Ipevo Free 2 White (with LCD Display) - Skype Certified USB VOIP Internet IP Phone

by Ipevo

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1 x 1.5 inches ; 10.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• ASIN: B000SSG364
• Item model number: FREE-2
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2003

Product Description

IPEVO free.2 is a USB handset for Skype with the operational familiarity of the telephone. Free.2 translates the Skype interface into simple keypad and toggle operations. Derived from the less-gives-more concept of Skype, the opening on the mouthpiece is an anti-echo design, a unique form experience that also invites play through hooking, hanging or rocking. Backlit LCD display allows total integration of the Skype application in the palm of your hand. Benefits * Make Skype calls easier and more intuitive * Excellent sound quality with echo cancellation * Numeric keypad with Skype-specific hotkeys * Toggle-scroll for easy contact list searches * LCD display with white backlight * Easy dialing without watching the computer screen * Easy dialing of Skype-Out numbers * Recording button for one-touch recording (only for Windows) * Free recording software * Slim and compact for comfortable grip and portability * Available in black or white * PC and Mac compatible

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great phone for traveling with a mac, September 14, 2007

By 

A. Bernstein (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This phone works very well for apple computers. It is also about the size of a candy bar and is great for travel. I like the LCD model so that you can dial a number without using the computer (although long names don't show up entirely on the screen). There may be better options but for traveling with a macintosh it has worked very well.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It works!, July 8, 2007

By 

David Owens (La Mirada, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

I looked a long time for a VOIP phone to work with Mac. Most did not, as I learned the hard way.
This phone does, and well. The sound is clear. I use mine with Skype for those times when I know it will be a long wait or for phoning businesses.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best skype phone: excellent voice quality and maximum convenience if you are a havey computer user, October 13, 2009

By 

Ryuji Suzuki (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ipevo Free 2 White (with LCD Display) - Skype Certified USB VOIP Internet IP Phone (Electronics)

If your life is centered around a computer, and if you use Skype, this is a great way to enhance your communication tool. I am a professional photographer, and I talk to clients on phone for consultation, package description, price quote, booking, etc. The sound quality is just as important as my voice quality and what I talk in order for my prospective clients to find confidence in hiring me. Skype and IPEVO phone together give me a very effective tool for high quality voice communication, inexpensively and conveniently. This is the bottom line.

The strength of Free.2 (and New Skype Certified USB VOIP Internet IP Phone White handset for PC Laptop Notebook win IF award, which is the same product without the LCD) is that you can get very high quality Skype voice communication with minimum setup effort. In fact, in my tests, Free.2 gave better voice quality than a number of other Skype phone products (including IPEVO IPEVO S0-10 Skype Desktop Phone-Black handset and IPEVO S0-20 Wi-Fi Phone for Skype).

I have a business phone number attached to my cell phone, but if the signal reception is not good, I will suffer from rough voice quality and choppy voice. Another good thing is that, with Skype, you can carry this phone and log in to Skype from any computer and you get to use the same Skype-in phone number if you subscribe that service. That means, whether I work from studio, office, home, coffeehouse, shopping mall, clients location, etc., I get calls at the same number without call transfer. People are already used to this arrangement in this cellular phone age, but if you try to do that with a landline, it is very hard. Skype is the way to go.

IPEVO Free.2 phone is small and lightweight, so you can easily travel with it. However, without a computer, this is useless. Now, compared to IPEVO SO-10 and SO-20, both of which operate without requiring a computer, what are the advantages of Free.2 handset?

1. You can use the dialer functionality of your address book, etc. You can look up a local pizza store in your area on google and call that number without leaving your browser screen. If your client wants you to call him/her, just click on the number in your email and dial it without leaving the email app. Standalone phones cannot do that. You have to manually type in the number or make contacts in your Skype account. (By the way, I don't have those edible food-like substances delivered to my place, so that was just an example.)

2. When you are playing music on iTunes, Skype pauses it for you when you receive or initiate a call. Standalone phone can't do that.

3. Free.2 USB handset does not require a battery or a power adaptor.

4. Free.2 USB handset is cheap.

5. Free.1 and Free.2 are probably the only options available for Mac users. (If not only, best.)

Now, I do hope those IPEVO standalone phones implement functions to work with dialers in the computer, and perhaps iTunes, whether it may be via Wi-Fi, bluetooth or USB. But for these reasons, I find Free.2 to be still useful.

Now, disadvantages of Free.2:

1. The "driver" is actually a Mac OS app, called IPEVO Control Center. This has to be running on your computer in addition to the Skype app, in order for this handset to operate. This Control Center app is a simple app but takes up a window space. It should be somehow integrated via dock menu or some other forms. The Control Center is also sometimes flaky and also crashes frequently on Snow Leopard. I hope to hear about the new version soon.

2. The range of ringer tone is very limited. It sounds like pocket game machines (you know, those operated with two or four button cells, from 1980s). Sounds only marginally better than digital kitchen timer.

3. You always have to dial +1 when making US/Canada domestic calls, even if default country code of +1 is registered with the Skype app. (You need to dial +1 on Free.2 handset but you don't need it when you dial directly on the Skype app on the computer. Why??)

4. When you adjust the handset volume by pressing buttons on the side of the handset, not only you but the person on the other side of the phone also hears the loud beep.

5. There is no backlight on the keypad, making it difficult to dial in the dark.

Now, here're some suggestion to IPEVO for Free.3 model.

1. fix all of the problems above.

2. incorporate the biggest affordable flash drive within this handset, so that I can carry the Skype app, work related files, etc. in just one device, without taking up multiple USB ports.

3. incorporate Hi-Fi stereo audio DAC in the handset, with a 3.5mm headphone jack, so that I can listen to music through it, and hear the ringer tone through it when someone calls me, and perhaps hear the other person's voice through it, while I talk to the microphone on the handset.


I like this product very much so far, and I really like to see an update of the IPEVO Control Center program soon. Other than that, this product is very close to perfection in this class. In fact, I'm so impressed with this product that I'm contemplating using other Skype phones made by IPEVO.