3 Skype Phone – Full Review – Everything you need to know about the 3 Skype Phone
November 4th, 2007
I have been using the 3 Skype Phone for about a week, now and I have say say I am impressed.
The 3 Skype Phone is a merging of two technologies, Skype and mobile phones. This is a first for mobile phone companies and a bold move by 3 Mobile as you get completely free calls to any other Skype user.
The Skype function works exactly like Skype does on your PC, you log in and out the same way and it displays all your contacts.
Initially when I received the 3 Skype Phone to review, I thought the Skype feature was a great gimmick, but after using it over the last week I have found out how useful this can be, being able to call anyone of your Skype contacts from wherever you are is really useful and I can see this feature being of great benefit to business users, as well as the every day Skype user.
The 3 Skype Phone itself is a pretty nifty little device, weighing just 86g and measuring just 100 x 44 x 13.6mm, and it comes in a choice of three colours, black, white/pink and white/blue.
You can either buy the phone on a monthly contract, the cheapest 3 offer is £12 per month, the phone is free on this option or you can buy the Pay as You Go option for £49.99. All Skype calls are completely free, and on the PAYG option all you need to do to benefit from the free Skype calls is top up the credit on the phone by £10 a month.
There are quite a lot of other features on the phone including an MP3 player, a 2.0 mega-pixel camera, and a web browser.
The web browser is pretty good, and as the 3 Skype Phone is 3G enabled it is fast too. 3 Mobile have some great services available, including Mobile TV with channels like BBC1, ITV1, the Comedy Channel, BBC News 24 and lots more.
There are also some other great services like Yahoo Search, Windows Live Messenger, Google search, Facebook and YouTube.
All in all the 3 Skype phone is an amazing little mobile, packed with features and for the price you can’t go wrong.
I would love to see 3 Mobile roll out the Skype feature across their mobile phone range, as this would revolutionise the mobile phone industry, and would benefit their customers, imagine if every mobile phone had Skype built in and the calls were free.
What 3 Mobile have done is have the balls to install a feature like Skype on a mobile phone, where the other mobile phone operators have been scared too in case they loose revenue, I think the 3 Skype Phone will be a big hit for 3 mobile.
Posted in Gadgets, Mobile Phones | 
Tags: 3g, camera, case, Gadgets, Google, mobile, mobile phone, Mobile Phones, MP3, pc, phone, player, tech gadgets, watch, windows, youtube
My wife is now on Skype Phone number 3, She got one at the beginning of December and it lasted less than a week. It got stuck on the 3 logo at the phone start up screen and never moved from there. They replaced the phone no problem at the 3 store. Now phone number 2 is doing the same!! Its going back tomorrow!! And they better replace it or i will kick up merry hell. Generally the phone is excellent for a 3g phone and the camera isnt too bad either (despite the lack of a flash). Streaming and WWW work well on the phone and the screen is nice and bright and clear too. Menu system is easy to use. Ringtones are garbage and I would advise anyone to get some of your own. Skype works well on the phone and it sometimes does take a while to get signed in. Google maps is good too as is yahoo and the other 3 offerings.
at £49.99 the phone has many features that phones double or even treble the price dont. Just hope the next one lasts longer. Oh yeah, the battery life is rubbish. Ive got a 3 phone too and my battery life is garbage too, so it must be a 3 thing.
I have had the 3 Skype phone now for 3 weeks so far so good i dont seem to be encountering any of the problems others are having. I love the Skype facilty which is why i got the phone in the first place i chat with friends all over the world for nothing however it would be a bonus if Skypein/out worked. I have got 3 a few new customers we shall see if i get the £30 credit for doing so.
I have a few issues i included an add on mobile email only to find the phone is not compatible, 3 refuse to take the add on off so i am paying for something unuseable untill next month when i can take it off. I have been charged for data usage when i have an internet add on so that doesnt make sense i am waiting to see what they have to say about that.
There is one thing 3 customers should know about 3 customer service, whatever issue or complaints you have its always the customers fault, 3 never take any responsiblity , many customers have reported having to pay for repairs as soon as the phone is out if its 14 day money back warranty.
I love the phone so far, but 3 customers service is the absolute worst, they are always right and you are always wrong.
Have had one of these for only a couple of months, the software failed on it and had to go back to be fixed, now every time i get a message the phone will vibrate for several minutes and during this time the phone will not respond to any user input. The phone is also excruciatingly slow and unresponsive, also the magnet which is glued to the back cover to hold it inplace has come free so the back falls off. All in all this is a very poor product and would strongly advise everyone to steer clear. Yes its small and 3 g but its not worth the hassle.
i have just bought the 3 skypephone yesterday and called 3 care today because msn wasnt working.
they said this phone isnt compatible with msn.
yet, on this review, it says it is..
