RTX DUALphone 3088 makes Skype feel right at home.

Another interesting device I received this week was the RTX DUALphone 3088 from the good folks at InStoreSolutions. The DUALphone is currently on sale on Skype.com for US$149.99.

What it does well

It sets up very easily.

• I plugged in the included basestation to my router – all cables included by the way


• I plugged in the handset charging stand where I wanted the phone to be most the time.


• Then I inserted the included rechargeable AAA batteries into the DUALphone handset and turned it on. I docked it to the charging stand and waited a while for it to charge.


• Then I simply went through a very quick and self explanatory login sequence. It consisted of me selecting between entering my current user info, or setting up a new account. Well, since I am a hardcore Skype user, I began entering my username and password using the number pad, with a good old-fashioned multi-tap text input method. Then I waited about 10 seconds, and bang, I was logged in. It took another minute or so before all my contacts had been synchronized.

No annoying network configurating, no device pairing needed... nothing. I was good to go.

I made my first call to a phone number, my cell phone and SkypeOut worked like a charm. Seamless. Then I had my friend call me using Skype. Again, worked like a charm. Then I called my SkypeIn number. Again, perfect.

Let me say this, I will probably leave this product set up, and use it. If only to let family and friends make calls from a "landline" when they visit. It's bullet-proof so far.

A few other notes.

• The audio quality was great, definitely wide-band voice quality.


• The 1.9 GHz frequency employed by DECT 6.0 is WiFi friendly, and doesn't mind being the same room as two AvneraAudio devices, and WiFi access point and two Macs.


• I didn't bother hooking up a landline into the base-station, so the DUAL part of the DUALphone I really won't comment on.

What I am not crazy about

• The buttons aren't backlit.  (headbang)


• The color display is low resolution (i.e. cheap looking) and small.  (N)


• The button inputs from the keypad have a sluggish response time on screen. Beefier microprocessor please!  (flex)

The standard of performance for telephony handsets is moving so fast and is very advanced, that it would be hard to keep up.  I do understand that this is a much simpler device... but let's face it, when someone pays US$150 for a product, in 2009/2010, that has a color display, a keypad, and works with a cutting edge web-service, they are going to – rightfully – expect something more refined.

Conclusion

For folks who think Skype could be a service that can replace their home phone, buy a DUALphone and go for it. It will basically give you the usage model you and old-school guests to your home desire. It looks like a home phone and acts likes one too. Even when only Skype-driven (and not DUAL-ing), with Skype in and Skype out, no one will know the difference between tomorrow and yesterday.

For me personally, I would not pay US$150 for this product.  But, let's put this in perspective. I don't use a home phone. I use my mobile phone to receive calls from people who call me when I am home, and I use Skype Out from my MacBook Pro when I make calls from home. When I use Skype in general, I either "speakerphone" with the speaker and mic built into my MacBook Pro, or I plug in an Avnera headset like the Plantronics .Audio 995 or the FREETALK Wireless to let me take a call in private and/or move around my house. So for someone like me, I say get a headset for less than half the cost of the DUALphone. The headset is more useful as a general purpose audio device, to boot.

FREETALK Wireless (2nd Gen) in the house! Literally.

Along with a couple other little gadgets, the FREETALK Wireless headset arrived in the mail from InStoreSolutions (ISS). This product – before even getting into it – holds a special place in my heart, as it uses a chipset from Avnera that I helped design and target at precisely this usage model. That all started six years ago... but amazingly enough this is the first 2nd Generation model to emerge from one of the chipset's adopters. The other first generation products from Logitech, Plantronics, and Creative are still out there, and going strong (save for Creative's which is hard to come by... unfortunately because their mic boom was h-o-t).

Cracking the box open, plugging it in... all worked without a hitch. Devices were paired out of the box, so no setup, and plugging it into the MacBookPro was seamless. Plug and Play, as usual, painless.

The high points

Compared to the first generation FREETALK, the new model is more comfortable, sports a folding design, and comes with a protective and compact carrying case. Definite improvements. The mic boom is the same variety that Creative used, and so it is awesome in feel and manipulation, however the mic tip itself is kinda chunky and blah.

While heating my dinner in the microwave, there was slight interference, but no interruptions... just some warbling and slightly chirpy distortion which is a result of the error concealment algorithms employed by Avnera. To further make life difficult for the FREETALK, there was WiFi active in the same room, as well as one other AvneraAudio device sending audio within my home-theater space. Basically, it's nice to see after a couple years, the wireless audio chipset holds up to even some pretty insane usage stress.

Range performance was particularly good on the model I received. I easily had 45 feet through two walls. Slightly better than the Plantronics .Audio 995 I usually use, and where my head position can cause drop outs when I am on the other end of the my space. Nothing of the sort with the FREETALK. I'm sure the manufacturer has taken their learnings from building the first generation model which always helps maintain RF performance and consistency. It's not unusual for a high level of variability to plague wireless performance on one piece versus the next. It's maddening for makers, and more important those poor users who get stuck with one... just make sure you save your receipts for a day or two.

Switzerland

A few points to note regarding this model that I am fairly neutral about. This second generation FREETALK Wireless has a proper dongle without the wire tethered "puck" of the the first generation model. I guess I like it for cleanliness sake, but it also bugs a little me because I am always worried I will wrench it while plugged into my MacBook Pro.

