UTStarcom F1000

Anyone looking for a mobile VoIP phone should check out the UTStarcom F1000 with Vonage service. Residential plans start at $14.99 per month and small business plans start at $39.99. Combine that with the one-time fee of $79.99 for the phone itself and you have an inexpensive way to add a separate phone line to your home or business.

If you're new to mobile VoIP, think of it as a way to set up a virtual landline anywhere in the world while keeping your regular phone number. It won't replace your cell phone, since you might be difficult to reach if you aren't near a Wi-Fi hotspot, but you will have the freedom to move around your house or office.

As with most new cordless VoIP designs, the F1000 looks and feels a bit dated. Its small but chunky profile evokes an older Sony Ericsson candy bar phone. You'll find decent horizontal space between the buttons on the phone's dialpad, but the keys are too close together vertically, making dialing a tricky task for those with big fingers. The buttons engage well, with a good resistance and a light physical click. The amber monochrome screen (the dated theme strikes again) is bright and easy to read.

The F1000's strength is making clear, reliable calls using an inexpensive Vonage VoIP plan over Wi-Fi. Registering the phone with an open Wi-Fi network is as simple as powering up the phone. Unfortunately, during our first test, the phone latched onto the nearest network it could find without our prompting. A quick trip through the Wi-Fi settings let us configure our SSID and security settings.

We also tested the F1000 on a WPA-PSK network with MAC address filtering. Once we added the phone's MAC address to our router's configuration page, the UTStarcom connected on the first try. You can configure up to four preset networks, which gives you a lot of flexibility.

One important feature lacking is support for fee-based hotspots, such as those offered by T-Mobile and Wayport. The F1000 does not support username/password logins, which these services require. This limitation should give pause to those who travel to cities that don't have a dense concentration of open Wi-Fi networks.

The F1000 dials, connects, and answers calls like any other phone. Sound quality was quite good; the voice tone was a bit tinny, but not particularly harsh. We made a variety of test calls and were able to enjoy smooth, uninterrupted conversations, unlike the sometimes stilted quality you get from a cell phone.

Standard features include a rudimentary phone book, calculator, calendar, and alarm (you can set the time zone). Like most VoIP phones, the F1000 won't blow you away with its extras. Its interface also needs a little work. During a call, you have to press left or right on the control pad to adjust call volume; pressing up or down does nothing. The F1000's ring tones are particularly horrendous; you only have six to choose from, and they're all set to pitches that frighten both humans and dogs. The phone also offers a Vibrate mode, but it's fairly weak.

Wi-Fi devices aren't known for their stellar battery life, but the F1000 lasted longer than the rated talk time of four hours. In our battery run-down test, we were able to log a continuous 4 hours and 31 minutes before the phone shut down.

The F1000 lacks gee-whiz features, but it succeeds as an inexpensive, reliable VoIP phone for the home that can get the job done on the road. It's ideal if you want to travel and/or make inexpensive calls from overseas, as long as it's not at a hotspot that requires a username and password. The combination of a F1000 and a Vonage plan also works well as a handy second number for a home-based business.