First spied in a slide deck last month, HTC’s rumored Special Edition Sensation has been officially revealed today, albeit with a new name. Aside from its snazzy new paint job, the Sensation XE will also be the first HTC device to launch with Beats audio (sorry Runnymede) when it starts shipping to Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East later this month.
The original covert reveal was almost entirely spot-on with regard to the XE’s specs: the processor indeed runs at 1.5 GHz (the original was only a 1.2), while 4GB of internal memory and a larger 1730 mAh battery round out the package. The rest of the device’s body remains identical to the original Sensation, though it now sports a rather handsome black and red color scheme.
In addition, today’s announcement shines a little more light on how Beats integration actually works: each Sensation XE ships with its own pair of Beats by Dre headphones with line-in remote, and a 8 or 16 GB microSD card. When the headphones are plugged into the phone while music is playing, the device automatically switches over to a specially-designed Beats audio profile that optimizes sound quality specifically for those headphones.
While I’m sure some of you are waiting with bated breath to see how well HTC executes their Beats integration, domestic fans may have to wait a little longer than the rest of the world: there are still no official details on a U.S. release.