Vtech Cordless Phone With 4 Handsets Answering System Review

The research

• Why you lot should trust me
• Who should get this
• How we picked
• How we tested
• Our pick: AT&T DL72210
• Flaws only not dealbreakers
• A peachy amplified phone: Panasonic KX-TGM420W
• Budget pick: VTech CS6114
• Upgrade selection: VTech IS8151-iv
• Other skilful cordless phones
• The competition
• Sources

Why you should trust me

I've been reviewing phones and mobile accessories since 2011 and roofing them for Wirecutter since 2015. This includes researching hundreds of cordless phones and testing dozens over the past 5 years. To better understand the technology that makes these phones piece of work, I sought out experts including Ruth Wilson, marketing chair of the DECT Forum, the semiconductor group backside DECT technology, the wireless communication standard that all modern cordless phones use.

Retired audiologist Lisa Devlin tested the amplified phones in this guide. Devlin has non-syndromic, bilateral, congenital, mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. She uses two Oticon Opn Due south hearing aids and has prior experience with amplified phones. "In the past, I would rely on amplified phones with book command," she told me, although she now uses her iPhone and a Bluetooth connection to her hearing aids.

Who should become this

"Habitation phones" are nowhere near as ubiquitous every bit they once were. A 2019 study from the Centers for Affliction Command and Prevention (PDF) states that 61.3% of adults and seventy.three% of children live in a home that doesn't have a landline but does have a wireless (cell) telephone. That means tens of millions of American households notwithstanding accept landlines, however.

As a childless homo who rarely makes vox calls of any kind and lives in an apartment that has decent jail cell telephone reception, I was surprised to detect only how many of my Wirecutter co-workers own and regularly apply cordless phones. Some of my colleagues want a phone for emergencies: something that's always in the same place (as long every bit the handset makes it back to the cradle), doesn't have to be unlocked with a password, is simple enough for even a young child to apply, and (if you have an old-schoolhouse copper phone line) can even work in a blackout. Other colleagues have poor jail cell reception in their homes and simply need something that can reliably make and receive calls. Finally, many cable companies offering a Phonation over Internet Protocol (aka VoIP or "digital") phone service in discounted bundles with net service or cablevision Goggle box, then having a phone line can oft be cheaper than not having one. If you have a line anyway, why not get a phone to use with it?

If y'all have hearing loss, an amplified phone'south boosted voice levels and tone adjustments may make it easier for you to communicate. "Everybody's hearing loss is dissimilar," Lise Hamlin, manager of communications for the Hearing Loss Clan of America, told the states. "And the key hither is not so much the volume equally it is the quality of the sound." Some people do good more from louder calls, while others may demand the high or low cease of their caller'south voice boosted, and still others crave both.

How we picked

Photo: Michael Hession

Because everyone now lives in a golden historic period of smartphones, cordless phones don't get much attention anymore. When we published a previous version of this guide, in 2016, we noted that there were relatively few independent, trustworthy reviews of cordless phones. Now, more than 4 years later, it'southward nearly impossible to find up-to-date thoughts from reputable sources. This made information technology catchy for us to narrow our latest list of test models, since the manufacturers that make cordless phones release dozens of similar models with only slightly different features.

So in an endeavour to zero in on the specific metrics and features nosotros should expect for, nosotros reached out to groups whose members would likely have an involvement in these devices, and nosotros searched for hobbyists and enthusiasts. Unfortunately, nosotros hit a brick wall at that place, as well: Nosotros simply couldn't find anyone with the expertise to speak nigh what makes a great cordless phone. We were able to track down people who could explicate the technology that makes these phones work, merely when we contacted public interest groups, including AARP, that nosotros thought might have insight into what people desire in a cordless phone, they didn't have anything to share. The same was true when I put in a request with SciLine, a resource for journalists to connect with scientific sources. Heck, at that place's not even a subreddit about the category.

Next, nosotros turned to the telephone makers themselves. Our inquiry revealed that there are but two major manufacturers of cordless phones: Panasonic and VTech, the latter of which also makes AT&T-branded phones. There are smaller brands, but for support and warranty purposes, we hewed closely to the larger brands.

