Who’d be a mobile phone manufacturer these days? From the moment a new phone is trundled out of the factory, and particularly if it has a touchscreen, you can be sure the inevitable comparison with Apple’s iPhone won’t be far behind.
Still, as much as it may irk HTC to hear the A-word uttered somewhere in every review of their new baby, it’s a comparison that must be drawn, and not just because Apple’s pride and joy happens to set the standard when it comes to touchscreen devices, but because the iPhone has become a platform unto itself. Take one look at the might of the iTunes Store selling music, movies, games and applications, and the allure that provides to potential customers, and it’s easy to see why iPhone stands alone.
The good news is, the HTC Magic (sometimes called the G2 and successor to the HTC G1 handset that was never released in New Zealand) is powered by the Google Android 1.5 operating system, and as such has full access to the burgeoning Android Market – Google’s version of the iTunes Store. The Market is loaded with applications ranging from games through to Twitter clients and although it doesn’t match the Apple version for slickness, there’s no denying the quantity. Either way, at this moment in time, it’s the only contender ably positioned to challenge the iTunes Store, and to our mind that gives this phone a leg up on the competition at the outset. Time will tell, of course, but for now let’s see if the handset itself shapes up.
Available in black or white, the Magic – though not quite at the luxurious level of the iPhone or even some recent Nokia handsets – is a good-looking device. It has a shiny plastic shell, six shortcut buttons and a little trackball-style Pearl for navigating when you don’t feel like using the touchscreen. A side-mounted rocker style button provides instant access to volume controls. The entire back panel slides easily off to allow access to the battery, SIM card and Micro SD card slots and the lens for the 3.2 megapixel camera resides here too.
Say goodbye to the physical keyboard of its predecessor and hello to an iPhone (there’s that word again, sorry HTC)-style QWERTY touchscreen keyboard that pops up when required. I’m a reformed keypad user so, to me, tapping away on a touchscreen feels perfectly natural, though I understand it isn’t for everyone. As far as touchscreen typing goes, however, HTC has done an excellent job. It’s fast, responsive and uses predictive text, and even though you won’t be tapping out your thesis on it, you will find it more than adequate for all your mobile computing needs.
The touchscreen itself is very good. Is it as good as the one on the iPhone? Not quite, navigation isn’t as fluid when dragging your fingers around. For hunt and peck style operation it is, however, perfect. It looks great too, with the screen both crisp and bright – although the default setting is on the low side, so forget your battery life and bump that slide right up.
Speaking of battery life, HTC says the Magic will give you up to 450 minutes of talk time using GSM and up to 420 hours of standby time. In real life we found a day of regular usage (texting, checking email, playing a few games, watching a few YouTube clips and listening to music) would sufficiently drain the battery to require a recharge at the end of each day. So, about the same as the iPhone.
The internal speaker is surprisingly good, while the bundled stereo headphones and headset (there’s a volume control and simple remote control halfway down the wire) are average at best. Sadly, HTC has opted to make the mini-USB jack (also used to connect to a PC or charger) the only means of connecting your headphones. There’s no 3.5mm jack so you can’t chuck on your favourite pair of headphones. Even Apple realised this was a bad idea and gave us all a standard 3.5mm jack on their phone.
Moving onto slightly more technical matters, the Magic features a global roaming-friendly selection of radio transmitters and receivers including quad-band GSM, dual-band UMTS and HSDPA/HSUPA. Bottom line for Kiwis? At home it’ll work with the entire Vodafone network, both 3G and Extended 3G, while overseas roaming should prove a doddle. Well, until you get the bill if you dared make a call or two while away, then you’ll regret ever taking your phone at all.
The Magic is wi-fi enabled but it’s 802.11 b/g only, there’s no n. The now obligatory (and increasingly useful thanks to the addition of third party apps via the Android Market) GPS receiver is present, as is Bluetooth (it’ll accept a stereo headset) and a digital compass. An accelerometer detects movement and, among a host of other useful applications, will automatically rotate the screen should you turn the phone on its side. Storage is handled by a Micro SD slot and it’ll take a card up to 8GB capacity.
The media player is decent, though not a patch on the media functionality of the iPhone and its tight iPod integration. It will, however, play a whole stack of different audio formats including AAC, MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG and AAC+. Video formats are limited to MP4 and 3GP.
With a Google-made operating system the HTC Magic is, unsurprisingly, at one with all that is Google, be it Gmail, Calendar, Contacts and of course Google Maps (it’s street view-enabled and when used in conjunction with the accelerometer to look around, is very cool indeed). The video camera can upload clips directly to YouTube – perfect for on-the-spot news reporting. Still photos taken with the 3.2 megapixel camera were decent and about on par with most camera phones out there.
All-in-all HTC has produced a competent and desirable handset. The Android operating system is excellent and the Android Market looks very promising. The Magic can’t quite match the iPhone in terms of form, function or sheer, unadulterated sex appeal, but it gets pretty close on most counts and manages to do some things better – running apps in the background, for instance, along with tight integration with Google services. Pricing looks to be on a par with the iPhone too. Subsidised handsets start at $319 on one of Vodafone’s new Smartphone Plans, or buying the phone outright will set you back $1,099.
The Magic is about as close as you can get to an iPhone, without actually buying one.
