As a provider of VoIP telephone systems, including 3CX, we’re often approached by businesses looking to get the best phones for their budget. Every business is a little bit different, and it may be that you need a variety of different phones across your business, all working together under one system.
We’ve compiled a list of our top 10 recommended VoIP phones, including their retail price and a list of their key features.
1. Yealink T46U
Retail: £135
As a VoIP provider, the Yealink T46U is our go-to VoIP phone for a wide variety of businesses. Perfect for office environments, retail, self-employed users and more, it’s a versatile mid-range handset.
Key features of the Yealink T54 include:
- Colour LCD display
- 10x customisable BLF keys
- Mid-range cost
- Individual action keys (hold, mute etc)
A HD voice handset connects with a ‘curly cord’ connection to the sleek, modern base. Made from high quality materials, it’s both modern and functional, perfect for heavy use office environments and professional settings.
We usually recommend the T46 as a standard VoIP phone, as it can be included free of charge with our VoIP systems, which is particularly handy if you don’t want to shell out lots of capital on all new equipment when upgrading your telephone system. You’ll probably notice how feature-packed and well priced it is compared to the rest of this list!
The Yealink T46U can even be customised with your own background on the colour screen, making it more personal to your business. Another benefit of the Yealink T46U is compatible with most modern VoIP providers, which makes it easy to deploy and highly versatile.
2. Polycom VVX301
Retail: £120
The Polycom VVX301 is one of the most budget-friendly VoIP phones on the market. Perfect for higher use applications such as reception staff or your administration team.
Key features of the Polycom VVX301
- 6x customisable BLF keys
- Individual action keys (hold, mute etc)
- Low cost
- Durable for heavy-usage applications
Our team recommend the Polycom VVX301 for users with high usage, but that don’t necessarily, need LCD colour screens and 10x buttons. Polycom VVX301s are also a great option for outbound diallers that utilise a headset, and therefore don’t require a feature-rich handset.
Just like the Yealink T46U, the Polycom VVX301 can be included free of charge on our VoIP phone systems, which makes it an obvious choice for many businesses. The Polycomm VVX301 VoIP phone is also compatible with a range of VoIP systems, making it equally as versatile as the Yealink T46U.
The main downside of the Polycom VVX301 is the design. With no colour LCD screen and a far more basic design, it's more ‘rough and ready’ than the Yealink T46U—and the very small price difference usually makes the T46U the best option of the two.
3. Yealink W59R Cordless
Retail £160
The Yealink W59R is a ruggedised cordless handset, perfect for tough and dirty environments. With IP67 protection and a multitude of built in safety measures, its the ideal VoIP phone for a wide number of use cases.
Key features of the Yealink W59R
- IP67 dust, shock and water resistance
- Belt clip
- Push button emergency alarm
- Long range cordless capabilities
This hardy unit is protected by a tough rubber outer layer, offering strong protection from the outside environment. The Yealink W59R VoIP phone features a HD speaker and microphone, giving high quality calls even in the busy and noisy environments where this phone is usually situated.
The Yelling W59R can be implements as part of a wider DECT solution. DECT is a technology that enabled cordless phones to roam around without being attached to a desk or base station. Larger businesses such as hotels or large warehouse complexes often have multiple DECT base stations situated across their premises to allow users to roam freely around while on a call.
The reason we’ve put this at number three is because the Yealink W59R is by far the best ruggedised VoIP phone on the market. While it is more niche VoIP phone, the W59R comes in handy for so many sectors and applications, such as:
- Construction sites
- Car garages and tyre fitters
- Warehouses
- Utilities
- Hotels and groundskeeping
- Shipping and logistics
We’ve installed the Yealink W59R at a multitude of businesses, and every one has found it a great addition to their system. The W59R is often coupled with the Yealink T46U, where office-based staff utilise the T46U and warehouse/ground staff utilise the W59R.
The W59R VoIP phone does have some drawbacks. The main one being that it doesn’t have any BLF keys, which means that colleagues have to be individually dialled. There are also no feature keys, as the phone is compact, so doesn’t have space for additional keys. This isn’t to say that these features aren’t available, as they’re all accessible from the phone’s in-built menu.
