View source for Handset

{{Short description|Telephone component}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
[[File:FeAp 92-1a - handset-4975.jpg|thumb|Classic handset]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F079049-0027, Bonn, Kaufhof.jpg|thumb|Woman using a telephone handset ([[West Germany]], 1988)]]
[[File:Enea Bossi Sr - USA, 1930s.JPG|thumb|Early 20th century [[candlestick telephone]] which required only the receiver to be held to the ear (United States, 1920s–30s)]]
A '''handset''' is a component of a [[telephone]] that a user holds to the ear and mouth to receive audio through the receiver and speak to the remote party using the built-in [[transmitter]]. In earlier telephones, the transmitter was mounted directly on the telephone itself, which was attached to a wall at a convenient height or placed on a desk or table. Until the advent of the [[cordless telephone]], the handset was usually wired to the base unit, typically by a flexible [[tinsel wire]] cord.
The handset of a cordless telephone contains a radio [[transceiver]] which relays communication via a [[base station]] that is wired to the [[telephone line]]. A [[mobile phone]] does not require a base station and communicates directly with a [[cell site]] in designated [[frequency band]]s.
== Handset symbol ==
{{Commons category|Handsets}}
A graphic symbol that designates a handset is used on cordless and mobile phones to specify placing or ending a telephone call. Usually a button with green upright (off-hook) handset icon [[File:Gnome-call-start.svg|frameless|24px]] is used for starting a call, and a red lying-down (on-hook) handset [[File:Gnome-call-stop.svg|frameless|24px]] is used for ending a call.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vqWEdNSKUVoC|title=Mobile Usability: How Nokia Changed the Face of the Mobile Phone: How Nokia Changed the Face of the Mobile Phone|last1=Lindholm|first1=Christian|last2=Keinonen|first2=Turkka|last3=Kiljander|first3=Harri|date=2003-06-22|publisher=McGraw Hill Professional|isbn=9780071429108|language=en}}</ref> [[Unicode]] provides the {{unichar|1F4DE|TELEPHONE RECEIVER}} symbol.
==See also==
*[[Headset (audio)]]
*[[PopSocket]]
*[[Western Electric hand telephone sets]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Telephony equipment]]
* {{cite book|author=Sajal K. Das|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|date=April 2010|title=Mobile Handset Design|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AylGzU3yOE4C|isbn=978-0-470-82467-2}}