HTC Desire Z

So, if you take the most popular smartphone of 2010 and add a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, what do you get? Answer: an absolutely fantastic all-round stunning mobile.

And it really is that simple. HTC have taken the hardware and software of the Desire (a phone that we described as "the nearest we've ever seen to the perfect phone") and fitted a slide-out keyboard to the back. So, although the Desire Z is the same height and width as the Desire, it's a couple of millimetres thicker and about a third heavier, which might make it too big for some people's taste. But hey - look around you at all the people lugging their iPhone 4's and HTC Desire HD's around with them. Didn't you know, big is the new small?

The slide-out keyboard is great. It doesn't just slide out. It flips and folds into place with a nice action, and it's definitely a big plus for anyone who writes a lot of texts or emails on their phone. The 3.7 inch display is the same as the one used on the Desire, and responds brilliantly to the touch. The Desire Z runs Android 2.2 (Froyo) with HTC Sense, and we've commented many times before that this is the operating system of choice in 2010, being as easy to use as an iPhone, and with at least as much power under the bonnet, with a huge choice of apps. As this is more of a serious kind of phone, one app worth mentioning is Documents To Go, which lets you view, edit and create Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, plus view Adobe PDF files. The Desire Z supports Microsoft Exchange too, so is ideal as a business tool. YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are available too, of course, as well as an easy to use web browser.

As we mentioned, the Desire Z shares most of the same hardware as the original Desire, including a 5 megapixel camera, GPS receiver with digital compass, music player and FM radio. There's some more memory in the Desire Z: 1.5GB built-in, plus the capacity to take memory cards up to 32GB. The processor speed is slightly slower though (800 MHz for the Desire Z vs 1GHz for the Desire) and the battery is slightly smaller (1300 mAh vs 1400 mAh), which seems like a perverse decision. Let's be honest: you're going to have to charge the phone every day in all likelihood.

So, to conclude, if you want a smartphone with real muscle, and if you have the muscle to carry every gram of its stunning aluminium-clad body around with you, then of all the phones in the expanding Desire family, the Z is the one for you. Love it for its powerful OS, its gorgeous touchscreen, its keyboard and its mind-boggling choice of apps. Tolerate its bulk and its battery life. If its too big and you don't covert the keyboard, choice the original HTC Desire. If it's still not big enough, choose the HTC Desire HD. Whichever you choose, you want go far wrong with one of the Desires.