The HTC Sensation XL, is a larger version of the HTC Sensation XE, which by itself is an upgrade to the original HTC Sensation. The HTC Sensation XL was launched in India recently and is also branded as the costliest Android phone in the country. On the other side, the Samsung Galaxy Note is a huger 5.3 inch device which is being marketed as a device between the phone and the tablet, by Samsung and performs really well at the price point. With just around 0.5 inches bigger, the Galaxy Note has solid build quality and a powerful Samsung branding while the HTC Sensation XL packs some amazing hardware in it with a really interesting audio system by Beats by Dr.Dre.
If you are looking at a large device and have the Galaxy Note in mind, do read Samsung Galaxy Note vs Motorola Droid Razr Mobile Comparison and Samsung Galaxy Note Vs Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phones Comparison but if you are considering the HTC Sensation XL, read our take on it with some other smartphones in the same category such as HTC Sensation XL vs HTC Sensation XE Comparison and HTC Sensation XL vs Samsung Galaxy Nexus Comparison .
In this post, we take a look at the detailed specs of both the phones and compare them side by side, in every category:
Table of Contents:
- Form Factor Comparison
- Display Comparison
- Camera Comparison
- Memory Comparison
- Connectivity Comparison
- Operating System and User Interface Comparison
- Battery and Processor Comparison
- Beats by Dr. Dre
Form Factor
The HTC Sensation XL is 132.5 x 70.7 x 9.9 mm, while the Samsung Galaxy Note is 146.9 x 83 x 9.7 mm. The HTC Sensation XL weighs 162.5 grams while the Samsung Galaxy Note is 178grams in weight, slightly on the heavier side than the HTC Sensation XL.
The standard four Android buttons are present on the HTC Sensation XL and comes with a solid build quality that is tough on the exterior with a plastic back while the Samsung Galaxy Note has grand looks and comes with the Samsung styled buttons, one center button and a back and menu/options button with the centre button being a physical one and the other two as touch capacitive buttons.
While the HTC Sensation XE has some interesting color highlights like the four capacitive buttons lighting up in red, the earpiece on the top and the camera ring covered in red, The Sensation XL just has the Beats logo on the back, nothing much to it other than that.
Display
The HTC Sensation XL, comes with a S-LCD capacitive touchscreen of 4.7 inches with a pixel density of 199ppi while the Samsung Galaxy Note has a larger Super AMOLED display of 5.3 inches as well and has a screen density of 285ppi. The HTC Sensation XL has a screen resolution of 480×800 pixels while the Samsung Galaxy Note has a resolution of 800×1280 pixels on it.
Both the phones support Multi-touch and there is an accelerometer and proximity sensor on both the cellphones as well. Also, the HTC Sensation XL and the Galaxy Note from Samsung have a Gyroscope on them, also called as a Gyro sensor, which enhances motion based gaming and gestures.
Both the displays are capacitive touch displays, support multi touch input and have support upto 16M colors.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy Note ( Super AMOLED )
Camera:
The Galaxy Note from Samsung has a 8MP camera while the HTC Sensation XL also has a similar 8MP Camera. The Sensation XL can take photos upto a resolution of 3264×2448 pixels while the Galaxy Note from Samsung also has a maximum resolution of 3264×2448 pixels. There is autofocus and LED Flash on both the devices as well. The HTC Sensation XL has Dual LED flash on it but the Samsung Galaxy Note has only a single LED flash.
Geo tagging, face detection and image stabilization are standard features on both the smartphones. Also the HTC comes with HDR support on camera.
The Galaxy Note’s camera shoots video at 1080p resolution, at full HD at 30 frames per second while tht HTC Sensation XL shoots at 720p, at HD resolution.
