First Look review: HTC Sensation appears to deserve its hype

The HTC Sensation 4G is what the wireless industry dubs a "super phone" for its supposed superiority over regular smart phones. Whatever the term signifies, the Sensation offers some superlative specs and features that impressed me during several days of using a press sample of the phone.

The Sensation, available June 15 from T-Mobile for $200 with a two-year contract after rebates, includes a 4.3-inch high-quality screen, a top-notch camera, and support for T-Mobile's 4G data network.

The Sensation is neither small, at 5 by 2.6 by 0.44 inches, nor particularly light at 5.2 ounces. Yet the phone is quite comfortable to hold, thanks to its rounded plastic and aluminum back. The Sensation is also among the relative few phones (at least as yet) that run on the Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" operating system. Its HTC Sense interface allows you to access its many features in a number of smart ways.

Here are more first impressions of this phone:

4G speed. Measured informally on the T-Mobile network near our test headquarters in Yonkers, NY, the Sensation's 4G data speeds were quite respectable. I recorded download speeds between 6 and 7 megabits per second (Mbps) using the Speed Test app by Ookla. That compares with the fastest 4G phones I've tested and promises sufficient speed for streaming videos without screen freezes or buffering. Upload speeds were a consistent 1.3 Mbps, not the fastest I've seen but fast enough to promise brief uploads of large files.

Display. At 4.3 inches and 540 by 960, the Sensation's display is among the larger ones on the market, outsized by only a few, like the 4.5-inch screen on the Samsung Infuse 4G. While type appeared sharp and image colors popped, to my eyes, screen quality fell a little short of the Samsung Galaxy smart phones, whose screens are among the highest-scoring in our Ratings.

The Sensation's screen has a plus for movie buffs: Its aspect ratio is precisely 16:9, the same as movie screens and HDTVs, which allows you to see most wide-screen content without the annoying bars that adorn the top and bottom of many smart-phone screens. The screen shape does, however, make the Sensation a little taller than other 4.3-inch screens and so are little more likely to protrude above a shirt pocket.

Interface. The Sensation's Gingerbread OS provides a whole host of personalization options, including half a dozen home-screen templates optimized for travel, work, social media, and other modes. And there's a nifty spinning-book-rack effect as you shuffle through the phone's many customizable screens.

One of the more practical interface improvements comes via the Sensation's updated version of HTC Sense, which allows you to launch a favorite application such as a camera, e-mail, or Web browser directly from a locked screen without the need to first unlock the screen. You do this by dragging any one of four always-visible app icons into a little circle at the bottom of the locked screen. The default apps are phone, mail, camera, and messages, but you can swap those out with any others on your phone.

Data entry. There's only one keyboard: the Gingerbread version. But that's fine, since it has excellent tools for selecting and editing text. For example, like the keyboard on the iPhone, words are magnified when you to touch them, allowing you to place the cursor with precision and ease. That mode also presents convenient options for selecting text, from one word to the entire document and anything in between. When typing an entry in the Google search box, the predictive-text feature summons contacts, apps, and popular Web searches as you type.

Camera. As you can see by the video (below), the camcorder performed sensationally in my trials--and ditto for still-camera performance. You can share your content with an HDTV wirelessly with TVs that support the DLNA standard or via the phone's Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL). The MHL appears and acts like any microUSB port, yet with an optional adapter it can mate with conventional HDMI cables to allow a wired connection to an HDTV. The advantage of MHL over HDMI is that the phone can accept a battery charge from your TV while you're watching content, and one port can be employed to allow two functions.

Bottom line: Based on my initial tests, the Sensation promises sterling performances in a variety of crucial areas. And while I'm not very fond of manufacturer-generated hyperbole, the term "super phone" seems justified for this pocket-sized dynamo.

—Mike Gikas