Belkin Wi-Fi phone for Skype

It seems like it will only be a matter of time before everyone is using Skype (www.skype.com). Its VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service is easy to use, it’s free to call other Skype members and it has brought internet telephony to the forefront of the public’s consciousness, catching the imaginations of many computer users – especially those with hefty phone bills.

This Wi-Fi handset from Belkin has the Skype software already installed on it, so as long as you’ve got an always-on broadband connection connected to a Wi-Fi router, you don’t even need to have your PC switched on to ring-up or receive calls from your Skyped-up chums.

Features
Although Belkin has produced the sleek, matt rubber-look black box that you hold in your hand, the software installed on it is all Skype’s, and virtually identical to the software installed on Netgear’s shiny white phone (reviewed in Issue 148). The unit is ever so slightly thinner than Netgear’s, but adds a half centimetre to the width and height. The screen is the same size, though not quite so clear, but you probably wouldn’t notice if you didn’t have them side by side as we have for this review.

Performance
Dimensions and colour may not be that important to you, but performance probably is. We could find little difference between this and the Netgear phone in terms of the call quality, which we think is comparable to calling a landline from a mobile phone. However, when not in use we found the phone had some difficulty staying connected to our Wi-Fi network so incoming calls might not always find their way through.

Ease of use
As long as you know your Wi-Fi settings, getting started with this device could hardly be easier. You can register for a Skype account through the phone if you don’t already have one. The display on the device then neatly replicates what PC-based Skype users see – your contacts are automatically transferred to the phone so you can see who’s online and ready to receive a call.

Value for money
Our main criticism with the Netgear phone was its price. This Belkin model pulls the cost down somewhat, but it’s still not a cheap piece of kit. It also doesn’t feel quite as expensive as Netgear’s truly solid phone, but if you’re simply looking for phone call performance, as we suspect most Skype users will be, then this offers better value for money.