SMC WiFi Skype Phone Preview Part 2

Part II of II - Battery Test and Wish List

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Stand-by time

In order to test the stand-by time, we turned on the SMC Skype Wi-Fi phone at 10:00 in the morning and placed it about 30” away from our 802.11g D-Link Wi-Fi router in our office. The product spec says that the phone is designed with 30 Hrs of stand-by time, so we expect to catch the phone running out of battery power on the second day of testing around lunch time. However, when we got into the office at about 8:30am the next day, the battery on the phone had already been drained, showing that the stand-by time of the sample phone is less than 24 Hrs.

Talk time

We used the following testing setup to test the talk time of the SMC Skype Wi-Fi phone.

We called the SMC Skype Wi-Fi phone from a computer, and used Pretty May to play non-stop background music to simulate a conversation.
We occasionally talked on the phone to activate the microphone.
The SMC Skype Wi-fi phone was placed about 30” away from our 802.11g Wi-Fi router.
The phone was set at the default volume (3 bars).

The above setup is doing more of testing the battery performance in extreme usage than on-again/off-again calls. Streaming music by Wi-Fi definitely consumes more power than transmitting a normal conversation because the silence that happens in a normal conversation would not be happening in the music streaming. However, the test should still give us a feeling of about how the battery performance should be in the final released phone.

The phone was put in this non-stop talk mode which lasted for 3.5 Hrs before the battery ran down.

During the test, we also noticed several interesting things:

The LCD display can turn itself off during the conversation. This is a good power-saving feature that helps in saving some juice.
During the conversation, we can active two functions: hold the phone and mute the microphone. We have not found a way to show the remaining battery capacity on the screen during a conversation.
After 30 minutes of non-stop use, the phone became a little warm.
This phone does a good job of keeping the Wi-Fi connection. In the entire 3.5 hour testing period, the phone only dropped the connection once.

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Conclusion for today

The battery life on the SMC Skype Wi-Fi phone sample we have did work close to the manufacturer’s specs. As we all know, to broadcast over Wi-Fi – just like a cell phone over a cell network - the transmitter consumes a lot of power. People who want to use this phone should understand that they need to perform a re-charge to the phone daily.

Wish list

Must have:

Built-in web browsers - In order to connect to most HotSpots available in US, offering a built-in web browser is a must.
Display Battery life during a conversation - A battery capacity bar shown on the screen during the talk time would be very helpful in avoiding sudden power outage.

Desired features:

Desktop recharge cradle - Since the phone needs to be recharged every day, a desktop recharge cradle would ease the hassle in finding the AC adapter each time and help reduce cable clutter.
Carrying pouch / accessory - This phone is designed for people on the move. We wish we can find a carrying pouch to protect and easily take this phone with us.
Car charger / accessory - Again, this phone is for people on the move. A way to charge the phone in the car would be a big help.
Longer battery life (48 Hrs standby time, 6~8 Hrs talk time) - We hope the phone can match the basic battery capacity standard of a cell phone.
Portable battery / emergency charge accessory - If the Wi-Fi transmitter power consumption cannot be improved in the near future, a portable battery or emergency charge accessory is needed.
Bluetooth enabled - If we can use a Bluetooth headset with the phone, it would be easier to move around. However, we also know that Bluetooth technology is another power hog, too.

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