We began our research by compiling a spreadsheet containing the specifications of the more than than 100 phones nosotros institute on these three brands' websites—a seemingly endless list of confusing alphanumeric product names, only slightly differentiated characteristic sets, and designs with no meaningful differences amongst them. These companies seem to introduce and discontinue models at a whim; well-nigh every phone nosotros've recommended in a prior version of this guide has been discontinued within two years. Complicating things further, many models are available just through certain retailers (Amazon, Target, Walmart, and and then on). Finding phones that fit our desired specifications and were actually bachelor to buy was frustrating for u.s., and we do this sort of thing for a living!

To figure out which features and specifications were the most important, we gathered a group of Wirecutter staffers who had cordless phones and asked why they used them and what features they plant most useful. Nosotros combined that feedback with our research to go far at a list of criteria:

• Range: One of the biggest benefits of a cordless telephone is that yous can utilize it far from its base of operations, and the farther yous tin go without your phone call breaking up, the better. Y'all and your phone should exist able to roam around your house or flat—and even your g—without dropping the telephone call. Panasonic's phones accept a stated range of 1,300 feet, and VTech claims its top-of-the-line phones (including AT&T-branded models) have ranges of upwardly to 2,300 anxiety. Of form, these figures pertain to use in perfect atmospheric condition, and in the existent globe, perfect atmospheric condition are rare: You're surrounded by walls, windows, other wireless devices, and ability lines, all of which tin can affect how well a cordless telephone performs.
• Sound quality: A great cordless telephone offers crisp, clear, loud audio for both you lot and the person y'all're calling. It's commonly believed that home phones sound better than jail cell phones. Whether that's true or not, y'all shouldn't have to struggle to make out what the person on the other finish is saying.
• Phone call-blocking features: With the increasing prevalence of robocalls, it's of import that phones offer an effective way to cake them. On some phones, this is an active thing—you press a button when a spam telephone call comes in, and that number moves to a block list so it's blocked going forwards. More-avant-garde phones offering pre-screening that prevents robocalls from getting to you lot in the kickoff place. In our enquiry, we gave bonus points for any characteristic that stopped the phone from ringing unless it was someone we wanted to hear from.
• Intuitive menu systems: On cordless phones, menus and navigation are universally bad compared with the touchscreen smartphone interfaces people are now accepted to. Yous have to use fixed keys that aren't necessarily in an intuitive identify, and yous must employ T9-style typing (imagine texting on a cell phone with a stock-still number pad) when you lot fill your address book with names. Though we retrieve all cordless phones have annoying menus, some are less frustrating than others.
• DECT 6.0: This is the wireless standard that allows a cordless handset to communicate with the base, and it's included in nearly any phone y'all tin can buy today. As Ruth Wilson, marketing chair of the DECT Forum, explained to us, this brusque-range communication engineering is ideal for cordless phones considering it operates on a wavelength far away from those of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and other signals on the wireless spectrum that could potentially interfere.
• Full-duplex speakerphone: Full-duplex support (as opposed to half-duplex) is necessary if a speakerphone is present. "A device that is half-duplex can send or receive data, but non at the aforementioned time, such every bit a walkie-talkie," explains VoIP comparison site GetVoIP. With a full-duplex speakerphone, both parties tin talk without having to worry nearly their chat being clipped.

Armed with the above criteria, we asked representatives from VTech and Panasonic which of their respective phones all-time fit the nib. Although we ordinarily wouldn't rely on what a manufacturer had to say about its own products, this was the only way for usa to ensure that we weren't missing out on phones that might exist sold simply at certain retailers, or that we weren't including any that would soon exist discontinued. Subsequently cross-referencing the suggestions against our own enquiry, nosotros chosen in 12 models:

• AT&T CL82219
• AT&T DL72210
• AT&T DLP73210
• AT&T EL52119
• Panasonic KX-TGC352B
• Panasonic KX-TGD510B
• Panasonic KX-TGE633M
• Panasonic KX-TGE675B
• VTech CS5229
• VTech CS6114
• VTech CS6124
• VTech IS8151-4

We used the same criteria to research amplified phones, with additional qualifications specific to their intended purpose.

