HTC Sensation Owners' Thread #SensatioNZ

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962 posts

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#491878 11-Jul-2011 09:31

Initially watching that video I just thought ah well, i've always had to reencode video for watching on my mobile. Plus, what good is 720p or 1080p on a qHD screen. But then I thought, hey if the SGS2 can do it then it's only reasonable to start expecting this sort of performance from phones. It's not a requirement of a phone to play full HD files, but it's getting to the point now where it'd be nice and we shouldn't have to re encode files for mobile viewing.

I suppose everyone's opinions will differ, and I don't really NEED to watch files via my phone. All in all i've found it very decent hardware for what i use it for. Main issues are software ones for my use. And it's a sturdy phone to hold.

TheUngeek

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#491885 11-Jul-2011 09:45

The thing that struck me was out of all those file types. Only one I had ever heard of before! How common are they?

ArtooDetoo

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#491892 11-Jul-2011 10:02

TheUngeek: The thing that struck me was out of all those file types. Only one I had ever heard of before! How common are they?

I think NZTF was aiming for comparing/contrasting the capabilities of the hardware rather than a real world comparison of their potential usefulness to the consumer. So from that standpoint, the actual codecs and bitrates aren't really the issue except as a demanding benchmarking task.

I doubt that the potential market for either phone will spend a great deal of their time downloading extremely demanding HD movies to watch on their handset's 4.x" display or even to play to their 46" TV via the same device. My guess is that if what they shoot plays back without issue on the phone or their TV or PC, they'll be more than happy. But it doesn't hurt to know exactly what your hardware is capable of, or what it's not capable of.

My experience with the video I've shot is that the Sensation records and plays back HD video without stutter and dropped frames. That's certainly a good result as far as I'm concerned. I intend to view it on the big TV later this week so I'll have a better idea how well it scales once I've done that.

Galaxy S has gone to its new owner. HTC Sensation has gone to its new
owner. Galaxy S3 has gone to its new owner. Now using Galaxy Note 3. Skipping Note 4 I think...

TheUngeek

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#491901 11-Jul-2011 10:24

Yes very true. Just some people have commented that they don't want a Sensation now because of those playbacks.
Guess it comes down to the consumer doing proper research!

lokhor

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#491904 11-Jul-2011 10:28

I think it'd be pretty pedantic to not buy a Sensation just because it doesn't play back high bitrate 1080p. I barely have any 1080p content at home as my media centre is not powerful enough to play it back without stuttering. All of my TV shows max out at 720p also.

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

NzBeagle

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#491906 11-Jul-2011 10:32

lokhor: I think it'd be pretty pedantic to not buy a Sensation just because it doesn't play back high bitrate 1080p. I barely have any 1080p content at home as my media centre is not powerful enough to play it back without stuttering. All of my TV shows max out at 720p also.

Totally agree. Plugging my phone into my TV is also not really an option I'd want to use when I already have an Xbox to do that. As mentioned, being able to record HD video on the phone and then play it back via a TV, something i'd be interested in. It would be nice to play 720p mkv's through the phone, but it's not really a deal breaker. But the comparison between the two phones is interesting.

Foo

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#491910 11-Jul-2011 10:39

I am still to read the Clove blog Murray, but I'm going to get to it very soon!

For me, I keep weighing up the price difference - we're looking at a $195 difference between the HTC Sensation and the SGS II...with the SGS II being 26% more expensive, I'm not sure if, from my perspective, the extra is worth it.

On the subject of 1080p, I have very little content at that resolution. 720p is far more common and that seems fine for me. I'm sure that will change in the next 2-3 years, but for the moment 720p is great (and it beats the old 576 of DVD and old TV)!

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ArtooDetoo

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#491916 11-Jul-2011 10:46

TheUngeek: Yes very true. Just some people have commented that they don't want a Sensation now because of those playbacks.
Guess it comes down to the consumer doing proper research!

Well there are many possible barriers to ownership with any consumer electronics device, and if you're choosing its ability to do something that you have little intention of actually doing to make a buying decision, then you probably weren't serious about buying it in the first place. :-)

A boring anecdote, if you'll forgive the indulgence. I have many friends and acquaintances with smartphones yet I don't know a single one who plays downloaded HD video on their device, and even more interestingly for me (YMMV), I don't know anybody who plays any downloaded video, period. There are many, if not all, who play streamed YouTube video and similar streamed files, and many, if not all, who play games. But they don't seem to consider downloading HD video as something of importance.

Like I said, just anecdotal. NZTF may be the exception to that (although we have yet to meet) and with his interest in the subject, it's likely then that he in fact does know people who do watch HD downloaded video on their phones. So take my comment for what it's worth...

Basically all the people I know who do watch local files are watching their own footage and sharing with family and friends. That may change in time, but right now I think my experience is not unusual.

Galaxy S has gone to its new owner. HTC Sensation has gone to its new
owner. Galaxy S3 has gone to its new owner. Now using Galaxy Note 3. Skipping Note 4 I think...

NZtechfreak

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#491924 11-Jul-2011 10:55

I think the 720p playback, which is also not 100% smooth is more concerning for me, especially since I now want HD content on the phone to watch via MHL. That won't apply for lots of people of course, so as with anything people should be thinking of their own use and comparing. Those who don't want a Sensation on the basis of the video are probably those who watch lots of MKVs on their phones/via MHL - there are actually a lot of users like me for whom this is exceedingly important (just check some of the threads at XDA!).

