Customer Reviews

Novophone Retro Cell Phone Handset

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I bought this handset strictly because I thought it was cool and I could have some fun with it. As it turns out, it has become an invaluable business tool. The handset is very well made and the sound quality is fantastic. Not only can you hear the other party much more clearly than with a standard cell phone, but they can hear you much better as well. I have had many customers think I was on a land line. (And I've tried it with many cell phones). As a result, whenever you make or receive an important call (say, a conference call with your best customer), this handset is a must-have. I am now going to have to order my fourth one, because often when you're out in the field and a client sees it and tries it, they will covet it. And as a bonus, I can promise you that you will get some truly strange looks from passersby when you use it.

Really like the retro cell phone handset - not because it's cool - but because now I'm not holding my cellphone right next to my brain. What happens when you continually have electromagnetic frequencies coming in directly next to your head? Nobody really knows. So, why take a chance on something that could 'bite' you down the road. It's also convenient when you want to use both of your hands and be on the phone at the same time (and you don't want to use a headset). You can do the old 'hold the phone between your ear and your shoulder'. I like it and would definitely recommend it for anyone who is concerned about the EMF's that may be doing harm from long term cellphone usage.

This is a very cool phone and it works perfectly. It's getting 4 stars instead of 5 because I dropped mine and it broke. What broke was the the button that sticks out of the phone about a half inch on its side. This is the button that you push to answer your phone with. This is a design flaw in the product. If the button was recessed into the ample sized handset, it would have been fine.

Shipping time from the vendor was within the range published.

My father has difficulty holding onto his Nokia cell phone, and his hearing is not great. I thought I had finally found a product that would help, but it doesn't. I don't know if the problems he is having are because his phone needed to use an adapter or if they are a part of using this device in general. First, there is frequently a beehive like buzzing when you try to hold a conversation. If you play around and play around with the cord, the buzzing will disappear until the cord gets moved again. Even when the buzzing has stopped, the volume for hearing the conversation through the handset is half as high as it was through the cell phone alone. Since the phone was suppose to be used by a person with poor hearing, this makes the handset pretty worthless for my intended purpose. If you visit the Novophone website, you will not find any company address listed. You don't find the address until the box arrives with a return address. Communication has to be done through submitting a website comment. Before you make the purchase, the guy is Johnny-on-the-spot about replying to questions you submit. After you make the purchase, you never hear from him again. The are NO instructions or troubleshooting ideas that come with the handset.

5/09/10 I stand by what I wrote earlier. Contrary to the comment Novophone gave my review, they still have not responded to any requests for support I have sent to them since purchasing the phone. I wrote to them again, as they suggested in their comment, with my concerns a week ago; and I have not gotten a response. Before I purchased the phone, they responded in one day. The handset and adapter was purchased from them directly so they have no excuse that I should be dealing with a third party.

5/18/10 Novophone still has not responded to my last two requests for support. They are listed as being processed. One is 15 days old and the other over a month. I'm advising you to stay away from doing business with this company. I had my brother take a look at the handset. He said it acts as an antenna and is never going to work for my father because he has far too many pieces of electronic equipment around his apartment. Under the circumstances, what I am left with is an expensive piece of junk.

6/15/2010 Contrary to Novophone's comment that they would support their phone, there has not been a response.

12/11/2010 Still no help or response from Novophone support. Decided I might as well use the handset as a paperweight. Sadly, that use doesn't work either--too light. Maybe next spring I will hang it from the tree in my front yard. Now THAT will be a conversation piece!

What I like most about the Novophone, is how well they've managed to reproduce the look and feel of the classic Henry Dreyfuss "G" series handset (which was the most common handset found on Western Electric phones back in the '50s, '60s and '70s, and is still the standard handset for payphones in North America). The weight and balance in your hand feels perfect, and even the phone cord feels like the genuine article.

