The device shipped with
Android 2.3.3 and includes
HTC Sense 3.0 UI. HTC launched the Sensation as part of a new generation of devices with signed
bootloaders. As a consequence, the phones were originally not
rootable, denying users administrative rights to their phones. It was announced on July 10, 2011, that HTC Sensation devices would have their bootloaders unlocked due to overwhelming customer feedback after the release. On July 29, 2011, a tool named Revolutionary was released by amateur developers
AlphaRevX and
unrevoked, which enabled S-off, and subsequently, allowed permanent root. In August 2011, HTC officially allowed unlocking HTC Sensation bootloaders at the HTCdev.com website.
Update In March 2012, HTC updated their devices to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS). The ICS update re-locked the bootloader, but developers found a procedure that made it possible to obtain S-off. HTC decided to
fork their Sense user interface, leaving Sensation owners who updated to ICS with the Sense 3.6 interface instead of getting Sense 4.0, which launched on newer phones. The phone can be upgraded with a custom ROM up to Android 7.1.2, but the device is currently considered obsolete and development has ended. == Variants ==