Telephone Reviews

A little disapointing in all. I like the features and I did not need two cordless phones. There is a lot of background noise on the cordless handset, but I have already gotten used to it after one week. The corded phone sounds good, and the speaker phone is acceptable, but I have had complaints that it sounds hollow on the other end. It works well enough though. I love the directory, but you have to put all the numbers in to the handset and the base phone seprately. I can understand why, but it does not suit my needs as I live alone and am the only person using both phones. It would be nice if they could communicate. I haven't read the manual all the way through, but I don't think you can even check the messages from the cordless.
The phone looks great. A lot of the cordless phones out there are trying to look like cell phones or some sort of George Jetson appliance. This phone is very understated and looks attractive on my end table. Its also nice not to have two wires coming out, as the handset only needs a power cord.
I would expect a lot more from ATnT. They don't even make this phone. It is made by another no-name company and marketed under their name. I would think that they would take a little more interest in the use of their name.
This phone is nice for the price, but you should consider the above before you buy it.
Thanks for reading

Excellent features. Don't discount the corded feature. When the power goes out (like it does in Florida during hurricaines) you still get calls through the corded base. An all-cordless system leaves you stranded.

I used my cordless in my attic!!!! It has been wonderful in our household!

This phone is so terrible I would not take one for free if it was offered to me. Uniden should be ashamed of this product. If I could rate this less than one star I would.

I have an older model Uniden phone that looks very much like the 7926 I just bought for a 2nd home office phone. I immediately noticed that the sound quality in the 7926 earphone (and with a hands-free headset plugged in) was very much inferior to the older unit. The 7926 has a distinct "hiss" around each word spoken--kind of a "white noise" in the background that starts and stops with each word spoken or heard. For me, this hiss gets more irritating as the volume increases. Also the range to the base is far less than the older model. I just checked the model numbers and features and found that the older phone is a Uniden exs9660 and has digital spread spectrum (900 Mhz). The new phone is of course, the exi7926, which does not have spread spectrum, and is, I assume, analog. Wow, what a difference. No "word-hiss" at all in the older phone--I'm assuming this is due to the DSS technology--and much greater range. If this is because of the DSS, I gotta return the 7926 and get something with DSS. More expensive, but worth it for me. Hope this helps someone else who is shopping (I don't think the exs9660 is still available, but am checking).

I have tried many brands of two line phones including At&t, & Lucent. All of them had poor reception and didn't last very long before the electronics began to malfunction. This phone was quick and easy to set up and offers great range and clarity. Most of all I like the two line caller id function. This is a must buy if you need a cordless two line phone with all the bells & whistles. I didn't give it a 5 star rating because you can not turn of the handset ringer.

I expected Vtech to be a better product. I've had nothing but problems with reception to low battery indicator after owning it for less than 9 months. The company was good enough to replace it once, but then the battery went out shortly thereafter, it was replaced and took about 2 days to charge.

Ok, I agree with some of the reveiws, but I had mine for four years. It has been from Hawaii to Pennsylvania, dropped by drunk friends, sat on for 3 hours (during wrestling pay per veiws), thrown at various people and animals, beer spilled on it, slammed in angry rage fits on the cradle just to name a few (I am not a lush but was in the Army). It finally died just a day ago. Loud beeps, oh well!! I liked it so much that I am ordering another from Vtech, I hope it does me as well as the old one!!!

I have had this phone for over a year and have had no problems with it. I mainly bought it for the spare battery charger which is very handy since this phone is in use a lot. The mailboxes are very handy since I really don't need to listen to my (adult) childrens messages. I live in a 2 bedroom apartment and I don't even need to extend the antenna on the phone to get clear reception. I agree that the base ringer is loud, but I also turned it off. The handset ringer is loud enough for me to hear anywhere in the apartment (unless it is in a room with the door closed). I would recommend this phone to those that don't need to have their phone too far from the base. For apartment dwellers, this is a perfect cordless phone.

Uniden,Motorola, and GE's older (black/blue w/antenna ringer light) are the best mid-priced phones. Look out for Columbia, Panasonic and V-Tech.

