Skype Gear Roadtest: Belkin Desktop Internet Phone for Skype

By Andrew Brennan on March 13, 2008 in Belkin, Desktop internet phones.

Remember that Belkin Desktop Internet Phone for Skype that was announced at CES in January? It's about to go on sale and I've had the chance to use it around my office for the past week. I think it's one of the most handsome Skype phones yet, and it's (almost) perfect in an office setting. Read on for my review.

###First Impressions

The box from Belkin includes the phone base, handset, cord for handset, ethernet cable, AC adapter and user manual on CD. Taking the phone out of the box, I was first struck by how handsome the Desktop Internet Phone is. Belkin has created a phone that's quite sleek with the handset bit almost floating off to the side. The phone itself is small but the buttons are plenty big and offer good tactile feedback. The screen is also small but very sharp and easy to read. The stand (which you snap in when you take it out of the box) puts the phone at a nice angle; the phone can also be mounted to a wall.

In addition to the keypad, the phone has buttons to adjust the volume (of the caller when you're in a call or the ringer when you're not in a call), two soft buttons to make selections on screen, a four-way navigation button with central select button, a mute button, a hold button, a speakerphone button, and a redial / outgoing call list button.

###Functionality

When you first turn on the Desktop Internet Phone, you need to select a language, agree to Skype's terms and conditions, and sign in or create a new account. You input text as on a mobile through the phone's keypad. You can save your username and password, or choose to enter your password each time.

Upon sign in (complete with standard 'Skype-whoosh' sound), you see a home screen showing your Skype name, the amount of SkypeOut credit you have left, the time and your Skype status. You can change your status and also set a mood message within the interface (though you can't have text chats). By default the screen times out after a minute, though you can set it to be on for up to 5 minutes without use.

In the main menu you can view your contacts and add new ones, adjust your Skype and network options, and check your SkypeOut, SkypeIn and Voicemail status. Firmware updates are automatically installed on the device, which is useful.

When you're making calls, the handset cord is long enough to use on your desk with ease. That's my 'normal' office phone next to the Desktop Internet Phone in the photo above. While the Desktop Internet Phone's handset is small, it's no problem to hold it against your ear for 'hands-free' calling. Call quality was very good. Having the phone plugged directly into my router meant I didn't have to worry that a weak wireless signal could degrade call quality.

I also really liked how the Desktop Internet Phone is always signed in whether your computer is on or not. As I've learned with my 3 Skypephone, it's just really nice to have Skype always on. It makes me use Skype a lot more. And as the Desktop Internet Phone supports SkypeIn and SkypeOut, it's easy to create a new 'phone line' for your business or another specific purpose. Having the number pad means you (or any of your less tech-savvy friends) can just dial like a normal phone (even though there's no dial tone--you need to press the green call button after inputing a number).

The one feature that's missing from the phone that one might want in an office setting is call transfer. Last year Skype added call transfer to the Windows and Mac versions of Skype, but it hasn't appeared in any embedded devices yet (though perhaps a firmware update will add it; we'll have to wait and see). With call transfer you could use several phones like this in a small office (that isn't limited by geography), with a receptionist to transfer Skype or SkypeIn calls to the right person.

###Conclusion

The Belkin Desktop Internet Phone for Skype is a great all-around phone that would work really well in a home or office setting. It's also great for people who prefer the reliability of a traditional-style phone--and the fact that you always know where it is. And it's oh so stylish. The Belkin Desktop Internet Phone for Skype goes on sale later this month in the Skype Shop and elsewhere.

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Comments

I am somewhat amazed with this review since the pictures are most unimpressive to me for one. However, the reviewer's hands on report must be accepted as he has had the practical experience. All in all it seems reasonable but has drawbacks compared to other phones for Skype already in use here in the UK. The advantage may well be the fact it can be connected to the Xbox or similar equipment. In all, Skype is good since I first embarked so, what are the future plans. Good talking to you all.

Thanks for the insight on this product.

I find it a nice item myself and since a couple of days I try to purchase one.
This sounds easier as it is.

Beeing a German citizen, I was informed by the local BELKIN office that the phone wont be available in Germany because of the small market.

OK, I thought, we have a globalized world, I will buy the phone in the US.
But the resellers there only ship within North America.

So it seems to me I have to travel to the US to buy this phone - can this be real?

Any ideas?

Regards

Frank from Germany - potential desktop phone user

I bought this 2 days ago and really like it. There is a review by rayboy that details the pros and cons pretty well. (This review above is not very critical...)

It has some *issues*:
If you move to a different router, it doesn't very gracefully update its Dynamic DHCP settings. I actually had to force it by setting it as static to my new router and then switching it back to Dynamic. (DUMB BELKIN. VERY DUMB.)

