US Robotics Skype Internet Mini Phone 9602 review

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Verdict:

Review Date: 15 Aug 2007

Price when reviewed: inc VAT

Reviewed By: Alex Watson

Our Rating 3 stars out of 5

Whereas Freecom's phone has won design awards and the Siemens handset demands acknowledgment, the US Robotics Mini Phone 9602 is attention grabbing for other reasons.

Its red and white colour scheme is unusual, if not necessarily unpleasant, but it looks as if it was designed to include a screen, only for this to be replaced by a big logo at the last minute.

The design oddities continue with the bank of six function keys above the numerical keypad. For some reason, the up and down keys in the middle lack any markings, while the direct Skype access, call and end call keys on either side are clearly labelled.

These quirks aside, the Mini Phone is a well-made wired USB handset. Like the Freecom Internet Phone, it has no LCD screen. On the plus side, and also like the Freecom, its setup program is clever enough to send VoIP sound to the phone without diverting all your PC's other sounds to it.

The Mini Phone's moulded back makes it feel more comfortable in the hand than the boxy Komunikate and Trendnet models. Its sound quality was above average for the phones in this group, although there's no volume switch on the handset itself. If you need to alter the audio levels, you'll need to use the Windows software. No free SkypeOut minutes are included, but you get two months of free Skype voicemail. If you don't mind selecting contacts using your computer display, this is a decent USB Skype phone, but we prefer the more stylish and similarly priced Freecom.

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