Not happy.
is there anything i can do to change this ??
thanks
Hi newcustomer
I think you need to download and install a program to link to MSN. Check out the 3Skypephone Forum for more details:
http://www.3skypephone.com/forum/index.php
I also found this after a quick search, haven’t used it but it might help you. take a look
http://wap.mig33.com
I bought one of these today from Woolworths (£39.99) and I have to say, I am very happy with it.
can anyone help please? i put in my skype user name and password and get told that i have to ’sign up before you can use Skype’ Tried to create a new account and still told the same
this mobile is an absolute piece of shit. seriously.
within the first two weeks after purchasing it, the mobile started to freeze, it’d turn itself off for no reason, and, the worst thing – I stopped receiving msgs!! I took it back to the 3 shop and they said it was my sim card, so they gave me a new sim card, but it didn’t change anything! and when I brought it back for the second time, to tell them that the phone was still freezing and not receiving msgs, they refused to swap it over as it was a couple of days past the 14 day mark! i explained to them that I HAD brought it back with problems originally within the 14 day mark but had been given a sim card instead of a new phone, but they still refused to exchange it.
i am extremely angry at the incompetence and stupidity of not only the 3 stores, but their customer service line, in which they put me through to 5 different people and than keep me waiting and then try to tell me that its my fault.
the skype phone may be cheap but its not worth it, spend the extra $100 and buy something that actually works. with a network that is NOT 3!!!!!
it is not very good
can anyone tell me if the 3 skype phones can be unlocked?
can anyone tell me if the 3 skype phones can be unlocked.plzplzplz
Hi Can You Unlock Skype Phones ? If Yes Where To?
Please Write Back x
this phone is great and dont blame 3 customer services 4 bein bad so r T-mobile i was on a 15 pound a month contract somehow i lost my simcard i contacted them they said they would not give me a new sim so i said can i cancel the contract and they refused to do this so i got myself a new payg sim and the phone i had broke…..T-mobile had given me 1Yr warranty but still would not replace the phone i kept arguin wid the customer services (at this point i was still payin 4 the contract) they then said they would sue me 4 harrasing there customer services if i continued so i gave up threw the phone away…..got the skypephone best 50 quid i eva spent
by da way my old phone was a Samsung SGH – D600E i would not reccomend the d600 as it falls apart easily and freezes while calling people…..or just restarts and resets itself………………….
overall the skypephone is good and 4 the price…..it is incredible no problems wat so eva
GREAT PHONE i got it the other day it works perfectly fine i got it for $150 (australian dollars)
Someone knows how to unlock the skypephone for use in another country?
hi i had this pohne for one week on payg, and the screen cracked, two months later the screen cracked again, the first time it broke i didnt think i had done anything too heaviy with it so gave three the benefit of the doubt and paid to hae it fixed, this time round i have said no – however they refuse to give me an alternative model or my money back – even after two weeks of waiting for my customer service call back within 24 hrs! so now i dont know hwat to do – ive been screwed in my opinion the phoen is too flimsy for everyday use – it is crap not recommended at all – the customer service is also incredibly poor
Want to ues this in Dublin to send & receive test and for calls what is the best plan to buy how much does it cost to call uk how much does it codst to receive calles
currenly with vodafone to recive calls and text is costing me a small fortune 0.75p for calls 0.35 for texts
Buyer beware! SkypeIN calls are NOT included in this service so it of little use except for people who are calling you from another Skype device/client.
Screen easy cracks. Phone looks great. small but screen and it will break on u. Took me one week. Really unhappy. Made in CHINA!
i got it and it was good didnt waste money calling or texting my girlfriend coz we both had them
then the internet stuff on my phone stopped working
sooo no planet 3 no skype and no picture messages
i didnt know when i was over my cap coz i couldnt check it and because skype wasnt working i spent way to much money on texts and for some reason the shitty thing keeps turning off for no reason and to turn it back on i hvae to take the battery out and put it back in
i took it back they gave me a replacement phone while they ‘fixed’ it the replacement didnt have skype
i got my skype phone back after a few weeks
skype still didnt work was on the phone for ages trying top get it to work they wanted me to sign up and pay money for it even tho i had a skype phone and its supposed to free
i eventually got it to start working
then couple of days ago (my phone just turned off) skype and the interenet stuff would work for a second then not work for 10 minutes
and it did that for about 2 days this morning its back to normal again but i dont know for how long
my girlfriends phone stopped working one night just wouldnt turn it was fully charged but when we would try turn it on it’d stay on for a bout 3 seconds then die again
she took her’s back and got it fixed
she didnt get a replacement phone tho because she was pre paid
they fixed it after a few weeks then her screen started being weird
it made everything backwards then lines started appearing on the top and bottom so she couldnt even read what i was skyping her
the screen eventually craked and now she cnat use it
she’s using a skype fone that a friend has lent her for awhile coz he doesnt use it anymore coz it doesnt charge the battery
so to charge batteries she puts them into her phone with the craked screen to charge them then switchesd them over with the phone she has got now
the sound on them isnt very good ether (phone just turned off)
dont buy this phone
its good for skype
IF it works
and thats a big IF
having a problem on how to get usim lock skpe wp-si ce0678
i need a solution as soon as possible plz.
