Buy Vtech Cordless Phone

Review by Philip R. Heath:

This is a very nice cordless phone system from Vtech. I got this model to replace a model with which I had become very frustrated. However, I am happy to report that this system has met my expectations which are:

* DECT 6.0 – to avoid interference with wireless internet

* Handset usability

* Easy to use answering machine

* Able to use both handsets on the same call

The call quality from this system is great. My previous system was on the 2.4 GHz frequency, and was always fuzzy. However that’s not the case with this Vtech model. The caller on the other end is comes through crisply with ample volume.

On my old system, the “Talk” button was raised such that if you tried to hold the phone with your shoulder, you would almost always hang up on the call. I found this very aggravating, but the Vtech handsets pose no issues here. I find the controls fairly intuitive too. I have not had to consult the detailed user manual in order to do what I want and need to do.

I may be a bit behind the times on this, but this is the first phone system I’ve had where all setup is done from the handset. Have you ever been frustrated with the buttons on answering machine bases that do different things based on how long you hold them down? This is gone in this system. The handset has an easy to navigate menu system that mimics what I remember from my older Nokia cellphones. Playback can be controlled from the base station, but that is the only thing it does. You can also playback messages from the handset.

The final thing I was looking for might seem a little odd, but you won’t notice it until you need it. On my old system, only one handset could be active on a call at any time. That is not the case with this Vtech system.

I don’t ask my phone system to do a whole lot, but I do want it to do these things very well. I’m very pleased with this system from Vtech. If your needs are similar to mine, I think you will be too. Please feel free to ask questions in the comments section below.

Review by MissT:

It’s easy to program, has good reception and lots of cool features. The reason I gave it 4 stars is because in the Philadelphia area where I live, you must enter the area code for local calls. When paging through the missed calls, it doesn’t show the area code. So if you try and hit dial from there, it won’t work. You have to just memorize the number and manually dial it, assuming what the area code is. This may not be an issue for a lot of people, but it’s a pain for us.

Review by Marjorie J. Bigham:

We purchased these telephones as a replacement for our old VTechs. We had a problem with our phone system and as a result purchased new phones during the diagnosing phase. Our VTechs lasted over 10 years and, as it turns out, were still working well. So we replaced them with VTechs and glad that we stayed with the same manufacturer. The new phones have all the features we expected and they work great with our phone company’s set-up. Easy to create your own directory, retrieve numbers, etc. Most of the functions I did without reading the manual. Very user friendly. You will be glad you purchased this phone system.

Review by N. Pettit:

I have been using my new VTECH phones for about a month now–I wanted to wait at least this long before submitting a review so I could give the product a workout and submit a fair review.

The phones are light weight but well built; the buttons have a great feel and the display is easy to read. I spent about 10 minutes reviewing the nicely organized and easy-to-understand instruction manual before I was well on my way to programming numbers and setting other features. The sound quality has been consistently good and once you’ve reviewed the manual you’ll find the buttons and features to be quite intuitive.

From a practical standpoint, I was looking for a two-station cordless phone that does not have a built-in answering machine as I have voicemail with my phone service. So this phone fit the bill.

There are a couple of features I miss from my old phones I replaced–a belt clip (for trips to the garage when I don’t want to miss a call) and a headphone jack. However, given the excellent price point of this product, I have no room to complain (For long conference calls I have been using the speakerphone feature, which also works well). I read some reviews where people complained that this phone does not have distinctive ring tones. If this is a feature you absolutely can’t live without, look for a different product–remember, the price is great for what you get.

In case you’re wondering, I have had zero interference with my home wireless network, which would have prompted me to immediately return this product.

The bottom line: If you’re looking for a good-quality phone at a very attractive price, this is the one.

Review by Khan Lee:

After my home phone broke, I was looking for a cheap replacement. Like most households now are not using their home phones, I still keep a home phone just in case, and talk to the occasional telemarketer that get passed the Do Not Call list(j/k) Well I was looking for reliable, caller ID, high frequency that won’t interfere with my wireless network, Back lit, and most importantly Cheap. I have purchased V-Tech before and had no problems. At first I was skeptical but I have come to give some cheaper brands a try. It is easy to set up. The buttons are nice and big, Caller ID back lighting is great, enough to see when it rings in the dark. It does not interfere with my wireless network which is important cause we have 4-6 computers/laptops connected. The sound is clear and crisp. You cannot go wrong with this phone and its price.

Review by Rodney Goff:

My 15 year old Radio Shack cordless died so I got this one VTech CS5111 as a replacement. I also have 4 other cordless telephones in use throughout the home and external buildings. The Vtech is equal to or better than all of them. I found the audio normal and the phone comfortable to my ear. It is very simple to operate. I would certainly buy one again.

Review by C. D. White:

Our Panasonic phones were suffering from heavy, ungentle use. We were happy with Panasonic, but we decided to try this similar and comparably priced Vtech set instead. Mostly we liked its appearance. The two sets are very comparable in appearance and ease of use. Set-up was equally easy. However, here are three features Panasonic had, that the Vtech units do not have:

1. Panasonic had an easy-to-reach menu item to directly access my messages at my phone service provider. Vtech lets me turn off the phone-base messages, but then I have to set up a directory entry to reach my provider-held messages or dial them each time.

2. Panasonic let me set ring tones for anyone on my directory … not the Vtech units.

3. Panasonic offered the option of caller ID voiced aloud from the base unit.

Small differences, but I would have stayed with Panasonic had I known these were not available with the Vtech set.

Still, the Vtech set has one feature better than the Panasonic. It has a quick and easy way to alter phone log numbers to whatever format we need to call back or put them in our directory. Our state uses area codes that are not geographically determined. So, every call has to have at least 10 digits and many need a one added for long distance. Vtech flips through the options to let us pick the one we need … very nice.

