The HTC Sensation XE superphone has gone on preorder at Expansys for £500, with a release date set for the 7th of October . It’s the direct replacement for the HTC Sensation smartphone which was released only a few months back.

This is the first HTC handset with integrated Beats Audio, which promises to deliver “studio-quality audio.” The Sensation XE Android smartphone is the first fruit of HTC’s partnership with Dr. Dre’s Beats Audio, and should arrive later on this month in Europe and Asia. Unfortunately, there’s no word on pricing or availability for the U.S.

The HTC Sensation XE is very similar to its predecessor, the Sensation. It has a 4.3-inch display, runs Android 2.3 with HTC Sense UI 3.0, has an 8 megapixel camera on the back with 1080p HD video recording and a dual rear flash, as well as a front-facing camera for video calls.

The XE runs on a faster processor, a dual-core 1.5Ghz and it has 768MB of RAM, as well as a slightly bigger battery.