Comparisons
Grandstream vs Yealink vs Fanvil desk phones for a Kenyan office
10 November 2026 · 8 min read
The short answer
On each maker’s own datasheet on 10 November 2026, Yealink’s T31P and Grandstream’s GRP2601 list 2 SIP accounts, the GRP2612 lists 4, Fanvil’s X3U 6 and its X4U 12. None publishes a price. All three register to a Kenyan Sautikit number at KES 500 a month, and SautiDesk agents skip the handset and answer in the browser.
Grandstream, Yealink and Fanvil all make desk phones that register to a SIP account with a username and password. The three are the same kind of product: hardware with a screen, a handset and a network port, which needs a number and a line from somewhere else before it rings. This comparison sets out what each maker publishes about its phones, how each one is provisioned and how it takes a headset, then shows the two ways to use any of them in a Kenyan office.
Desk phones side by side
Every figure below is from the maker’s own datasheet or product page, read on 10 November 2026. None of the three makers publishes a price on those pages, so the price of a handset is whatever the seller sets. Yealink and Grandstream direct buyers to sales contact forms, and Yealink says its phones are sold through authorised business partners.
| Maker and model | SIP accounts or lines | Display | Network and power | Conferencing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yealink SIP-T31P | Up to 2 | 2.3 inch, 132x64 pixels | Two 10/100M ports, PoE (802.3af, class 1) | Local 5-way |
| Yealink SIP-T33G | Up to 4 | 2.4 inch colour, 320x240 | Dual Gigabit ports, PoE | Local 5-way |
| Grandstream GRP2601 | 2 | 2.41 inch, 132x48 | Dual 10/100 ports, PoE on the GRP2601P | 5-way |
| Grandstream GRP2612 | 4 | 2.4 inch colour, 320x240 | Dual 10/100 ports with PoE on the P and W models, Gigabit with PoE on the G model | 5-way |
| Fanvil X3U | 6 | 2.8 inch colour, 320x240 | Dual Gigabit ports, integrated PoE | 3-way |
| Fanvil X4U | 12 | 2.8 inch main screen plus 2.4 inch extended screen | Gigabit, PoE | 6-way |
The number to read first is the SIP accounts or lines column. It is how many separate lines one handset can register. A desk that answers one business number needs one. A shared desk, or a manager who answers a main line, a sales line and a support line, needs more. Wi-Fi is also listed: the GRP2601W and GRP2612W are the Wi-Fi versions of those Grandstream phones, and the X4U datasheet lists an optional Wi-Fi dongle.
Cordless systems
| Maker and system | Handsets | SIP accounts | Calls at once | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yealink W73P | Up to 10 W73H handsets, up to 6 optional repeaters | Up to 10 | Up to 20 | Not on the product page |
| Grandstream DP752 base station | Up to 5 DP series handsets | Up to 10 | 5 | Indoor up to 50 m, outdoor up to 350 m or 400 m by handset |
Provisioning and headsets
Provisioning is how a phone gets its settings. For one phone it is the phone’s web page. For twenty it is a management service, and each maker has its own.
- Yealink: the T31P datasheet lists the Yealink Device Management Platform and Yealink’s unified firmware.
- Grandstream: the GRP2612 datasheet lists mass provisioning using GDMS, Grandstream’s cloud interface, or TR-069, and an encrypted XML configuration file. The GRP2601 datasheet describes zero-touch provisioning through GDMS.
- Fanvil: the X3U and X4U datasheets list auto-provisioning by FTP, TFTP, HTTP, HTTPS, DHCP option 66, SIP PnP and TR-069.
For headsets, the T31P, GRP2601, GRP2612 and X3U datasheets each list an RJ9 headset port, and the T33G page lists wireless headset support through an EHS adapter. Grandstream names Plantronics, Jabra and Sennheiser for the GRP2601. Fanvil names Poly through its APD-80 cable and Jabra through its EHS20 cable. Yealink sells its own UH36 wired USB headset, in mono and dual versions, which connects to Yealink phones through the YHC20 controller and to a PC by USB or a 3.5 mm jack. Our Yealink guide covers it.
Polycom and Cisco phones
People searching for Grandstream and Yealink often also search for Polycom and Cisco phones. The Sautikit side does not change with the brand. Sautikit’s phone guide says it does not certify individual models: a phone that has a SIP server field and a password field can use a Sautikit number. This guide quotes no Polycom or Cisco specification, because none was read from those makers today. Check that your model accepts a SIP username, a password, a server name and a port, and that it allows UDP.
Way one: register the phone to a Sautikit number
Whichever brand you choose, the phone needs a line. A Sautikit number is KES 500 a month with no set-up fee. Add a device under the number’s SIP & Devices tab, and Sautikit generates a username and password. The settings are the same on every brand: server sip.sautikit.com, port 5080, transport UDP, the generated username as both the user name and the authentication name, and the generated password.
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Server | sip.sautikit.com |
| Port | 5080 (phones usually default to 5060) |
| Transport | UDP |
| User name | The generated username |
| Authentication name | The same generated username |
| Password | The generated password |
| Outbound proxy | Leave empty |
The screen-by-screen steps for Grandstream are in the Sautikit guide for connecting a Grandstream phone. For a PBX that holds the phones, the SIP trunk guide has the same values. Port 5080 is the setting most often wrong, because every maker’s phone defaults to 5060. Each phone needs its own device, because two phones on one username take the registration from each other.
Way two: skip the hardware
A SautiDesk agent answers in the browser with a headset, so there is no handset to choose, provision or wall-mount. Desk phones connect to a Sautikit number, and SautiDesk agents use the browser or the app. On the same screen the agent has the customer’s tickets, WhatsApp, SMS and email, and calls ring the next free agent. The call centre software page says it plainly: there are no desk phones, servers or cables.
For five people, SautiDesk Basic is KES 5,000 a month at KES 1,000 per person, plus KES 500 for a business number. The only hardware is a headset for each person. The full comparison of a browser with desk phones goes through the cost and the day-to-day difference, and how to start a call centre in Kenya covers the rest of the set-up.
Start on SautiDesk
- Pick Basic at KES 1,000 per person a month, or Pro at KES 3,000 if you want reports, the live floor view and campaigns.
- Add your people. Each person signs in from the browser, with a headset.
- Choose a Kenyan number for calls and SMS at KES 500 a month.
- Connect your WhatsApp Business number and your support email address.
- Top up your balance by M-Pesa or card, then answer your first call in the browser.
If you are keeping your handsets, claim a Sautikit number on sautikit.com: KES 500 a month, no set-up fee, incoming calls free, outgoing KES 3.00 a minute billed per second. Calls, WhatsApp, SMS, email and web chat are on both SautiDesk plans. See the pricing page.