Posted on April 28th, 2009 by Jonathan Bray

Hands on with the HTC Magic, the second Android phone

I’ve just come back from the launch of the second Google Android phone to be released, and I must say I’m impressed. Its sleek profile and solid build quality are a world away from the dumpy and disappointing T-Mobile G1, which we reviewed at the back end of last year.

UPDATE: Read the full review here

It’s been manufactured by the same company as the G1 – HTC – the firm also behind the Touch Diamond2 we reviewed last week, and it’s available for free on a £35 per month tariff, which gets you 600 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data.

And while I’m none too keen on the fact that it’s only going to be available in white, I did warm immediately to the solid and sleek feel of this new Android phone. It weighs 118.5g and its dimensions - 55mm wide, 113mm tall and just 13.65mm thick – make it extremely pocket friendly. The gloss finish, sculpted lines and oversized trackball all contribute to a sophisticated look that the G1 could only dream of.

Apart from the looks, though, the key difference is the on-screen touch keyboard and I was keen to try this out…

It’s a full-screen Qwerty affair that gets larger keys in landscape than in portrait mode; the Magic’s accelerometer ensures that the switch happens automatically depending on which way around you hold the phone. And there’s feedback, too – whenever you hit a key, the Magic trembles lightly in your hands. Disappointingly, there aren’t any alternative key layouts, unlike the BlackBerry Storm, which switches between Qwerty and two-letter-per-key mode.

But while it’s difficult to assess fully after a five minute play, first impressions are good. I made a few typos initially, but it didn’t seem over fiddly and the combination of the capacitive touchscreen (a la iPhone) with the feedback seemed to work effectively.

The phone’s Google Maps boasts the new Street View mode, a feature that Vodafone was keen to push during my introduction to the phone. And I can see why: in tandem with the phone’s built-in digital compass, it’s quite something to pick a location, and physically sweep the phone around left to right, even up and down to take a look at your surroundings. Among other new features, there’s now also instant uploads to Picasa, video recording and YouTube uploads.

But the hardware remains largely the same. The screen is still 3.2in in size and boasts a resolution of 320 x 480; it has a HSDPA data connection, GPS, an accelerometer and digital compass (as already mentioned), plus Bluetooth 2.0 and a 3.2-megapixel camera.

But what will make or break this phone is battery life – the G1 was appalling in this respect. This phone has a larger capacity battery, which should give longer life between charges.

We’ll post a full review when we get our hands on the phone, which will be in the next week.

Tags: Android, Google, HTC Magic, Vodafone

Posted in: Hardware

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22 Responses to “ Hands on with the HTC Magic, the second Android phone ”

Mobiele Telefoons » Hands on with the HTC Magic, the second Android phone http://bit.ly/1alXY4 Says:
April 28th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
[...] on with the HTC Magic, the second Android phone http://bit.ly/1alXY4 Tags: fresh, [...]
Ryan Thomas Says:
April 29th, 2009 at 11:57 am
That really does not look good in white! Why no options?
Jonathan Bray Says:
April 29th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
The spokesperson for Vodafone told me that Black (the other colour HTC produces the phon in) was considered too “corporate” to be attractive to non-business customers. So by that twisted logic, the iPhone would be corporate-looking, too… a strange decision, to be sure.
Ryan Thomas Says:
April 29th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
That possibly explains why it’s not ‘black only’, but it’s a poor reason not to offer other colours as an option.
Michael Auerswald Says:
April 30th, 2009 at 8:15 am
First off: the colour is hideous. No standard headphone jack once again. How hard can it be?

I think the Android phone to hold out for is the new Samsung I7500 that hopefully comes out in June. That’s the first one that has everything I want.
David Ashley Says:
April 30th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Oh dear! White just makes the phone look like a cheap HK knock-off! A bad move on Vodaphone’s part.
popo Says:
April 30th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
…but it looks like crap. Seriously. Where are the designers? This looks like cheap plastic garbage. Do these amateurs have any idea of where the market is right now?
Mobiele Telefoons » Hands on with the HTC Magic, the second Android phone. - http://bit.ly/nk9Qy Says:
April 30th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
[...] on with the HTC Magic, the second Android phone. – http://bit.ly/nk9Qy Tags: fresh, [...]
HTC Magic review! - Android Forums Says:
May 2nd, 2009 at 5:26 pm
[...] HTC Magic review – HTC Smartphones – Know Your Mobile Hands on: HTC Magic review | News | TechRadar UK http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2009/04…android-phone/ [...]
LaxerFL Says:
May 3rd, 2009 at 2:36 pm
I own a G1 and have never been happier with a product. It is extremely well built. The slide mechanism to reveal the keyboard is rugged and solid. The matte black finish is very attractive to me. I love the inclusion of some actual buttons unlike the IPhone. The keyboard works great and has a nice logical layout to the ALT keys.
Aside from battery life that could be better (but hey, this thing does A LOT and I use it heavily so I can live with it) and the trackball not being the most accurate (but still good enough for moving amongst links in webpages) my only real complaint is the lack of 3g coverage in my area. I know TMobile’s 3g network is in its infancy so I expect it will get here eventually. And once I conditioned the battery via the tips on the G1 forums, I got an extra 2 to 5 hours of battery life depending on use. If I’m just texting and talking battery life is comparable to any cell phone. It is having Wi-Fi and GPS turned on that really drain the battery. Simple web browsing via EVDO doesn’t have much impact.
The Market is full of mostly free, totally useful apps, and the user rating system so far has been pretty accurate.
All in all I couldn’t be happier with my first computer phone as I call phones of this ilk. Its push mail alerts me to new email before the webmail page can sometimes. The threaded text messaging conversations is so far beyond what I had with my Razer, I don’t know how I lived without it. The camera is perfectly fine for a cell phone. I wouldn’t replace my Digital Camera with it, but I never expected to do so. The inclusion of a 1GB SD card was a nice surprise as was the very nice case. The touch screen is very responsive and having used a few friend’s IPhones, I don’t miss multi-touch capabilities one bit. The screen is gorgeous, bright, and vibrant. The notification bar is top notch, providing all kinds of pertinent information with simple access.
All in all I’m completely satisfied with my G1. TMobile’s customer support has been a joy to deal with. Prompt, friendly, and helpful. Compared to Altel, Sprint, and a few others I’ve dealt with in the past, TMobile is AMAZING!
Maybe you guys reviewed an earlier revision of the G1? Or maybe you just have bad taste…
JonB Says:
May 7th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
But LaxerFL, this is a review of a G2, not a G1, you nitwit. Most of the comments were positive too – so where does your “bad taste” comment come from? Most people would agree that white is not the new black (and you’d probably agree too given *your* choice of black for your G1)

Much love,

Jonb
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EddyWilliams Says:
January 18th, 2011 at 8:25 pm
This phone is just amazing! Android is a perfect OS for gadgets like this. The only thing that annoys me about this phone is that the mic is situated on the back side so sometimes background noises sound louder than your voice to the person you’re talking to.

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November 22nd, 2011 at 12:53 pm
The phone looks ok, im a big HTC fan I currently have a htc desire and it works pretty well.