Much better than 900 mHz for range - almost double in our neighborhood. We bought a top of the line 900 mHz Sony (equivalent price to this 2.4 Ghz)and returned it because the noise was worse than our 10 year old analog cordless phone. Uniden clarity is much better than top of the line Sony. Caller ID functions are very easy to use, logical to figure out, and lots of options. Speed dialing is easy to use, logical to figure out, but cumbersome to program. It only has 10 speed dials which could be improved to 15 or 20. Answering machine funtions are great with the choice of different delete options, play, and skip. Easy to leave greeting but sounds "digitized" not very life-like. Messages are sometimes hard to understand if the caller doesn't speak well or talks too fast. This is the main thing we would want improved. Customer service has a lot to be desired. Very long wait times (30 minutes +) and the operators don't know how this product works. We had to contact a service manager to get our questions answered. This product is not currently on the Uniden website. Overall this is a great phone but still too pricey. If the price scares you stick with a 900 mHz around 100$-130$. You should be able to get the same features but will miss out on the extended range. If you have a lot of interference problems on 900 mHz products then pay the extra money for the 2.4 Ghz.

This phone is amazing! I really didn't need an answering machine, but I picked up this cordless gem for $50 (refurbished), and I'm very happy with it.

I've had the phone for a week now, and I take it with me when I'm walking the dog. The calls are clear with no breakup. I have tested this phone and have talked on it from almost a block away. I experienced problems when the microwave is on and I'm in the same room, but so what? All I had to do was move about 12 feet away to stop the static.

The only reason that I'm not giving it 5 stars is that it's a bit difficult to program the speed dial numbers - mainly because I'm trying to read the instructions while pushing the buttons - after a minute or so, if you don't get the info entered quickly enough, you have to start over again. But that's a small complaint.

I have no comments on the answering machine - I am using the phone over the Internet (Vonage) - so all my unanswered calls go to a voice mailbox.

In short, if you want a great phone and can pick this one up refurbished, I suggest doing so. Obviously, I can't comment yet on durability or long term reliabilty yet, but I felt stongly enough about my initial experience with this phone to write this review.

When the peoples reviews say it cant charge worth sh*t, they're right. Unfortunately I didn't read the reviews before I bought this crappy phone at Target.

The battery life SUCKS (hello, this is 2004), it wont ever charge properly, when the battery life is dying (conveniently while I'm on the phone) it makes this high pitched "You're phone sucks and you'll lose your call!" sound, right in the ear.

This is the worst phone I've ever owned, and sadly for technology, the most recent.

I got this phone because I needed a cordless and I heard VTechs were pretty good. I don't get any static unless I walk down the street trying to use it. It's been great for the past 5 months. Unfortunately, the nicd battery sucked, with only 400 mAh of juice, it died everyday. But I bought some 2100 mAh AA and soldered them together and used the old battery's connector. Now the phone lasts forever, it hasn't died on me once. And I've been charging it once a week. Not too shabby.

This phone is great! I bought it today and it looks great! The price is unbelievable and I recommend it to anyone. The only thing I see wrong with it is the instruction book is written too complex. I wonder if I'll ever get the answering machine to work...It only takes 12 hours to charge (compared to other phones which take 24.) This phone is very sharp, great price, and great overall buy! I'll tell you more about it when I actually use it!!!

I liked this phone when I got it but am in the process of sending back the second one I purchased. The caller ID feature works on one line but not on the other. The company's help line was worthless, didn't even know how to turn off call screening. I tried everything they suggested, unplugging, taking out the battery, unplugging other two-line phones in the house that had caller ID, etc. Nothing worked. The company was very good about sending another phone but that one didn't work either. It's a shame because the ability to access the answering machine from the additional handsets was a big plus.

Voice quality was only fair, and I sometimes got a clicking sound when talking on the phone that was annoying to me and the people I was talking to. Still, I would have kept the phone for the ability to access the answer machine, the speaker phone in the base, and the light weight of the handset if it hadn't been for the malfunctioning caller ID.

Update: The company has finally admitted that the caller ID on the second line of the phones just doesn't work. They are trying to fix it and will give me a new phone when they do. In the meantime I am stuck with a phone that doesn't do what I need it to do. I have ordered an AT&T phone system but just learned that AT&T owns V-Tech so this system will probably turn out to have the same problem. It infuriates me that the company knows this is a problem but still sells the phone promising it will show caller ID, and not just on one line!

I have owned this awful system for 6 months, so I can expertly advise you all NOT to buy this system ! Matter of fact, I want to buy an 18-wheeler and run over the base and both handsets !!
1) The answering machine is so tinny in sound, that your callers
will either think your're in a bunker or submerged in 40 feet
of water, when they hear your OG message.
2) The quality of the handsets is so pathetic, that after 6
months, 1 handset has worn out keys that refuse to fully
depress so we can simply make a completed call.

