Grandstream GXV3275 android touchscreen VOIP desk phone

wkearney99

Senior Member
I picked one up, via Amazon and I'm impressed.  For $218 it's pretty nice.  I won't regurgitate the specs here, check their website for more info:
http://www.grandstream.com/index.php/products/ip-video-telephony/gxv3275
 
The highlights, it's got a 1024x600 resolution screen.  It runs Android 4.2 (not the latest, no idea what upgrading is possible).  It has an SD card slot on the side, along with 2 USB ports.  It has bluetooth (but I don't know what devices it supports).  I do not believe it supports linking a cell phone to it for use as a trunk.   It supports both WiFi and wired ethernet.  It can be powered PoE, but also comes with a wall wart.  It comes with a wall-mounting clip.  I'm using it on the desk with it's attached adjustable desk stand.
 
Haven't tried any calling as I don't have any VoIP accounts setup.  I plan on using a gateway and PBX locally (probably hack one up on a new RasPi B+).  This is an IP-only phone, it has no analog port on it for a POTS line (and this was expected).
 
The handset is nice and heavy, not cheap feeling at all.
 
It has a notification light that's integrated with the OS.  Works but I could see where one lone light would get overwhelmed when there's a ton of notifications.  Not sure if there's enough granularity to control whether a notification rises to the level of lighting the LED or not.  I think it's tied to any notifications, so you might need to cull them in the various settings... This being an 'android thing' not something specific to the phone itself.
It's pretty peppy when it comes to loading apps.  I've only just started poking around with it.  
 
It is capable of loading the Google Play store and I've stacked up a ton of apps to download onto it.  A few things wouldn't work due to being 4.2 and the apps wanting 'something else'.  But nothing major, yet.
 

LOTS of apps insist WiFi must be enabled.  Um, it has a wired ethernet connection, that I'd prefer to use...  Nope.  But most will still function if they let you skip past the WiFi message.   I prefer to avoid wireless whenever possible.  I could see where some folks would like being able to use this over WiFi.  I'm not one of them, at least not in the places where I'm planning to put these.  So I'll plod forward trying apps to see what chokes on not having WiFi.
 

The Lutron Home+ app well enough.  Complained about wifi for doing a search for a system, but runs fine otherwise.
 


Pandora quits, no idea why.  Trying to Report it caused the Play store to quit.  Ooooo-kay....  next...
 
Skype comes up and calls work.  The camera's pickup of low lighting isn't great.  But then using it in a darkened office with just a table lamp is probably asking a bit much...  Think typical mid-range webcam and you'd be in the right ballpark.
 
Sonos comes up, complains about wifi, but works anyway.  Hmmm, playing "Stairway to Heaven" via the Jimmy Buffett channel?  Um, sure, why not...
 
Denon's remote app loads but won't pass the WiFi message, forcing either Demo mode or exiting.
 
Don't get me started on apps that won't come up in landscape mode...   I'll have to see if my Rotate forcing app will work...
 
Netflix loads but does seem a tad slow in the UI.  Streams seem to work pretty well, no idea what resolution it's using.  The Chromecast integration seems to work, but I didn't test it.  
 
More as I poke around with it...
 
Hmm, apparently it can use a bluetooth connection to answer and make calls on your cell phone.  Pair it as a headset.  Bearing in mind you're encoding the audio three times.  Once to digitize it on the phone, another to send it wirelessly to the cell phone and then another time to send it out as a cell call.  The end result is the audio can be a little 'crunchy' sounding.  That and each step causes a bit of a delay.  Not enough to be like the old days of satellite calls, but not as instantaneous as POTS lines.
 
Now, this is a one-to-one pairing.  That is, it's just this one desk phone making it's own connection to the cell phone.  I don't believe this would extend to other phones on the same IP network.  For that you'd need to bridge the cell phone into a PBX and redirect the calls through there.  Which apparently can be done, I just don't have the added pieces necessary to do that... yet.
 
Interesting - we know you're a tough customer too!
 
I've had several grandstream phones but recently moved over to Yealink - a little more polished.  That said the grandstreams weren't bad at all - and their PBX appliances are very functional and affordable if you don't want to roll your own end to end.  T.38 Fax server, FXO/FXS ports, etc.
 
If you like the Android feature set you might also like the new Ubiquiti UniFi phone - I haven't seen one up close yet but they're real clean looking in the pictures.  I'll check one out soon;  A relative/client just had their 20 year old phone system die at work so they cleaned me out of my PBX and every IP phone I had on hand - including my favorite - the Yealink T48G.
 
Good writeup and very interesting info... I can't believe Android makes app devs deal with wifi vs. wired; it should just expose whether or not you have network and let the OS worry about the specifics...
 
