Beetel is back to the future

When I was told to review the Retro Phone by Beetel, popular for its fixed-line devices, a dialogue from James Bond's latest movie Skyfall echoed in my head, "Let's go back in time."

In an era dominated by smartphones, tablets and other such sleek, portable devices, it is rather uncommon to even see someone using a landline phone.

My family, for instance, abandoned the age-old landline we had several years ago, after that small gadget called a mobile phone made its grand entry into the Indian market.

NEW AVATAR

• Price: Rs 1,690
• 3.5mm audio jack & multi-functional handset
• 16-digit LCD display
• Stores last 60 calls (30 incoming & outgoing each)
• Anti-theft alarm

Hence, it was a refreshing change of pace to come across a stylish new fixed-line phone with a colourful, sleek and retro look that combines new features, including an LCD display, digital dial, 3.5mm audio jack and more. The jack lets customers connect the device to a headphone for a mobile-like hands-free experience.

It also has an anti-theft alarm that intimates against any parallel use of the number.

At first, I was confused how to put it to use as I do not have a landline connection; luckily a cousin still has that MTNL connection. There, I managed to make proper use of the device. And, I must mention that his entire family was quite amused by this latest gadget in their living room, preferring to talk through it despite owning several smartphones. The major reason for this was the voice clarity that only landline phones provide. Also, there are no issues of the phone getting heated up after being used for a long time.

For the Beetel Retro, there is not much to write home about apart from the interesting colour combinations and the sheer look and feel of a landline instrument that has almost got lost in time. But, at Rs 1,690, it is not something that you would regret buying (if you have a landline connection). Perhaps, it would be nice to see this new offering by Beetel replace the boring landline sets that we generally have in our homes or offices.