So I took the thing apart to find out. I’ll take a moment to point out here that the handset mic and the mic jack are wired to a single switch that allows you to alternate between the two – you can’t use both at the same time, which makes sense. The sound chip is located on the large PCB on the right. That thing that looks like a battery is actually a speaker that rings when you get a VoIP call, and can also serve as a speakerphone or, if you’re in a real bind, can also serve as your entire PC speaker system. Don’t expect to shake the floors with it though.

Here you can see that IP-Talky uses a C-Media CM108 sound chip capable of stereo and not much else. The sound quality is far from bad – I played some CS:Source, and was easily able to tell to which side the other players were, and like I said, voices sound great, but compared to the capabilities of most on-board sound solutions (especially on current motherboards) this isn’t the sound solution you want to be using as your default audio device, so make use of my earlier instructions.

I had one big issue with this keyboard – it didn’t respond at all during boot-up until the OS was loaded. I tried enabling and disabling Legacy USB support in the BIOS (using my G15) but was never able to get into the BIOS or select an OS to boot while using the IP-Talky. For comparison, my G15 responded when legacy USB support was enabled. As an overclocker, this is a huge problem.

This keyboard seems like it could be a great value for both office and home users. Gamers or other people who may already have a headset and mic probably won’t get much extra convenience out of this keyboard, but it might help clean off some desks. Overclockers and BIOS tweakers are probably going to want to avoid this one.

Summary/Conclusion:

Pros:

-Thin, light, and generally aesthetically pleasing; the key action is good
-It’s very easy to set up
-The handset and extra controls work as advertised
-Onboard sound quality is good for voice, and having jacks on the keyboard is convenient
-$40 price tag (according to the invoice I received)

Cons:

-Non-responsive until OS loads

I think it would’ve been more elegant to pass the sound to an external card rather than use the CM-108 sound solution, and a cordless handset would’ve been awesome, but the keyboard does what it’s supposed to very well, and offers a lot of functionality for $40. I’m giving it an 8 out of 10 because BIOS access matters.

Once again I’d like to thank A4tech for sending this keyboard for review.