Telephone Reviews

This phone won a lot of design awards, which is great if you are buying it to look at but if you need a good phone this is not it. It started doing funky stuff right from day one. The ringer gets "stuck" on on the handsets and can't be stopped without removing the batteries (not an easy task as they are really hard to open). For service you have an email address and an 800 number. I tried both 3 times and got NO RESPONSE!. I would not recommend this phone to anyone. Thankfully Amazon stands behind what they sell and took it back.

Good:
Most phone functions work as indicated.

Bad:
- Speaker-phone function is not very clear, callers frequently tell me they have a hard time hearing me speak clearly. Volume for the speaker, although a slide type has one setting, LOUD.
- When hanging up the phone, one must be careful to get the charging lights in the lighted position. This is frustrating, and the first phone I have owned that did not self cradle for charging. Sometimes requires two or three times & holding your mouth right to get it to the correct position.
- The point made by an earlier reviewer about the hand set going into a continuous ring is true. This can be caused by a caller who calls and then hangs up before the hand set is lifted. You have to take the ringing hand set off of the cradle and hit the OFF button, and or remove the battery as stated to get the ringing to stop. I have returned from extended trips to find the phone ringing in a continuous ring.
- Batteries are not standard and must be ordered from AstraLink/ClipFone, although not very expensive($10.00) + $5.00 S/H, not being able to go to Radio Shack to get them is a joke!
- My wife and I have home offices, I thought this would do the trick for communication between she and I, however, she refuses to use this phone, she just hates it!

This is the best phone I have. The only complaint I have is I cant find the extra "Phone Stations" anywhere.

I bought this to replace the old corded phone that was in our kitchen. We were fine with the short cord because it would be out of our daughter's reach. We plugged it in when we got home and it worked fine. The next day I went to use it and it was as dead as a doornail. I tried it in two other (yes, working!) phone jacks in our house and nothing. I returned it and bought a different brand for a couple of bucks more and it works just fine.

Good phone. I gave it 3 stars only because it limits your mobility.

i would have given it 5 stars except for it's so basic. i'm going for basic, but maybe COLOR! it also doesn't let u roam around the room.

I bought this phone and set it up as instructed. But, immediately it wouldn't charge correctly. Even though the phone was sitting in the cradle the charge light was blinking off and on. It didn't matter what I did, nothing resolve the problem so I let it charge for 24 hours instead of the 12 hours GE requires. I then proceeded to test the phone and notice immediately that the Caller ID was very difficult to read. And then on several other calls the Caller ID didn't work at all. Also had to have the sound up to maximum and still was hard to listen to callers (I have no hearing problems). Maybe all of these problems were due to the inability to get a good charge but anyways I still couldn't recommend anyone buying this phone!

I tried a number of phones before this one including some of the highly-rated Panasonic phones and this one sounds the best by far. Very clear at both ends of the line with little or no interference. The only negative I can see is that the caller ID is not very bright and is difficult to read. Other than that, it's great! I ended up buying a second one for my bedroom. Recommended overall.

I got this phone after my other GE phone's keys just stopped working. You had to press the button and hold it down for at least 10 seconds before the number would come up. But so far this phone after about 6 or 7 months, has been really great. I have only one complaint. The keypad doesnt light up at night, so it's sometimes hard to see.

Oops! One would expect by looking at the photo of this phone that it would rest in the charger when not in use. Wrong! According to Panasonic the charger is only for charging a completely dead phone. If you rest them in their chargers instead of letting the battery completely discharge, the battery will die a very early death.

Very poor functionally. Panasonic says that you cannot change the type of battery that is used. Their suggestion is to buy new phones that have different batteries. Crazy!
Costco just started carrying these phones. There will be millions of expensive headaches!
PS When our phones went dead Panasonic's batteries were on back order.

