Grandstream GS-GXV3140 IP Multimedia Phone with 4.3-Inch Color LCD Display

Just purchased this video phone. Took it out of the box and connected it to network and plugged in ac power adapter. Took it 1 minute to boot up and get a IP address. It was then ready to go. Skype is already installed and has its own button below the display. I pushed it and it gave me a log in screen. Logged into skype and made a long distance audio call. Sound was excellent. Then made a video call using skype. Worked perfectly! Built in color camera looks great too. I am writing this review because when I bought this I was a little worried after reading all the reviews here. Most were written over two years ago and I just wanted to let everyone know that at least for Skype all the problems are gone and it is plug and play. So far very happy with this phone! Of course I have only had it for a couple of days. I cannot answer the question as far as will it last a long time.

We purchased several of these for use at our company in 2010. By the end of 2011, even the last die-hard had stopped using them.The embedded Skype application is years out-of-date. It frequently disconnects, the phone hangs or crashes, etc. You'll need to get used to telling your callers, "Sorry about that, had to reboot my phone". The reboot takes about 10 minutes, by the way. Skype also isn't integrated with the phone itself -- it's an app. Your Skype contacts, messages, missed calls, voicemail, they're all on a separate screen. You aren't getting a Skype phone, despite what the marketing claims. You can't even set the phone up to default to Skype. You must open the app and enter numbers into the dialog box to make calls.Firmware updates for the phone have been rare, so much that you would think this product was discontinued back in 2000. The Skype-enabled firmware was considered beta for over a year, and even stopped working entirely for a month when the Skype client "expired" somehow, and Grandstream took almost another month before updating the firmware to get it working again.The touted multimedia features of the phone are crippled by a very slow processor that just can't keep up. Everything about how the phone works is out of date. Even the internet radio app has 3 or more no-longer-existent stations for every one that works. You wouldn't even think of browsing the web on this phone. The Google Voice "app" just flat out does not work at all.Check out the firmware updates and support forums on the Grandstream site before buying. The March 2012 firmware update release notes have half a dozen lines starting with "Fixed <GUI> crash issue...". I can't say how well the latest firmware runs simply because I don't use this phone anymore, and nobody I know has been clamoring to dig one up from storage.The phone generally was competent at making calls via a SIP gateway, and the proprietary VOIP number system worked extremely well. If you want it for that, it literally is just plug and play. The problem is that at the original price, a discounted price, or almost any price, it's not worth it. The headset feels good in the hand, was comfortable, and was loud enough. Sadly, even when using the phone for SIP, it still occasionally crashes or reboots itself.The phone's best feature was that none of them caught fire when plugged in.Just buy a different phone.

The Grandstream GXV3140 is sooo close to being a great phone. It's 'feature rich' and has a beautiful enclosure that sits well on a desk or very flat against a wall. Having used it in my office (connected to a GS 6100 IP-PBX) and at home, I've found it to be the least intuitive IP phone I've ever used.I have to give the user interface a failing grade. The phone requires you to navigate through the various screens using push-buttons. The navigation is awkward and frustrating and the screen response can be very slow at times. A phone like this begs for a touch-screen. The lack of a touch-screen makes this phone feel old-school and obsolete.I've experience various glitches with the phone's operation. For example: The speaker-phone circuitry produces an intermittent buzz if you place your smart-phone close to it and the phone has locked up requiring a power reset.The display and LEDs are VERY bright and there is no brightness control making this phone inappropriate for use in a room with subdued lighting.The phone supports three accounts, however, one of those accounts is pre-programed for video service. If you need more than two lines or accounts, you're out of luck.The phone does have several interesting features that you'll never use - if the 4.3 inch screen is to small for you, there's a video output that you can connect to your TV - and if you don't use this phone for phone calls, you can pipe internet radio out of its stereo outputs into your sound system.I do plan to keep this phone. Why? Because it's an attractive wall-mountable phone that looks nice in our kitchen - where it will only be used to answer telemarketing calls and to check the weather.