The first HTC Desire released in March is considered one of the most sought-after smartphones in the market and not a few has called its name quite apt. Now comes a couple of new Desire offsprings that extend the desirability of these handsets to a new level of sophistication.

One of them, the HTC Desire Z, brings full QWERTY functionality to the family. This is only the second full-QWERTY Android from the Taiwan-based leader in smartphones after the HTC Dream released in 2009.

High End Features

Designing derivatives of a successful product is often a give and take proposition. The HTC Desire Z should keep people wanting full QWERTY options on a smartphone happy. But they won’t get the 1GHz snapdragon on the first Desire since it only has a Qualcomm MSM7230 at 800 MHz. No matter, you now get the latest Android v2.2 Froyo on the Z.

It has the same radio connectivity options for a high end smartphone with quad band GSM and 3G with HSDPA/HSUPA data speeds even if you only get class 32 GPRS/EDGE speeds on 2G. You also have WiFi 802.11 b/g/n with DLNA where the first Desire only had the older WiFi iteration without DLNA or “n” for a wider coverage. Local data transfers get Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP and microUSB v2.0. GPS is also supported.

Flagship Multimedia Features

Multimedia features start with 3.7-inch S-LCD capacitive touchscreen with WVGA (480 x 80) resolution, 16 million colors, accelerometer and proximity sensors as well as multitouch input technology.

The HTC Desire Z images with a 5-megapixel autofocus shooter with LED flash, face detection, geo tagging and video recording at 720p high definition. There’s a Stereo FM receiver with RDS and 3.5mm audio jack. All your multimedia files can be stored internally with its generous 1.5 GB user memory or in a 32GB microSD card which it supports a 1300 mAh Li-ion battery that yields up to 9.8 hours of talk time on 2G with 430 hours on standby.