Retro handsets for phones come in two kinds. One plugs into the phone with a cord. The other pairs over Bluetooth and has a battery inside. They look alike in photos and behave very differently on a Tuesday evening when your sister calls. DialBop is the corded kind, so read this knowing which side we are on.
Wired: what you get
- Plug it in and the next call rings in the handset. Nothing to pair, no app, no settings.
- No battery. It cannot be flat when the phone rings, and there is nothing to remember to charge.
- The cord keeps it with the phone. The phone goes in your pocket and the handset comes with it.
- One button on the handle answers and hangs up. A rocker on the edge sets the volume.
Wired: what you give up
- You are tethered. The coiled cord is about 80 cm (31 inches) stretched, pocket to ear, and no further.
- The plug has to match your phone. iPhone 15 and newer and Android take USB-C, iPhone 14 and older take Lightning, phones with a headphone hole take 3.5 mm. We match it before shipping and put the Lightning adapter in the box.
- While the handset is plugged into a USB-C or Lightning port, that port is busy, so you cannot charge on the same cable at the same time.
Bluetooth: what you get
- No cord. You can walk to the kitchen with the handset.
- One handset works with any phone that has Bluetooth, whatever the port.
Bluetooth: what you give up
- A battery to charge, and a handset that is flat exactly when you wanted it.
- Pairing. It is a one-time job on paper and a recurring one in practice, and it is the step the people who want a retro handset most tend to enjoy least.
- Price. Bluetooth handsets from established brands sit well above the corded ones.
Which one for whom
If your phone sits in your pocket or next to you while you talk, and the whole appeal is picking up a real receiver without thinking about it, wired wins. That includes most of the people who buy DialBop: parents, grandparents, long callers and anyone who has said "I do not want another thing to charge". If you want to leave the phone on the counter and walk the room during calls, and you are comfortable with pairing and charging, Bluetooth is the right kind, and we do not sell one.
The corded DialBop™ handset comes in red, bubblegum pink and matte black, only at dialbop.com, with free tracked shipping and a 30-day guarantee. It is here, and the plug guide is here.