Ooh not one but three phones from Futiro have come Skypegear's way for testing. The Solo, Terra and Luna are Futiro's answer to an all too common problem which plagues some phones (not just Skype ones): they tend to sometimes look like they have fallen out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down. Not so these three beauties, who wouldn't look at all out of place in the offices of a designer architects or swanky boutique. Skypegear got all three to have a play with...

To sum up the differences between them very quickly:

Luna

Corded desktop phone, includes numerical keypad for making Skype calls and speakerphone

Terra

Corded desktop phone, no numerical keypad, just buttons for placing and ending calls and scrolling up and down contacts

Solo

Corded phone designed for the traveller, with neat cable store and handy travelling pouch. No numerical keypad on this one either.

Out of the box/setup

Opening the box is an experience in itself; each phone has been carefully packed away in a faux velvet enclosure, with vulgar additions such as the cabling and installation CDs stowed underneath out of sight. Installation was the same for all three phones: just pop the mini-CD into the drive, marvel at the slick Flash introduction, and click to install the drivers and dialler for Skype.

I did run into a little problem with my Vista PC; basically to run the installer on Vista you just need to right click on the CD within 'Computer', click explore, and click on the 'fscommand' folder. Then you right click on “futirousb_setup.exe”, click 'properties', and then under the 'Compatibility' tab select “Run this program in compatibility mode” box and select “Windows XP (Service Pack 2)”. Then when you click on 'fscommand' it runs perfectly. Shame it didn't work with Vista out of the box, especially considering everything else is so slick in the presentation, but I'm sure that will be resolved soon enough. Full instructions on this can be found here.

In use

First up was the Solo, a phone aimed squarely at the traveller. Its minimalist four button setup (which is shared by the Terra), allow you to scan quickly through your contacts to choose the right one, and then place and end calls. The cable tidy is a really neat feature; it operates in a similar way to the way cables are stored on many vacuum cleaners - you wrap the cable around a groove which runs round the outside of the device, and then click the USB into place. In addition this phone comes with a neat little carry pouch, and the whole package would quite easily fit into your trouser pocket.

The Terra is considerably larger than the Solo, and is designed to sit solidly on your desk as a home or office phone. Aside from the different form factor, the phone provided a similarly excellent call quality. The coiled springy cable provided ample stretch for moving around whilst talking, and as with the Solo, simply pressing any button brought Skype to the fore, where it was easy to scroll through contacts and choose the appropriate one.

Finally the Luna completes the lineup. The added keypad was a real bonus for me as I often dial numbers that aren't in my address book. The addition of a 'back' button was also welcome, especially for clearing a number if I typed it incorrectly. It also adds a speakerphone to the lineup, which although not hugely powerful, was fine for a reasonably quiet office environment and picked up my voice above ambient background noise with no problem at all.

Conclusion

For me, of these three the Solo is the real killer phone, providing as it does a small, stylish and convenient tool that you can stash away in your luggage and just plug in when you want to make a call.

However, the Terra and Solo also provide a stylish way to make Skype calls when you're at home, and it is refreshing to hold a Skype phone that feels as solid and well made as both of these do. Whilst there have been many excellent cordless Skype phones released onto the market, these phones from Futiro really do stand out and make a statement.

All three phones are now available in the Skype store, the Solo priced at E60/ £30, the Terra at £33.95 / E50, and the Luna at £47.95 / E70. According to Futiro’s website, all three phones are also available for shipping to the US for $65 (Solo), $55 (Terra), and $75 (Luna), those US prices excluding tax and shipping.

For more information, check out this interview with the Futiro guys at CES 2007, conducted by the great US site Geek News Central: