HTC Desire Z review

HTC's next Android wunderkind wanders in sporting a QWERTY keyboard

The definitive HTC Desire Z review
The definitive HTC Desire Z review

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HTC desire z

The HTC Desire HD camera is relatively successful as a standalone snapper - it's not up there with the best in class, but in our tests it proved to be snappy (sorry...) at taking pictures.

That's actually pretty important - turn off the preview pictures panel and the shutter speed is pretty good, only a couple of seconds before readying itself to go again.

HTC desire z

The settings aren't massive, but what they do offer is impressive - touch to focus not only will bring the relevant area of the on-screen image into focus, but also alter the light levels to bring the correct subject to the fore.

It's interesting to note that there's a Widescreen option, which basically adds a few more pixels to the screen, rather than changing the megapixel resolution completely.

The settings on offer (through nifty little sliding scroll wheels) are Exposure, Contrast, Sharpness and Saturation. They all make a difference to the output, and we particularly liked the crazy snaps we managed with the Contrast and Saturation levels right up.

HTC desire z

Touch to focus is a handy addition - it basically lets you choose where the subject is with your finger, and the colour and exposure modes adjust automatically.

HTC has also put on photo effects, like Vintage framing, Solarise, Distortion etc. It's not going to be used for a serious snap, but it will be good for creating funny pictures to uploading to Facebook.

When each picture is taken the option to share to Twitter and Facebook is offered (crazily through the 'Share' key) and it's options like this that show the HTC Desire Z is designed around the consumer.

HTC desire z review

In normal mode, the camera is relatively adept at capturing pictures and lighting correctly

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HTC desire z review

The 2x digital zoom is OK, but doesn't really add anything that moving a bit closer couldn't achieve

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HTC desire z review

There's no specific Macro mode here, but the autofocus is so strong it can handle subjects under 5cm away

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HTC desire z review

There are a variety of settings to play with, so here we compare all the different options, starting with low exposure

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HTC desire z review

High exposure

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HTC desire z review

High contrast

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HTC desire z review

Low contrast

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HTC desire z review

High saturation

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HTC desire z review

Low saturation

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HTC desire z review

Low saturation and contrast

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HTC desire z review

High saturation and contrast

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HTC desire z review

Vintage mode is pretty much just darkening out the edges

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HTC desire z review

Is there a reason for Solarise mode? Probably not, but it looks ace

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HTC desire z review

Night time shots in automatic mode come out a little bit over-exposed

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HTC desire z review

Add a bit of exposure correction though, and you're in business.

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Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.