Unfortunately, looks aren't everything, and the sound quality of this handset leaves a lot to be desired. Although people on the other end of my calls could hear me (they typically seemed to think that I'd put them on speaker phone), the real problem was on my end, where I found that even with the volume all the way up, the sound coming out of the handset's speaker just wasn't loud enough; there was a mismatch between how loud I sounded to people on the other end, vs. how loud I sounded to myself. Basically, you don't hear your own voice the way you do on a regular phone, which just doesn't sound right. I also know this wasn't just because I had a bum handset because I actually bought two Novophones--one with the "Multi-Function button" and one without (because I actually found the button's placement to be annoying).

Things were made worse in my case because of the fact that I wanted to use it with my iPhone 4. The Novophone ships with a 2.5mm plug (designed to fit the standard jacks on older phones), which means that to use it with most newer phones, you'll need an adapter. In my case, I had to get a 4-pole 3.5mm to 2.5mm adapter so that I could plug it into my iPhone's standard 3.5mm jack. Besides the fact that it cost me $8.95 + shipping (from Novophone), the worst part was that the adapter doesn't fit into the jack very snugly , with the result that any tugging or movement on the phone cord generates static and audio feedback. One person even said "bless you" because he thought I'd sneezed! So basically, not a good experience.

However, my story does have a happy ending: Despite my disappointment, and because I still loved the concept of using a handset instead of holding my cell phone against my head (or dorking around with a bluetooth headset or annoying people by putting them on speaker phone all the time), I ended up buying a Moshi Moshi handsetNative Union MM01H Moshi Moshi Retro Handset for iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Mobile Phones (Soft Touch Black) which although not as "retro"-looking as the Novophone, has fantastic sound quality and a snug-fitting 3.5mm plug that fits perfectly in my iPhone 4 (even with the bumper case on). So if you're thinking of getting this for any phone with a 3.5mm jack, I definitely recommend going with the Moshi Moshi instead.

As someone who is not worried about the "nanno-gamma-whatever" rays, I bought this solely for the fact that I missed being able to cradle a handset between my head and shoulder while keeping both hands free for other jobs and I have to say it's perfectly suited for that! It has a heavier/sturdier feel to it than most of the other varieties available and I would have given it a full five stars if the 'answer' switch on the side would also end the call (it doesn't).

Novophone Retro Cellphone Handset with Multi-Function button

Bad product

Immed. upon every use the first thing the person on the other end said was, "What's wrong with your cell phone, I can't even understand you and barely hear you?"

Can't use and was a waste of money.

I love this handset. It's exactly what I was looking for. I don't really love the feel of talking on a cell phone, and I like to cradle a handset between my head and shoulder, so I was looking for an old fashioned handset to plug into my cell phone. This handset is perfect. It's comfortable and sturdy, and with the adapter it works perfectly with my iPhone 3GS and my husband's Palm Pre. He uses my iPhone adapter with his Pre, and it works perfectly. You can order this without the multifunction button directly from the company, but I decided to go for the multifunction button version and it works just fine for me. Even though I'm right handed, I like to cradle the phone on my left shoulder, so the button faces out and I never hit it accidentally. The multifunction button works just fine on my iPhone even with the adapter (the company website warns that with an adapter the multifunction button may not work). I can use the button to answer or hang up on calls. When there is no call, hitting it will activate my iPod on the iPhone. Hitting it a second time will pause the iPod. I bought this mostly for at-home use, but if the handset was plugged in and inside your bag, you could potentially drain phone battery power if the button is hit and your iPod is running without your knowledge. Regarding reception and sound quality, everyone I have spoken to says the sound is great.

I got this handset for my birthday, I think. I'm not sure, it was a few years ago. I absolutely love the weight of it, the ability to adopt a classic shoulderhold while on a cellular phone, the clarity of sound and how people think you're effing crazy walking around with an big telephone to your ear.

I loved the idea of being able to hold a headset instead of the phone. The only issues I have with this are:
1) the disconnect button is on the side and I often bump it by accident hanging up my call
2) the phone does not come with an adaptor for use with the newer phones.
Sound quality is good, construction is sound other than that button placement.