4Com Hihi Handsets: What They Are, Why They're Leased & Alternatives

The Desk Phone at the Centre of Every 4Com Complaint

If you have ever spoken to a 4Com salesperson, the conversation almost always ends up on the Hihi handset. It is the centrepiece of their pitch — a touchscreen business desk phone, branded Hihi, that sits on the desks of customers signed up with 4Com.

The hardware is real. The conversation the handset creates around how you pay for it, however, is the single biggest source of complaints on uk.trustpilot.com/review/4com.co.uk. Reviewers repeatedly describe believing they were getting the Hihi included with a 2-year telecoms contract, and only later discovering that the handset itself was on a separate 7-year lease with a finance company.

This article explains what the Hihi product actually is, how the lease structure works, and what honest alternatives look like.

We are Compare The Networks — an independent, OFCOM-regulated business telecoms comparison service since 2008. We are not affiliated with 4Com, Hihi or Campfire. Everything below cites public reviews or publicly documented product information.

What Is a Hihi Handset?

Hihi is a brand of business desk phone associated with 4Com. The range has evolved over the years — Hihi 2, Hihi 3 and successor models have been sold through 4Com's sales channel. The handsets are SIP-based VoIP desk phones with large colour touchscreens, support for video calls, headset ports, and integration with the 4Com-supplied phone system.

Hardware-wise, a Hihi sits in the same product category as:

Yealink T5-series touchscreen business phones
Cisco 8800-series desk phones
Poly Edge / VVX series
Mitel / Grandstream touchscreen SIP phones

These are all legitimate business desk phones that you can buy or rent from any number of UK VoIP providers on transparent commercial terms.

The product is not the problem. The way it is sold and financed is what Trustpilot reviewers consistently describe as the problem.

How 4Com Packages the Hihi

Based on what reviewers publicly describe on Trustpilot, the typical 4Com Hihi package involves:

1. A 4Com Service Agreement

Covering the telephony service, line rental, calls, mobile SIMs, broadband, or VoIP platform. Typically 24 to 60 months.

2. A Separate Equipment Finance Agreement

For the Hihi handsets themselves — often 7 years — with a third-party lessor such as Propel Finance or BNP Paribas Leasing. This is paid on top of the 4Com service charges, often by a second direct debit.

3. (Sometimes) A Maintenance / Support Add-On

A smaller monthly charge covering support on the Hihi hardware.

The combined effect: a customer paying, say, £600 to £900 a month believes they are buying "one phone system from 4Com", but is actually locked into two parallel contracts of different lengths, with different entities, and different exit mechanisms.

See our 4Com finance agreement trap article for the full mechanics.

Why 7 Years?

Trustpilot reviewers repeatedly describe this as the single most shocking element of their 4Com experience: the realisation, often many months in, that the handset portion runs for seven years, not two or three.

From a reseller's perspective, a longer lease makes the monthly payment smaller. "Only £X per handset per month" sounds fine — until you multiply by 84 months and include interest.

The Maths

If a Hihi handset is financed at £25 per handset per month over 84 months:

Total paid per handset: £2,100
For a 10-handset business: £21,000
For a 25-handset business: £52,500

That is before you add the 4Com service charges on top.

Compare this to outright purchase of a comparable enterprise-grade SIP touchscreen phone — typically £250 to £450 per handset, one-off — or a transparent 24-month hardware rental from an independent VoIP provider at around £8 to £15 per month per phone.

What Trustpilot Reviewers Report About the Hihi

According to 1-star reviews on uk.trustpilot.com/review/4com.co.uk, recurring complaints specifically about the Hihi product include:

Being told the handset was "included" with the telecoms package — then later discovering a separate 7-year finance agreement
Hihi unit failures, with disputes over who pays for repair or replacement (4Com? Hihi? the finance company? the maintenance agreement?)
Touchscreen faults, handset freezing, reboots
Difficulty using the Hihi outside the 4Com ecosystem when the business wanted to move provider
Confusion about whether the handset was owned or leased — and what happens at the end of the 7 years
Pressure to upgrade to a newer Hihi model by signing a fresh 7-year agreement, resetting the clock

We report what reviewers publicly state. Read the reviews yourself at uk.trustpilot.com/review/4com.co.uk.

For more on equipment faults specifically, see our Hihi equipment problems article.

Can You Use a Hihi With a Different Provider?

This is one of the more useful practical questions.

