I genuinely can't remember the last time I called someone on a home phone. 1997 I think. Its really easy to forget landlines exist, with people either using mobiles, texts or, if you're anything like me, Facebook as your primary means of communication. I was resigned to the fact I would never need a home phone again, this is the future. Communication on the go, why would I want a phone that was literally attached to my house when I had one on my person 24/7?

Odd thing is, I actually have a phone line - the way I have my Virgin Media account set up means I have to pay for a phone line, free minutes included, that I don't even have connected to a phone - let alone use. On the odd occasion I need to call a number that would be free from a lineline, but costly from a mobile - I just use my mobile and take the hit. Its not usually that much and sometimes I can get a call back - costing me very little. However, a few months ago I ran into problems with Virgin Media, and needed to make frequent calls to their customer services; very costly from my mobile and with no option to call back - I resigned to the fact I would be more cost effective to pick up a landline phone and plug it into the otherwise redundant hole in the wall.

First stop, Argos. I have an Argos around the corner from my house - but its not its proximity that makes me a regular customer. Its the range in price, usually I can pick a product, pick a price range and match the two up. I want something that is value range, I can - want to pay more and have a more up market version of whatever I am after, no doubt they will have something to suit. My main requirement when purchasing a new phone was price, I was looking for a cost effective solution to making calls to numbers that were costly on my mobile, so I wanted to pay the absolute minimum for a phone. I wasn't even really bothered what it looked like, as long as it helped put an end to the hefty charges I was otherwise likely to see on my phone bill.

Right away, price, availability and function made themselves aware when I opened the catalogued, with the Argos Value Corded Telephone being instock, only £4.49 and it looked more or less like a phone.

A quick swipe of my debit card, a couple of minute wait and a short walk home - I plugged the phone in, and I made a quick call to my mobile to ensure it worked - reassuringly right out of the minimal packaging and ignoring the pretty minimal leaflet of instructions, it was working. The phone, as you imagine is very minimal - but for the price its a bargain, no fuss here. The phone has a cord (1.5m long) used to connect the base to the walled connection, and the base has a typical wound cable connecting the base unit to the hand set. Its a very typical, small phone. On the back of the base is a small hole that indicates you can hang the phone on a wall with a screw that you just hook the base onto. I didn't need to do this, I just sat it on a table and it looks fine - but like I mentioned I'm not fussed what it looks like.

Function wise it 'works' perfectly, in that it does everything you would expect. It makes and receives calls no problems, its the details that the £4.49 price tag makes itself know.

Firstly, the sound quality when making or receiving a call is far from perfect. It could just be the quality I am used to using mobiles almost all the time, but the Value Range phone sounds a little dull and muffled - a downgrade in the quality I have become accustomed to. Don't get me wrong, it sounds fine enough and works OK, its just it does have a value quality feel to it.

Secondly, the ringer could be described more as an alarm than a ringer. "SOMEONE IS CALLING YOU!!" it would say if it could speak. Again, this is a basic function of the phone that it does what you would expect it to, but the value side of things makes itself known when you can't turn it down, let alone change the tone. Maybe again, I'm used to just having a phone on the unobtrusiveness vibrate mode, so a phone screaming at me is a little odd. I must admit though, the sound of a landline ringing within a house did fill me with nostalgia the first time I heard it ring - it really has been a long time since I used a landline.

The only extra this phone has is a redial button, where you can call the last number you dialled. Handy if you are impatiently trying to get through to something or someone, or just a bit lazy.

The feel of the phone is value, with the buttons feeling a little flimsy and the casing feeling a little cheaply made - but not to the point its off putting. If I am to be honest, using this was a breath of fresh air compared to using my mobile to 'press option 1' meaning I had to fiddle with the touch screen and usually miss options. The simplicity of this phone was quite nice.

Being something I am not going to use often, and picked up to try and save me money this was a great by. I estimate this £4.49 phone has saved me about £50 in calls over the past month not using my mobile. A great buy for a device that most people will only have as a secondary device these days. Its super easy to use, feels reliable enough and does its job.