3 Skypephone Review

Look and feel

The Skypephone is a fairly unassuming looking candybar, but it's compact and robust with a smooth matt black or white finish with a choice of colour trims. At the centre of the phone's keypad sits the Skype key, which doubles up as the joypad. The keypad is a little cramped but the keys are beveled so are still responsive. And, while the display is fairly small, it's still bright and crisp enough to present all features and applications perfectly clearly.

Ease of use

As you'd expect Skype is simple to use with the Skypephone, with its one click access key. Whether you want to make a Skype call, add a new Skype contact, or begin an internet chat, it's all very easy. It's easy to forget that this is a 3G phone that's packed with 3G enhanced features like mobile TV and access to well known internet applications - all of which are easy to locate and access. A launcher soft key takes you straight through to applications like Google, YouTube and Facebook.

Features

Considering the price tag, the Skypephone is crammed with them. Okay, so the two megapixel camera is fairly run of the mill, but you get one-click access to Skype, YouTube, Facebook and eBay, cool games like Pac Man and mobile TV - and this really is mobile TV, with access to BBC1 and ITV and a very respectable picture. An astounding value for money feature set.

Performance

Everything we tested worked well. Mobile TV works a treat and internet browsing is fairly rapid. This phone punches well above its weight.

Battery life

The battery life on the Skypephone is respectable without being astounding. However, we were only having to recharge it after two full days of use, while testing most of the features.