• Hearing assist compatibility: The HLAA's Lise Hamlin told us that the first affair someone shopping for an amplified phone should look for is hearing aid compatibility. "When somebody has a hearing aid, or a cochlear implant, or a bone anchor device," she said, "in that location could be some noise on the line." TIA-1083 (PDF) is a standard authored by the Telecommunications Industry Association that addresses cordless telephone interference when a hearing help is used in the telecoil (T-coil) mode. We included in our enquiry only those phones that have been certified compliant to the standard, which is fairly common but non ubiquitous.
• Volume and tone adjustment: By definition, an amplified phone must raise the book of the speaker on the other end of the line. There's currently no standard to tell whether a telephone is designed for mild, moderate, or astringent hearing loss, although such a standard has been thoroughly studied and proposed (PDF). There's too no minimum book that's all-time for all people. So although nosotros didn't set up a threshold, we considered just phones that specifically advertised boosted volume. As for tone adjustment—the power to alter the high and low ends of the audio to account for unlike levels and kinds of hearing loss—nosotros preferred phones that offered more levels of control because they're more likely to benefit more people. "The more command you accept, the better," Hamlin told u.s.a.. "You but want to be able to push the push button until it sounds right."
• Headset or neck-loop jack, base/handset speakerphone, tiresome-speech manner, and visual ringing indicator: All of these features benefit the greater community of people with hearing loss, fifty-fifty if not every private uses every i of them. A headset or neck-loop jack allows phone users to connect an assistive device that might be improve for them than holding a telephone against their ear. Having speakerphone modes is important because it allows yet some other fashion to listen; for some people, the physical placement of the speaker might help them process the audio ameliorate. Slow-speech style does only what the name suggests, which tin be helpful with fast speakers or detailed information. And a visual ringer ways that even if you lot tin can't hear the phone ring, you can see that it's ringing, then you're less likely to miss a call.

After our enquiry, nosotros chose to test the following three amplified models:

• Clarity XLC8
• Panasonic KX-TGM420W
• Panasonic KX-TGM450S

How we tested

Once we had the phones in hand, we installed an Ooma Telo VoIP organisation—one of the more popular brands of boxes that plough your internet connectedness into a phone line—and began testing. Some aspects were obvious from the first, such as how similar the hardware was across many of the models; other features, including range and voice quality, required us to evaluate them more thoroughly.

To measure range, nosotros set each phone's base station in the northwest corner on the second floor of a two-story home. Nosotros and so placed a phone call to the National Conditions Service'southward automated hotline, which provides a recorded bulletin with the weather conditions and forecast. We walked down the stairs, out of the business firm, and w downwardly the street, continuing to listen until the call started to break upwards. Even though the phones technically remained connected at that point, they weren't pleasant to listen to. Thankfully, even the worst-performing phones made it several houses down the street (about 130 feet) earlier the signal weakened.

One time we had identified models that performed well in the range test, we were left with three models that looked good in terms of range, specs, and features (compared with other phones in their price brackets): the VTech CS6114 (a budget phone), the AT&T DL72210 (a midrange contender), and the VTech IS8151-four (a potential upgrade option). To evaluate vocalization quality on these three models, we made outgoing calls and left voicemails in which we read a brusk passage from Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. Every bit a control recording, nosotros did the same with an iPhone XR using T-Mobile's Wi-Fi calling to ensure there weren't any issues stemming from a weak cellular connection.

We and so shared the voicemail recordings with three Wirecutter writers and editors and asked them to evaluate and rank the iv clips (the test phones were not identified to the panel). It'due south possible that a traditional copper landline may have resulted in unlike performance than we got with our VoIP setup, only VoIP is a popular way to connect a phone, and it's quickly replacing quondam-school copper. Spoiler alert: Nosotros establish that (at least over VoIP) cordless phones don't necessarily sound any better than prison cell phones, peculiarly when the cell phone is placing the call over Wi-Fi.

Having verified that all three phones had adept-enough voice quality, we but navigated effectually each telephone and played with its respective features to see how well they were implemented. Were the menus easy to navigate? (None of them were particularly dandy, but some were worse.) How did the handsets and their buttons feel? How easy was it to read the screen? Several of the features were binary—they either existed or didn't, then nosotros naturally preferred the models where they were present.