4. Yealink T54W
Retail: £150
The T54W is Yealink’s latest generation of VoIP phones. Part of the T5 series, the T54W is the mid-range model that rivals the price and feature set of the T46U at the top of the list.
Key features of the Yealink T54W
- Adjustable, colour LCD screen
- 10x customisable BLF keys
- Individual action keys (hold, mute etc)
- Acoustic shield technology
One of the main applications of the Yealink T54W is as a VoIP ‘gateway’ as well as a phone. The T54W has an in-built Session Border Controller (SBC), making it essentially a ‘router phone’. With the T54W, you can cut out an addiontal cost of buying a separate SBC for your business. This is particularly important for businesses with 3CX phone systems.
The Yealink T54W can also act as a DECT base station. With a small dongle added to the rear of the phone, you can connect up to 4x cordless DECT handsets for added flexibility and manoeuvrability.
The T54W is actually a slightly newer version of the aforementioned T46U, which is top of our list. The newer model has more processing power and improved internal’s. More importantly, as it’s more up-to-date it will continue to be supported by the manufacturer for longer. This makes the T54W a good option for those looking to utilise their new VoIP phones for 5+ years, and offers a better return on investment than the slightly cheaper, but older T46U.
5. Fanvil H3 Hotel phone
Retail: £70
The Fanvil H3 is a VoIP phone built specifically for hotels and the hospitality sector. Designed as an in-room phone, it allows your hotel to upgrade to VoIP, without sacrificing the all-important room phones.
Key features of the Fanvil H3 hotel phone
- Comes in black or white to match your room style
- Low cost means a cheaper roll-out
- 6x Programmable speed dial functions
- Space for a custom display with your logo and instructions
- POE powered for minimal cables
The Fanvil H3 really is built for hotels as a direct replacement for older, analogue phones. Because hotels have lots of existing infrastructure, chances are you can utilise this for the Fanvil H3 and further reduce rollout costs.
With a Fanvil H3, you can provide your guests with a feature rich, easy to use in-room phone. The customisable card above the keys is perfect for displaying instructions, such as room service, housekeeping and more.
Another fantastic feature of the Fanvil H3 VoIP phone is the USB charging port, giving your guests the ability to plug their phone charger into the VoIP phone directly, minimising wires and clutter.
Switching out all the phones in your hotel can be a daunting thought—as can any system upgrade. But our team are here to help migrate your existing telephony to VoIP with full project management and delivery.
6. Yealink W73P Cordless
Retail: £110
At number six is the Yealink W73P cordless DECT phone. The W73P VoIP phone is one of the best cordless phones on the market today—modern, versatile, compact and high quality.
Key features of the Yealink W73P
- Fully cordless DECT
- HD Voice
- Small, compact and elegant handset
- Long battery life
- Have up to 10 handsets on one base
The Yealink W73P is our recommended VoIP phone for most cordless applications that don’t require a ruggedised phone. Their low cost and high quality build makes them great for office environments.
The W73P comes with a basestation, which is capable of supporting up to 10 separate cordless phones. This is particularly helpful in high traffic areas where several people utilise a cordless phone for for their day-to-day work. With 10 handsets on one base, you can reduce rollout costs, another benefit of the Yealink W73P.
The Yealink W73P VoIP phone can be included free of charge with some of our specific VoIP packages, which makes it a no-brainer for businesses that require a cordless DECT solution, without rugged handsets. The low cost means that even if you need to purchase them upfront, rollout is relatively cost effective.
A very common application for the Yealink W73P is hotels, where front desk staff, concierges and porters need to roam freely across the hotel, but still need to be reachable on their phone.
7. Cisco ATA 191
Retail: £90
The Cisco ATA 191 is the only bit of kit on this list that isn’t *technically* a VoIP phone. The Cisco ATA 191 is an Analogue Terminal Adapter, which coverts any existing analogue telephone into a VoIP phone.
