HTC Magic Review

When Google... let me correct myself, Android platform was launched, it was dubbed the Google phone. The phone was supposed to be the iPhone, BlackBerry and Palm killer. The Android phone could not kill them—not because it’s not a great platform, but due to its limited availability. Earlier in July 2009, HTC launched its second phone on the Android platform, called the HTC Magic. Though initially available only through Airtel, now it is available across the market and is a brilliantly done up phone.

The feel in hand is that of a quality device, the low weight immediately felt. There is no keyboard, except six buttons and a scroll ball in the centre that lights up for alerts. All other features are touch screen based. Like most of the modern phones, this gizmo also features an accelerometer, which enables both the keyboard and the screen direction to change, and the qwerty keyboard in the landscape mode is one of the prettier ones around.

The web browsing experience on the phone is brilliant: the search bar and address bar are integrated. If you think iPhone had solved all browsing issues on a phone, you should check out the Magic. It is much better. The camera is pretty decent on the phone, but does not have a flash. At 3.2 megapixels, you get some crisp shots in the outdoors. The media handling and connectivity were all really good, and now the Magic also supports Microsoft Exchange, so you have brilliant office features too.

The battery lasted me roughly one full day on heavy usage, and I had to put it on charging only the second day, which I loved. I am not sure why HTC can’t figure out a way to insert the Micro SD Card from outside, without opening the back cover. But keeping the design in view, I did not mind opening the back cover to change my Micro SD Card. Another downer is the fact that there is no 3.5 mm jack. The hands-free plugs into the USB port and is a proprietary one.

This, my friends, is a bestseller. So if you are a Google fan and did not want an Apple device for whatever reasons you had, and the other iPhone killers were nowhere near what all you wanted, get your hands on this one. Airtel has a cool deal with this phone if you buy it from them, but otherwise it is available for Rs 29,900 in the open market. Find out more here

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The above article appeared in the Open Magazine, Issue Dated 14th August 2009.