• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Your views on HTC Desire Z

phone4

Newbie
Dec 14, 2010
11
0
I want to know what members think about the HTC Desire Z, if you have had the phone for at least 1 month.

Reason being that I previously purchased a new android phone which didn't have a keyboard but within 3 months it was rebooting. This happened with someone elses phone too but as soon as they got it. I thought I got away with a phone that worked but 3 months later and I encountered the same problem.

I don't like touch screen phones as they are but with a keyboard would make the phone better and android is good too. I want to know what you like and dislike about the phone and whether you have encountered any faulty phones. Alternatively, could you suggest a better phone? I'm not interested in the iPhone or Blackberry.

Let me know your thoughts on the HTC Desire Z and mention how long you have had your phoner for.
 
I hope you find someone who has had theirs for three months or more as I only discovered it existed in the last couple of weeks and hence mine is not two weeks old yet.

The Desire-Z is my fourth phone made by HTC and my third Android phone. All the phones have been reliable. My second HTC phone, a G1, was short lived because my daughter dribbled into it but otherwise the hardware has been reliable. The Hero sustained some more minor water damage and stopped working until it was dried out but had been fine since. My fianc
 
Upvote 0
The Desire Z was released only at the beginning of November, so you won't find anyone with the Desire Z for 3 months...
I have it for a month now, and i'm very happy with it.
The disadvantages in my opinion are:
Screen - it's quite good, but not compared to an AMOLED, super AMOLED or retina displays (iphone4, galaxy S/nexus S, even the original desire has a much better display).
Weight - it's heavy - 180 grams, but i must say that after a day or 2 of getting used to it, u stop noticing it.
Camera - its fine. nothing more. stills are nice, video is ok in 800*480, but when recording in 720p it drops some frames every now and then.

Overall i like this phone very much, a huge improvement compared to my lousy samsung galaxy I7500.
 
Upvote 0
I want to know what members think about the HTC Desire Z, if you have had the phone for at least 3 months.

FYI, it was announced in September. In Canada, it has only been released for a month. It may have been available in some places in October. I got mine the first week of November which is almost a month and a half.

Reason being that I previously purchased a new android phone which didn't have a keyboard but within 3 months it was rebooting. This happened with someone elses phone too but as soon as they got it. I thought I got away with a phone that worked but 3 months later and I encountered the same problem.

It is possible the rebooting issue is due to dirty battery contacts. If the contacts are bad, the battery may shift and hit a dirty spot. When this happens, the phone may reboot either immediately or after some time.

When I first got my Desire Z, I it was rebooting a few times a week. I then took the battery out, cleaned the contacts and put it back in. It's been almost 4 weeks since I did that and the phone had just one reboot a few weeks ago and then it's been fine since. I've seen something similar happen with cordless phones as well. The battery shifts and you lose the connection.

If you are having these reboot issues, I recommend you take out the battery and clean the contacts on the battery and phone. Then see if this fixes the problem.

I don't like touch screen phones as they are but with a keyboard would make the phone better and android is good too. I want to know what you like and dislike about the phone and whether you have encountered any faulty phones. Alternatively, could you suggest a better phone? I'm not interested in the iPhone or Blackberry.

I am very happy with my Desire Z. I do a lot of web browsing on my phone and the Desire Z is able to handle the web sites that I frequent very well. I find I am hardly using my computer anymore.

The keyboard keys are fairly spaced apart which makes it easy to type. I prefer this keyboard over a BlackBerry for that reason. Many of the commonly used punctuation marks do not require shift/alt to access which makes typing a little faster. The top row of keys are a little more difficult to type with because they are close to the top edge where it meets the screen. After a few weeks, I got used to the keyboard. I switched from a Nokia N97. Since smartphone keyboards are not standardised in any way, it took a few weeks to get used to.

The keyboard has a few shortcomings. There are a number of symbols that are not available. There is no greater than, less than and carrot symbol. You cannot enter these symbols with the physical or touch screen keyboard. I have also noticed that sometimes there is a bit of a lag when entering text with the keyboard. This lag seems to be limited to enter text in a message board such as this. When entering text in email, or other apps, it seems fine. I'm not sure the reason.

I find the Desire Z is very slick. Great feel and look to the interface. It makes me want to keep using the phone even after I'm finished doing what I need to do. The screen is good. It is only an S-LCD screen, but it is very good even outside in the sun.

As for alternatives, there is the Nokia E7 that is due out early 2011. If you like Symbian, the E7 is the latest Symbian phone with a physical keyboard. It has a larger screen, but a lower resolution. The Clear Black Display provides very greater contrast in colours and brightness and better viewing in sunlight.
 
Upvote 0
The keyboard has a few shortcomings. There are a number of symbols that are not available. There is no greater than, less than and carrot symbol. You cannot enter these symbols with the physical or touch screen keyboard.

Sorry if I am stating the obvious here, but you can get extra symbols such as greater/less than using page 2 on the symbols page of the onscreen keyboard. But if youre talking about the hardware keyboard, then yes - my point is useless.
 
Upvote 0
Unfortunately this phone is too expensive for me.

I wonder if I can get it from China or Japan or some place for a fraction of the price. I know people who tend to get laptops (genuine) from places like that but not seen them around in ages, or maybe I should wait till new phones come out then wait till the price drops for this phone.
 
Upvote 0
Sorry if I am stating the obvious here, but you can get extra symbols such as greater/less than using page 2 on the symbols page of the onscreen keyboard. But if youre talking about the hardware keyboard, then yes - my point is useless.

Thanks. I never knew that there was a second page to the symbols page. I use the physical keyboard all the time. Now, I know how to type my sig with my phone now. :)
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones