Overview:
Until now, if you wanted a Google Android phone in the UK, your only option was a G1 or… a G1. Thankfully, HTC has seen that the Android platform is not one to be sneezed at, which is a lot more than I can say for phones carrying the ever-crashing Windows Mobile. The HTC Magic is a handset that is designed to incorporate a good range of different functions and applications. How well does it do this, especially up against the iPhone and the mighty Apple App Store? Let’s find out.
Preview:
Being an Android phone, the HTC Magic logically comes with a built-in Google suite of services like Gmail, Google Search, YouTube and Google Maps all ready to go.
Having Google Maps also means that you get Google Street View, which is the perfect phone application in my opinion. If you’re trying to locate the coffee shop that all your mates are meeting at but your sense of direction is worse than a meteor’s, you can load up Street View to see exactly where you are on the street and which random little alleyway you need to turn down. Brilliant!
This phone hasn’t stopped at Google functionality though, also providing Microsoft Exchange Server synchronisation for email, calendar and contacts.
The handset itself looks similar to the G1, but is undoubtedly quite a bit more refined. The buttons under the screen may be deceptive, but this is still a full touch-screen phone. Personally, I quite like the combination of the buttons and touch-screen, as there are times when you just can’t sit in concentration at your handset to navigate to your contacts list, and just want to run your fingers over the phone to find a raised button the get there while you keep on reading the bus timetable.
There is a search button that works for most of the phone’s main apps which is handy, and if buttons aren’t enough, there is also a trackball for when your hands are just too cold to get out of your gloves to navigate around the touchscreen.
The Magic comes with a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, so no blurred drunken pub shots. However, there is no flash so you’re confined to photos in the day time or a well-lit room. You can also shoot video with this handset, which is a feature that always comes in handy when you least expect it.
Other now standard smartphone features on the HTC Magic includes an accelerometer and on-screen keypad with predictive text. What is different is the Smart Dialer, which allows you to call or text people by either starting to dial their number or by typing out the first few letters of their name.
The handset comes with 512MB of ROM and 192MB of RAM but there’s also a 2GB microSD card supplied so you won’t be short of space for all of your club mix CDs.
I mentioned at the start that the Magic is a phone that has been designed to make it as functional as possible. Unlike a number of other smartphones on the market, you can actually download interesting apps to use on this one (hooray!).
One app that I particularly love is the bar code scanner, which scans the barcode of different shop objects, and then automatically brings up information on that product, including where to get the best price on it. This is definitely a necessary function for the serious bargain hunter.
To see what else is on offer in the Magic, take a look at this video demo.
(the video is sponsored by Vodafone but the content of this post is completely unbiased)
The Magic is available on Vodafone with a starting contract at £35 a month for 600 anytime minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited mobile Internet access, for 18-months.
The Gaj-It Verdict:
Design: 8/10
Usability: 8/10
Features: 10/10
Value: 9/10
We Say:
The HTC Magic is a handset that will really hold its own in the smartphone market. With the application range mirroring the successful recipe behind the iPhone’s succeess, we think this handset is finally a serious Apple contender as it incorporates the usability and functionality range that phone users love.
One thought on “Preview: HTC Magic. Google Android gets Functional”
It is great phone its look is very good and its feature are also very good like it has Google maps, touch screen you can install and run many application and very good memory size.