Digital Trends

Our review of the new Philips VOIP841 Skpye phone is now live on the site. Despite a pretty face, the Philips VOIP841 really fell short of expectations.

Snip:

"Once signed into your Skype account, you can set your status, retrieve your contact list and select the services you subscribe to. You can view all your contacts and any imported from Outlook by Skype on your PC, receive/accept invitations, add or find Skype contacts, and view your call history. Callers can also be blocked and profiles viewed. On the landline side of the equation, you can assign a particular number to each contact (such as with/without the initial “1” or area code), select preference for landline or SkypeOut, and use the built in speakerphone and intercom. The phone uses DECT 6.0, which ensures clear communication to the base unit. The handset volume can also be set anywhere from almost inaudible to blaringly loud, and the independent ringers for landline and Skype calls can additionally be customized to a number of different pleasing tunes.

So far, so good, right? Well, hold your horses… The incoming call quality is great, but the outgoing suffers from some echo, with each word spoken heard through the headset with a split-second delay (very slight, but noticeable and distracting). Micro-vibrations are greatly amplified as well – a symptom of the cheap plastic and omni-directional microphone that handles headset and speakerphone input. Unfortunately, these problems exist during both Skype and landline calls. "

Read our full Philips VOIP841 Review