Key features of the Cisco ATA 191
- Connect up to two phones at once
- Convert analogue phones to VoIP phones
- Utilise existing network infrastructure
Traditional analogue telephones use CW1308, which is a type of telephone cable, but does not support VoIP calls. This is where the Cisco ATA comes in. The ATA 191 sits between your traditional analogue telephone and new VoIP phone system, and converts VoIP traffic into analogue signals that your telephone understands.
Using the Cisco ATA, traditional telephones can be moved across to VoIP without the need to completely replace them.
The Cisco ATA 191 is a fantastic piece of equipment that we usually recommend for businesses with limited capital to spend on whole new phones, but those that want to upgrade ahead of the 2025 ISDN switch off.
We often utilise the Cisco ATA in hotels, where room-phones use analogue technology, and the hotel wants to move their large number of room-phones to VoIP, without replacing them all right away.
Another application of the Cisco ATA 191 is to convert analogue telephony peripherals (such as loud bells, door phones and other equipment) into VoIP-ready devices. Many of our customer use have a Cisco ATA installed, rather than spend the money to convert these devices that work perfectly fine.
8. Yealink T31G
Retail: £60
At number eight is the Yealink T31G. The T31G is an affordable, durable VoIP phone designed for high usage applications.
Key features of the Yealink T31W
- 2x customisable BLF keys
- Wall mountable
- Individual action keys (hold, mute etc)
- Easily pair with a headset
While it isn’t the most feature rich, or the prettiest phone on this list, the low rollout cost of the Yealink T31G makes it a great phone for larger businesses, organisations or charities. With the daunting task of upgrading to VoIP on the horizon for many businesses ahead of the 2025 ISDN switch off, the Yealink T31G makes it much more affordable to replace your existing handsets.
Although low cost, the Yealink T31G doesn’t sacrifice on usability, build quality or standard features. The two BLF keys make transferring seamless, and push-button action keys for holding, redial and speakerphone make it a very user friendly phone.
We often install the Yealink T31G in call centres, reception areas or even in schools as wall-mounted hallway phones. The strong build quality makes it a great baseline for any business looking to upgrade to VoIP.
9. Grandstream GDS3702
Retail: £190
In a slight break from the norm, number nine is a the Grandstream GDS3702, a VoIP door-phone.
Key features of the Grandstream GDS3702
- Weatherproof and vandal resistant
- POE powered for minimal cables
- Microphone and speaker for intercom functionality
- Integrates with most electronic door locks and bolts
When upgrading to VoIP, door phones are something that often gets forgotten. Most existing door phones linked to an analogue telephone system, they will become incompatible when you switch to VoIP.
Another great feature of the Grandstream GDS3702 is that it connects to most door lock systems. If you have an existing door phone setup, chances are you have a locking mechanism already installed—and you don’t want the hassle and expense of replacing the whole thing. The Grandstream GDS3702 can connect to your existing setup, minimising hassle and cost during installation.
Door phones are more of an important part of your telephone system than you might think. The door phone is the first impression of your business that customers and prospects get when they visit—upgrading it to a flashy, sleek new phone such as the Grandstream GDS3702.
10. Your Smartphone
And last but most certainly not least is your smartphone. All modern smartphones can become a fully-fledged VoIP phone with the addition of a simple app.
Key features of the VoIP apps on your smartphone
- Take your VoIP phone with you on the road
- Work from anywhere
- Make, receive and even transfer calls without the need for a deskphone
- Save money during rollout
- Enable seamless home working
We’re finding more and more customers asking for flexible working and telephony solutions since the pandemic, and using your mobiles phones is one of the best solutions.
As long as your smartphone has a broadband connection—whether that’s cellular or WiFi, then VoIP mobile apps provide a reliable alternative to a desk phone.
Another great benefit of utilising your smartphone as a VoIP phone is that you don’t need to double up on costs. Many businesses choose to provide their employees with a company mobile phone, as well as a fixed desk phone—however with the addition of a VoIP mobile app, your business can roll both costs into one.
So there you have it—our top 10 VoIP phones available to buy today for your business. With years of experience in the industry, our team are here to help if you need additional recommendations, or are thinking of making the switch to cloud-based VoIP telephony.
Speak to us today for honest, no obligations advice about upgrading to VoIP.
