- Conclusion Get the lowdown
- Features How they compare
- Performance Real world benchmarks
- Differences Technical showdown
- Reviews Word on the street
- Competition Others to consider
- Discussion Answers and opinions
Compare with...
- Samsung Galaxy S II
- Apple iPhone 5
- Samsung Galaxy Note II
- HTC One S
- Samsung Galaxy S Advance
by GSM Arena (Jun, 2011)The Samsung I9103 Galaxy R might not be as thin and light as its sibling, but the metallic inlay and its heft make it feel very solid.
by c|net (Oct, 2011)It feels rather big in small hands, but the payoff is that you get a very generous and colorful display for watching videos or surfing the Web.
Conclusion Which is better for you?
Features Key features of the Samsung Galaxy R compared to the HTC Sensation XL
GHz1
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich 3G
by GSM Arena (Jun, 2011)At 9.5mm thick and 135g or so, it’s far from chubby and its tapered edges make it sit very well in the hand.
1.5 GHz
Android 2.3 Gingerbread 3.5G
by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)One thing we liked about the phonebook is that it makes good use of the big screen.
screen size
4.2"
4.7"
Galaxy R by GSM Arena (Jun, 2011)The SC-LCD screen on the I9103 Galaxy R has a 4.2” diagonal with 480 x 800 pixels resolution.
Sensation XL by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)On the contrary - we really like the big fella, but with a screen this size it will be rejected by many people as too large.
screen resolution
memory
| 0 GB | 1 GB | 1 GB |
processor
Galaxy R by GSM Arena (Jun, 2011)And even though the Samsung I9103 Galaxy R probably won't end up as quite the world beater that its SuperAMOLED Plus packing sibling was, it can still give the current crop of dual-core smartphones a run for their money.
Sensation XL by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)Surprisingly, the XL was faster than the dual-core XE (that one had software issues we think).
camera resolution
| 0 MP | 8 MP | 8 MP |
Sensation XL by c|net (Oct, 2011)There's also an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD video capture, and it features several cool camera features like an automatic panorama mode.
Performance Real world tests of Samsung Galaxy R vs HTC Sensation XL
cpu speed
Galaxy R by GSM Arena (Jan, 2012)As expected, the lower-clocked dual-core 1 GHz processor of the Galaxy R underperforms compared to the faster ones in the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Note.
Sensation XL by TrustedReviews (Feb, 2012)It's screen is low res, it's processor is slower than the competition, and all told other handsets simply offer more for the money.
browser benchmark
Galaxy R by GSM Arena (Jan, 2012)The Galaxy R performs markedly worse than the other three phones we tested with SunSpider.
Sensation XL by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)The fast boot feature is enabled on the HTC Sensation XL but it won’t work if you have removed the battery – in that case it will do a regular slow boot.
talk time
540 min
709 min
Galaxy R by GSM Arena (Jan, 2012)The battery has a large 1650mAh capacity and is quoted at up to 9 hours of talk time and up to 25 days of standby.
Sensation XL by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)Those numbers compare favorably against the competition, except the video playing performance, which is 2-3 hours behind the leaders of the pack.
Differences What are the advantages of each
Advantages compared to the HTC Sensation XL
| Has expandable storage | microSD, microSDHC | vs | None |
|---|---|---|---|
| Use storage cards to increase your phone's capacity for apps and data | |||
| Outputs video to TV | Micro USB | vs | None |
| About half of smartphones can output to TVs; the modern day slide projector, great for sharing your photos & videos | |||
| Significantly newer operating system | Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich | vs | Android 2.3 Gingerbread |
| Newer Android OS; Get all the latest features and security updates with a more recent version | |||
| More cores | Dual core | vs | Single core |
| Twice as many cores; each additional core lets your phone do more without visible UI slowdowns and jerkiness | |||
| Lighter | 135 g | vs | 162 g |
| Around 20% lighter | |||
| Smaller | 66 x 125 x 9 mm | vs | 71 x 132 x 10 mm |
| Around 20% smaller | |||
| Records higher definition video | 1280 x 720 @ 30 fps | vs | 1280 x 720 @ Unknown |
| 30x higher definition video | |||
| Longer standby time | 37,200 min | vs | 21,600 min |
| More than 70% longer standby time | |||
| Faster real world upload speeds | 1.48 Mb/s | vs | 1.13 Mb/s |
| More than 30% faster actual upload speed | |||
| Sharper screen | 221 ppi | vs | 197 ppi |
| More than 10% sharper PPI; enjoy photo-realistic, crisp images | |||
| Slightly lower network latency | 103 ms | vs | 163 ms |
| Around 40% lower network latency | |||
Advantages compared to the Samsung Galaxy R
| Significantly faster processor | 1.5 GHz | vs | 1 GHz |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50% faster processor; run computation-intensive applications, such as photo editing, faster | |||
| Significantly higher resolution front camera | 8 MP | vs | 5 MP |
| 60% higher resolution front camera; Video chat with other people | |||
| Store more stuff | 16 GB | vs | 7.81 GB |
| More than 2x more storage capacity; free yourself from memory cards | |||
| Bigger screen | 4.7" | vs | 4.2" |
| More than 10% bigger screen | |||
| Longer talk time | 709 min | vs | 540 min |
| More than 30% longer talk time; go days without charging | |||
Reviews Word on the street
Samsung Galaxy R | HTC Sensation XL |
Competition What else you should consider
 | 1 | Samsung Galaxy S II Least latency on actual networks |
 | 2 | Apple iPhone 5 Most built-in storage |
 | 3 | Samsung Galaxy Note II Rated the best by consumers |
 | 4 | HTC One S 4-way tie: Screen uses OLED technology |
 | 5 | Samsung Galaxy S Advance 2-way tie: Newer operating system |
 | 6 | Sony Xperia P 3-way tie: Supports NFC |
 | 7 | LG Optimus L9 6-way tie: Has expandable storage |
 | 8 | Alcatel One Touch 995 Longest battery life during active use |
