HTC Sensation XL Comes With 'Beats By Dre' Features

By Elton Jones, Christian Post Reporter Friday, October 07, 2011

The smartphone that was previously dubbed the "Runnymede" has now surfaced as the "HTC Sensation XL", which features "Beat By Dre" audio.

HTC made the official announcement of its new smartphone at yesterday's "London Beats" press conference.

This brand new smartphone is special because it is the first mobile device that was built from the ground up through the work of "Beats" engineers. HTC reportedly paid the audio company $300 million for this added inclusion.

The features for the "HTC Sensation XL" are as follows: "Beats By Dre" audio capabilities, a 4.7-inch WVGA display, a single-core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm processor and 768 MB of RAM. The 8-megapixel rear camera has been noticeably improved, since it now has a F/2.2 lens and a dual-LED flash. The operating systems of choice for the smartphone are "Android 2.3" and "Sense 3.5."

The smartphone will come pre-packaged with a pair of special "Beats By Dre" in-ear headphones. The actual program itself knows when a song in the music library has been optimized for "Beats", so users will get the best sound quality automatically. Songs that aren't suited to the program's audio features will be set to them once they're encountered on a user's playlist.

Graham Wheeler, HTC's director of commercialization product management, stated that the company's new smartphone is "the best in all fields." He considers the company's phone to be a flagship device.

Currently, the "HTC Sensation XE" also features "Beats By Dre" audio capabilities. The feature was added on afterwards, instead of getting built in from the beginning of development.

The "HTC Sensation" is only available in the UK at the moment. It is expected to hit U.K. stores in Q4. That means a release date is planned between now and the end of December. No pricing details have been divulged at the moment.

HTC hasn't revealed any plans for a US release of the smartphone as well.