I noticed the addition of microphone sidetone added into the headphone audio – something the Logitech had, and I personally could care less about.

The other aspect of this model I could take or leave is the new style.   The design has a very generic industrial design on the cups, and if I had to sound negative here in Switzerland, the silkscreening was a bit garish and clumsy looking.

My one (real) disappointment

Where this particular model really fell short of its pioneering predecessors was in the sound quality – both in tonal aspects, and in audible noise level.

To my ear, the 2nd Gen FREETALK sounds a little tinny and less precise than the Logitech and Plantronics models, and perhaps even less forgivably, worse than the 1st Gen FREETALK (which trumped them all to be frank).  I am disappointed that ISS didn't follow through on the most stealthy, audio value device in this space.

The second issue is noise. When there is nothing playing through, there is an audible amount of noise to be heard. A shame, and a blemish on what could be a much better SNR given the core system employed. I admit I'm a little more critical than most, and it's really only noticeable when music isn't playing... but as a hint to technical folks associated with this product, the noise I am hearing does not change with the volume level of the headphone DAC which (I think) means that the audio is coupling into the speakers themselves directly from the circuit itself.

Again, all three models I've used extensively before this did not exhibit this noise problem, which to me is a factor of the maker and product development decisions made while bringing this product to market.

Hopefully some tweaks improve this as production moves forward, or perhaps I had a bad unit in some respect.

Overall

For US$79.99, this product is a considerably good value for the features and experience it provides.  It's no secret my personal favorite Avnera-based headset is the Plantronics .Audio 995, but considering the latest FREETALK gets better range, is more compact and carry-friendly, and assuming they can fix the one needling audio quality issue, I would say it's a toss up between these two models.

Many users stand to be very satisfied. It's also great that ISS has stepped up their support levels and so much user frustration from the early days of the first model will be addressed in a better manner going forward.

Second generation FREETALK Wireless Stereo Headset available at Skype.com

Completely updated design, the Freetalk Wireless Stereo Headset is on sale at Skype.com now.

If you were feeling lucky, perhaps you took a shot at one during Engadget's recession antidote yesterday:

Today we've got a FREETALK Wireless Stereo Headset along with a Skype voucher that'll net you free calls for three whole months. The World Plan voucher will link you up anywhere in the world that Skype supports, and coming off of a trip to Central America, we can certainly say it comes in handy (and works well, to boot).

Unless you were the winner, you're gonna want to head to Skype.com to pick yours up.

Another in a long line of Avnera-enabled headsets, I think this one's travel-friendly folding design gives it a clear differentiator to my personal favorite, the Plantronics .Audio 995.

The leader of the pack (imo).

The Plantronics take on Avnera's first gen AudioMagic chips seems to capture the yellow jersey.  Logitech, Creative, and Freetalk may very well still be selling at a strong clip, but the feature set and execution of the .Audio 995 seems to resonate with consumers more than the others – who admittedly are getting long in the tooth.

Just ran across these user reviews over at Amazon, and they made my day, and so I think they are worth reading...

From Chris Zee Shutterbug:

Let me start with something that amazed me. I plugged the USB dongle into the computer, started Itunes, hit play and music started coming from the headphones!!! I did not have to configure a single thing. [...] That level of ease of operation has to be commended.

From Jennifer:

I love these headphones. I got them for my teenage son, but when he told me to listen to the great sound they became mine! The sound quality is incredible. [...] My son used them for World of Warcraft and he said the sound was awesome. He wants them back...but I've found a great hiding place and I am keeping them!

From CR Swanson:

I've reviewed three different headphones for Amazon Vine, including the three-hundered dollar Monster Beats, and this is, by far, the best of the bunch. They're comfy, they have great sound quality and the wireless mode just can't be beat!

From P Colin McGraw (with a gripe for balance):

I usually use wired headsets, and it feels freeing to be able to walk around the room listening to music, not having to navigate to iTunes with my mouse to fast forward as I get tangled in a headphone's cord. In fact, I'd actually use this headset even if I didn't need a microphone for just the awesome wireless headphone capabilities!

If I had to dig deep for a negative, I guess it would be the comfort. [...] the pads on your ears are designed to go ON TOP of your ears instead of AROUND them. It basically smooshes your ears to the side of your head, which you don't mind at first with the soft pads, but it gets uncomfortable after awhile.

Overall, it's hard to find a flaw with these and I'd wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone looking for a headset with or without a mic! It would be hard to design this headset any better and it's a great value!

There is another review, that gave 2 out of 5 stars (when 4/5 is the average over 8 reviews) – feel free to check it out – but from what I know of our technology, he is experiencing a busted antenna, probably a maunfacturing defect...  No other reason why he'd be getting garbagey sound while he moves.  Also, the output power of the headset compared to a 2.4GHz cordless telephone is not even close!  So if he is looking for a source for his wireless-G woes.. he should direct his attention elsewhere.  That's the spectrum monster.  Also he should switch to Skype and junk the 20th century technology.

Q: What are the best headphones for use with Skype? - Scobleizer

A: Any headset that is wireless, and running on Avnera.

I love it when guys like Robert Scoble ask a question that there is an easy answer to... :-)

Scobleizer — Tech geek blogger » Blog Archive What are the best headphones for use with Skype? «.