Also, note that there is a secondary camera on both the devices, of VGA resolution in the HTC Sensation XL and a 2MP camera on the Galaxy Note. This is used for normal camera purposes, by various camera based apps or for video calling via Skype, Google Talk etc.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy Note ( Full HD Video )
Memory:
The HTC Sensation XL has 16GB of internal memory, and does not support a microSD card slot which will enable expansion up to 32GB while the Samsung Galaxy Note has 16/32 GB of internal memory for usage and is extendable as well, with support upto 32GB on the microSD. Note that the Galaxy Note comes with a 2GB card inside the box.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy Note
Connectivity:
The HTC Sensation XL has GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 bands and HSDPA 900/2100 bands which gives maximum speeds upto 14.4Mbps on HSDPA and 5.76Mbps on HSUPA while the Samsung Galaxy Note is a also has similar bands on both 2G and 3G and both the phones work across the world, on almost all the bands that are available out there as they support multiple bands on 2G and 3G.
Both the phones have WiFi in them and support popular Wi-fi bands, compliant to the 802.11 standards. 802.11 b,g and n are supported and the WiFi Hotspot feature on them is also available on both the devices. To know how to enable Wifi Hotspot via tethering, follow these instructions here. DLNA and Wi-Fi direct are also present in the Galaxy Note.
GPS is available on both the phones and Bluetooth 3.0 is enabled on the HTC Sensation XL while the Samsung Galaxy Note comes with Bluetooth 2.1. There is EDR support with A2DP on both the phones as well.
Both phones have FM Radio on it, with RDS support.
Operating System and UI:
Both the phones run on Android Gingerbread 2.3.4, the latest version of Android from Google. The Samsung Galaxy Note comes with its own User Interface, TouchWiz 4, while HTC has its own Sense UI, which is quite famous for its excellent gesture support and user friendly UI throughout the OS, built by the HTC engineers over the Android layout.
The HTC Sense is definitely fun to use and has lots of small add-ons everywhere while Samsung’s new TouchWiz 4 UI has refreshed iconography, user changes here and there and some slight improvements to the User Experience.
HTC has confirmed that the Sensation XL will be receiving the Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0 update soon, while the Galaxy Note will also be receiving it, soon.
Winner : HTC Sensation XL ( HTC Sense is very user friendly )
Battery and Processor
The HTC Sensation XL has a 1600mAh battery while the Samsung Galaxy Note has a 2500mAh battery. The HTC Sensation XL, on 2G, has a talktime of upto 12 h and 360 hours of standby time and upto 7 hours of talktime and 460 hours of standby time on 3G. While the Samsung Galaxy Note has a talktime of upto 27 hours on 2G and 960 hours of standby time and upto 13 hours of talktime and 820 hours of standby time on 3G.
The HTC Sensation XL and Galaxy Note come with powerful processors. On the HTC Sensation, there is a 1.5 GHz Scorpion Single Core processor powered by an Adreno 205 GPU backed by the Qualcomm MSM8255 chipset while the Galaxy Note has a Dual-core 1.4 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 Processor powered by a Mali-400MP GPU and an Exynos Chipset.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy Note ( Much better battery performance and powerful processor )
Beats by Dr. Dre
The HTC Sensation XL comes with audio from Beats by Dr. Dre, one of the most premium companies specializing in Audio technology in the world. The HTC Sensation XLcomes with Beats Audio™ inbox with custom made Beats headsets, engineered to deliver extraordinary sound. Their software is also specially tuned software and the user interface is tweaked to deliver the best mobile audio experience. Also, HTC has got Beats to make a custom earphone for the Sensation XL, which comes in the box as well. The headset has music control buttons on it as well.
Conclusion
The HTC Sensation XL is a nice device overall, and comes with solid build quality and design in the software and hardware part while the Galaxy Note is cheaper in its price, but huger in its size. The Sensation XL would make a good device to those who are looking for an amazing multimedia experience, with movies and TV shows to watch on the move as it is coupled with an amazing audio system by Beats by Dr.Dre and also comes with a specially made headset for it. While the Sensation XL scores high on multimedia, its internal specifications aren’t that bad either, though it doesn’t have a dual core processor on it.
The Galaxy Note from Samsung on the other side is a 5.3 inch device and is a device worth the money, except that it’s too big to carry around in your pocket as your primary smartphone. If you’re not planning on using the Note as your primary smartphone, then it indeed would be a value for money device and comes with some nice specifications under the hood as well.