3) To disconnect after completing a call you have to practically
hit the "off" button with a sledge hammer, or you'll never
access another dial tone in your life !

4) Particularly maddening: "Call on hold" seems to be a feature
the phone imposes on you,even though you have not placed the
call on hold at all ! You place the handset back in its cradle
and you think you're done...Well, suddenly your handset is
ringing, telling you the "call is on hold". So, you have to go
to the handset and "bash" that infamoue "off" button to shut
the phone off again and disconnect what should have been
disconnected originally !

5) So as not to belabor the point; suffice it to say that unless
your retailer is going to give you this system free of
charge, don't even think about it !! Even for free, who needs
the grief ??

* By the way, I have been looking for a good 2-line system for
3 years now, it does not exist !! Is this rocket science ?
Maybe NASA should work on the problem, as not one single
cordless phone manufacturer can seem to get a handle on this
product !!!

I did lots of research before buying another 2-line cordless to replace my ancient, worn out Panasonic 900 mhz. I knew two things from the start: 1) Panasonic's customer service is virtually non-existent, has always been so, and will never change ! (Shame on you Panasonic !) and 2) Panasonic batteries are a disaster.So, we eliminated Panasonic at any price ...
The VTech is a very good choice in a very limited field of entries. No 2-line phone on the market is going to provide an
ideal universe of performance and/or features. This VTech comes close !
1) manual : easy to folow
2) setup : very easy
3) cusomer service : hold time approx 7-10 minutes, not great,but
acceptable
4) itercom : excellent
5) speakerphone : excellent
6) additional handsets - excellent
7) soft keys - easy
8) keypad - easy
9) no discernable background noises when in use
10) answer machine - this appears to be the major complaint of the customer reviews. The quality of voice is acceptable , not tinny, not robotic sounding as others have mentioned. Is a separate answer machine better? Of course ! But, this built-in is acceptable. It's also easy to record, play-back, erase, etc.(However,we will deduct 1 star on the answering device)...
To those reviewers who nit-picked about the blinking light or the
small size of some lights,or other silly minutiae, I say, "Get a life !" To those who require a 2-line home/office phone, I say, "Get this VTech".It's as close to ideal as you're going to come !!

As well when plugging in a headset to the handset there's an irritating high pitch noise that is unfixable.

With 6 people in the house, 2 lines and many handsets are essential. The quality of the phone is great with no static even on the far end of the house with the base on a different floor. Our handsets are in constant use and see the base rarely except at night. The charge will last all day but if left off the charger overnight, it will be dead in the morning. When using the phone company's voicemail system, the handset has a clear led that indicates voicemail is waiting. The handset has a fantastic form factor fitting very comfortably in use.

Line 2 rings even if line 1 is in use and caller id comes through if you have call waiting regardless of which line you are using.

Desired improvements: pager button on the remote bases (you can page from another handset or the main base). I also wish the intercomm would go directly to broadcasting through the speaker of the handset without requiring a person to pick it up. When saving a number to memory, there should be an option to save it to all handsets.

Without going to the $400 price point, this phone beats all others in this category!

With 6 people in the house, 2 lines and many handsets are essential. The quality of the phone is great with no static even on the far end of the house with the base on a different floor. Our handsets are in constant use and see the base rarely except at night. The charge will last all day but if left off the charger overnight, it will be dead in the morning. When using the phone company's voicemail system, the handset has a clear led that indicates voicemail is waiting. The handset has a fantastic form factor fitting very comfortably in use.
Line 2 rings even if line 1 is in use and caller id comes through if you have call waiting regardless of which line you are using.

Desired improvements: pager button on the remote bases (you can page from another handset or the main base). I also wish the intercomm would go directly to broadcasting through the speaker of the handset without requiring a person to pick it up. When saving a number to memory, there should be an option to save it to all handsets.

Without going to the $400 price point, this phone beats all others in this category!

Pros:
1. intuitive design and features- I didnt open the manual but but was able to figure out all of the functions and was able to program numbers easily.
2. cost- it's cheap. 2 phones for the price of one.

Cons:
1. Reception- regardless of how near of far I am to the base, I keep getting an annoying buzz sound. It is really irritating when trying to hold a conversation. The buzzing sound comes and goes but it is driving me nuts. The other cordless phones that I own do not have this problem. The basic function of a phone is so that 2 parties can talk to one another. There shouldn't be any static.