I don't know the specifics of the wifi/wired scenarios but I'd imagine it has a lot to do with wanting to avoid abusing data consumption on cellular data networks.  As in, if wifi isn't active then it must be the expensive cell network.  Which would be worse for developer PR.  The fact there's a third network possibility may not be obvious to developers, or there might be issues with determining it.  Having been a developer I know how complicated it can be to wade through all the nuances of a programming framework.    But I can definitely see it continuing to be an issue if more devices like this hit the market.
 
Meanwhile the phone is smart enough to know that if you enable wifi it then disables the wired connection.  I don't know if this affects PoE scenarios or not, as I don't have any PoE source power to try it.  
 
The Yealink stuff is interesting but the closest equivalent is their Executive model.  I've not seen it priced anywhere yet.  I don't particularly like the raised screen setup.  That and it doesn't appear to have an adjustable angle.  The lower screen on the GXV is easy to use with an arm resting on the desk.  
 
It'll be tough to beat $200 for the GXV3275.  I'd be willing to pay a little more but not much.  A mid-range tablet and desk docking stand ends up being around $300.  I've got a number of Nexus 7 & Kidigi docking stations.  They don't have the phone handset, of course, but they're friendlier to use for the couch, theater, etc.  For the office desk the phone form factor works nicely.   Not sure about the kitchen, I'm planning on using one of the Nexus 7's on an under-cabinet fold-down shelf.  This still lets it be movable if necessary.
 
Curiously, the GXV3275 also has an HDMI out port.  I'm guessing they're thinking video conferencing?  I've not connected anything to it yet.
 
Very nice Bill.  Thank you for providing us with a first hands on review. 
 
Curious if you are looking at the device as primarily a touch screen console to your automation stuff or a telephone with the added features of the Android OS base? 
 
Are you going to root the device?  How is the audio sound quality from the built in speaker? Is it using more than one speaker?
 
I'll probably see about rooting the device, but there doesn't seem to be much (if any) vendor cruft on it.  That's typically the big driver behind rooting.  It won't be a priority until something "needs" it.
 
I'd imagine I'll use it for both.  Being able to have it contain the same addressbook as my cell phone will be convenient.  As is being able to use it to browse e-mail and RSS feeds.  The video aspect of the phone isn't a big driver, for me.  I've had a laptop with a similar camera & mic setup for years and just don't do video calls from my desk. 
 
I'm most looking forward to using it as a command center for automation.  That it'll also be a phone is a nice bonus.  
 
Now, if/when I get a chance to delve into the intercom features... that'll be interesting.  Having these as both video intercoms and automation controls might push me to put more them around the house.  But as I only have one at this point it's hard to say.  If it sucks then that path will dead-end.  It'd be handy to have it, but not if it means using some of the pretty terrible intercom apps out there.
 
I think it only has one speaker, in the face under the handset.  The fidelity is more akin to a clock radio than anything hi-fidelity.  It does support a 3.5mm line-out.  
 
But there is some goofy-ness to the audio handling.  If you pickup the handset while media is playing it'll mute the media.  But if you go back into the app and resume playing it'll go out the handset (not the speaker).  So you won't get to listen to background music from the speaker while talking on a call.  I'd imagine this is probably a good design decision, from a phone-centric perspective.  However, if you hang up the call (not having fiddled with the media app) it does not automagically resume the media playing.  Again, probably not a bad idea when you think of it as a phone.  But as a media gizmo.... hmmmm...
 
They do have a forum for this model:
http://forums.grandstream.com/forums/index.php?board=135.0
 
I'm probably more inclined to use the phone as a control for media being pumped out through something else.  Be that a Sonos, Heos or other in-wall speakers.  I haven't put up with listening to clock radio "quality" for DECADES and I don't intend to go back there...
 
Still, it's convenient enough this way to 'tolerate it' a bit...
 
I can only imagine the headaches gizmos like this are going to give network administrators at large offices...  heh!
 
I will mention that the Yeahlink Executive Model - the T48G - is not android - it's pure color business phone and nothing else.  I love it - it's great at what it does without trying to do all the extra crap...  but it won't be controlling your - well, anything.
 
I'll have to check out some videos on the actual use of the Grandstream - could be a fun little device if it truly does work as a command center.
 
The current firmware seems very sensitive to android apps causing problems.  Mine will spontaneously reboot now and then and I haven't quite figured out why.  It does seem to have something to do with loading apps from the Play store.  Not sure which, or why.  Haven't stood up the necessary dev/debug tools to discover more.  Logcat dumps say a lot but nothing glaringly obvious.  
 
I would start from scratch.
 
Firmware is here:
 
GXV3275
 
And give this stuff a try first.  Guessing this is how you started eh? 
 
Don't install anything yet until you root it.
 
I don't think you will brick it.  If you mess up the OS then reinstall the firmware.
 
GXV3275 GUI Customization Guide
 
You can test the graphics on it installing XBMC for Android.  With the VCR stuff you can watch live TV or add security cams to it.
 
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