Comparison : Samsung Galaxy S2 vs HTC Sensation vs LG Optimus X2

Dual core phones will be a rage for quite some time. Of course, 3D phones are  lurking just around the corner. LG became the first manufacturer to announce and launch a dual core phone. LG Optimus X2 is the first dual core phone launched at the end of year 2010. That was when it was pronounced that year 2011 will be the year of dual core phones. Samsung and HTC have hit the markets with their own offerings. Samsung Galaxy S2 and HTC Sensation are two dual core phones which make the so-called super-phone club very strong.

Year 2011 has also saw a sea change in the attitude of many manufacturers. India which is always a notable miss is now a part of the product strategy for all global manufacturers. No one expected India would have three dual core smartphones by the middle of 2011. It did, thanks to the growing appetite of Indian consumers and renewed interest of global majors.LG Optimus X2, HTC Sensation and Samsung Galaxy S2 have all arrived to India within two months of their global launch.

These three phones are the best smartphones money can buy. There is iPhone 4 which is also available but it has opted out of this zeitgeist as the comparison wouldn’t be apples vs apples.

How does these 3 super-phones compare against each other? Quite well actually. The subtle differences might pull one phone down when compared with another but between the three phones you should be picking up a high-end, fully functional smartphone. We look at the price, specifications like screen size, processor, camera and few other goodies.

Price

The latest price on FlipKart puts HTC Sensation and Samsung Galaxy S2 at the same level. HTC Sensation is priced at Rs. 30499 and Samsung Galaxy S2 is priced at Rs. 30999. LG Optimus 2X is priced at Rs. 26990. It is not without reasons. The reasons would be clear when we come to other specs.

Screen size, screen type and resolution

HTC Sensation and Samsung Galaxy S2 both have a screen size of 4.3 inch whereas LG Optimus X2 has 4 inch screen size. All three are capacitive touch screens, of course at that price it is only expected. LG Optimus 2X sports a IPS LCD display the kind seen on iPhone 4. Samsung Galaxy S2 sports Super AMOLED Plus and HTC Sensation sports a qHD wide screen. Samsung Galaxy S2 and LG Optimus 2X have a 480×800 resolution. HTC Sensation has 540×960 resolution.

For a regular user that’s just jamboree. Only the connoisseurs would care about the screen type and the resolution. If you are just like me, that shouldn’t be much of a difference. But Super AMOLED Plus sure spits out crisper display.

The only thing you should be looking at is the screen size. I have my own reservations about screen size. At 4.3 inch, both Sensation and Galaxy S2 are touching the borders of a smartphone and human limitations in holding them. At 4 inch LG Optimus 2X is a appropriately sized phone which would just fit in your hand and doesn’t arouse a need for bigger hands. 4-inch almost feels like the right size for a smartphone.

Processor, RAM, memory

Samsung Galaxy S2 has a dual core 1.2 GHz Cortex A9 CPU, 1 GB RAM, 16 GB internal memory which can be expanded to 32GB using a micro SD card.

HTC Sensation dual core 1.2 GHz Qualcomm MSM 8260, 768 MB RAM, 4 GB internal memory which can be expanded to 32GB using a micro SD card.

LG Optimus X2 has a dual core 1 GHz NVIDA Tegra 2 Chipset, 512 MB RAM, 6.4 GB internal memory, which can be expanded to 32GB using a micro SD card.

Samsung Galaxy S2 is a beast. No doubt about that. HTC Sensation and LG Optimus X2 follow Galaxy S2 when it comes to the hardware packed.

Camera

All three have a 8 megapixel camera. Of course it isn’t the mega pixel that count but the actual quality of the image which unfortunately is not directly proportional to the megapixels. On paper, all three have the same goods.

All three have front-cameras loaded. HTC Sensation and LG Optimus X2 has a 1.3 megapixel camera whereas Samsung Galaxy S2 has a 2 megapixel front-facing camera.

Battery and others

What we call the hygiene factors by now are present on all the three phones. 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, FM Radio and Video recording at 1080p. All three phones can act as WiFi Hotspots and have DLNA functionality.

HTC Sensation provides a talk time of 8.3 hours on 2G and 7 hours on 3G. Samsung Galaxy S2 provides an incredible 18.3 hours of talk time on 2G and 8.6 hours on 3G. LG Optimus X2 provides close to 8 hours of talk time on 2G.

Samsung Galaxy S2 provides a standby of 710h (2G)/610 h(3G). LG Optimus X2 provides 421 h our standby time on 2G network. HTC Sensation provides a standby of 285h (2G)/525 h(3G). Samsung Galaxy S2 wins in the battery department too.

Closing thoughts

Between HTC Sensation and Samsung Galaxy S2 price isn’t much of a factor. That would make the decision much easier. Samsung Galaxy S2 should be an obvious choice for the obvious processing power advantage, screen and slightly better camera.

Given the obvious 4K price difference between Galaxy S2 and LG Optimus X2, one should be inclined to go for X2. If you are willing to spend 26K you might as well go the extra step and get Samsung Galaxy S2. The hardware differences in processing speed, RAM and screen size (if that’s a factor) are not too subtle. LG Optimus X2 runs Froyo out of the box with Gingerbread update coming out. For Galaxy S2 it runs Gingerbread out of the box which means, there will obviously room for one more upgrade. That would make the phone current at least for twelve more months. One distinct advantage for Samsung Galaxy S2 is the availability of near field communications (NFC). Sensation and Optimus X2 don’t have the option on them.

Samsung Galaxy S2 should be a good choice between the three super phones – HTC Sensation, Samsung Galaxy S2 and LG Optimus 2X

Spec by spec comparison :

Phone	HTC Sensation	Samsung Galaxy S2	LG Optimus X2
Price	Rs. 30499	Rs. 30999	Rs.26990
Screen size(inch)	4.3	4.3	4
Screen Type	qHD Widescreen	Super AMOLED Plus	IPS LCD
Resolution	540×960	480×800	480×800
OS	Android 2.3	Android 2.3	Android 2.2 (upgradeable to 2.3)
Processor	1.2 Ghz (dual core)	1.2 Ghz (dual core)	1 Ghz (dual core)
Processor Type	Qualcomm MSM 8260		NVIDA Tegra 2 Chipset
Inbuilt Memory	4 GB	16 GB	6.4 GB
Expandable	32 GB	32 GB	32 GB
RAM	768 MB	1 GB	512 MB
Camera	8 MP	8 MP	8 MP
Front-camera	1.3 MP	2 MP	1.3 MP
Video Recording	1080 p	1080 p	1080 p
Talk time (2G)	8.3 h	18.3 h	7 h 50 m
Talk time (3G)	7 h	8.6 h
Standby Time (2G)	285 h	710 h	421 h
Standby Time (3G)	525 h	610 h
MusicPlayer	Yes	Yes	Yes
VideoPlayer	Yes	Yes	Yes
FM Radio	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes	Yes	Yes
USB	Yes	Yes	Yes
Wi-Fi	Yes	Yes	Yes
3G	Of course	Of course	Of course
SIMs	1	1	1
WIFI_Hotspot	Yes	Yes	Yes