Retired audiologist Lisa Devlin performed similar tests with the amplified phones, allowing us to evaluate range and outgoing audio quality. Additionally, she made calls using each phone and toggled through the diverse settings intended to help hearing, including the volume-adjustment options, tone command, slow-speech and noise-reduction functions, and whatever sound aid or boost buttons.

Our option: AT&T DL72210

Photo: Michael Hession

Our selection

AT&T's DL72210 offers keen range and clear sound, plus virtually all of the features virtually people could hope for in a cordless telephone—all for a price lower than that of comparable handsets. This model has a long plenty range that you'll be able to walk around your house without the connection sputtering, and it'due south likewise the best-sounding telephone we tested—our panel ranked information technology even college than an iPhone used with Wi-Fi calling. The package comes with 2 handsets, so yous can have phones in different parts of your home. And this model includes features normally found but on more expensive phones, such equally automatic telephone call screening and a Bluetooth cell phone connection.

Although the DL72210'due south range isn't the longest of the phones we tested, it's enough long enough for nigh whatever application. We were able to get about 260 feet away from the base station before the sound on the other end of the phone call began to cut in and out. Some phones offered a range upwards of 450 feet in our tests, but 260 feet should still exist plenty for use in nearly people's homes. To put that number in perspective, we were able to become vii houses downwardly the street with the DL72210 before our test call began to pause up. AT&T'south CL82219—a similar telephone in the aforementioned cost range merely with fewer features—was able to go a business firm and a half further, which is dandy, but that extra range is probably not necessary unless you lot have an especially large property.

What the DL72210 lacks in extended range, information technology makes up for in call quality. When reviewing sample recordings, our testers almost universally preferred this phone's sound over the clips from the iPhone and the two other cordless phones we tested. "There's some noise, but your voice sounded warm," said i. And audio expert Lauren Dragan, a Wirecutter senior staff writer, told us that the DL72210 really sounded clearer through her iPhone's earpiece than some other iPhone did.

In addition to the DL72210's call quality, its package of features helps the phone stand out. Many phones at this price, including this one, offer details such as a button on the base station that pings the handset (so you can find it), a digital answering system (an answering auto without the record), a total-duplex handset speakerphone, and one-touch phone call blocking (which lets you automatically add robocall numbers to your block listing).

The DL72210'southward handset has a roomy screen, equally cordless phones become, and large number keys. Photo: Michael Hession

Simply 2 features in particular help the DL72210 stand out compared with others in the same price range: smart phone call blocking and a Bluetooth cell phone connexion. The one-time is a call-screening feature that we've seen only on AT&T and VTech phones. It works by comparing the numbers from incoming callers against those in your telephone book, which you tin add manually or from your cell telephone over Bluetooth. In that location are ii different modes: "Screen robot" and "Screen unknown." In both cases, numbers in your contact list come through unimpeded, and numbers you've already blocked don't come through at all. But callers without a caller ID, or those that are not already on one of your approved/unapproved lists, are screened. In the "Screen robot" style, all unknown callers must printing the pound (#) primal earlier your phone volition ring. If they don't, the call will exist rejected, and you'll never be bothered. In the "Screen unknown" contour, the caller is asked to say their name and so press the pound key. If they do so, their message is then played out loud, and you can choose to answer the call, answer and allow the number going frontward, block the number, or send it to your answering system.

The DL72210'southward Bluetooth arrangement allows y'all to connect upwards to two devices to your home phone: 2 cell phones, or a jail cell phone and a Bluetooth headset. When paired, your cordless phone tin then serve as an extension of your smartphone, allowing you to go out your mobile phone by the base and and then wander around with the DL72210 handset. Information technology will also ring when your cell phone gets a phone call. This is handy for someone who might not accept corking cellular service throughout their unabridged abode; you can position the base where you exercise accept skilful service, leave your cell telephone next to it, and use the handset in areas where you don't.

The entirety of the AT&T DL72210's keys lite upwards when you press them, dissimilar on some other phones, which illuminate just the number or the outline of the buttons. Photograph: Michael Hession

In addition, the Bluetooth connection allows you to trigger your smartphone'south voice banana. That works fine, but it doesn't sound as good as talking to the assistant straight through your cell phone; the interaction isn't every bit piece of cake as just yelling out to a smart speaker that you may already take in your domicile, either. The Bluetooth function as well lets you download your phone's contacts, although in our testing we ran into an issue where the phone told us the directory was unavailable. That'southward non the primary reason you lot'd use the Bluetooth connection, but we found the error annoying.

