I won’t argue that there are some great VoIP and chat services better than Skype. For better or worse though, I keep coming back to my first love and have stuck with Skype as my primary voice and chat service. Last year, I caught news of Skype handsets from several manufacturers: Linksys, Belkin and Netgear. Each and every time the idea of a WiFi Skype handseat appealed to me in every way except for the price. I simply thought the cost was too high for a single-function device when I could use the same service on several devices I already had.
Maybe a hands-on review will change my mind. Perhaps the experience is well worth the three-figure priced tag. As a prior Netgear Blogger-in-Residence, Dave Zatz hooked me up with a review unit. Let’s put the Netgear SPH-101 through the grind, shall we?
So what do you get in the box? The SPH-101 handset of course, an 840 mAh battery, the A/C charger which has a mini-USB plug on the end, a CD and manual. The unit itself is nice; not flashy, but not terrible to look at either. The SPH-101 is has a candybar form factor and measures in at 4.33 x 1.81 x .76 inches. It’s not too big by any means as it fits in my smaller-than-average hands. Here are some comparison pics of the Skype phone next to my XV6700 and T-Mobile Dash:
The front face has a small color display and a basic backlit keypad for alpha-numeric input. You also have both a green and red phone button, used for call pickup and hangup, respectively. Above those buttons are left and right softkeys, similar in function to the Windows Mobile softkeys: as you move through various menus, these key functions change as needed. Between those keys you have a small up/down joystick pointer. I found it to be usable, but might be improved by some better travel: it sits flush with the front face and I sometimes found myself struggling with it. You can push the joystick in as a selection tool, which is nice
The intent of the SPH-101 is to provide the Skype experience without a computer connection. You never have to dock or attach the unit to a PC, which is definitely a great feature. The Skype software is built right in to the unit as is an 802.11g wireless radio. If you have an older 802.11b network, the device is of course backwards compatible to the slower WiFi standard. You can use the SPH-101 to connect to protected WiFi networks if they use WEP or WPA-PSK security; once you set these up with the passkey, the phone will remember it in the "Preferred Networks" settings, so you don’t need to enter it in the future. Overall, setup is a breeze and I was happy to see that. Although these phones likely appeal more to savvy computer users, ease of setup for mainstream consumers will go a long way towards adoption.
Call quality will vary based on the Skype P2P network and the WiFi network you use. For some of my test calls, I went as far from my routers as I could while still staying inside and I noticed little to no degradation in the call. Your experience will differ as in various situations and environments, but overall, I was impressed by the internal radio; you can always see the wireless signal strength in the top left of the screen.
The Skype experience is nearly identical to what you’d find when using the service on a computer; you have the same contacts, voicemail access, conference calls, presence status, and search features. About the only function that’s missing is the Skype chat feature. The hardware isn’t really equipped for chat unless Netgear and Skype decides to enable T9 chat on these types of phones. That’s not a deal-breaker, but something I’d like to see in future versions.
One feature I’m happy to see is the headphone jack on the left side, just above the volume control rocker. When using Skype on a Windows Mobile client, the sound always comes from the external speaker; there’s simply no way to use Skype like you would with a standard cell call. The headphone jack on the Netgear offering gives you the chance to hear your caller without everyone else hearing it too: a big plus.
Battery life is something we always look for in mobile devices and the 840 mAh battery is just good enough in my opinion. Compared to most cellular phones, it lags behind at 2 hours of talk time and 20 hours of standby. My testing shows those numbers to be generally accurate, but what that means is you’ll likely be charging this device every night.
If you crave a dedicated Skype phone that works at home as well as WiFi hotspots, the SPH-101 is a good candidate. Although I found that works very well for its intended purpose, I personally prefer to use Skype on a notebook computer or a Windows Mobile smartphone that I’m already carrying. For folks that might not have a handheld that can run a Skype client, this is a solid alternative.




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