This has been long-awaited. When the HTC Desire Z was released late last year by Bell, tons of people wanted to know when Canada would get a taste of its larger, skinnier, more powerful older brother, the Desire HD.

At 4.3″, the screen is almost big enough to be considered tablet-sized. The 2nd-gen 1Ghz Snapdragon processor, 768MB RAM, 1.5GB ROM, 8MP camera with 720p video capture capabilities and anodized aluminum body scream “quality.”

At $149.99, the phone is going to sell very, very well.

I really like the way that HTC has implemented their own widgets and value-add apps, along with minor graphical and interface tweaks, to really round out the Android experience. At its core, however, Android 2.2.1 is a screaming-fast multitasking-capable, Flash-compatible OS.

The build quality is excellent, though I would have liked a dedicated camera button like on the Desire Z. The screen, while sufficiently bright, is easily washed out in sunlight. Colour reproduction seems good for such a large display. I’ve heard people complain of the dullness in the reds and greens, but I don’t see it. Because the 4.3″ screen runs at the same resolution as most slighter Android phones, text can seem blurry, even pixellated. But considering the size, you’re likely going to keep the screen further away from your face when using it, which nicely compensates.

Though I’ve only had the phone a few hours, I’ve found reading on it a pleasure; the wide screen makes a big difference when formatting web pages, since when you’re reading a book or computer screen, you’re used to a certain number of words per line. Typically when zoomed in on a smartphone, the number of words per line is considerably lessened, forcing you to scroll the page more often.

Typing, too, seems to be effortless on a 4.3″ screen. The combination of HTC’s multitouch keyboard and the larger virtual keys mean less mistakes, or at least more easily auto-corrected ones.

The design of the Desire HD would make an architect tear up. It’s thin — much thinner than the Desire Z, and around the same thickness as the original Desire. It also takes its design cues from its forebear, but combines elements of the newer one-piece-aluminum Legend design. Because of its slimness, the fact that it’s a wide load isn’t a problem. If you’re a hipster, however, with tight pants, it probably won’t fit easily into any pocket.

I plan on going further into the other elements of the phone, such as the battery life, media capabilities, call quality, and camera quality in the full review.

Stay tuned!