I know that a lot of people are using their home phones less and less these days because of cell phones - but we still use ours a lot. Believe it or not, my wife was interviewed to be on the Oprah show a few years ago because of the amount of time she spends on the phone:). With her and the three kids competing for the phones, these end up getting a lot of hard use.
Anyway, the main problems we run into with phones are typically sound quality and durability.
With these DECT 6.0+ phones from Panasonic, the sound quality is truly as good as a corded phone. We live in a 3000 square foot, 2-story house and these phones easily cover that space as well as the yard. We never really take the handsets past the yard boundaries, so I don't know what the maximum range is before these start breaking up. I'm also an early-adopter tech person; so our house is probably one of the most challenging environments a wireless phone could exist in.
This is the second set of DECT 6.0 phones we've had from Panasonic and the sound quality is head and shoulders above the wireless phones we've had from other manufacturers.
When it comes to features, here are the things we like about these:
1) The handsets have pocket clips that work well and stay attached to the phone for walking around.
2) There is a headset jack on the handsets, which is also great for walking around.
3) Panasonic has improved the caller ID and redial features from their previous generations - both features are now much easier to access.
4) I like that the lights on the handset tend to stay off in the base unit so we can sleep with the phone in its base.
5) These phones use standard NiMH AAA batteries, so they are easy to replace, or even to charge outside the phone if you want.
6) We use voicemail anyway, so I like that this particular phone does NOT include an answering machine. (I hate paying for a feature that we'll never use.)
7) I love that we can pick up any handset and immediately join the call without having to do anything special to let a new caller join.
8) The handsets are a great size and shape - so they're very easy to use. I can't imagine wanting a home phone that is the size of a cell phone...
As far as durability goes, we've only had these for a couple of weeks now so it's hard to know how long they will last. They do feel solid; and, based on the longevity of our last Panasonic phones, I'm expecting that they will last quite a while. In fact, the last Panasonic DECT 6.0 cordless phones we owned are the first phones we've ever had that have made it past a year without breaking - and they lasted more than two years! I've come to the conclusion that Panasonic phones are the only phones available that can be dropped repeatedly (including an occasional dunk in the sink or bounce off the tile) without completely dying.
Overall, if you're looking for a high-quality phone that doesn't have an answering machine, I think this phone should be at the top of your list. I won't claim to have used every phone that is currently on the market; but we are extremely pleased with these! Panasonic KX-TG6513B DECT 6.0 PLUS Expandable Digital Cordless Phone System with 3 Handsets
I have been truly surprised with the fine quality audio performance of the Panasonic DECT 6.0 PLUS cordless phone technology.
Having been frustrated with echo-ish, scratchy cordless phone performance with previous FM frequency systems among several brands, the DECT 6.0 PLUS stands out with clarity and sound quality that needs no apologies.
The handset speakerphone capability was a very pleasant surprise. It works great for monitoring those seemingly-endless "on-hold" customer service calls while enabling you to do more than just wait until the understaffed customer service folks show up.
All in all, a great sounding phone!!
Besides being good looking with very readable buttons and screen, this telephone has excellent clarity of sound. We love the intercom feature feature and the speaker phone, both of which have very good audio. A very small problem is the fact that "missed call" appears even though the call was answered on our one other wired phone; at first annoying but now we know to expect it. We chose this model because we use the phone company answering service and could avoid paying for the built-in answering recorder we wouldn't use.
NO TALKING CALLER ID AS STATED IN DESCRIPTION!
We've only had the phone a short time - it seems fine. So far, so good. We were, though, incredibly disappointed that it did not come with 'talking caller ID'. The description plainly states that it's one of its features and that was the deciding factor when we ordered this particular phone.
Had we not been desperate for new phones, we might have pursued a return, etc. I did contact both Amazon and Vanns to let them know of the misleading information in the description. As of today, though, the description still falsely states that it has 'talking caller ID'. If you find this feature to be important, this is not the phone for you.
After reading Consumer Reports and the rave reviews on Amazon I decided to replace my aging Panasonic KX-TG5433 with this new system in an identical configuration. I am very disappointed. The sound of the KX-TG6513B is so poor compared with my old phone that I am reverting to the old one and returning the new for a refund. I had been hoping for a significant improvement. There are some operating and display improvements but these do not make up for the inferior sound quality. No doubt some genius at Panasonic or their manufacturer decided to shave a few pennies off the cost of the sound system. I have used several generations of Panasonic phones and this is the first that is worse than the previous.
I have tried many other brands of phones with the Dect 6.0 feature and to be honest none of them compare to the 6.0 Plus that Panasonic has to offer, the clarity of the calls in these handsets in un-comparable and can go further away from the station system than the other brands I have tried......I highly recommend this phone system to anyone out there looking for a good quality Dect 6.0 phone. Go Panasonic!!!'
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