Belkin Wi-Fi Phone for Skype

By Mika | Permalink |

1 comment | March 19th, 2007 | Trackback

Belkin Wi-Fi Phone for Skype Belkin’s Wi-Fi Phone for Skype looks almost like a cell phone, but provides a means of communication that was once restricted to your geeks on computers. For those of you that are familiar with Skype, this might not be a shock - if you aren’t, Skype is a computer program that allows a user to make calls from one computer to another for free. Skype has also has enabled the ability to make calls to landlines and cellular phones, all from the comfort of your computer. Minutes are charged for calls to locations other than other Skype enabled computers, and they can be pre-purchased via calling credits.

The quick & dirty:

Great idea for a business traveller, or someone who wants a quick and easy way to stay in contact with friends in areas where cellular phone coverage is expensive or not provided, but needs a little refinement.

Where you can get one:
Amazon $149.99
Buy.com $149.99

Why it rocks:

Free international calls!

Decent Price, around the same of a mid-level cell phone

Simple, effective design

Sturdy feeling

Great glossy finish

Picks up Wi-Fi signals fast

Why it bites:

Crashes frequently

Poor battery life

A little on the large side

Seat-of-the-pants rating: 7 out of 10

Long Winded Version:

The Wi-Fi phone is the next step in making Skype technology truly innovative. Now a customer of Skype can log onto a wireless network anywhere in the world, and make a call to a location literally on the other side of planet Earth, vitually free. Some places like T-Mobile hot-spots won’t work because of the requirement to log in, but if it’s basic WEP encryption, it will work fine.

Like any new gadget, it takes time, and exposure for these things to grow in popularity. The phone could really benefit business travellers, or simply users who wanted to keep in touch with others while vacationing, but don’t want the hassle of packing a laptop everywhere they go, or eating up seriously expensive cell phone roaming minutes.

Retailing for around $150 via Amazon, the Skype phone is reasonably priced in the median of most cellular phones on the market from any of the major carriers today, and while it probably won’t replace your cell phone, if you are around Wi-Fi networks often and would like to cut back on your phone’s current plan or bill, it could suit your needs well.

The only major complaints I have while using this phone is the battery life, and the fact that the phone seems to hang frequently. The included manual does not give any estimations on the amount of time the battery is expected to provide, and after leaving the phone charging all night when I took it out of the box, the battery was exhausted in about half a day, after only making one 5 minute call. I expect that newer versions of these phone will provide increased battery life, but the Belkin is mainly suited for outgoing calls, and should not be relied upon as a primary means of inbound, and outbound communication. As far as the crashing, I’m not sure on the solution to that, but especially when adding or deleting contacts, the phone seems to “reboot” for about 5 seconds before taking any action.

Wanna buy one? You can get it from here:
Amazon $149.99
Buy.com $149.99