Ipevo St4rt Universal Handset

The Ipevo St4rt handset is an extremely simple device, with a very tempting price. It’s probably not the best choice as a main VOIP headset for any hardcore user, and certainly not even worth considering for a gamer, but if you are looking for something that does what this does and not much else, this seems ideal.

Where to get it: Amazon.com for $14.18 currently

The longer version

Most people who are using VOIP services such as Skype instead of a traditional phone are opting for either a normal audio headset & microphone combination, or a similar USB headset. For longer conversations or any kind of gaming you’d probably want to go that route, but if you just want to make a few quick phone calls this St4rt Universal Handset could be ideal. It’s literally about as small as you’d want it to be, and it fits in the hand nicely with a feeling of quality.

It’s only got the audio in & out jacks and a volume knob on the side and that’s it. There’s no software to install so it’s pure plug & play on any PC or Mac. The cord is almost 4 feet long, which seems plenty for any normal set up where you are going to be sitting near your computer. And after you wrap up the cord it’s easily small enough to fit in a front pants pocket or even a normal shirt pocket. Really, for what it intends to be, it couldn’t be better or more simple. The sound quality is excellent as well.

The only knock on this thing is that for calls lasting more than a few minutes you’d probably wish you were doing the headset thing instead. Once you get used to the fit and quality of a proper headset you’ll probably want to use it instead of a normal phone receiver, so in some ways this is like going back in time.

If you are looking for a cheap and simple handset to use with VOIP or any other application that requires the standard 3.5mm audio jacks, it would be hard to do better than this. But be sure that’s what you want because a good headset is probably better suited to most people most of the time.