Skypegear Roadtest: SMC WSKP100 WiFi phone for Skype

SMC's WSKP100 is a standalone Wifi phone designed specifically for making Skype calls. No cables or PC are needed, just charge it up, secure it to your network, and it's ready for calling. Can it really be that simple? Skypegear got one to check out this week...

Out of the box

The SMC is a pretty self-contained piece of hardware, and arrives much as you might expect a mobile phone to arrive: with just a charger and headphones, as well as a CD with all the necessary documentation. It's understated, and all the fancy stuff happens within that small white box, so there's no need for any peripherals, hubs or anything similar. Size-wise I'd say the SMC is somewhere between a normal-sized mobile and a standard DECT home phone; certainly small enough to take out of the house for use abroad, but nonetheless a good pocketful.

Powering up

A friendly picture of a sun greets you when you power up, and after the usual disclaimers the phone immediately rolls up its sleeves and starts scanning for Wifi networks. If it finds any unsecured networks will ask you to choose one, and attempt to connect using this one.

If you elect not to, or if there aren't any unsecured networks available, you then have the option to sign in to a secure network which involves typing in the necessary security code and SSID for your network. Typing in long codes like this is of course a little bit fiddly on a phone, but you should only need to do it once: In fact I took the battery out of the phone for a full 15-20 seconds, and when I replaced it it immediately found my secure home network and logged me on without prompting me for any passkey.

The reassuring sound of Skype starting up greets you as the main Skype screen pops up:

The menus give you access to a kind of 'lite' version of Skype which has all the functionality you need for voice-based communication, including:

Setting your Skype status (Away, Do Not Disturb etc)
Accepting invites from users, inviting people and searching for users
Voicemail
User profiles (not including user pictures)

Calling

Call quality was very good; of course I found there were pockets of my flat where Wifi didn't seem to penetrate as well as it should have done which resulted in either the call cutting out a bit or my voice becoming a bit squeaky, but quality was noticeably better than my mobile which will only ever reward me with two bars of reception in my flat in the small, off-the-beaten-track village I live in called London. Having a built in rechargeable battery means you can recharge the phone just by plugging it into the wall via the standard mini-USB just like you would a mobile.

Overall

The SMC is a no-nonsense way to make Skype calls. I can say something about it which could be taken as a negative comment but which I mean as a positive. After about 2 days of using it, I didn't even think about it as a wifi phone: it became a de facto way for me to make calls. It's important for me to point out that you can't make emergency calls on this phone so you'd need to keep some way to do that such as a landline, but apart from that it works very well.

I was also impressed that I could keep chatting or calling on Skype on the PC whilst my girlfriend spoke on the SMC phone in the living room, without a noticeable degradation in call quality (at least for me, and she seemed happy enough!). Wifi provider The Cloud recently announced that their European wifi network would work with this phone (it won't work with all wifi providers, as if there is web-based signup involved this phone doesn't have a web browser on it). I haven't yet had a chance to try it out and about in London using it from a Cloud hotspot, so I'd be interested to hear of anyone who has had experience of this.

For more reviews and opinion, check out Trustedreviews overview, as well as a short review at Hardware Zone. The SMC WSKP100 is available from Savastore for a rather good £100.82 inc. VAT, via Jakob Elektronik in Germany for €187,70, or via Cost Central in the US for $162.87 with free shipping. Alternatively, check out SMC's list of distributors in the US for more places to buy from, and keep an eye out at the Skype shop where it will appear shortly.

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Comments

Stephen, good review, I am in NY, and have been using the SMC for about 6 weeks. It works great in house, in the office and most open wifi spots.

Open WiFi connections are growing in NY and I can usually get a connection and make a call.

I have found that if your in an area that has many different wifi spots, the phone will automatically find a connection if the current connection drops.

I have heard that NY will soon have mass WiFi so i think this will be a vey good buy.