AT&T offers a one-year warranty on its phones, but if you need to ship a telephone in for repairs, you have to package it yourself, ship in a copy of the sales receipt, and pay for postage. Although nosotros generally advocate fixing your stuff rather than replacing it, there's a good chance that if a cordless handset dies, ownership a new i will be cheaper than sending the disrepair unit back and forth.

Flaws only not dealbreakers

The DL72210's range was not as long equally that of many other phones we tested; it began to interruption upward at around 260 feet, compared with the 450 feet nosotros got from the VTech IS8151-4 (our upgrade choice) and the 445 feet we got from the highest-performing similarly priced phone, the AT&T CL82219. If you know y'all demand extra range and are willing to give up the Bluetooth connection, consider going with the CL82219.

If yous've been exclusively using a smartphone for a while, going back to a cordless phone's clunky user interface will be an aligning. Video: Michael Hession

The phone's hardware and software are relatively refined compared with those of other cordless phones, although next to a touchscreen smartphone, they feel dated and clunky. The ii-inch screen (measured diagonally) is monochrome, and the white backlighting glows for only a few seconds afterward you stop pressing buttons. The labyrinthine menu system made us long for the swiping and tapping of our smartphones. However, we appreciated that the number keys glowed a soft blue, making them piece of cake to meet in the dark.

A great amplified phone: Panasonic KX-TGM420W

Photograph: Michael Hession

Besides great

For those with balmy to moderate hearing loss looking for an amplified phone, nosotros recommend starting with Panasonic's KX-TGM420W. It has all the features a great phone should have, amplified or not, and when retired audiologist Lisa Devlin tested our amplified finalists, it was her favorite—the 1 she would tell her clients to get. The volume adjustments should be suitable for many people who need boosted vocalism levels, and the vi levels of tone adjustment plus custom tones provide a greater range of voice qualities than yous can find on phones from whatsoever other visitor. The telephone meets the TIA-1083 standard, then it offers compatibility with hearing aids without causing interference, and it works with headsets and neck loops. And like all of our picks, the KX-TGM420W has skillful range and outgoing vocalization quality.

Panasonic says that the KX-TGM420W tin can achieve up to 40 dB and that the ringer tin go upwards to 100 dB. (If that's still too quiet, the KX-TGM450S variant gets upward to fifty dB and 112 dB, respectively.) We didn't measure the volume to confirm those numbers, but Devlin found that with her level of hearing loss, she didn't demand to turn the phone up all the fashion to attain a useful, comfortable listening level. "That would disqualify whatever production for me, if I e'er had to go to the maximum volume," she said.

Devlin also institute the tone adjustment to be satisfactory. A push button on the side of the handset, in a higher place the volume rocker, allows y'all to cycle through six preset tones with different adjustments to the high-terminate, midrange, and low-terminate qualities of the voice on the other stop. "For example, if I was talking to somebody and I hit the button, I could go from a more low-pitch emphasis to another with a mid-pitch emphasis," she said. "And there were a couple that I could brand very sharp, very high-pitched." Depending on a number of factors, including your item blazon of hearing loss and the speaker's voice, yous may need to adjust the tone even in the heart of a call, and Devlin said it was unproblematic to do and then. Panasonic too offers custom tone settings, if you're willing to dabble around with the phone'southward carte, but our tester was happy with the presets.

The KX-TGM420W looks like most cordless phones but has notable additions including a visual ringer and boost and boring buttons. Photograph: Michael Hession

The handset's tone and volume buttons are easy to press while you're on a phone call if yous need to conform them. Photo: Michael Hession

The KX-TGM420W is compliant with the TIA-1083 standard, and Devlin didn't observe whatsoever interference with her hearing aids. If you use a headset or induction cervix loop, you can plug information technology into the jack on the side of the handset. Flashing lights on both the base of operations station and the telephone itself indicate when you're getting a telephone call, and the included slow-speech communication function is especially useful for reviewing voicemail letters. The KX-TGM420W besides offers the standard features we await for in whatsoever cordless phone, including a base speakerphone and handset speakerphone, call blocking, and a button on the base station to help you observe the handset.

