As the credit crunch continues to bite, free calls have never looked so attractive – and neither has 3's Skypephone.

Putting last year's original Skypephone in the shade, the new S2 is a far more polished number.

Gone is the slightly cheap, plasticky casing in favour of the far more in-vogue metallic back, black mirror front and delicate chrome keypad: altogether a more tempting proposition, and that's before you look at the S2's VoIP capabilities and enhanced user interface.

Improved interface

While it's now possible to add a Skype client to other mobile devices, none of these stick their colours to the mast in the same way 3 has done with the Skypephone.

Marketed as 'made for Skype' the S2 lacks the dedicated button its predecessor had but boasts a much improved user interface.

A rolling carousel 'Switcher' at the bottom of the home screen offers access to select apps – including Skype – and with one-touch switching activated you can scroll through using a side button and your chosen app will automatically open in seconds.

Skype functionality

The Skype client itself has changed little from the original handset, allowing existing users to sign in and download their contacts automatically, while new users are invited to set up an account.

Handily, contacts are integrated into the main phonebook so the whole process is streamlined to match the usual mobile way of working. The look and feel of the application itself mirrors the desktop version, so existing users will immediately feel at home.

Faster HSDPA data support should bring improvements to the quality of voice calls made using Skype, but there is still the inevitable odd echo and crackle as with most VoIP services. That said, this isn't too much of an irritation given the price and versatility of the handset, and the problem is usually cured by reconnecting.

Instant messaging and social networking

For serial texters, Skype Chat IM is also included for free Skype-to-Skype messaging. Like Skype-to-Skype calls, which are limited by 3's fair-use policy to 4,000 minutes a month, users are confined to 10,000 Skype Chat messages – which shouldn't prove too much of a hardship.

In addition, Windows Live Messenger comes pre-installed to cater for those with more buddies on Microsoft's IM. The angular keypad is surprisingly comfortable when it comes to tapping out texts, while the reassuringly solid feel of the phone in your hand makes for an all-round positive experience.

Equipped for the modern age of social networking, the S2 comes with a stripped down Facebook app that allows you to view your profile, alerts, messages and friends' photos on the move.

There's also an RSS reader so you can keep tabs on up to 30 of your favourite feeds, and HSDPA support for speedy browsing. Admittedly the 2.2in screen isn't ideal for enjoying content-rich web pages, but it is impressively crisp and if you just want to catch up with the latest scores or news headlines the size won't matter.

Built-in modem drivers

The big bonus when it comes to the inclusion of HSDPA is the fact 3 has had the foresight to include built-in Windows modem drivers. This means you can use the S2 in the same way as a mobile broadband dongle: just plug it into a PC with the bundled USB cable and the drivers install, leaving you free to access the web on your laptop.

Other standard offerings include organiser functions, music player with access to the 3MusicStore, and a 3.2 megapixel camera. However, the lack of autofocus and flash means the camera doesn't really match up to its contemporaries.

Likewise, the video capture mode is poor and suffers from noise and judder – although given this is generally the case with mobile video it shouldn't be held against the S2. There's no doubt that 3 should be congratulated for building on its opening salvo into the world of mobile VoIP and coming up with a practical, stylish handset.

A phone for web addicts

At just £69.99 on pay-as-you-go or free on contract, the 3 Skypephone S2 makes Skype a viable alternative to most mobile users and the perfect partner for Facebook addicts.

It may not be the most advanced handset around, but its build-quality is excellent and with the addition of HSDPA support there's no questioning its value for money.

This 3G handset is the result of a collaboration between network provider 3 and VoIP service Skype. In addition to offering all the features found on a regular mobile phone, you'll also be able to make calls to other Skype users.

The phone is compact if unremarkable. The casing is available in white, black or pink, and is constructed from metal. It's well made and robust. The 1.8-inch display is bright, but not the sharpest we've seen.

Good Usability

The menu is logically laid out and easy to use, with a large directional pad in the centre of the phone. Within this, you'll find a button that launches Skype functions. The keys are slightly too close together.