We have the SMC WSKP100 in stock http://www.nycommsdirect.com/SMC-WiFi-Skype-Phone-WSKP100-p/16-0010.htm

This phone looks VERY interesting...

We are excited about trying it out... and evaluating it on our show.

Then you hit on one point that really HURTS...

If it has no built-in browser... We could have big problems. Almost every hotel and restaurant that offers a wifi network, these days, takes you to their own start page to force you to click an "I AGREE" button on their Terms of Service agreement...

If this phone cannot get past that obstacle, does that mean it can't be used in 99% of the hotels and restaurants with free wifi in the USA?

Bruce Wagner
New York City
The Bruce Wagner Show
http://brucewagner.com

The Skype Phone is now also available in the Skype shop: http://accessories.skype.com/landingpage?p=4580&page=wifi
for € 139/£ 99 inclusive FON Router, 500 minutes SkypeOut and 1 year voicemail! A real good offer!
And if you register your phone on www.wifiphone24.com now, you get another 120 minutes SkypeOut and 3 month voicemail!

Let's just say I am not too happy with is! Read my review here

http://www.random-good-stuff.com/index.php/2006/12/13/smc-review-2-weeks-later/

Now on sale at amazon for a shockingly cheap £50! http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000JQPYKG/kelkoocpc-21/ref=nosim. Get there before they sell out!

Great review. This phone is one of the worst experiences since the invention of telecommunication. If I just drop battery live and screen quality this phone just happened to lose me business. Voice qualitiy is abysmal, frequently it complete drops voice connections and Skype support does not care a bit about that because they say it is not their product.
Stay clear of this phone and of all hardware offerings from Skype as they do not SUPPORT it.

Worst of all: this phone does not support messaging! If voice is not really an option it least it should offer a decent texting possibility. Just remember this phone cost me EUR270 in Europe. I can get a cheaper, working mobile phone overhere.

The Voicemail redirect feature on this phone does not work, even though it has an option and says it supports it. Very frustrating indeed.

Word of warning to anyone out there:

Probably the worst gadget I've ever bought. I've had the dubious honor of trying two of these units out (after the first one was replaced by SMC - not without much pain). Where to start:
1. Battery life - Nothing close to what's advertised. Both units had about 2 hours of standby time. During that time they were somewhere between warm and hot and definitely not comfortable to use.
2. The second unit I got has various other problems:
Navigation joystick does not work properly
Keypad does not work as it should - trying to enter a character that's not the first one of the key is almost impossible.
Volume button is busted - Can only take the volume down, not up
The handset does not actually ring when a call arrives, just vibrates.
The screen timeout feature does not work - the screen is constantly on (annoying).
I'm probably forgetting a few things here, but you get the message. It's been such a nightmare getting this replacement phone from SMC since I'm not in the US (Australia), although I've purchased it while in the US. I will probably not even try to replace it again (I don't have much hopes from the third handset). Will just have to make sure I never purchase any SMC product ever again.

I had it in my hands for two minutes, then I wrote to Skype to take it back.

It took 10 e-mails and one month to get my money back !

One stupid thing about the phone is that there's no table charger!!!
Others are described above here .....
(((

Nice write up but I wish my phone worked like that! I have tried it in Malaysia, Singapore and now at home in Sydney Australia and it will never connect even though it finds all the networks, and hot spots. At home it finds my Belkin N1 wireless router, I enter the Network Security Key, then phone shows "searching for wireless network" and then "joining network" then I get a warning "WiFi connection cannot connect to the internet. Do you want to continue?" If yes it tries to sign in but is unsuccussful. I hope someone can advise if I am doing something wrong before I through it in the bin???

You may need to update the firmware. Here is one site for the download - although I am not sure if this is reight for your area

http://www.smc.com/index.cfm?event=downloads.doSearchCriteria&localeCode=EN_USA&productCategory=14&modelNumber=1564&partNumber=3564&downloadType=2&knowsPartNumber=false