The rechargable battery in this handset WILL develop a memory and become unusable during the warrenty period. Panasonic claims the battery in this handset is an "Accessory" and not covered under the warrenty. And, they say "sorry" but they can not help. Interestly, they do cover some batteries in other handsets.

My suggestion is NOT so buy products from a company where the usage of the product causes a problem they do not cover. If you are willing to replace the battery yourself every 3 - 6 months of use, it is probably a good handset.

Personally, I will not buy another Panasonic product.

A nice system overall, but not nearly perfect. We purchased a set of these to replace our burnt out Siemens Gigaset 2402 system. While we were happy to have something that worked (the Siemens system had died a slow death over about a year and ultimately became unusable after a little over two years of use) the features and design of this system leave much to be desired. Numerous minor inconveniences and awkwardnesses make these phones less than they could be--nothing major, and perhaps only noticeable when compared with the excellently designed Siemens phones (really nothing more than the difference between Japanese and German design).

Two features stand out in comparison with our retired Siemens phones, one negative and one positive. On the positive side, these phones support detection of voice messages on an existing message system, so that it is easy to see from any handset whether there are unplayed messages on either line. On the negative side, the system does not support handset naming. We imagined this would be a minor inconvenience when we bought the phones, but it has proved to be a major drawback: there's simply no way to get the entire family to learn what number goes with what phone. When we had the Siemens system, which supports handset naming, the we had a working intercom system (not to mention convenient transfers of calls); now we're back to shouting.

The headset is lightweight and sits in the ear nicely. The volume is also reasonable BUT (here's the big BUT!) I'm rather annoyed that people can hardly hear me at the other end! Don't waste your money on this - perhaps one of those with mic booms coming right to your mouth is still the better ones to go with.

At first I was pleased with this headset. The sound quality was better than my previous one and it had the advantage of two options for fitting it to your ear. But it gave me problems from the start. The 2 gel adaptors provided are easily lost and it was not comfortable to wear. The mic silencer would often get turned on unintentionally. Finally it just stopped working entirely. I'd like to get my money back for a flawed product.

This hands free is very good, i used it for a lot of time and work very well, the sound is very crear, at both ends, I use it with my cell phone and whit my wireless phone at home.

I had started my own home business and wanted a cordless with 3 mailboxes and had asked for this particular phone for christmas. Needless to say I was very excited and could not wait to try it out. The phone was easy to set up and worked great until about a month later the hand set would not dial. You would press the button, hear the beep like it was actually dialing, but nothing. When I couldn't figure it out as to why it was not working I did what 95% of the human race would do I hit it against something, then it worked fine. After one call it did the same thing, to this day the hand set does not work we only use it for the answering machine. Like I said before it's a nice phone if it doesn't break.

We have had success with Sony products - but this phone is a failure.
The way it is configured you can easily hit the off button when you cradle it between face and shoulder.
The digital Voicemail is poor, choppy and clipped sounding for both outgoing and incoming messages.
...and after a year and 4 months (take reviews from those who've owned less that a year with a grain of salt) it started dying on us...the battery is fine but it just keeps cutting out.
We are pursuing it with Sony - but our expectations are very low, as the warranty is - you guessed it- just one year.
Nice features which earns it 2 stars...if Sony didn't have such a good record - it would have gotten 1 star.

I got this phone about four months ago, and I couldn't be more pleased! The answering machine portion works great, the voices come out clear, not garbled like with some digital answering machines. It's easy for me to skip through messages if I don't want to listen to the whole thing, I just hit erase, and it's instantly gone. It's got great reception, very clear, even when I stray far from the base. I am impressed at how durable it is, I'm very hard on phones. My cat kicks it off the coffee table repeatedly, and I've dropped it a million times it seems, and it keeps on working. Yes, you do have to hit the "off" button to end the call. With all it's good points, I really don't mind having to turn it off when I'm done with a call. As to the programming, yes, I had to use the manual, but it was fairly easy for me to figure it out, and I'm usually inept at that kind of stuff. I could not be more pleased with it!