In order to use the Skype function, you'll have to put credit on the phone, although this is a certainty for those wanting to make regular calls or send messages. As long as you have credit, you can make an unlimited amount of Skype calls for free. Your friends don't need to have a similar phone - you'll be able to talk to them as long as they have a microphone and speakers attached to their laptops.

Decent Call Quality

Perhaps the most convenient part of having Skype integrated is that your Skype contacts and regular mobile numbers are combined into one address book. Call quality when using Skype was reasonable. It was slightly distant at times, but no worse than it would by using your laptop and a set of headphones. Things improved when using 3's network, with calls of a similar quality to a regular mobile phone.

Features include a 2-megapixel camera, which produced reasonable photographs. There's no autofocus or flash. Files can be stored on the removable 256MB Micro-SD card, with cards of up to 2GB supported. You'll also be able to use this for storing music or video files, both of which the Skype phone can play back.

The 3 Skype phone may be little more than an entry-level mobile phone with a VoIP client pre-installed, but it's an appealing package.

Free mobile calls using VoIP services have been touted as the phone tech of the future for a long while now, so it's about time Skype made some serious inroads into the market.

Teaming up with 3, the Skypephone bundles everyone's favourite VoIP app onto a svelte candy bar 3G handset complete with the network's usual multimedia-fare - and all for just £50 on pay as you go. Of course, the question on everyone's lips will be "just how free is 'free'"?

The answer is: it varies. If you're making Skype-to-Skype calls using the 3 network (the handset isn't Wi-Fi-enabled), then calls are gratis... well, nearly. Pay and go users will have to ensure they top up £10 every month in order to activate the Skype app for 30 days' use.

As usual, the service is also subject to a fair-use policy - in this case 4,000 minutes and 10,000 Skype instant messages a month - and if you're outside 3's coverage, roaming charges will apply.

Those hoping to call regular mobiles and landlines at a reduced rate will be disappointed, though. The Skype phone does not support SkypeOut, so it'll be a case of signing everyone up to the Skype VoIP service or buying them the 3 handset.

In terms of actual usability, the handset excels. A not-so-understated central button emblazoned with 'Skype' makes it pretty clear where to press to open the app, and you can log into an existing account in exactly the same way as on a PC.

The first time you do this, you'll be invited to transfer your Skype contacts to the handset, where they are stored in amongst regular contacts as well as the Skype app. If you don't already have an account, creating one is simply a case of entering a username, password and email address on the phone itself - no PC required.

Once you have Skype open, making calls is simple: just highlight the contact and press Call (or Options and Start Chat for instant messaging). Like regular VoIP on your computer, call quality isn't quite up to the standard of a normal mobile call, but bar the odd crossed-line-with-a-Dalek moment, things are generally good.

Moving away from the Skype side of things, considering its price point the handset is packed with features. Click the Launcher hotkey and you'll find - among others - options for Yahoo! and Google Searches, Mobile TV, Windows Live Messenger, YouTube and Facebook, maximising the handset's 3G credentials with speedy browsing.

The menu is laid out cleanly as a series of icons and navigated using the four-way frame around the central Skype button. Once in the sub-menus, you can also choose to scroll up and down using the volume rocker - although take care not to do so when listening to music or else you're ears may get a sudden blasting.

There's also a Multitask button on the side of the handset that will bring up icons for the last six applications opened for quick access. Unfortunately, while the menu is easy to whip around, the keypad doesn't lend itself to speedy digit action.

Buttons are cramped, and their low centre of gravity makes holding the handset one-handed whilst texting a little uncomfortable. The slightly angular keys, despite helping with definition, aren't particularly kind to your thumb either.

Being a 3 handset, there's plenty of access to downloaded video and music content via Planet3, but compared to those of Nokia and Sony Ericsson the media player could at best be described as functional, at worst primitive.

Audio on both the handset's speakers and bundled stereo headset is acceptable, but has problems coping with bassier tracks. You also won't get much onto the built-in 16MB of memory, but there is support for expansion using a MicroSD card - although not hot-swappable.