In regards to the file types - MKV is the most common HD file format container- realistically its the only way you'll want to watch HD content on your phone because it compresses it to sizes suitable for storage on an SD card. DivX and Xvid are also very ubiquitous video formats. DTS and AC3 sound are also very common, particularly with MKVs. FLV of course is also very common for anyone who downloads youtube videos, and the VP6 and VP6 Alpha FLV types are becoming more common, but won't affect most peoples use (those who do need them though will be very appreciative that they can finally play on their mobile device, I had a number of people contact me to request that I test them).

All in all I thought the Sensation did rather well, as I mentioned the test was meant to be demanding, and its being compared to the gold standard mobile video player in the SGSII.

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NZtechfreak

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#491929 11-Jul-2011 10:59

NzBeagle:
lokhor: I think it'd be pretty pedantic to not buy a Sensation just because it doesn't play back high bitrate 1080p. I barely have any 1080p content at home as my media centre is not powerful enough to play it back without stuttering. All of my TV shows max out at 720p also.

Totally agree. Plugging my phone into my TV is also not really an option I'd want to use when I already have an Xbox to do that. As mentioned, being able to record HD video on the phone and then play it back via a TV, something i'd be interested in. It would be nice to play 720p mkv's through the phone, but it's not really a deal breaker. But the comparison between the two phones is interesting.

I think the point is that you probably don't pop your xbox in your back pocket to connect elsewhere (apologies if that assumption is incorrect, if it is I would like to see photos

).

EDIT: Also, I don't know about the xbox, but my SGSII plays a lot more video formats than my PS3!

Twitter: @nztechfreak
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lokhor

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#491943 11-Jul-2011 11:11

You'd be surprised how many TVs now play HD content from hard drives. My TV can play 720p MKV files no problem if you plug an hdd into the side.

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

Foo

522 posts

Ultimate Geek

#491948 11-Jul-2011 11:17

NZtechfreak: I think the 720p playback, which is also not 100% smooth is more concerning for me, especially since I now want HD content on the phone to watch via MHL. That won't apply for lots of people of course, so as with anything people should be thinking of their own use and comparing. Those who don't want a Sensation on the basis of the video are probably those who watch lots of MKVs on their phones/via MHL - there are actually a lot of users like me for whom this is exceedingly important (just check some of the threads at XDA!).

In regards to the file types - MKV is the most common HD file format container- realistically its the only way you'll want to watch HD content on your phone because it compresses it to sizes suitable for storage on an SD card. DivX and Xvid are also very ubiquitous video formats. DTS and AC3 sound are also very common, particularly with MKVs. FLV of course is also very common for anyone who downloads youtube videos, and the VP6 and VP6 Alpha FLV types are becoming more common, but won't affect most peoples use (those who do need them though will be very appreciative that they can finally play on their mobile device, I had a number of people contact me to request that I test them).

All in all I thought the Sensation did rather well, as I mentioned the test was meant to be demanding, and its being compared to the gold standard mobile video player in the SGSII.

Hmmm, so the Sensation struggles with 720p as well...while that is unlikely to be a deal breaker for me, that is interesting.

Is being able to play MKV files a convenience thing in that with a phone able to do it smoothly, you don't need to re-encode? For instance, if I have video at 1280x720, I would likely re-encode it for my HTC Desire to a lower bit rate, and would assume I would do the same with the the Sensation.

I guess there is something to be said for just dumping a file directly onto your phone without having to encode it specifically.

NZtechfreak

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#491949 11-Jul-2011 11:22

Foo: Hmmm, so the Sensation struggles with 720p as well...while that is unlikely to be a deal breaker for me, that is interesting.

Is being able to play MKV files a convenience thing in that with a phone able to do it smoothly, you don't need to re-encode? For instance, if I have video at 1280x720, I would likely re-encode it for my HTC Desire to a lower bit rate, and would assume I would do the same with the the Sensation.

I guess there is something to be said for just dumping a file directly onto your phone without having to encode it specifically.

Its 720p playback is very good with Dice Player, just not quite SGSII level.

Its definitely a convenience thing - I refuse to re-encode stuff when the hardware is there to just play it!

Good point that many TVs can now play 720p MKVs, I am aware of that (my new one does). Doesn't that make it more important for them to be in that format on the phone though?

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Talkiet

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#491961 11-Jul-2011 11:52

Here's the use case for me... I travel a bit, and most places I stay have TVs with HDMI ports in them. I'd LOVE to be able to take my phone and a cable, and be able to watch media I have taken with me during the evening.

Apart from this, I reckon I'd barely use the media playing capabilities for anything but the odd youtube etc.

For me, either would work - since I would be travelling and I'd need to specifically copy files to the phone to take away, recoding wouldn't be a big deal (and would likely save space) but it would be nice just to copy a movie to the phone on my way out the door if I'm called away suddenly.

SGSII clearly wins here, but it's only 1% of what I'd use the phone for.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

NZtechfreak

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#491983 11-Jul-2011 12:17

Talkiet: Here's the use case for me... I travel a bit, and most places I stay have TVs with HDMI ports in them. I'd LOVE to be able to take my phone and a cable, and be able to watch media I have taken with me during the evening.

Apart from this, I reckon I'd barely use the media playing capabilities for anything but the odd youtube etc.

For me, either would work - since I would be travelling and I'd need to specifically copy files to the phone to take away, recoding wouldn't be a big deal (and would likely save space) but it would be nice just to copy a movie to the phone on my way out the door if I'm called away suddenly.

SGSII clearly wins here, but it's only 1% of what I'd use the phone for.

Cheers - N

Good post, you're doing exactly what I think people should be doing - contextualising device information in terms of their own use.

Thats why I think its important to disclose everything as fully as possible, so that people have the information to make an informed choice.

Twitter: @nztechfreak
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