top up phone 3 skype: Calls are 12p and 25p roaming in Ireland. Receiving while roaming is 10p per minute. This is cheaper than my contract phone O2.
Skype calls are free for ever unless you join STRETCH which will limit your skype free to 30 days per topup.
Set up your skype account using a pc, it is a lot easier. Then just log in and make sure you have selected the correct no caps and digits as necessary for password and login, use the hash key when cursor is in relevent bar. best to keep all in lower case and no numbers when setting up skype account on PC.
Unlock appears not yet available but on ebay you can buy an unlock (Hardware) which sticks to the sim you want to use, and it works on 3 network. You may have to trim the sim.
skype is the worst. Abysmal service. I bought it and every single day it stuffs up. Either it be ‘Communication Error’ or “Database error’ or ‘You need to subscribe before using skype’. IT’S A SKYPE PHONE DAMMIT ! you dont need to subscribe ==’ they find excuses for you to not be able to sign in. my skype phone creates big problems.. highly unreliable.
I think people should avoid posting comments on products till they’ve used them for a while.
I too loved my skype phone the first week I had it.
Since then I have:
seen the plastic on the battery case dissolve from overheating
found the software is less stable than windows 95 (if you’re bored watch your phone for a day and count the silent reboots)
found that reception is abysmal
found that customer service only show an interest if there is a possibility of getting higher value contracts out of you
found that like many UK companies 3 are aware that instances of customers actually sticking with a complaint long enough to cause them concern are so low that they can tell you to go forth and multiply because you’ll get frustrated and give up
This phone is a con pure and simple and 3 will happily take your money and pay no attention to you (after the early takers are the ones that often swap contracts so they aren’t worthwhile customers -quote)
UK users:
If anyone has a black skype phone and has noticed the rubber bubbling and peeling off please phone Trading Standards immediately.
No idea what the rubber is made of but the coating melting in your hand and the heat of the battery could well pose a health & safety risk.
Hi Guys
I am sorry to hear that so many of you have had problems with the phone.
Unfortunately we only had the phone for a short while, and our review was based on our experience of it over this time period.
If you are considering purchasing this phone, please do not…it has given me nothing but hassle since a month after I bought it. Customer Services are useless and offer no support at all. I have called and mailed and got nowhere.
My phone is now out of warranty and has spent the last two days trying to get to the log in screen with no success
(
I have had trouble with receiving and sending skype messages. Issues with reception. The battery makes strange noises when powered with the included power supply. The paint on the battery cover has peeled off due to the heat of the battery. Many varied heart-breaking issues…really not worth the hassle at all.
A complete waste of money. Having fallen for the marketing BS, I bought this phone very shortly after the initial release in Australia and after 3 days finally got the Skype working (3 customer care cited service provisioning errors as the cause for initial Skype failure). Two weeks into using it I was utterly fed up with poor battery life, continual reboots, lock ups and overheating. The outer plastic coating melted and has peeled off. During my first 2 weeks with the phone, I stupidly recommended it to my brother in the UK, he bought one and his lasted just over 3 weeks before climbing into his truck one day with the phone in his pocket caused the phone to twist slighly and LCD screen to crack. As it stands, this phone is the nastiest piece of poor quality engineering you can buy but the undelying technology it uses is great. It could have been so good had it been manufactured by the likes of Nokia, Samsung or Motorola who would have produced something that was stable, didnt overheat and was robust enough to actually survive in normal use.
So glad to see these reviews, had nothing but problems with S2 and 3 Broadband, dropped phone calls, resetting, dismal signal (have to go outside to make a call) yet live within 100 yards of 3 antennas, fails on 3 different PC’s (Vodafone Broadband dongle works) at same location. Service goes off completely at around midnight every day (Pumpkin). Bought an INQ1 so I could send handset away (same problem of dropped calls) took it back to shop next day said “they could send it away for repair” BRAND NEW.
Anyway played enough games with 3, filing County Court claim for full refund of all monies and Breach of Contract, they only get away with it because they assume people will give up…my advice HOUND THEM UNTIL THEY RESOLVE IT – MAKE IT A HOBBY.
are here anyone,who knows 3G skype phone puk code and then pin code???