HTC Magic

When the predecessor of the HTC Magic was released, the HTC Dream or G1, both the handset and the Android operating system felt unfinished.

The ‘Google phone’ has still attracted followers, but for those hoping for an iPhone-killer, it was a little disappointing.

With the HTC Magic, most of those initial criticisms have been answered. The materials used in the casing are of better quality, with a superior finish.

The handset’s curved back sits comfortably in the hand, it’s lighter and slimmer and there’s less wasted space at the lower portion of the handset.

The essential rollerball has increased in size, is more responsive and durable and the 3.5in touchscreen is just as accurate and reliable as the G1’s. The biggest design departure is the Magic’s lack of a Qwerty keyboard.

The Magic’s on-screen keypad is quite accurate though, despite the somewhat small keys. While you won’t be as speedy at typing with this as with a physical keyboard it’s good enough not to cause too many problems and is something you quickly adapt to.

Poor battery performance dogged the G1’s reputation but the Magic has more than made up for this. Swapping files using Bluetooth, as well as using the built-in Wifi, made only a little dent in the battery performance. After this we downloaded several apps and used the MP3 player for two hours, and the web browser for another hour. That still left us with a 60 per cent charge in the battery. We even managed to make a few calls in between which were clear, audible and quick to connect.

The 3.2-megapixel camera is an improvement on the G1’s woeful effort, but it still lacks a flash, although you can at least record video now. HTC has repeated the mistake of not including a standard 3.5mm headphone port, instead relying on a mini-USB connection. The results through the bundled headphones are predictably poor.

The Magic’s white casing has also been criticised as it’s the only colour available in the UK (mainland Europeans have the choice of black, too). However once in your hand, the device isn’t as gaudy as you might think, mainly due to the quality materials used and the glossy finish. We thought it made a nice change from the typical black slabs.

The real pull of the Magic has to be the Android OS and, as a result of the recent upgrade (version 1.5, known as Cupcake), many of its shortcomings have been ironed out. Browsing is a joy and most websites fit the screen well, with sites such as Wikipedia and the BBC defaulting to their mobile versions.

The open-source nature of the Android Marketplace makes it a fantastic site to find some excellent apps. Although these are not as polished or numerous as some applications available from the iPhone Store you can easily find some excellent software to install. Downloading and managing your apps is simple and you’ll quickly find yourself in the habit of browsing for something handy when you need it, such as a local cab firm or a local weather report.

There’s still room for improvement with the Magic of course, but the leap in hardware quality between the G1 and G2 is significant. The Cupcake upgrade is also a move in the right direction, and it’s encouraging that Google and HTC took onboard previous criticisms. In exchange for a lengthy contract with most retailers, you’ll get a solid, good-looking handset running on the ever-improving Android OS.