Buy Now...

Adding to the Siemens range of DECT phones is the black and silver Gigaset S675 model.  Consisting of a base station, which can be wall-mounted or free-standing, and a handset, this DECT phone features an integrated calendar, address book, SMS functionality and an answering machine.  It also brings a splash of colour to the user experience.

The base station, measuring 66 x 121 x 93mm (L x W x D), contains a docking recess for the handset on the left side and a double row of buttons on the right.  These buttons are mainly concerned with the answer phone feature although there is one that allows you to page for other handsets that might have been misplaced.  Paging for a handset causes it to ring so helping you track it down.  Connections for the phone line and power are located on the underneath of the device.

See also: Phones

more

Powered by two NiMH AAA rechargeable batteries, the handset measures 28 x 50 x 143mm (L x W x D) and has an illuminated 128 x 160 pixel 65K colour screen capable of displaying eight lines of text.  This screen displays icons representing the various features, which have been categories as SMS, Services, Call List, Add Features, Alarm Clock, Calendar, Resource Directory, and Settings, supported by the device.  As well as adjusting the backlight and contrast of the screen, you can select from four colour schemes (nothing too outrageous) and opt for one of the eight preloaded screensavers.  The display is bright, clear and easily readable.

Positioned below the screen is a fairly standard arrangement of control keys and a navigational pad plus the telephonic alphanumeric keypad with additional keys for recall and displaying a call list.  The navigation pad is surrounded by keys for accessing messages, hands-free, call and end features.  I found this to be rather small for my fingers causing me problems with activated the wrong action.  The navigation pad combines the ability to move between the various options on the onscreen icon menu and selecting the phone book (250 entries); adjusting the ring tone and volume level; opening the list of handsets linked to the base station - up to six can be registered; and access the unit's main menu.

Setting up the S675 is straightforward as you make the power and telephone line connections using the supplied leads.  The handset will automatically register itself although this operation can take several minutes especially if the handset is not firmly seated in the assigned docking recess.  You can then set the date and time before creating entries in your phone book.  These entries can consist of first and last name, email address, anniversary reminders, caller picture and up to three (home, office and mobile) numbers.  Using the linked SMS feature, text messages can have up to 612 characters and you can set up one common and three personalised SMS-inboxes.

The S675 supports a limited conference calling facility in that two internal participants can simultaneously converse with the same external caller.  Depending upon the chosen setting, the answer machine can give up to 40 minutes recording time at the standard level.  A choice of time setting delays are available before the answer machine kicks in with a user-defined option of allowing the caller to just hear a message or also have the ability to record a response.

With an indoor range of 50 metres and outdoor of 300 metres, the S675 comes with an ECO mode that is turned on by default.  This reduces power consumption by as much as 60% or almost reduces it to zero when the handset is docked and idle.  The S675 has a good range of features backed up by a clear colour display.  The Siemens Gigaset S675 is available for £69.98 including shipping from Amazon The Siemens Gigaset S675 is available for €78,85 including shipping from Amazon .

http://gigaset.siemens.com/shc/0,1935,hq_en_0_139243_rArNrNrNrN,00.html