Ipevo Solo Skype Desktop Phone review

23 November 2007 9:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Using Skype on your computer can be a pain, so there are a range of Skype products that help you get around this by giving you access to the Voice over IP application without the need for a computer, but can the Ipevo Solo be one of those products? We get dialling to find out.

The Ipevo Solo Skype phone is a fairly large desk phone that connects you to broadband router and then allows you full access of your Skype contacts book once signed in.

Because it connects straight to the router is doesn't need your PC to be on to work and means that if you like to keep your desk computer free but still connected you can do.

Large and office like, the black and silver styling of the phone is very retro, however it's only when you look a little closer that you realise that the phone lacks one key ingredient, the ability to make calls.

In what has to be the strangest decision ever, there is no real phone functionality for the Ipevo Solo. Of course you can make calls on it, but only via Skype or SkypeOut. Users who want to make calls to the rest of the world without having to rely on Skype will have to have anyother telephone on their desk and therefore yet more clutter.

If the Solo had been launched 18 months ago we could have perhaps understood that creating a dual handset with Skype and Dect capabilities would be too much to ask, but when you have phones from a number of companies including Philips you kind of question the reasoning not to include the technology. Heck if I really wanted I could go and get a SkypePhone from 3 for less than half the price and make Skype calls wherever I am rather than being tied to the desk.

Coupled with this disaster is that although the Solo has a nice clear 2.4-inch colour screen to see menus on it, the company hasn't included a webcam - so you can't make video calls.

Verdict

If you aren't fussed about having a landline connection in your desk phone then this is another alternative to making calls from your PC.

However, rather than pay the £120 price tag, you might as well just buy a decent microphone.

You'll save space on your desk, get more features, especially if you've got a webcam and get a better experience overall.

A waste of time for all but a few niche customers.