Mobile Shop’s Technical Markus was a fan of the original 3 Skypephone and when trawling through email yesterday was confronted with a question he felt more than qualified to answer, “Is the Skypephone S2 actually any good?”

Beginning realistially, Markus bestows where one’s expectations should lie when seeking an answer, “this isn’t a mobile phone you can compare to, say, the Nokia N96. It’s not designed to be the ultimate multimedia powerhouse, or be a portable cinema.” Once this is established he continues, “What the 3 Skypephone S2 is designed to do, though, is give you masses upon masses of communication options, and if you judge on its own terms, then it comes out as a superb mobile phone.”

Referring to the Skype functionality as ‘killer’, the thrust of the praise is tied to the recent Skype Out possibilities and the double-up-ability of a handset as a modem. And his final verdict? Well it comes out with the S2 being described as “utterly brilliant”. For all the reasons why he thinks so click here.