Hihi handsets are SIP-based. SIP is an open standard. In principle, a Hihi handset can be provisioned onto any SIP-compatible VoIP platform — not only 4Com's. In practice:

Some Hihi firmware may be locked to 4Com's provisioning servers
A factory reset may be required
You will need the handset's MAC address and be able to input SIP credentials
Your new VoIP provider's technical team will need to confirm compatibility

Most reputable UK VoIP providers will support Yealink, Cisco, Poly, Grandstream and various other SIP handsets natively. Hihi compatibility is case-by-case — ask the new provider explicitly.

If It Is Not Compatible

Many customers leaving 4Com end up replacing the Hihi handsets with Yealink T5-series or similar. Budget £250 to £450 per desk one-off, or a small monthly rental. That is a fraction of the remaining 7-year lease balance on the Hihi.

Alternatives: What a Desk Phone Should Actually Cost

Here is what the broader UK business VoIP market looks like for comparable touchscreen SIP phones:

Outright Purchase

Yealink T54W (touchscreen SIP phone, WiFi/Bluetooth): around £200 to £260 per handset
Yealink T57W (larger touchscreen): around £260 to £320
Cisco 8851 / 8861: around £300 to £500
Poly Edge E450: around £280 to £350

Outright purchase means you own the handset. No monthly lease payment. No 7-year commitment.

Rental / Included with Service

Many UK VoIP providers include mid-range handsets in the per-seat monthly cost or offer transparent monthly rental of £8 to £15 per desk over 24 to 36 months.

VoIP Service Cost

Cloud VoIP with unlimited UK calls, mobile and landline, sits around £10 to £20 per seat per month with reputable UK providers — 24-month term, transparent pricing, no separate 7-year finance agreement.

Get a VoIP quote and we will compare alternatives.

If You Already Have Hihi Handsets and Want Out

Before you cancel anything:

Find both agreements — the 4Com service agreement and the separate finance agreement
Request written settlement figures from both 4Com and the finance company
Consider a misselling claim via CISAS (for the service) and the Financial Ombudsman (for the finance) if you believe you were told the deal was 2 years
Check Hihi compatibility with your new provider — you may be able to keep the hardware
Plan the port of your numbers before cancelling anything

Read our full how to leave 4Com guide for the step-by-step plan.

Why This Matters

Desk phones are a commodity. Good business SIP hardware has been commoditised for over a decade. A touchscreen business desk phone does not warrant a 7-year financial commitment to a separate finance company. That is the framing Trustpilot reviewers repeatedly push back against.

As an independent, OFCOM-regulated comparison service, our view is simple: a phone system is a 24-month decision. The moment someone asks you to sign a 7-year lease in the same breath as a 2-year service agreement, slow down, ask for everything in writing, and compare.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Hihi handsets only sold by 4Com?

Hihi is a brand closely associated with 4Com's sales channel. If you are being pitched a Hihi handset, you are almost certainly being pitched a 4Com package — and, based on what Trustpilot reviewers describe, very likely a separate equipment finance agreement on top of the service contract.

Why are Hihi handsets leased for 7 years?

A 7-year lease term is what Trustpilot reviewers consistently report. A longer lease term makes the headline monthly payment smaller, but the total paid per handset over the term is substantially higher than outright purchase. Reviewers describe only discovering the 7-year element after signing.

Can I use a Hihi handset with a different VoIP provider?

Possibly. Hihi is a SIP-based desk phone and SIP is an open standard. A factory reset and re-provisioning onto a new platform may work, but check with your new provider first. Some Hihi firmware is locked and in that case you may need to replace the handset.

What happens to the Hihi at the end of the 7-year lease?

Depends on the finance agreement. Some leases convert to ownership on final payment, some require handset return, some roll into a new agreement. Request the settlement and end-of-lease terms in writing from the finance company before you assume anything.

How do Hihi handsets compare to Yealink or Cisco?

Hihi is in the same functional category as Yealink T5-series, Cisco 8800-series and Poly Edge — enterprise-grade SIP touchscreen desk phones. The meaningful difference is not the hardware but the commercial terms on which they are sold. You can buy a Yealink T54W outright for around £200 to £260 per handset; a Hihi on a 7-year finance lease at £25 per month works out to roughly £2,100 over the term.

Explore Your Options

Get a free VoIP quote and we will compare honest business VoIP and handset options.

Or read more:

Nearly 20 years helping UK businesses. Over 1,000 verified reviews on Trustpilot. OFCOM-regulated. Free.

Get your free comparison now.

About this article. Claims reported here are attributed to public reviews on Trustpilot and similar platforms. They represent the opinions of the reviewers cited, not statements of fact by Compare The Networks. Brands named may dispute these claims. If you are a brand representative who believes any content requires correction, please contact us.

4Com Hihi Handsets: What They Are, Why They're Leased & Alternatives (2026)