Palm Pre vs HTC Magic
It's the long-awaited return to form from the old masters of the PDA versus Android's new kid on the block. Here we take a quick stat-by-stat look at the Palm Pre and the HTC Magic, two hotly anticipated touchscreens and see how they measure up.
The Palm Pre is powered by Palm's own WebOS platform, which runs very smoothly and will be a breath of fresh air for those fed up of having to navigate through multitudes of maze-like menus. Entering a name initiates a search of the entire phone, through every single application, so if you want to call a friend on your phone, send an SMS, Facebook message or email, then you can do so from one simple search.
As its name suggests, the WebOS is optimised for mobile internet access. New windows and applications open up in a 'cards' system that reminded us of Google Chrome and the X Panel interface of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1.
Tapping out messages can be done in a number of ways, either by using the touchscreen, or making use of the hidden QWERTY pad which slides out from underneath the phone.
The Pre comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack and packs a sizeable 8GB of internal memory, which should appeal to those who want to listen to music on the go. There's no memory card slot though, so there's no chance of expanding the memory should you want to.
The HTC Magic is the second Android-based handset to be launched in the UK, and comes with the same integrated Google features and tools as the T-Mobile G1. You get Google Maps with Google Streetview included, along with Gmail access, GoogleTalk and, of course, Google Search.
The HTC Magic comes with a virtual keyboard for tapping out text messages and emails, and the auto-rotate switches allowing you to type in portrait or landscape mode.
The Android Marketplace continues to grow apace, and HTC Magic customers will be able to pick and choose from hundreds of free games, widgets and other cool stuff right out of the box.
Internal memory is a mere 512MB, but the memory card slot can comfortably hold microSD cards up to 8GB in size. The lack of a 3.5mm headphone slot means you're relegated to using the proprietary headphones. If you have a wireless headset though, you can pair up with the Magic thanks to Bluetooth Stereo support.
Conclusion
In our opinion it's all about user experience and so we'd have to say that the Palm Pre wins out here. It does pretty much everything the HTC Magic does, only with a lot more style. We love the fact that the Pre is so easy to use and that searching for contacts provides you with a list of communications options.