Having an extra handset and charger certainly seemed like a great idea at the time. In fact, it was the #1 factor in buying these phones. I was confident that they would be of good quality because of a prior good experience with the Uniden brand.

Alas, I'm sorry to report that the range on these phones is woefully substandard. It's literally like being tied down to a regular (corded) phone. The static is absolutely maddening.

Battery life leaves much to be desired. I just got my phones but a friend of mine has been suffering with the same phone for just about a year now and his batteries don't last more than 2 hours. Other users have reported similar problems. Something for me to look forward to, I suppose.

It's worth mentioning that another factor in the decision-making process was that the newer, better 2.4GHz cordless phones were incompatible with my 802.11b wireless internet transceiver. I've been recently informed that's no longer an issue.

And, for what it's worth, the other handset is rendered useless because of the reception issues. Who needs an "extension" that is incapable of "extending." It's like having two phones in the same room. Pointless!

There are much better 900MHz phones out there. Spare yourself the inevitable disappointment and look elsewhere if you need a good cordless phone.

The IDEA of these phones is a good one - two units, one phone jack, one unit active at a time so no listening in to conversations... but there is something horrid about the reception. Within a couple of months the static got so bad that folks don't want to call our house any more. I'm looking for something else right now and thought i'd warn the others out there to get something else before it's too late.

I too was disappointed to realize that this phone doesn't have a line-in-use indicator, and that the backup battery will not power the phone during a power outage. Both features were present on earlier VTech models. Also the speakerphone isn't nearly as good as my previous model VTech 2-line. This phone is a big step back, feature-wise. What really burns me is six months out of warranty, the displays on both the base and the handset are losing segments. The handset is no longer readable, and both displays get less readable by the week. VTech wants over half what the phone cost to repair it, and I'm afraid it will just go out again in a year. I don't recommend it.

I bought this phone, absolutely loved it, but when it was just over a year old (just out of warranty), I broke the belt clip. Called V-Tech, they said they couldn't get a clip for it any more. I asked to be bumped up to a supervisor, who nicely said that they were just on order, not in stock, and would I like two when they got them in? I said yes, but two months later when I called, even though they have a record of me as a customer in their system (located by phone number), they had NO RECORD of the previous conversation, and again told me that the belt clip was no longer available.
Nice phone, but I will NEVER order another V-Tech product, because of poor customer service, and being lied to. I have three of their phones, one now has a display that is funky, another has sticking keys. I will eventually replace them with ANY brand except V-Tech, and them write them a letter, telling them why.

Two key flaws:
1. No indication (on either base or handset) when someone else is using a phone line -- many phones will show "Extension in Use" or light up the button for that line.
2. In the middle of a call, you hear a brief dialtone as, presumably, it takes the other line "off-hook" to listen for the stutter dial tone representing an unheard voice mail message (so the 2931 can light up). As a previous fan of VTech who bought this phone over Uniden and Panasonic, I'm disappointed and considering returning it.

The most serious problem is that it sometimes doesn't drop the phone
line properly after the caller hangs up. So the phone line is still
live, which, after a few seconds, leads to that annoying "If you'd
like to make a call, please hang up ..." message. No problem, I
manually unplug the phone line. But the answering machine still
thinks it's recording a message, so it's wedged. No way to switch it
off, play back the message recorded so far, nothing to do but to
power-cycle it (both the A/C adaptor and the battery). This, of
course, means the loss of all messages, including the last message,
which you never even got to hear. This is really bad.

Other problems are relatively minor: no date/time stamp; low 45s
limit on each message; and no selective erasure of messages (must
erase all or save all). The sound quality was okay, and there is a
way to skip through the messages, contrary to what another review
claimed.

The final problem is actually quite funny: the machine apparently
plays a local radio station continuously at low volume. I confirmed
that it is the source, as the playback stops when I power off the
machine. I found it quite entertaining, but it drove my
wife nuts.

I second the disposable answering machine description. It worked perfectly for two years; now it is dead. I had no problem with the remote call function and thought it was a great value. Annoying things: it has no speakerphone function and you can't skip listening to any messages-- you have to listen to all of them. Don't buy this as a long-term appliance.

I have used this answering machine for a few months now and find it to be a good value. I wanted digital so there wasn't any tape to mess with and the operation is easy.