Like a child who hopes to feel like a grownup by putting on mum’s clothes, Philips’ new S10 cordless handset could easily be mistaken for a modern smartphone. But it’s not. It’s a complete fraud! Silly landline, you’re not fooling anyone with your grownup disguise.
Now, as landline phones go, the S10 is certainly the cream of the crop, with a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen interface and metal housing. But since the crop hasn’t changed much since the 1980s, that’s not saying much. Functionality barely goes past your standard handset with a more graphical treatment for contacts and call history, and the ability to jot down notes with your finger.
The one bright spot is the handset’s ability to be paired with a real smartphone over Bluetooth, letting you use it for taking or placing calls in lieu of your more capable device. But since a subsidised price tag through a contract really isn’t an option here, the S10 will most likely cost a small fortune, which is hard to justify for a near-extinct piece of technology.