I've waited a while for something like this to come along after reading reviews of previous gigasets. It was worth it.
I've had a few dect systems. Always 2 handsets and an answer phone. Firstly was a Philips jobby that I hankered to replace with something more snazy and mistakenly got a Magicbox system (the one with touch sensitive keys) and it was awful (kept activating speaker phone or hanging up when you touched the phone to your cheak).

So to the S68H (what the handsets are called):
* The keys are feel better quality than the other gigasets I pawed in shops.
* The IP telephony appears easy to set up, but is in the future for me
* It won't work with Skype, which is a shame (I'd hoped to become always on-line to distant releatives who use skype)
* The synchronisation works fully with most Outlooks (mine's 2007, on vista 32)
* It doesn't use the WLAN, only bluetooth ;-( so I had to buy a bluetooth dongle for my office PC where my main contacts file is
* It insisted on requiring the appending of the international dial tone and international area 44, before syncronising, so I had to remove the zero from teh front of all my contacts, as it then proceeeds to add 0044 to the front of all telephone numbers.
* But you only have to do this with one phone, you can send the directory to other handsets on the base station.
* Not synching contacts over wireless is very much like WindowsMobile devices, but odd considering you can adjust settings on the handsets through a web console just like you might on your router or switch.
* There's a couple of nifty screensavers, like getting weather forecasts for your village off t'internet and displaying a 5 day forecast.
* Or you can have it switch off all the back lights and be normal.
Speach quality is on a par with a swanky Jacob Jenses corded phone I've got.
* You can apparently pair bluetooth headsets, and I'm sure you can, but it didn't work first time with my Arcono that works with everything else I've thrown at it.
* It's nice not having the answerphone as a base station, means you can hide all but the handset and small cradle away. Any you can put all the handsets, where you like, even away from your phone line.

All in all, a pleasing purchase, one that I can't see something better than it appearing in the near future...

Good points very easy set-up, great features, including wireless data transfer, exceptional sound quality

Bad points Couldn't figure out how to make the name of the handset appear on the screen which is helpful when you have more than one handset, but his may be covered in the manual which I haven't read yet.

Other thoughts

This is an incredibly good quality and feature-packed Voip phone and I can highly recommend it. I had a Siemens phone before for a number of years and in my opinion there really isn't anything better out there. Buy it with confidence!

Very good telephone in terms of its build quality, audio performance, and answer phone capability, it is the best I have experienced to date. This was also my first SIP phone, and I found it very easy to configure with three VOIP providers and it is very easy to direct calls either over the new VOIP or the old BT landline. It is also a novel experience to have more than two calls at the same time on different handsets. All in all I would recommend the S685IP.

Good points Compatible with Virgin (Ex NTL) caller display. Very easy to set-up. VOIP working first time in minutes. (Tesco Internet phone). Sound quality very good.

Bad points Ring tones not that good.

Other thoughts

Like the weather forecast, and ability to check one email account via the handset.

Been waiting for the uk version of the s675 to turn up and voila here it is. Works perfect and i got rid of my Sipura TAP adapter and unified my POTS and SIP phones into this one elegant handset. Sound quality is fab and setup was seamless. I've registered to 3 SIP providers so far and calls connect quickly and without fail. Only issue with the handset is that the provided ringotnes are awful and there doesn't appear to be a way to change them.

LiGo service was fantastic and phones were dispatched immediately to my address.

Set multiple phones up for my landline with no problem. Struggling with voip setup for BT Broadband Talk, but this is because it is BT not the phone! Will try with another voip service provider if I cannot get BT to work. Very pleased with the phones otherwise; their functionality and style is very good. Web configuration makes updating the phone book on all phones really easy. Glad I bought them.

Excellent piece of kit. Only issue was handsets didnt automatically connect to the base, I had to do this manually, but not a problem. VoIP works a treat. All in all I am delighted with this product.

Good points Looks good, battery from new charged in 5 hours and took 5 days to discharge. Internet bit is brillant, better than the pc and head phones

Bad points Setup is not a simple as they make out, the manual is typical Siemens - not enough screen shoots and the FAQ is poor

Other thoughts

I don't know all the functions yet, but transfer land line calls would be a good feature - it might be in the book and I haven't found it yet.

This is an excelletnt system with more capability than I could wish for. If I had one criticism, it would be that the setup of the internet side is not as well explained as it might be. Fine if you are choosing one of the listed providers - needs a bit more explanation if you are not. It is fine once you work it out.
Faultless once working both in terms of sound cquality and radio range.

Good points The fact that the system actually works is almost recommendation enough.

Setting up the base station, registering handsets and getting connected to the Tesco VoIP service went relatively smoothly.

Lots of features, although the menus on the hardset could be more inuitive and the PC interface with the base station provide more hints, but to move these comments into the bad points would be churlish.

The RSS-like newsfeeds are of little value and the text too small, so I've configured to show the time on the handsets.

Compared with the BT Diverse two-line base station and handsets I've used in the past (also Gigaset based), this bundle is great value for money and the level of sophistication is impressive.


Bad points Choice of headsets that can be attached to the handset (for conference calls and other lengthy usage) seems rather limited.

Other thoughts

Connection of a second PSTN line would have been helpful.

Easy to set up, understand and use. The features work as described. Recommended.

Good points Great sound, I've not had a good experience with DECT phones before but the S685IP handset are very loud and clear. The VOIP functionality works very well and the unit has some good configuration options. It's ideal for a small office or home use.

Bad points The web interface is slow.

The S685IP is an outstanding cordless phone. It seems very well considered in its design. The pity is that it's not being offered in North America.

Good points Good design and feature set. As mentionned in other reviews, it can be fiddly to setup, but honestly this is quite straightforward. Sound quality is second to none both for landline and VOIP.

Bad points Using the Gigaset.net website to setup services is another thing to think about. I would have liked something centralised, not third parties.
The manual is on the CD. Flicking through real pages would have been useful during the setup process. Although it is reasonable to follow, the manual reminds me of an IKEA manual...but basic setup is OK.

Good points Good features - easy to use

Bad points Charging stand a bit flimsy

Good points The sound quality is fantastic; connecting to more than 1 provider is very useful - with different ringtones for each, and being able to use a bluetooth headset is great. The phone itself feels very solid, like it will last, and the battery life is awesome, even with bluetooth on!

Bad points Not the simplest VoIP phone I've ever set up, but certainly not the most tricky

Other thoughts

It looks pretty good, even the base unit is quite stylish. Personally I would have liked a slightly smaller phone, and I don't really need a lot of the features, but its better to have things I don't need than not have things I want. I would buy this phone again; but I reckon by the time it dies, VoIP will be obsolete.