The 2-megapixel camera is also bit of a letdown, but again it's important to remember the price-point of this phone. Pictures taken outside in good light are ok, but anything less and an annoying amount of digital grain surfaces - and with no flash, there's little you can do. When called into service as a bog-standard mobile phone, the call quality is crisp with no dropouts, and reception is almost uniformly excellent.

Battery life, too, is impressive for a handset of this size and spec, and should give you around three to four days with average use. All in all, 3's Skypephone is an extremely competent handset, and for the price is more than worthy of your pennies - especially for existing Skype users.

But despite the hype it's still questionable how much new territory has really been broken, given Skype has been available on 3's X-Series for some time.

What 3 has achieved in style, though, is to open up a previously locked-down sector of the market to more competition, and with it bring the message that it is possible to make free calls using your mobile to a bigger audience.

With the rumoured inclusion of SkypeOut functionality in 2008, things may start getting interesting...

* Full specs on the 3 Skypephone can be found on the dedicated 3 Skypephone microsite.

If you've added Skype or any form of VoIP to your office setup, this kit will complement it, being a conference call device and a Bluetooth adapter. While not intended to be a portable product, it can be used in conjunction with your laptop.

It looks like a standard conference call set and comes with a control pad, display screen, speaker and three hands-free microphones. It connects to your laptop using Bluetooth. If you haven't got Bluetooth built in, the supplied adapter installs easily and works efficiently.

The drivers and Bluetooth software are supplied on disc and, while the documentation is clear, actually setting up the device didn't prove as smooth as we'd like, as the software is a little basic. If you're new to Bluetooth, don't expect it to work first time.

Once we got it up and running, the conference kit automatically switched on as soon as the host laptop was turned on, or came into range. To start a conference call, you press the Sync button and your contacts list will appear on the LCD screen, along with status details. You can also make SkypeOut calls to individual contacts and even add other callers in by selecting the ConCall button.

The box claims it will work up to 100 metres away, but this is a theoretical maximum and reality doesn't come close. We used it in a large meeting room with the laptop a good 20 metres away from the base station and it worked more than adequately.

We found you could add four different Skype users at any one time. The resulting conversation was louder and clearer than we were expecting. Currently, this device doesn't support Vista, so will only work with Windows XP, but check the website for relevant updates.

We were impressed by how effective it was in practice. True, setting it up initially isn't as smooth as we'd like, but once over the teething troubles, this is as good a use of Skype as any other.

Paying £70 for a Skype phone is a bit steep: you can pick them up for half that. But this is a particularly nice one.

In the box is a USB dongle and software driver. The quick-start guide gets you past syncing the phone with your Mac; however there's no mention of the fact that the boxed USB recharging cable needs to be attached between the phone and the Mac while you install the driver. That little nugget of information would have saved ten minutes of head scratching.

Once synced, you can use this with iChat, Skype and a gambit of other messengers and internet phone services. This is a walkabout phone with an excellent signal range. We moved approximately 30m away before the conversation started to break up.

On its wee LED screen you get to scroll contacts already loaded into Skype and iChat. There's also a customisable voice recorder that will record your call in a range of different quality audio files. This package has everything going for it except, of course, the rather weighty price.

A mouse that is also a telephone may sound like something from a sci-fi movie, but this device is a novel idea. It works in conjunction with Skype, so you'll need to download the software and set up an account.

On the telephone side, it comes with its own sound chip built-in, so you can set the volume independent of your laptop. We've been using it for a while and while it's great for making calls, initially it does feel rather odd speaking into a tethered mouse.

The mouse has an 800dpi optical sensor and is incredibly accurate for its size, making it an impressive addition to your mobile kit in its own right. Our only reservation about the device is that it's slightly too small in the hand.

VoIP phones are everywhere. Some are well designed and come with features that make the most of Internet calling. The majority, however, are cumbersome and downright ugly. In fact, it's a shame that you can't use your normal phone for VoIP calls... actually, now you can with this neat USB device from Trendnet.

