HTC Desire HD and HTC Desire Z Preview Discussion

[Dragan Petric]

The Desire HD is going to be a tablet with a 4.3-inch touchscreen, while the Desire Z will be a slider with a smaller display. Dragan Petric brings us his first impressions of both these upcoming Android OS smartphones.

Read the full content of this Article: HTC Desire HD and HTC Desire Z Preview

Related Articles:

• HTC Legend Review
• HTC Aria Review
• HTC EVO 4G Review
• HTC Droid Incredible Review

[Varjak]

Obviously, both of these seem to be very desirable phones (pun not really intended, that just seems like the best descriptor). I'm disappointed that the camera seems to underperform. Instead of 8 MP, maybe they should have spent a few more resources on the sensor, software, and lens. Oh well, it's not a point-and-shoot camera (yet).

The 'pop-out' keyboard on the Z might be nice; but it sacrifices the extra row of keys to accommodate its slick fit to the screen. I'm not sure I'd want to make that compromise.

Earlier, when BH first posted abut the Desire HD, I didn't much like the looks of it in comparison to the Evo; but if it sports an aluminum unibody, I'm willing to sacrifice some aesthetics, as long as it keeps the 'kickstand.'

I know I'm a broken record; but WHY won't someone make a Desire HD-like phone with a full hardware keyboard? Is that so ridiculous a thing?

[Drillbit]

There are more to this than just the specs. These are both phones that feature the new generation Snapdragon processor. The GPU alone is 2X faster than the old one.

Also, this is a new generation Sense they got onboard, among the features here is a unified email stream, and a maps app that can use stored maps and work offline.

[Varjak]

Drill, I did some more reading too.

From what I read, the new Snapdragon isn't so much about being faster (maybe it is); but it uses the new 45nm process, so it almost twice as efficient (theoretically) with battery power.

Not only is Sense freshened, HTC is launching something called Sense.com, which is like a free version of MobileMe; but on steroids. You can wipe your phone remotely, turn on and adjust the ringers, locate it on Google Maps, store files, and a bunch of other things. Quite impressive sounding.

But I am a bit confused about which model(s) we'll actually get. In the earlier BH post about Verizon's possible version, it looked totally different than the Evo, while the UK site I looked at (Amazon UK has it too), shows a phone that LOOKS just like the Evo; but supposedly has an aluminum unibody like the Legend. I hope we get a version like this Euro version:

HTC - Products - HTC Desire HD - Overview

HTC Desire HD Sim Free Mobile Phone: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

The real downer is that it doesn't look like it has the 'kickstand.' I liked that.

The photos on BH showed something that looked more like a huge BlackBerry.

[Drillbit]

Its always a Verizon thing to have the phone redesigned, like the Droid Eris instead of accepting the CDMA Hero like Sprint, or the Droid Incredible instead of a CDMA HTC Desire like US Cellular. Look at the incoming HTC Lexicon and compare that to the G2 and Desire Z.

For Europe you will probably get the one with the aluminum unibody that's like EVO + Legend.

[Varjak]

I'm going to be really ticked off if Verizon messes with this phone too much, especially if they make some bloated, plasticky thing. I would definitely buy an unlocked one over the 'net instead and go T-Mobile or even (gasp) ATT. Hook's PAYG thread keeps calling my name...