year ahead of LCD displays used in most typical phones. Very clear, sharp vibrant and no viewing angle issues.

I don't think you'll regret buying either phone but I would recommend the S2 just because of the display. Or if you want a more snazzy and user friendly UI then buy the Sensation, but the S2 isn't much worse from what I experienced and seen online.

Oh, and I've heard of the build quality being worse for the S2. It's a much thinner phone so it's going to be. And I don't find it low quality at all... It's basically just a piece of glass in your hand because it's so thin.

 

[E28]

I have a Galaxy S2 (after moving from the original Desire) and absolutely love it.

I've not had experience with the newer Sense UI on the Sensation but I haven't really missed moving over to Samsung's Touch Wiz. It's apparently vastly improved over what the original Galaxy S used and has 90% of the features my old Desire did (albeit a little harder to use/find).

The screen on the S2 is AMAZING, and so is the performance. But the main reason I went for the S2 was because of the screen - it's a light year ahead of LCD displays used in most typical phones. Very clear, sharp vibrant and no viewing angle issues.

I don't think you'll regret buying either phone but I would recommend the S2 just because of the display. Or if you want a more snazzy and user friendly UI then buy the Sensation, but the S2 isn't much worse from what I experienced and seen online.

Oh, and I've heard of the build quality being worse for the S2. It's a much thinner phone so it's going to be. And I don't find it low quality at all... It's basically just a piece of glass in your hand because it's so thin.

Thanks for the reply. I think I will go with the sensation, mainly for the software and the interface does look generally beautiful, and nicer than the S2's TouchWiz overlay. I've heard the Sensation has sharper text, great for GTPing.

 

[G.T]

Oh yeah, the screen resolution is higher on the Sensation, I forgot about that. So yeah text will be sharper when you're zoomed out. Although I've honestly never had a problem with that on the S2.

And go for it! I'm sure you won't regret the purchase either way.

 

[RacecarBMW]

You can't go wrong with any of these 2 phones. I personally like the HTC Sensation more. It has a much better build quality and HTC Sense is amazing. I personally use a Sony Ericsson Xperia Play but I managed to get a SGS II for a really good price so I switch between them. The Super Amoled screen on the SGS II is pretty amazing but every time I compare it to my friend who has a Sensation get jealous of the build quality. Oh and also the SGS II is super thin I like that and that is the only reason I don't mind it's not so great build quality.

 

[Seismica]

What is the battery life like on these? I've been considering getting a smartphone and these two plus the iphone are the three i've been looking at. My GF has a Desire S and it looks great, but I want to go one better just to annoy her

 

[RacecarBMW]

What is the battery life like on these? I've been considering getting a smartphone and these two plus the iphone are the three i've been looking at. My GF has a Desire S and it looks great, but I want to go one better just to annoy her

Generally speaking the iphone4 will get the best battery life because it has a smaller screen and because iOS is designed for the iphone and only the iphone.
With that out of the way my galaxy S II and Xperia Play both get pretty good battery life. I haven't used my iphone4 for a few months but I remember it had amazing battery life.

I still like my android phones over the iphone though.

 

[E28]

What is the battery life like on these? I've been considering getting a smartphone and these two plus the iphone are the three i've been looking at. My GF has a Desire S and it looks great, but I want to go one better just to annoy her

My new sensation is arriving tomorrow, so I'll have a look at battery life when I get it.

By the way, O2 have a pretty good deal on the sensation for £27 pound a month. Ends 5th of September though.

 

[ECGadget]

I would recommend the S2
iPhone 4 get destroyed by it, and the Desire S rivals the iPhone. Sensation I have not much knowledge about... but check this:
iPhone standby time: 300 hours (Give or take a few)
Galaxy S2: 760 hours. Nuff.Said. If that is the standby time, what do you think the specs are? I say that the iPhone5 will have to be something incredible to beat the new android phones.

 

[Seismica]

By the way, O2 have a pretty good deal on the sensation for £27 pound a month. Ends 5th of September though.

That's the same price as the HTC Desire S. That is pretty decent, might go for it. I'm not going to find it much cheaper than that. I already spend £15 a month on topups, plus the £100 or so I payed for my current phone. That is a pretty great deal. The 300 minutes is a tad low, but I have a Virgin simcard which gives free calls to other Virgin phones which I can use in a spare phone for ringing the GF on evenings, which is where most of my minutes would go.

Thanks for telling me this

 

[E28]

That's the same price as the HTC Desire S. That is pretty decent, might go for it. I'm not going to find it much cheaper than that. I already spend £15 a month on topups, plus the £100 or so I payed for my current phone. That is a pretty great deal. The 300 minutes is a tad low, but I have a Virgin simcard which gives free calls to other Virgin phones which I can use in a spare phone for ringing the GF on evenings, which is where most of my minutes would go.

Thanks for telling me this

You're welcome. I've been shopping around a lot for phones recently and just remembered that contract!

 

[Seismica]

You're welcome. I've been shopping around a lot for phones recently and just remembered that contract!

Now i'm going to get a better phone than my GF for cheaper. She's not going to be happy I might put up the extra cash to get 1GB data instead of 500MB, which puts it up to £31, but it's still awesome.

Generally speaking the iphone4 will get the best battery life because it has a smaller screen and because iOS is designed for the iphone and only the iphone.
With that out of the way my galaxy S II and Xperia Play both get pretty good battery life. I haven't used my iphone4 for a few months but I remember it had amazing battery life.

I still like my android phones over the iphone though.

The thing that puts me off getting an iphone is that you need an Apple account to use the appstore. I've tried to make one on numerous occasions, but bank details are a required field, when I only want to download free apps (Like games and whatnot). I've nothing against Apple, but I do have something against them taking such sensitive details without good reason when i'm paying a significant amount for the phone contract itself. Apple accounts have been hacked plenty before, but on a small scale.

I've worked out that i've spent over £150 on topups since I got my current phone around a year ago, and the phone itself cost just over £100. I can sell it on Amazon for around £65-70 to help fund the first couple of months of my contract, but apart from that I am not really paying much more for the sensation in the long run, maybe about £100-200 more if that.

 

[E28]

Well, my sensation arrived today and I'm very impressed so far. Haven't used it much yet, just been setting up my accounts and contracts and it's currently on charge.

The actual phone feels very solid, well built and looks like a quality phone. The software seems very good as well.

 

[G.T]

What is the battery life like on these? I've been considering getting a smartphone and these two plus the iphone are the three i've been looking at. My GF has a Desire S and it looks great, but I want to go one better just to annoy her

My S2's battery is better than my old Desire - I presume the Desire S has give or take the same battery life.

I can go almost a whole day on the S2 under medium usage (listening to music for an hour, texting, a bit of web browsing). Maybe about 10-11 hours or so of that. The Desire only lasted about 8 or 9 if that.

Definitely better than most of the bigger smartphones out right now (has a bigger battery than the Sensation also, but don't know real world performance).

 

[Seismica]

My new sensation is arriving tomorrow, so I'll have a look at battery life when I get it.

By the way, O2 have a pretty good deal on the sensation for £27 pound a month. Ends 5th of September though.

I ordered one too, and it's arriving tomorrow Can't wait to have a phone which does things other than calls and texts, but does them well (Unlike my old phone, which had loads of features which were all very poor to the point of unuseable).

I've been taking the mick out of my girlfriend all weekend because her phone is the 'inferior' Desire S