Android users who need a physical landscape QWERTY keypad don't have many high-end devices to choose from. This is why the HTC Desire Z is an important product for the company as it gives such users a choice aside from the Motorola Milestone. It is available now in Asia for S$868.
Design
One of the biggest draws of the Z is its slideout QWERTY keypad. The first Android phone from HTC to have such a feature was the T-Mobile G1 (or HTC Dream), which was also the very first commercially available Android handset. It's been a long wait for those who absolutely can't do without physical keys.
We tried out the keypad and found it to work well. Individual keys are raised with a rounded finish and we were able to distinguish between different letters by touch alone. Aside from the standard letters and punctuation keys, HTC also added two shortcuts that let you get to your favorite applications quickly.
The hinge mechanism found on the Desire Z doesn't make a simple sliding motion. When pushed, the screen raises slightly before folding back down into an opened position. This gives a certain "snap" to the action, which can be rather odd initially, but is strangely gratifying. This design also allowed HTC to make the bottom edge of the screen sit a little lower than a conventional slider. The advantage to this is that the top row of keys is less obstructed by the display portion of the phone.
We liked the aluminum material used for the Desire Z. It felt solid throughout though some may find the device a tad heavy at 180g. Like newer batches of the HTC Desire, the Desire Z utilizes a 3.7-inch WVGA (480 x 800-pixel) Super LCD panel. This looked good with sharp images and crisp text.
The Desire Z comes with four touch-sensitive shortcut buttons below the screen. We prefer physical buttons to this implementation as the likelihood of performing an action accidentally is higher with touch-sensitive keys.
Below these shortcuts is an optical navigation pad that can be depressed to select items. This worked well though some may find it unnecessary because most tasks can be completed by tapping on the screen.
A power button and 3.5mm audio connector are found on the top of the device, while volume controls and the micro-USB port are located on the left side.
Features
Connectivity-wise, this Android smartphone comes with all the options you would want in a modern smartphone including HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and A-GPS for satellite navigation.
The Desire Z will come with HTC's latest version of Sense and a suite of online services managed via the Web site HTCSense.com. Read our review of the Desire HD to find out more. In a nutshell, the new version of Sense adds useful apps such as free turn-by-turn navigation, while the HTCSense.com provides some security features that may be useful when you lose your phone.
On the back of the Desire Z is a 5-megapixel camera capable of shooting 720p high-definition video clips. There is also an LED flash for lighting up subjects and onscreen creative controls for more interesting shots. Photos and videos taken are of good quality. Click here to see some of our samples.
Performance
Equipped with the new 800MHz Qualcomm MSM7230 processor, the Desire Z may seem underpowered since 1GHz chips in smartphones are getting more common. However, that doesn't tell the full story. This processor also comes with the improved Adreno 205 graphics, which, like the Desire HD, was able to churn out better frame rates compared with the original Desire. We witnessed a performance on par with the Samsung Galaxy S using the Neocore for Android benchmark app.
During our review period, the Desire Z felt snappy when performing most tasks. In day-to-day usage, it didn't feel any slower than a phone using a 1GHz processor. We did not experience any dropped calls and found voice quality to be good. Take note that you cannot make video calls as HTC did not add this feature to the phone application. Furthermore, it doesn't have a front-facing camera to facilitate such a use.
The 1,300mAh battery gave us slightly over one day of use with two email accounts on push and social-networking services on two-hourly syncs. This wasn't great but is common among most high-end smartphones. Those who make voice calls frequently should have a charger or extra battery handy during the day.
Conclusion
Aside from the Motorola Milestone, there has not been any QWERTY-enabled Android devices in Asia Pacific catering to the high-end market. The Desire Z should fill that gap nicely, with its greatest competitor being the upcoming Motorola Milestone 2. There's currently no word as to whether HTC will update the software to the latest Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). However, that doesn't take away from the fact that this is a competent Android smartphone for those who must have physical keys. Those who need something more basic do have lots of other choices including various models from Motorola and the Xperia X10 mini pro from Sony Ericsson.
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