How tough is the glass on the HTC Desire Z?

When it comes to high-end phones, HTC is still on top of my list with the way they manufacture their handsets. Using premium quality materials always make their devices not look or feel cheap.

The first thing people do when they get an expensive device with a screen is to get a screen protector for it. But do you really need one on an HTC phone? I had my HTC HD Mini for quite a long time now and its glass still looks pristine (smudges aside). I kinda thought it would be the same to their other smartphones, like the HTC Desire Z that I recently reviewed.

So here’s what happened. I attended this party that involves karting right? It was my first time to kart and I was wearing my office clothes. The HTC Desire Z (with no protection whatsoever, not even a pouch) was in my pants pocket the whole time. Uh-oh.

First and second round of karting, nothing happened, phone was intact on my pocket. But in the final round when competition became fierce, I didn’t notice that it fell off my pocket after all those bumping, crashing and a very jittery ride. Thank goodness it didn’t fell off to the track, just on my seat. Still it took a lot of abuse rubbing and grinding against the rough, hard plastic seat I was on.

And the damage?

The hard rubbery surface of the back panel got scratched pretty badly.

How about the front?

Well you could see some minor scratches on the the frame but surprisingly, the glass in didn’t get any damage. No scratches or even hairlines on the screen. It was dirty when I looked at it but after rubbing it on my shirt it was as good as new.

Now we’re not saying that you go ahead and rub your HTC phone to any surface. It just shows how tough the glass on the HTC Desire Z is. It can survive your typical keys and coins without the need of a screen protector. The casing is a different story though so feel free to buy a hard shell or a case for it. I’m sure most if not all HTC phones have the same quality of glass.