HTC Desire Z

Four of ten – Since I accidentally clicked on the HTC advertising and it took me to their wall I decided to write a little review that went something like this: I have a HTC phone and it [censored word removed] a whole lot of [censored word removed]. Now it is better than the iphone but thats kind of like saying that yeah Baltimore is [censored word removed] but at least its not Albania.

All in all i give my htc about 4/10 .

Next phone will be back to a palm. -really the only thing that makes it better than all the other useless dumb phones out there is the qwerty keyboard, and the internet tethering for linux Here is a list of [censored word removed] for the HTC Desire Z - [censored word removed] battery, 4 hours of satnav if you're lucky. -needs resetting to clear memory, frequent screen hangs - the camera is marginally better than my 5 year old palm, sure it has more pixels but its grainy in the day and at night you might as well try to take a photo with your [censored word removed]

Great combination of touch screen and dedicated QWERTY keyboard – The HTC Desire Z has a responsive multi-gesture touch screen, but for texting and emailing the dedicated flip-out dedicated QWERTY keyboard is excellent. There's good separation between the keys and a nice tactile feel. Minor niggle is that the numeric keys are shared with the top row of letters requiring the use of the Function key to access the numbers.

The touch screen is responsive and clear. There are three brightness settings. Set it to low to save power indoors, or set it high to see clearly in bright sunlight.

For internet browsing and email, you can connect using either 3G or WiFi.

The installed operating system is Android 2.2.

Bluetooth and GPS add to an already comprehensive feature set.

The call quality is clear, both when holding the phone to your ear and when using the built-in speaker.

The built in camera is acceptable, but not excellent. About what you'd expect from a camera built into a phone. Despite being able to take video at 720p, it's no match for a dedicated camcorder, but still nice to have a moderate quality camera always with you.

Like many smartphones, battery life is poor. If I hardly use the phone at all, I'll get a maximum of two days out of the battery. But with normal usage, I find myself charging every night. If you frequently use the built in GPS, Bluetooth and WiFi and use applications that keep the screen on for prolonged periods, you may find that you need to charge the battery more than once a day. So if you're going to be out and about a lot, it would pay to keep a spare charged battery.

The other annoyance is that even at maximum volume, the ring volume is too quiet.

Before buying this phone, I read reviews from some people who had nightmares when they needed service or support from HTC, but thankfully I have not needed either. I am hoping that if I do require support that those reviews will not be typical.

So I am delighted with my HTC Desire Z. My wife liked my phone so much that a week later she bought an HTC Desire Z of her own, and she is equally happy with it. Clear, bright, responsive touch screen, but with the benefit of a well designed flip-out dedicated QWERTY keyboard in an Android phone with lots of features.. Poor battery life, and ring tones are too quiet even on maximum volume.