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The XE doesn't improve much on the first Sensation and better phones are hitting the market. Did we mention Beats Audio is a gimmick?

Simply put, the Sensation XE is one of HTC's finest achievements to date, and arguably the biggest challenger to the upcoming Galaxy Nexus.

We love the red and black design and the urBeats headphones are a nice inclusion, but average battery life and less than stellar performance detract from its appeal. Ultimately, the HTC Sensation XE is a very good smartphone but not a great one.

The HTC Sensation XE provides a pleasing aural experience when used with the bundled earphones. Coupled with the faster 1.5GHz processor and subtle design accents, it makes for an overall excellent smartphone.

An accomplished handset, the HTC Sensation XE is a comprehensive device out of the box, but it is an incremental upgrade over the older version and Beats offers more in terms of cool brand value than anything else.

Of HTC's two Beats phones, the Sensation XE adds a better screen, faster processor and expandable memory to an 8-megapixel camera, plus it good sounds, all for more or less the same price.

If you want the trendy Beats branding, then yes. However, if the music quality is what you seek, the XE doesn't do anything unique - you can get any phone and pair it with high quality headphones of your choice.

The HTC Sensation XE is an excellent mobile and for any audiophile out there, this sound be taken into serious consideration.

It's certainly a decent phone that can more-than do justice to Android, but when the original Sensation is now available for about £100 less, you can get better audio quality by spending the difference on a great pair of earphones, instead of the just-good Beats bundled pair here.

As an all round package the Sensation XE is a really nice handset, and the processor and battery upgrades make it worth a look over the standard Sensation.