Review by Brian Fuchs:

I purchased this system from Office Depot two weeks before Amazon dropped the price by $[...]. For the $$, this is an excellent system. It has been replaced by a newer model that has an orange backlight – but is otherwise identical to this. The newer model is about $[...] more, so this is a steal.

For cordless phones, the top of the line is Panasonic – period. You will find that all Panasonic systems are about 30%-40$ more than Vtech. The newest Panasonic DECT system has a very nice feature – they are powered by AAA rechargable batteries, which are found at any store. Typically, replacement proprietary batteries cost about as much as a new phone system…

The Vtech is a completely disposable system – cheap enough that when it finally breaks in a few years, you might as well buy a new one.

However, the Vtech has several completely useless “features”:

1) when you turn off the ringer on a handset, it will not ring for any reason until you turn it back on. This means if you happen to misplace a muted handset, you can page it, but the LCD screen will merely light up – it won’t make a sound. Every other system – including the Panasonic – will audibly page a lost handset even if it is muted. Panasonic goes one step further – if the battery is dangerously low on a muted phone, it will still give you an audible low battery chirp. How many times have you used the paging feature to locate a lost handset? With Vtech, you better not have it muted! Pure stupidity.

2) Panasonic has a unique ringtone for intercom paging than for incoming telephone calls. This is very useful. If my Vtech is rining, I don’t know if it is an outside call (probably for my wife), or if my wife is trying to page me from another room. Vtech allows you to set a ringtone, but uses the same tone for paging and outside calls.

3) I just discovered this, and would change my rating to 1 star if I could. It is unforgivable in the year 2009. The Vtech has no battery backup on its base unit. It doesn’t even have a battery compartment. If you have a power outage – even a brownout – you lose time and date. Your messages and outgoing message is saved, but really…no battery compartment? Every answering machine I’ve had up till now has had one.

Vtech Pros:

* Choice of many ring sounds

* Shared phone-book (store a number on one handset and all other handsets have it as well)

* Answering system displays number of calls

* Good talk time

Vtech Cons:

* Rediculous inability to locate a muted phone!!

* No battery backup – even a momentary power outage will lose time/date

* No unique ringtone for intercom calls

* Proprietary (expensive) battery

* Ni-Cad battery (most phones have at least Ni-Mh)

* Upper buttons (speaker phone, talk, hang up, flash) are not backlit

* Backlight is not very bright. Funky domed number buttons are hard to read because domes act as magnifying lens.

In contrast, the only con with the Panasonic is that it has a shorter talk time than most phones. It has a signal boost for clearer sound, but it drains the battery lilke crazy.

EDIT: As I write this review, Costco just started carrying the 4-handset top of the line Panasonic DECT system (KX-TG6444T) – they literally added it today. The display is HUGE, and easily readable. They are asking $[...], which is $[...] less than Amazon and everywhere else, but still $[...] more than this Vtech equivalent. Frankly, I think you’ll be much happier with the Panasonic.

2nd EDIT: I added two more very nasty cons to the Vtech – no distinctive ringtone for paging, and no battery backup. For many, I think the absence of a battery backup will be a deal-breaker. There’s no excuse for not putting an empty battery compartment in an answering machine these days.

Spend the extra bucks on a Panasonic. It’s light years better.

Review by Stolizino:

I had been considering the Vtech LS6125-3 but decided to delay as I believed an updated model would soon come to market. Well, this is it…the LS6225-3. I ordered it as soon as it became available on Amazon and I still had to wait more than a month for the order to fill, as Vtech had not yet begun shipping the product. Finally received it last week and this new model is well worth the wait.

Very clean minimalist appearance with a feature-rich menu that I found to be intuitive. I did not need to refer to the owner’s manual to set it up. The sound is crystal-clear with a very strong interference-free signal. I especially like the fact that the base unit antenna and the handset antennae are completely internal…not even a stub. The base unit uses touch pad technology – no buttons. Any handset can access messages from the answering machine…no more requirement to access them from the base unit. Intercom, conference call and call transfer functions are simple and straightforward. Handset backlighting is good with all keys easily readable.

We are very satisfied with this unit and the only reason I gave it 4 stars rather than 5 is because as advanced as it is, the base unit has no battery back-up in the event of a power failure. Once the power returns, one must reenter the date/time. It’s not difficult and all other memory settings remain intact, but it simply should not be necessary. Aside from that little nit, I recommend this new model unit without reservation.

Review by Michael A. Behr:

We’re really impressed by this phone: it looks sleek and works great. It has a great signal, and doesn’t interfere with our wireless network. We wish that there was a speakerphone in the base… but other than that, it’s pretty much perfect!

Review by Rusty:

Pros: Relatively cheap, especially if you are not paying Amazon.com price. You can get these phones for 19.99 elsewhere. Small footprint. Looks good. Intuitive setup. Sound comes through loud and clear.

Cons: So far, everyone I have called told me that there is breakup and static and other artifacts on their end….worse than my dead Uniden cordless phone (also a cheapie.)

Summary: Decent for the price, but definitely not perfect.

Review by Anonymous:

Just got this phone and set it up, so I can’t really say yet how it will function as a phone. It looks like it will be fine …

… Except that it would have been good to know that you can’t use a headset with it. The handsets have no place to plug a headset in. (I like to wear a headset and slip the handset into a pocket, to be able to talk hands-free.) As far as I can tell (and if anybody knows different, please reply and let me know) you can’t do that with this phone system. Since my prior cordless phone, which was ancient and cheap, had such a feature, I figured all cordless phones did.

Oh, well.