We've had this phone for about a year and haven't been thrilled. The most disappointing is the answering machine. The outgoing message is not very clear and the incoming are scratchy and not clear either. Just this last week it finally kicked the bucket. I thought it was just the battery but we've replaced it and it still is not working. I'm searching for a replacement now, won't be buying another one of these though.

The 9 button works sporadically. Needs a new battery but had a hard time finding one and cost was half as much as a new phone. Phone only a little more than a year old.

My mother buys a combo cordless/ answering machine atleast twice a year and Ive had this one for almost two years. Ive dropped it numerous times, lost it, spilled things on it, etc. and it still works. Overall Id say Im very pleased and the price was awesome.

I loved these headsets when I first bought them. Yes, they're big and ugly, but I've tried many other types and have never gotten such perfect sound quality.

After I bought mine, about 15 other people in my office joined in and bought one, too. Then they started breaking -- all in the same exact spot where you can adjust the headband. Already, four are broken just four months later. I wonder how many more will break after I write this.

So sorry, great product, but it doesn't matter much if it breaks.

I would avoid this 'mission control' headsets for a number of reasons, especially since there are a number of alternatives. First, you will soon be annoyed by the microphone 'ball' which dangles unnecessarily in front of your mounth. At this stage in audio technology, the microphone can be near the ear piece and still pick up and filter out appropriate sound. Second, there is no reason to have these in glow colors. If there is any thing that you don't want to 'show off' it is a headset. If you want to spend just a little money, check out the AT&T 90800 headset. It works very well and is dirt cheap. If you want more comfort and really plan to use this device, go with the Plantronics M175 -- I think it is worth the price difference and have used multiple units over the past 3 years.

I was the first in my office to get one of these headsets. Now the whole office has them.

Yeah, it looks a little ugly over your head, but the sound quality beats anything out there. You sound just as good as if you were talking directly in to the phone. All those other headsets (and I've tried them) with mics off to the side just can't match the sound quality, no matter what they claim.

I thought the colors were dumb at first, but they actually look good and are lots of fun.

This headset was uncomfortable to use. The earpiece did not sit flush against my ear. Its all plastic body broke within a month of intermittent use. Although there were no electronic problems (i.e., I could hear people and they could hear me clearly), I would not recommend this headset.

I would avoid this 'mission control' headsets for a number of reasons, especially since there are a number of alternatives. First, you will soon be annoyed by the microphone 'ball' which dangles unnecessarily in front of your mounth. At this stage in audio technology, the microphone can be near the ear piece and still pick up and filter out appropriate sound. Second, there is no reason to have these in glow colors. If there is any thing that you don't want to 'show off' it is a headset. If you want to spend just a little money, check out the AT&T 90800 headset. It works very well and is dirt cheap. If you want more comfort and really plan to use this device, go with the Plantronics M175 -- I think it is worth the price difference and have used multiple units over the past 3 years.

This is an excellent and comfortable headset at a very good price. I have had mine for a very long time and has never failed me. The sound quality surprised me for such a cheap headset. It has a noice-cancelling mic too. If you are looking for headset to fit a 2.5mm jack, this is the one. Cord length is very good too. The headband is very sturdy and it is highly unlikely that it will break unless you sit on it!

This phone was good for about 1 year. Now, the receiver doesn't work properly. I can hear the person on the other end, but they can't hear me. It's become an answering machine.

The sound quality of the out going message and the incoming message are VERY POOR!!

I ordered this because of the special price and also because I had an AT&T answering machine (without the phone) so I thought it would be easy for me to use. This answering machine is actually easier than my old one. A voice instructs you on how to set it up and use it. The buttons are very straightforward. I read another review which criticized the sound quality and I wonder if that person got a defective phone. Mine works well and I have no problem with the volume (there is a button on the answering machine console to turn the volume up or down). The cordless phone also works well. I think this is a real bargain.