Review: ZYXEL P-2000W v2 VoIP Wi-Fi phone

2. Product Details

The handset (Figure 2) made a good initial impression, but after handling it for awhile, I got the impression that the handset wouldn't take kindly to drops only hard surfaces (I didn't verify this via drop tests). In addition to the front panel buttons, there are volume up / down buttons on the left side, along with a headset jack.

Figure 2: The phone in hand

The four-way rocker switch and two arrow buttons above it are used for most functions. The arrangement worked ok, but I felt that there could have been better separation between the four-way rocker and arrow buttons.

Since the "earpiece" is just a small slit near the top of the phone, I thought it would be difficult to locate. But I actually found it easier to use than the slightly indented ear hole on the Olympia Dualphone. The ringer speaker is on the back of the phone, which is a good thing because the ring tones are very loud, except at the lowest settings. There's also a buzzer which can be used instead of, or in combination with the audible ring.

Like most phones with large screens, the v2's screen gets easily smeared with skin oils. So I found myself constantly having to wipe off the screen. I should also note that the backlighting on the black-on-blue screen is pretty dim and not adjustable, so I found myself squinting at the screen and moving the phone around in low-light conditions. I actually found the screen more readable with bright ambient light.