The 3 Skypephone S2 – the second-generation Skypephone from mobile operator 3 – is about to go on sale in the UK.

From today, you can pre-order one from 3’s website or at a local 3 store. Phones ordered this way will be available in the UK on August 25 with general sale from August 27.

Thanks to 3mobilebuzz, I have an advance example to take a look at.

I’ve unpacked the box – that’s it above: click the image for a bigger view – and have the phone plugged in to charge.

I’m looking forward to playing with this phone. When I first saw one last month, I thought that I probably wouldn’t get one as I can run Skype Mobile on my Nokia N95 8GB. Would I change my mind?

Well, I’m keeping an open view until I do check out the 3 Skypephone S2. I’m especially interested in one potential use: unlike the first-generation Skypephone, this one has HSDPA support, and I wonder how feasible using it as the equivalent of a mobile broadband dongle will be.

Other points I want to check are how will the second-generation Skypephone address some or all of the wishlist items I posted for the original Skypephone. And I guess most important of all – has 3’s 3G network footprint above my house improved?

I’ll be posting some thoughts about the phone on Next, my tech blog. I need to do that during this week as 3mobilebuzz want the phone back in a few days.

[Aug 19] I took a series of photos of the phone and the packaging, all now uploaded to Flickr, tagged ‘3SkypephoneS2.’

[Aug 27] I’ve posted a video review.