And also, at one point it just died. Not while I was using it but I noticed it was black and didn't light up when I touched a button. I moved the power to a different strip and it has been fine now for a day.

This device is, however, exactly what I need. I work from home, don't like paying monthly fees for fixed lines, and need a general "voicemail" line as well as a system for international calling. This is the thing!

It should be priced at more in the $50 range - like a router. It has about $5 worth of phone parts, and maybe $10 worth of networking parts.

As for you sir, in Germany, please come spend some money in the US. George has spent all of ours in Iraq... (No, actually, I read a review by a guy in Kuwait who bought one of these and it was Fed Exed to him there!)

I am in two minds about buying another product from Belkin for use with Skype.
A long time user of Skype, I was first in line to get the Belkin Skype Wi-fi phone and although it still works, the call quality and sluggish (sometimes hanging) user-interface are terrible. I have a decent internet connection and wireless router. The lag on the wifi phone is something which I am nervous about and whether the LAN desktop phone by belkin will be any better?

Can anybody shed some light on the call quality and interface stability of this new gadget?

This phone is great. "Fly_John" don't hesitate, I have been very satisfied with all features of this phone. I have had no issues whatsoever with the phone being sluggish.

Some people have complained about the speaker phone, but it is crystal clear on the phone I just purchased. I found it on sale at Fry's and paid a good price as well.

The display is just the right size and easy to read, the numbers to dial are large but not too large.

The only issue thus far has been the voicemail. It seemed to work when I had my computer skype and the skype phone on at the same time, but I was told the ringing just abruptly stops if I don't have my computer skype also logged in.

I don't think it is an issue with the phone and I am new to skypein so we will see what needs to be done.

Anyway, once again I am very pleased with my purchase of this phone and the skype service.

Frank (geograph_75) Amazon.co.uk will ship to DE and now has the phone in stock.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-F1PP010ENeaSK-Skype-Desktop-Phone/dp/B001C0LD6W

- Eric

Been using the product for about a week.

Over all I think the size of the unit is great. Fits neatly on my desk. Assuming you plug it into an ethernet port on your base station/router (and not directly into your computer, which won't work since it needs an ip address to be generated for it), it operates without any issues.

My gripes are these:

Because it has to be physically connected to a router/base station, it limits its usefulness. A wireless internet phone would be awesome.

I can no longer "dial with Skype" from Address Book on my iMac and then pick up the handset once it's dialed. I have to look up numbers and manually enter them. This slows me down a lot since I have lots of calls to make each day. Hopefully someone will fix this in the future and restore this functionality. Although the product has a small color screen, it's pretty impractical to use it to search for contacts; using "dial with Skype" pluggin and a headset is still the way to go if you need to dial frequently.

Another irritation is that I have to press the + button and 1 before dialing any US numbers. You should be able to change the default dialing in the phone so you don't have to dial this every time.

Also, since the + is shared with the 0 on the same key, and because you have to press the key twice to get to the 0 and wait a second before pressing it again, dialing a number like +1 800 222 000 usually means I key in something like +1 8++ 222 ++++, which obviously won't go through. You have to key slowly and deliberately to avoid this problem.

Finally, the handset doesn't rest in the craddle as well as I would like.

This might seem like a negative review. Over all I think it's a good product and hopefully some of the current limitations can be improved over time with software improvements.

I am having a huge amount of problems with the desktop phone losing its connection to the internet. This pretty much mirrors the experience I am having with my other Belkin phone, a wireless version. I know I have things set up, because initially (after I reset my router and then reboot my Belkin phone) I get connected and am able to make calls. For about 2 minutes. I see some posts above about statically allocating IP addresses, but I mean really folks, why is this thing so hard to use. Must one be a computer geek? I must have missed that in the advert.

Overall, I think the Belkin Desktop Internet Phone for Skype works well. The sound quality is as good as a landline phone. I agree with the annoyance of having to dial a "+" before the rest of the phone number. A setting to eliminate this step would be helpful.
One issue that I found is the touchtone. When trying to access my work voicemail on the company's phone system remotely, it doesn't recognize the tones when trying to enter my password. The same thing happened when trying to enter a number to navigate through a vendor's customer phone service. I hear the tone when I push a button, but nothing happens. Any suggestions?

Please see my entry on the forum:

http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=449661&st=0#entry2049061

I'm having trouble getting the amount of Skype Credit to display on this Belkin phone. It formerly worked OK. Otherwise, it has been trouble free once I got enough upload bandwidth.

To mary.bill.94070

To resolve the touchtone issue, change to cable broadband. If using DSL high speed, it won't work. When I switched to Cox cable broadband internet, it recognizes the tones.

Hope that helps.

To jonnoagnew

To solve the frequently dial phone #, use "contact" feature. You can then select the desired ph # and dial accordingly.

Add the frequently dail ph # in contact and you are good to go.