HTC Desire Z Android Qwerty smartphone

Touch or type

Common Sense

HTC handsets are never pure Android, since they always have the company’s Sense user interface running on top, and they’re all the better for it. In the Desire’s case, Sense extras include additional widgets such as FriendStream, which pulls together all your updates from Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, plus e-mail and texts, in a single stream. There’s also a new feature which sees the ringing drop in volume when you pick the phone up, and mute when you turn it over – not essential, but nice all the same.

At 800MHz it's not the fastest CPU, but video playback is smooth

There are now also some cloud-based services available from HTCSense.com, which allows you to store your contacts and other details on-line, so you can easily replace them if your handset goes missing. You can also track your wayward phone on-line using GPS. The browser is standard Android with the usual intuitive controls and it’s helped by the pinch-to-zoom capability of the multi-touch screen.

The track pad can come in handy for navigating, although the screen is sufficiently sensitive that you probably won’t have much need for it. High speed internet access is available too with HSDPA or broadband over Wi-Fi.

Cameras, long the bug bear of HTC handsets, have been becoming less of an issue lately and the 5Mp model on the Desire Z is perfectly fine. That’s not to say it’s anything exceptional, but it’s certainly no embarrassment. Features include flash, autofocus and a range of scene modes, as well as some new Sense control graphics. HD video recording is 720p, of course.

When watching video on the Desire Z’s large screen the 800MHz processor copes well in keeping things running smoothly, although there are free players available from the Android Market such as RockPlayer which can do a better job of showing off your films.