Desire Z users what are your thoughts after a few weeks?

[Gunner86]

Ive had mine since launch day and all i can say is wow, i don't miss my boring iphone 4, android is awesome. This phone is really fast and i love having a hardware keyboard, the only negative i have about android is a lack of 3d games in the market compared to apple, other then that everything about this phone surp***es the expectation i had about android and the desire z. So what is you experience?

Gunner

[David Dee]

I have also had the device since launch day and am fully enjoying it. I came from a blackberry bold 9000 and have never looked back. The customization, speed, keyboard, navigation, music downloading, etc are all great. The battery lasts me the same time as the bb with normal use. No complaints so far.

[CWolfCW]

Awesome phone so far, although I've unlocked and using it on Rogers. Well, my second one anyway. The first one I had did random shut-offs (had to pull battery to be able to power it up again). I think I was unlucky.

With the new phone though, on average (after conditioning the battery for the first few charges), I can clock in about 28hrs with full push/sync but pretty much doing nothing otherwise. For what I consider heavy use, web browsing, downloading, media, phone calls, etc (every 15-30mins). I can usually get just over 7hrs before really needing a charge. But for my regular use, it lasts about 13hrs.

Now that the phone can be perma-rooted and all that, it seems to be the best Android phone in Canada to get.

As far as speed goes, this thing is fast, even at stock and with HTC Sense. Highest I can get is 1629 in Quadrant. I've seen people push their 'hacked' phones upwards of 3000 with a 1.9Ghz clock though. So yeah, I'd say this phone has a ton of potential.

My only nitpick about it is that there are some symbols unavailable to type when using the physical keyboard (even within the SYM they are missing). You can find my topic about it in the HTC discussions section iirc.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head at the moment.

[Gunner86]

Mine has the random shut offs to but it doesn't really bother me that much it happend twice in 2 weeks, so is everyone experiencing this or is my phone also deffective?

[CWolfCW]

I don't think it's a wide-spread issue, hence why I said I was probably unlucky. My friend's phone is fine and so is my new one. My last one was random shut-offing at least once every 1-4 days. Didn't matter whether it was plugged in, full battery, etc. Happened a total of 4 times before I decided to take it in to exchange. Rather not wait until after and regret getting a lemon.

[Gunner86]

How long do I have to bring it back?? I bought it at future shop if that mathers.

[Nex]

Very good overall. I have a few software gripes though.

Here are a few of my thoughts.




What I don't like

I don't like that notifications aren't as streamlined as blackberry.

Specifically, when the screen is off, there is not a consistent external notification tool (like a big red led on the bold). It changes depending on the app. Some will blink the really dim green led at the top, some will pulse the white ring led on the trackpad - neither are very noticeable.

I also prefer the way blackberry contained everything in one window, including msn, gmail, google talk, sms, email and facebook. Now I have six different things to switch around to.

Also, switching tasks seemed better on blackberry, and easier. It's kind of annoying switching apps, I think it could be better. (I end up using the home key every time i want to leave an app, which is clunky)

Many of the apps are inconsistent in their menus and usage. Even the google ones. For example, there is no uniform way to close each app (If there is an option at all) This means you have to learn how to use each app separately - not so nice.

I don't get anywhere near 14.4mbps. More like 2-3.

I don't like that the Desire Z, unlike the G2, is not stock, which means a longer wait for 2.3.

The online HTC sense features are a bit buggy.

Headphone jack and usb port are in not-great positions.

Camera shutter button is iffy - It's a bit difficult to push it past the second 'bump'. (Two state button)

Overall, the device is a bit heavy and thick, but you get used to it. It feels twice the weight of my blackberry bold, and is thicker.

Hinge is questionable in terms of durability, but all hinges are, really. The 'hinge issues' aren't really a problem. Mine flaps open when hung upside down, but I think I would prefer it that way so the snapping motion is not as violent.

Bell bloatware :(





What I like:

Browser speed is exceptional, although watching embedded flash videos is a bit slow in some cases. Huge websites like gizmodo load FAST and fluidly.

Overall, the phone is very snappy. Sense is pretty good, although not perfect. The pulldown menu at the top is always a bit slow to respond for some reason, but other than that it's pretty fast.

GPS reception is good, and locks on to your position pretty quickly. My old phone would take several minutes.

Angry Birds

I thought the optical trackpad was worthless at the beginning, but it is very VERY useful for fixing typo's in messages.

Widgets are genuinely useful.

Battery gets me though the work day, but i'll usually have to charge it around 6-7pm. Could be worse.

Build quality is exceptional. When you first see it and pick it up, you really do say 'wow'. I wasn't expecting much because the online pictures do not do it justice, but it is really a beautiful device; easily as good looking and solid as iPhones and other devices.

Screen is incredible. Blacks are not as good as the Samsung ones, but in every other way it matches or betters the AMOLED screen.

Contact syncing and google syncing is good, but not perfect. Room for improvement but very useful so far. It did kind of make a mess of things when it imported all of my 150 facebook contacts, and duplicating all my cell contacts at the same time...but you can 'link' contacts together, which resolves this. Once it is set up it's pretty nice.

Hinge is really nice. It has a nice snapping motion and makes the phone really thin when it is open.

Camera is pretty good. Not as good as my dedicated sony PNS, but it certainly more than gets the job done.

Keyboard is good, widely spaced keys, decent travel. It definitely will never be as good as a blackberry keyboard though. Still better than on screen keyboard.




In conclusion, I am very happy with it overall. The software gripes are manageable, and are more transition suffering than anything. I hope we will get android 2.3 soon which will hopefully make the android platform more streamlined in general. The hinge is worrisome in the long run, but for now is very solid and very snappy.


Comparison with Galaxy S: Galaxy has a bigger screen, but not big enough to make a huge difference. The blacks are better, but overall screen quality is comparable. The Desire Z is currently WAY faster in general due to android 2.2. Samsung is historically SLOW for android updates, which is a sore point for me. The Vibrant is very plasticy and doesn't feel very nice. Nore does the Telus one. The rogers one is the only one I would consider based on build quality alone. Some of the galaxy's are also missing flash, but do have front facing cameras. (Vibrant) They are still plagued with GPS lock issues (hopefully fixed in 2.2 update soon) It's a tough choice between the Desire Z and the galaxy. Android 2.2 and potentially faster HTC upgrade schedule, as well as a physical keyboard were the swing votes for me. I would say the HTC Desire is slightly better overall.

[balance]

once you get used to large screen (4 inch) its hard to go back to 3.7

[Kapusta]

So far, I really like it. Wasn't sure about the "Z" slide and whether the hinge would be ok, but its fine. Yes its a bit loose, but it doesn't really cause me any grief or problems.

Already scratched the back side of the damn thing. Anyone have any recommendations on a case for it?

Kapusta

[becks]

I like the design and the keyboard. Looks small from what I've seen. Also that price sucks.

[BoumboQc]

I would like it but i'm stuck on a 3 years contract :(

[whatthejeez]

great...another phone that shuts itself off from time to time. handy.

[Stuntman]

Great phone. Browser is excellent. I pretty much surf on my phone instead of my PC. Only downside of the browser is the lack of bookmark management. I was able to find a good app to do this for a buck and change.

GPS is good. Locks on in seconds. Love the traffic feature in the navigation app. I miss lane indicators from Ovi Maps.

Keyboard is good. Many commonly punctuation do not need a shift. Some symbols are missing like the greater than symbol.

I did have some auto restart issues. Then I reseated the battery and has been OK for a week and a half now.

The battery runs out on me mainly because I have been using it a lot instead of my PC.