snom 715 First Impression Review: Gigabit & USB Added

The new snom 715 is an enhanced version of the snom 710 so if you have seen the 710 you are already quite familiar with the 715.  The 715 brings several new features/enhancements: gigabit network switch, USB peripheral/add-on interface and RTAudio wideband to an IP handset set at $139MSRP.

	snom 715	snom 710
GB switch	X
USB	X
RT Audio Wideband	X

A video review of the 710 below (NOTE: be aware of differences noted above!)

A comparison of the side mounted USB port

Close up of USB port (which is mounted on the side like one of the snom 760 USB ports as opposed to near the Ethernet ports like the snom 720—apparently the side mounted USB is the future)

The blue tooth port can be used for WLAN or Bluetooth headset connectivity. (I did not test)

I could see no different in the appearance of the Gigabit switch on the 715 and the 10/100 switch on the 710. (There are no indicator lights on either—which some people see as a enhancement since on some older snom models they had indicators which in dimly light office shown down on the desk)

The screen resolution (same as 710 and 720)

Some observations

• The LED’s are much more brilliant on the 715 than the 710 (at least on hardware I have)
• The snom 715 (as all snom models) does not include power cord

Pros

• Well built, low cost device (lowest cost Gigabit Lync phone at $139MSRP, compared to Audiocodes 420HD at $149 and Aastra 6721i)
• snom UC Edition: very full featured Lync firmware stack: click here (FW not available at this time)
• 5 dedicated definable buttons

Cons

• If you need things like more than 4 accounts/identities, tri-color Lync Presence indicating buttons or more user definable buttons you may want to look at the snom 720/760
• DESI labels may be a bit tricky to print?

Note: Qualification/Firmware Status of snom 715 as of 3/3/2015

• Not currently listed as a Lync Qualified device: click here
• Currently no UC Edition firmware list on snom website: click here

While the snom 715 does not currently have Lync firmware released, it looks set to bring a sizable feature list, Gigabit switch performance and current and future peripheral connectivity via the new USB port to the low end of Lync capable IP Phones. It also looks set to become the lowest cost device while bringing 5 user definable buttons.

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715 webpage click here
715 Datasheet click here
715 Docs: click here