3 Skypephone S2

Launch price £tba

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Stuff says

A welcome update to the original Skypephone. Perfect for travellers and frugal types alike

PREVIEW

Last year’s Skypephone impressed us with its small size and ease of use. The big Skype button in the middle was child’s play to use and your contacts easy to integrate. But the best thing was it was free – our favourite price.

Now 3 have upped their speed to HSDPA for more broadband-like connection speed. That should mean better quality calls over VoIP and less of the dreaded robot voice.

Easy integration
Your Skype contacts are integrated into your phonebook and it’s easy to tell who’s online, which is good, as non-VoIP calls will cost your standard mobile rates, including Skype calls to mobile numbers.

The most intriguing thing about the 3 Skypephone S2 is that it will have built-in modem drivers, allowing you to use it as a dongle for your PC or Mac. Considering the frequent horror stories about phone customers doing just this and being whacked with massive phone bills, we’re interested to find out how this will work. If 3 offers unlimited data with the Skypephone S2, it could turn out to be a better deal than the iPhone.

Bargain handset
If you haven’t got a Skype account, you just push the central Skype button and you can create an account from scratch. And if 3 keep the price at around £50 for pay as you go, we reckon this handset’s a bargain.

The 2.2in QVGA screen still seems a little meagre for our taste and the 3.2MP camera is average, but considering the petit size of the orginal Skypephone, we’re keen for it not to get any bigger so we’ll settle for less.