It is a good sized phone and the way Skype is ready installed and you get Skype to Skype calls for free for 30 days when you topup by £10 a month or free on contract.

The downside to this is you can not get your SkypeIn and SkypeOut on the phone so that is one big downside as if you took out one of the Unlimited Subscriptions so you would need a WiFi Skype Phone if you wish to make use of this.  And you need to find a legal free WiFi hotspot to connect.

Whats in the Box

• 3Skypephone WP-S1
• Battery
• 256MB MicroSD
• Handsfree Wired Stereo Headset
• CD
• Users Guide
• 3 simcard

The Build and Feel

The build of the 3skypephone feels abit rubbery however the phone casing is metal, its balance is just right and the buttons are in the right place to just skype message chat.  At first you would believe that the “Skype” button is just related to Skype however it is a “OK” button as well.  If you are like any geek you do like to play about use any tech device without reading the manual, then this will take a few seconds to click for you.

The Battery Life

As you would think if you talk all the time on Skype call then the battery will drain faster then if you would a normal call.

Connection to Skype Network

The connection the the Skype network can take some time.

Network Coverage

When you are not in a 3G area it will switch down to 2G and Skype can be still used.  Also you can use the Skypephone in about 6 other countries for the same costs as the UK, this is because of 3’s “3 like home” the countries that are included are Austria, Australia, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy and Sweden on Pay monthly and 3Pay has Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy and Sweden.

Other Points

There is no leather case that is made from real leather.  So if you want to get a leather case then you can get the Krusell case for the Nokia 6300 that is abit smaller however it does fit.  but you cant use the camera however most people that would be using this phone would be using it as a Skype mobile phone for there businesses and personal contacts rather then using it as a camera.  There is a hard plastic case that three sales but the leather case looks much better then the plastic, the hard plastic case costs around £6.99 however the leather case costs around £9.99.

3 does have Skype set up that if you can not answer the call the Skype contact can leave a voicemail on your 3 voicemail.  And to retrieve the voicemail its free on the 3 network.

SkypeIn and SkypeOut workaround

There is a SkypeIn and SkypeOut workaround that Skype and 3 know of, and as yet they have not stated that you are not allowed to use this workaround.

What the workaround does, you need two accounts, one for you 3skypephone and the other for your computer (Windows only).  The account on the Windows based computer must have credit or one of the Skype unlimited Subscriptions - so that you get a SkypeIn number too.  You download the workaround program from http://code.google.com/p/skypephonemanager/ and for more information http://leon.mvps.org/SkypePhone/ [see http://3skypephone.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=642 for others talking about the program] and unzip it then edit the settings in the file, this will link your Skype account on the 3skypephone to the one that has credit or the sub.

This post was original posted on 2 September 2008.

If you wish to read about Windows Live service and Windows Home Service check out our other site http://geekpill.co.uk.

If you are looking for a old post you will get a 404 - page not found, am sorry to inform you but I had to delete all the old posts.  However you may still be able to see them in “Cached” on most search engines.