HTC Magic Android phone

What's Hot:
Fast, responsive touch-screen; more physical buttons - including a "back" key - than the iPhone; better than iPhone for multitasking (running more than one bit of software at once); very user-friendly; tight integration with Google apps; digital compass orientates Google Maps to the direction you're standing.

What's Not
Doesn't support latest Google search engine features, such as sort-by-date; AppWorld less populated than AppStore; no 3.5mm headphone jack; puny memory.

Price: $1099 | Network: Vodafone 3G |Release: June 26

Vodafone’s HTC Magic is the first cellphone to be released in New Zealand that runs on Google’s Android operating system.

In fact, so far, the HTC Magic is pretty much the world’s only Android phone, and because it runs on the 900MHz and 2100MHz bands, it's primarily suited to Vodafone (Telecom uses 850MHz nationwide, and 2100MHz for extra bandwidth in cities, allowing for only limited Sim-card hopping potential) in this case).

Expect all carriers to have an Android phone by the end of the year as Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and LG release Google phones worldwide.

And, more intriguingly, there’s also potential for at least one of our telcos to carry an Android-powered netbook. Asus has already demo’d a device running the coming netbook version of Google’s OS; release is expected in October.

For now, we have the HTC Magic.

It has immediately become one of my favourite phones.

It reminds me of using a Palm or iPhone for the first time. That is to say, with Android, Google has been able to design a phone interface from scratch, unencumbered by any baggage. The Android interface is simple, clever and fast, from basic tasks like juggling call options and contacts to its many online options.

I found the big touchscreen user-friendly, barely every missed a key on the virtual keyboard easy to use, and the Magic is quick to auto-reorientate if you tip it over to use the screen in horizontal mode. You don't get the "pinch" and other iPhone multitouch tricks, but the virtual keyboard always appears when needed, scrolling is as easy as a flick of your finger, and the Menu hardkey always throws up useful, context-sensitive options.

Famously, the Android interface gives you one-tap access to Gmail, Maps, Talk, Latitude (which uses the Magic's GPS to put your location, and that of friends, on a Google Map) and other Google apps. After taking a picture on the Magic’s 3.2mP camera, you can upload it directly to Picasa; after filming a video you can upload it directly to YouTube - via the Magic’s built-in wi-fi, or over a 3G cellular connection.

That magical compass mode in full
Sure, you can set up almost any smartphone to interface directly with most Google apps with a little finagling. But Android offers a quick, elegant implementation.

Also, there’s simply no phone (at least, until the iPhone 3G S arrives here in NZ) that can match the HTC Magic’s drop-dead party piece.

Thanks to its digital compass and built-in accelerometer, the HTC Magic lets you enter a Google Maps Street View of a particular location, then automatically adjusts the onscreen view as you physically move the phone. If you turn to face north, the Street View also twirls to face north. It looks, very, very cool, and also happens to be useful if you’re in an unfamiliar urban canyon and want to know which way (or which side of the Street View street) is which. Or if you just want to take a virtual tour of, say, Trafalgar Square.

Android’s open approach is also a breath of fresh air. Just as Apple has AppStore, Google has Android Marketplace, where you can browse through thousands of apps, some paid, most free. It’s much newer, and thus less developed and with undeniably less choice and scope than AppStore (and it’s certainly much less supported by local developers at this point). But nevertheless you still stand a good chance of finding an Android equivalent of your favourite iPhone app.

Call quality is strong and clear.

What’s wrong with it: hardware
As I’ve said, the HTC Magic is one of my favourite phones. It’s smartly designed interface makes it a joy to use. But it’s not perfect.

In terms of hardware deficiencies specific to the Magic, there’s no front-mounted camera. Personally, I don’t miss this facility for making video calls (which will also be absent from the iPhone 3G S, although it will be able to record video on its front-facing camera).

For the most part, people simply don’t make video calls; sociological factors (“You’re busy, right? That’ll be why you’re in your pyjamas with bit of croissant on your lip?”) usually over-ride the technical advantages.

The Magic can't be tethered to a laptop to work as a 3G modem.

And while the Magic’s still digital camera, at 3.2 megapixels, is higher rez than the iPhone 3G’s 2mP, 3.2mP is pretty average for a smart phone these days when higher-end models from Nokia, Samsung and others run to 5mP or 8mP (the iPhone 3G S will be 3.2mP).

Shutter speed was sluggish, which is again typical of a camera phone, but not a drawback shared by all (the Nokia E75 is notable for its instant pics).

The Magic has no standard 3.5mm jack for earphones (although it comes bundled with a pair of earbuds that connect via the phone's mini USB port; there's also support for stereo Bluetooth if you're set for wireless audio).

Most glaringly, onboard memory is restricted to a measly 512MB. You can bump that up with BYO SD cards, but that’s an annoying scenario and hinders the Magic’s competitiveness at a time when the iPhone 3G S is going to run to 16GB and 32GB models.

What’s wrong with it: software
 Although Search features front and centre on the Android home screen, the “Show options” link recently added to the full-blooded version of Google is absent (a rep says it will be added to Android soon). That’s a pity, because you miss out on PC users’ newfound ability to filter Google results by date, or display them using the time line or context-revealing wonder wheel.

Nor can you directly access a personalised iGoogle page (although you can indirectly through the Magic's web browser).

Happily - in the end - I was able to access my Google Apps Pro account mail directly.

A note for brand nerds
Branding wise, poor HTC barely gets a look in at this party.

The Taiwanese phone maker’s badge is absent from the handset, which features a Vodafone logo on the front, and a Google logo on the back.

At boot up - where Nokia loves to plaster its name, for instance, HTC is again absent.
I’m guessing LG, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson are going to be a little more assertive with their Android phones.

See the HTC Magic's full features and tec specs here.

UPDATE: In response to reader questions about the Magic's size relative to the iPhone, there are the two handsets.

The Magic is half a centimetre narrower than the iPhone, and a shade shorter, but also slightly chunkier (for the record, the Magic measures 113 x 55.56 x 13.65 mm; the iPhone 3G 115.5 mm x 62.1 mmx 12.3 mm. The Magic weighs 116g, the iPhone 3G 135g).

The iPhone has the larger screen, and it's crisper, too, but personally I prefer the extra useability afforded by the Magic's six hard buttons, and roller, below its display:

And again, this time with a BlackBerry Bold - RIM's widebody model - thrown into the mix: