Looking for a new phone and I just can’t justify the cost of an iPhone so looking for a lower priced alternative.

The HTC Magic has caught my eye at £25 month (‘free’ phone)…

So how is battery life / is the browser user interface good and easy to use (especially zoom and navigation)

…should I look somehwere else (Nokia 5800 ?)

opinions welcome

where is the htc £25 a month and who with?

vodafone…
£25 HTC Magic

just realised that this isn’t the ‘latest’ that I’d read about i.e. the Hero…guess that will cost a few quid more

My girlfriend has one and she loves it. I think she pays £25 a month with Vodafone.

It has some excellent apps and features and all round seems a tidy phone.

Battery life – if wifi and GPS are turned off it can last a couple days. If they are turned on and the phone is being used heavily (video, etc) then battery life goes down to 3-4 hours. About the same as an iPhone really. I believe it improves in the first six months.

Build quality seems good, my only dislike with it is the sensitivity of the touch screen. I personally don’t think it’s quite as good as the iPhone. The scrolling isn’t as smooth either, but it’s still pretty good.

The possibilities opened up with 3g are excellent though – I think it’s pretty good value for what it is.

I have got a nokia 5800. Battery is shocking when using satnav or watching films but when all said and done it is a small battery. Just listening to music and using it as a phone its not too bad. There are some neat free little apps for it as well.

If you get one get a car charger as well. You will need it.

The HTC Hero is the current Android phone of choice, due out in a couple of weeks hopefully. Orange, apparantely, are doing it free probably from £40 tariffs, estimate £100 at the £25 tariff… no confirmation of that yet though.

All smartphone battery life is the same, I have the XDA Orbit (HTC P3300) and I get the same as reported by flipiddy, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth all consume power but you can turn those on as you need them. In the car GPS & Bluetooth are on, but a car charger sorts that… an essential.

There are plenty of video reviews of the Magic which can give some indication of the fluidity of the controls and responsiveness. Android itself is a brilliant platform and fully customizable (unlike the iPhone) and the HTC Sense of the Hero is just wicked. Most of the Apps for the Android are free, again unlike the iPhone.

I'm holding out for a Hero… 😉 …(sim free)

I've got a G1 updated with v1.5 software (same as magic, but I like the hardware keyboard of the G1).
I love it, but the hero does looks even better (although I can probably get the Hero software running on my G1….).

I have a 5800 and love it. Guess it is a bit of a poor/tight/anti-Apple mans Iphone but TBH it does 90% of what the iphone does plus it has expandable memory, replaceable battery, uses Symbian and is not made by Apple.

I thought this was going to be a TdF spoiler.

ooh – my thread has come back….

well since I asked I went wild and ordered a N97….but now Vodafone how made a mess of the upgrade order / not sent it…(called customer services 4 times today…each time they 'lost' me whilst transferring to somebody who might have been able to sort it out….so now I'm looking for a new network too! (iPhone re-enters the contest)

In which case, having tried Orange, Vodafone, O2 and seen a friends experiences with 3, and heard enough about T-Mobile… I can thoroughly recommend…

O2

ps. Of course, with all network providers… it all depends on the coverage where it's important for you.

pps. SIM free is cheaper than a contract… and you've no contract.