Strong middling: Snom D735 IP Phone Review

Recently, we briefly introduced you to the history and assortment of the German company Snom, which more than 20 years ago released the world's first VoIP-phone and has since retained its leading position among developers and manufacturers of integrated solutions for IP-telephony. Then we reviewed the flagship models of the two lines of wired phones - D385 and D785 . And today we will talk about the middle-class model from the 7xx series - the Snom D735, which will soon go into production, and we got a test copy for review.

Design

The body of the phone is made from the traditional Snom high-quality matte dark or white plastic, pleasant to the touch and scratch-resistant. The stand allows you to position the phone at two different angles of inclination, 46 ° and 28 °.





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The width of the phone is 205 mm, depth is 185 mm, and the height depends on the use of the stand and ranges from 40 to 220 mm. The phone weighs 450 grams, plus 120 grams it weighs its stand.



The sleek-shaped tube lies comfortably in your hand, there are no discomfort during long conversations.







The “End” button is electronic, which greatly increases its reliability and durability.







One of the key elements of the interface is a 2.7 inch high resolution color display. Unlike the flagship D785, the D735 does not have a separate screen for programmable buttons, its functions are performed by the main display. Its size is enough to comfortably manipulate the lists of subscribers in the address book, callers, missed numbers and dialed numbers, to customize the operating system of the device.











Below the display are four buttons, the functions of which vary depending on the contents of the display. And on the sides there are eight physical programmable buttons, which can total up to 32 functions. By default, several of them are already configured for conferencing, call forwarding, silent mode, and call lists. Additionally, these buttons themselves are highlighted in red or green, depending on the situation.







On the front panel of the D735, there is a proximity sensor, which notices the hand being held towards the keyboard, turns on the display backlight and displays on it a list of the current functions of the programmable buttons. According to the manufacturer, this solution is used for the first time in history; none of the manufacturers used the proximity sensor in desktop telephones. How is this solution useful? The point is that the display area is limited, and when displaying the signatures of all the function keys, the screen is cluttered with information. Naturally, this is inconvenient and not too aesthetic. In normal mode, you will see a minimum of information on the phone screen (icons that are easy to understand and abbreviated signatures to them), but you should give a hand how the signatures “unfold” and are displayed as a whole - no need to guess what these or other abbreviations mean.



In standby:







Once the sensor has recognized the approach of the hand:







Experienced, we found that the sensor is triggered if you bring your hand / face / object at a distance of about 9-13 cm.



All buttons have a small move and a distinct click, their location on the panel is familiar, and the symbols are intuitive. Next to the block of digital buttons are such useful and necessary buttons "Phonebook", "Settings", "Call Transfer" and "Call Hold". And on the sides of the navigation five-way joypad, the D735 has input and cancel buttons, Do Not Disturb, and Messages. On the numeric keypad there is only the English alphabet, you have to “guess” what Russian letters should be on the keys with numbers. However, this problem, as well as some under-translated menu items, may be a consequence of the hasty localization of the test instance and will be eliminated in serial devices.







The phone has LED indication of missed calls and messages, as well as colored lights on the Mute, Speakerphone and Headset buttons. There are no unexpected “modern” solutions in the interface, everything is familiar and understandable, there should be no difficulties in mastering the device.

Software

The interface is translated into Russian. The cancel button does not go back a step, as you might expect, but completely resets the current action, you can lose the entered information when setting up. But this, as we said in the D385 and D785 review, is not a bug, but a deliberately implemented behavior. To return to the previous menu level, use one of the four functional context-sensitive buttons below the screen.











The list of subscribers in the address book can contain 1000 numbers, there is a list of missed, received and dialed calls. The set of functions is quite standard for any device of this class: call hold, automatic redial, “unavailable” mode, and the like. Interestingly implemented call forwarding, the final subscriber will see the real number of the calling subscriber (for example, cellular), and not the internal number of the company secretary or another employee who switched the call.



With the help of the D735 you can organize three-way conference calls.

Sound and technology

Snom is one of the few manufacturers who have their own audio lab and pay much attention to sound quality in their devices. The handset is not a piece of plastic with a simple filling, but an acoustically optimized audio system, the design of which is designed for the best performance of the microphone and speaker. The technology of suppression of extraneous noise allows you to communicate comfortably, even if colleagues are talking about one and a half meters from you. Speakerphone provides good audibility of the interlocutor and microphone sensitivity at a distance of about three meters.



The D735 is equipped with two gigabit network ports with PoE power technology, a full set of audio codecs and network protocols such as SIP and DHPC, secured connections via HTTPS, VPN and similar technologies implemented in this phone - similar to other models of the company.











The phone has a USB port, which allows you to use various accessories with it, from headsets to WiFi sticks to connect to a wireless network. The handset also supports wireless Bluetooth headsets.







Up to three optional D7 expansion modules can be connected to the phone. There are 18 additional keys on the sides of the large display, which can be programmed in the same way as the function keys on the phone itself.



You can set up the phone either through the menu of the device itself, or through the web interface. And if the company orders a large number of devices, from 300 pieces, then Snom can modify the appearance of the phones and the menu under the corporate style of the customer.



The warranty period for telephone service is three years, but, according to the experience of the company and its customers, the devices last much longer.



And finally, a small announcement.



Today, users are very important mobility, which can give a convenient and compact headset with a large range and high-quality noise reduction. Therefore, we plan to dedicate the next review in the iptelefon blog not to a telephone, but to a wireless DECT headset. Follow the news!