The VoIP USB Phone Adapter enables you to make and receive phone calls through Skype by using a regular telephone. With the simple hot key you can switch easily between a Skype and a regular phone call.

Split-line traffic

The phone adapter looks a little like an oversized filter that you get with your broadband package and essentially it's doing a similar job. It splits a phone line to enable both telecoms and Internet traffic. When the device is installed, you can choose to make and receive either a standard call or a Skype call. You can also take advantage of free Skype-to-Skype calling and Skype subscription plans.

With most decent VoIP handsets costing around £70, this option from Trendnet is a bargain at just £25. Granted, it's not the most attractive device that you'll ever see and considering your desktop's probably littered with modems and other similar units with wires going everywhere, you may wish it was wireless.

Yet it's small enough to be hidden away and although the display will show you when you're in telecoms or VoIP mode and when you're on a call, you don't really need to see the lights so it's easy to tuck away.

You'll notice that there are no buttons on the unit itself. This is a blessing, because you can control the unit from whatever handset it's connected to. When the phone rings you can simply pick up your receiver as you would normally.

The quality is exactly what you would expect from VoIP. This means that sometimes people's voices can seem distant, but these days the overall quality of Skype is very close to that of landlines.

The uncouth PC market is awash with cheap Skype phones. These connect directly with the Skype software, enable you to see which contacts are online, and then call them.

However, the choice has been limited for the Mac - at least with phones that properly interact with Skype in the way we've just described. Enter Keyspan: a maker of Mac peripherals, including iPod docks and presentation controls.

The compact phone is quite thirsty, with three (included) AAA batteries required for power, which makes it weightier than many cordless home phones. However, the batteries are rechargeable, and you can keep the phone topped up by charging it via USB.

There's a USB cable included, though the phone takes any standard Mini USB cable. The Skype software isn't included on the disc, so you'll need to download it from www.skype.com.

The box includes a simple USB dongle. All we had to do was plug it in, press its button, and it immediately found and paired with the phone. Once you start Skype and sign in, it will ask if you want to use the new phone with the app, otherwise the software will sit in the background. The driver software isn't universal binary, so will run on an Intel Mac under Rosetta.

The basic dot-matrix interface of the phone takes a bit of getting used to, but once you have the hang of selecting contacts, operation is simple.

This phone has one major problem: its price. At £70 it's far more expensive than, say, a headset with microphone and headphone jacks. Yes, it might be the more convenient option, but despite the simple set-up, the phone has the feel of kit costing half the price.

And yes, the maker may have gone to town in ensuring that it's fully Mac compatible, but unless you plan to use Skype continuously, you'll probably feel that it's an expense too far.

With this Wi-Fi connecting handset, you can almost use Skype VoIP like a mobile phone. You don't need to have a computer connected to the net, or even turned on. All you need is a wireless internet connection and you're away.

The beauty of this device is its simplicity; a single button press is all it takes for the phone to search for a wireless connection. If you haven't already got a Skype account you can even sign up for one straight from the handset once you're connected. No mess, no fuss.

The actual set itself feels a bit clunky though. It's styled like an old Sony Ericsson mobile, but is slightly bigger and feels a lot less sturdy. The buttons have a lot of travel and are just asking for pocket lint to fuzz up the contacts. Still, it's easy to use and a cheaper alternative to mobiles where there's wireless coverage.

As the most well-known brand in internet telephony, Skype has become popular for offering free global phone calls to its users. While it's generally necessary to use a PC as a base for your Skype calls, the Belkin Wi-Fi Phone for Skype (£100 inc. VAT) makes it even easier to stay in touch.

A sleek and portable handset, the phone connects to wireless networks for its connectivity. With Skype software pre-installed, this means you can avoid the need for a laptop and connect directly to hotspots when out and about. Like a mobile, there's a contacts list. However, unlike a phone, you can only list other Skype users.

With its easy-to-operate menus and bright colour screen, usability is excellent. While the styling and build quality of the phone isn't as good as we'd like for this price, it's hard to complain when it's so convenient and easy to use.