Great features/price, not so great feel
Pros:
Great feeature set! Very inexpensive!
Cons:
Uncomfortable feel of handset, buttons, hanging up.
The Bottom Line:
This phone certainly has SOME great uses, but I wouldn't put one on my CEO's desk! Fine if low cost is primary goal.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
Bought this phone to test against Asterisk VOIP server with business functionality in mind.
Overall, the SIP phone has AWESOME features, but a cheap feel to it. It sounds OK, but again, not awesome. Keep in mind that this phone is however less than HALF the price of its competitors.
The manufacturer could fix many of these cheap feel items with just a few minor, cost effective changes. I'd gladly pay $10 more for this phone if these items were changed.
What feels cheap about it? The buttons should be rounded so your finger fits INTO them, not slides off of them. Pressing the buttons requires a definate push, one that many have commented is too hard, and they sound funny when pushed. The handset is uncomfortable when against the ear; the sharp edges of it need to be rounded so it is more comfortable and you don't get a raw ear by the end of the day. Hanging up the handset is a challange as the "socket" edges are not rounded enough to let it slide easily into it. Depressing the hookswitch doesn't have any effect unless you press it for at least a second. Extremely annoying when trying to hang up quick to dial another call.
With all of the buttons, there is no button labeled "redial", although functionality is there is you know about it.
When you mute the phone, the DTMF is also muted. Hopefully this was an oversight to be fixed in a future release of software.
Awesome features? All of the preogrammable buttons give you lots of BLF options that simply work like they are suppose to. The buttons can be programmed to do other things as well. Multiple lines that can be registered against multiple accounts. Good looking display. Dialing digits can be passed to Asterisk for processing, meaning you don't have to maintain a dial plan in every phone. Great feature! Passing of DTMF works as expected; competitors often seem to be challanged in this area.
