HTC 2010 event coverage: The droids are coming

The HTC Desire Z is the unbranded version of the recently announced T-Mobile's G2. Like the original Android, the T-Mobile G1, the Desire Z packs a QWERTY keyboard and rather than a simple slide it uses a clever spring assisted hinge (the "Z Hinge") that keeps the phone thin, despite the hardware keyboard.

Live photos of the HTC Desire Z

The specs on the HTC Desire Z are pretty impressive – 800MHz CPU, 512MB RAM, Android 2.2 Froyo, 3.7” screen and 5MP camera with 720p video recording. One really cool features that impressed us was Fast Boot – from off to full boot takes 3-4 seconds.

Hands on with the Desire Z

The aluminum body feels great and the Z hinge seems pretty sturdy. The four row QWERTY that it uncovers is comfortable – the keys are well spaced, with good feedback and even the often troublesome top row has plenty of room to breathe. This puts it in competition with the likes of Motorola Milestone 2.

The HTC Desire Z with HTC Sense UI

The HTC Desire Z is one hefty piece of kit – 119 x 60.4 x 14.2 and weighs 180 grams. It’s about the same dimensions as the Nokia E7 we saw yesterday. Where the Nokia has an advantage in terms of screen size (3.7” for the HTC vs. 4.0” for the Nokia), the Desire Z makes up for with higher resolution – 480x800 pixels. The picture is appreciably sharper.

In the following video you can see a demo of that ultra fast boot - we power off the phone and then power it up again - it's not asleep.

Like the Desire HD, the HTC Desire Z will be exclusive to Vodafone in some markets and should be available next month.