The first Google Android phone appeared as the T-Mobile G1 at the end of '08, and it was a good six months before the HTC Magic followed it on Vodafone, which gave plenty of time for improvements. It's lost some weight, looks sleeker, plus it packs in improved memory, a 3.2 megapixel camera and stereo Bluetooth.

The weight loss is largely due to excising the slide-out QWERTY keypad, which brings it down to a pocket-friendly 113mm x 55mm x14mm and 119g. Beneath the touchscreen are four hard keys: call start and stop, home, menu, back and search on either side of the tactile trackball.
That odd little chin at the bottom is still there, simply to make the device look more distinctive apparently, but it's a little less pronounced, which has got to be a good thing.

Touch screen

The 3.2in 320 x 480-pixel QVGA touch screen might not be quite as big as the iPhone's, but it's clear, sharp, and offers plenty of space for viewing web pages and video. Sensitivity is good too, easily telling the difference between a brush to move the screen around and a press to access functions.

Few will mourn the loss of the QWERTY keyboard since the onscreen version is more than capable. It works best in landscape mode (the onboard accelerator will switch the screen resolution automatically when you turn it on its side) which allows the keys a bit more room to breathe, and the screen is sensitive enough to make finding them easy, even with brickies' thumbs.

It runs the Android OS, of course, which features the latest Cupcake version of the user interface (which adds that touch screen keyboard). You can still add app icons to the home screen by dragging and dropping them from the apps menu though, which is our favourite bit. It's quick enough too, though it still uses the Qualcomm 528MHz processor.

RAM memory's the same at 192MB but the ROM has been doubled up to 512MB, allowing more room for storing apps on the phone's memory. There's a 2GB microSD memory card supplied (it can take up to 8GB).

Browser

The quad-band HTC Magic offers full HSDPA 3G 7.2Mbps downloads (which Vodafone offers in seven UK cities as well as most major airports), as well as WiFi for broadband access.

All of which helps the browser, which is neatly integrated, with a zoom option appearing when you tap the screen. There's also a magnifying window which you can use to focus on a particular section of a web page. There's a handy Youtube app that makes searching the video site easy, and also allows you to instantly upload your own vids, though there's no native support for Flash video.

Camera

The camera is the same 3.2 megapixel number from the T1 and it's okay, but hardly state of the art in these days when even the iPhone has a 3 megapixel camera. It's pretty basic as far as features go – you point, you shoot, without the benefit of touch focus, smile detection or any of the other fancy features appearing on camphones these days.

Picture quality isn't bad, but in common with many older HTC handsets, there's a distracting delay when you move the viewfinder, and pictures can often look a fuzzy and lacking in sharpness. Video recording drops the quality level still lower, blurring all too easily and with too much noise in low light conditions.

Media

The music player is the same as the T1's and again it's okay, though we'd have liked a graphic equaliser to help tailor the sound. The supplied headphones use the USB slot and there's no 3.5mm jack plug, to upgrade them you'll need an adaptor or use wireless ones via the stereo Bluetooth link.

The GPS is backed by Google Maps and a digital compass, allowing it to perform a cool trick in Streetview - you can get a 360 degree view of the area simply by turning around, without the need to brush the screen.

Android Market might still be your local corner shop compared to the Tesco of Apple's App Store but there are still hundreds to choose from, many of them free.

Battery life isn't great however, and it barely managed a day and a half of moderate use before it needed a recharge.

The HTC Magic leapfrogs ahead of the original G1 with its fine onscreen keyboard, slimline design, improved browser, GPS and operating system. HTC hasn't produced an Android-powered iPhone killer yet, but it's getting there.