There are a few features that Devlin found didn't work as advertised, merely none of the bug stood out as a dealbreaker. Although Panasonic advertises a background-noise reduction characteristic on this amplified telephone, Devlin wasn't able to activate information technology while on a call. She said it was awkward to navigate to the feature on the KX-TGM420W, and that it didn't make a noticeable deviation in the quality of the call. In the cease, she found it was more effective to just enquire the person she was conversing with to footstep out of the noisy surroundings. The "heave" button was also something of a bust, only that was true for all 3 phones we tested. "It successfully accomplished a loudness heave," Devlin said, "just it altered the tone and was awkward to readjust while on a call." Instead, she recommends manually adjusting the volume and tone to accommodate your needs.

Budget pick: VTech CS6114

Photograph: Michael Hession

Upkeep pick

VTech CS6114

A basic cordless telephone

This model is great if you need just a clear-sounding phone without whatever bells or whistles. Information technology'southward an platonic candidate to go along around in example of an emergency.

Buying Options

If you just want to have a phone around for emergencies, or if you don't intendance about anything other than being able to pick up and punch, we recommend the VTech CS6114. It'southward as simple as tin can exist, just it has a long range, totally passable voice quality, and an exceptionally low price—roughly the same as that of an iPhone charging cable. Even though you're giving upwards plenty of features compared with choosing our top selection, yous're paying adjacent to nix for the peace of mind a home phone can bring.

We were impressed with the CS6114's range, which extended farther than that of some much more than expensive models. The incoming vox on our call didn't start to break up until about 310 anxiety away—but over a football field's length. Fifty-fifty before information technology broke up, the voice quality wasn't particularly strong compared with what y'all go from higher-end phones, but that shouldn't come as a huge surprise. "This sounds pinched, only you go the consonants improve" than with the VTech IS8151-iv or an iPhone XR on Wi-Fi calling, said Wirecutter senior staff author Lauren Dragan. "It is a narrow, reedy audio, but it's easy to understand the words." In evaluating the four phone messages she listened to, Lauren notwithstanding ranked this phone'due south voice quality the lowest. Only again, it'south non shocking that a $fifteen telephone performed worse than handsets that cost several times more.

The VTech CS6114 offers the basics—dial, caller ID, phone book—and little else. Photograph: Michael Hession

The only other features the CS6114 offers are a 30-number phone volume, caller ID, and a button on the base station to locate the handset if you've misplaced it. Otherwise, information technology lacks whatever sort of call blocking, speakerphone, or digital answering system, and it has no ability to connect to your cell telephone. The hardware itself is light and plasticky, and the screen is small-scale. But we like that the entirety of each number key glows, rather than simply the perimeter. The base is compatible with wall mounts, but it doesn't come with i.

Even though VTech makes phones under both its own brand and AT&T, its one-year warranty process is distinct from AT&T's. The CS6114 uses the same affordable 300 mAh battery every bit the DL72210 does.

Upgrade pick: VTech IS8151-iv

Photo: Michael Hession

Upgrade pick

The VTech IS8151-four offers impressive range, good-enough voice quality, four handsets, and every other feature nosotros tin think of. A speakerphone and dial pad on the base station? Check. Smart call blocking? Yep. Cellular connection? Yes, indeed. If you want everything a cordless phone has to offer, the IS8151-iv is the model you're looking for. And even though it'south more expensive than our other picks, the price per handset is really less than that of the AT&T DL72210.

In our standardized distance exam, the IS8151-4 traveled farther—an impressive 450 feet, or the length of almost 13 school buses—than whatever other phone before our telephone call broke up. VTech markets the telephone as supporting "super long range," which it defines as 2,300 anxiety, just it's not surprising that the telephone brutal far short of that figure in real-world atmospheric condition; all the phones we tested delivered far less than their stated ranges.

Our testers' opinions on the IS8151-iv'southward vox quality varied—individual respondents placed it second, third, and fourth in their evaluations. One described the voice quality equally beingness a little muffled only perfectly understandable. Again, your results may vary depending on whether you're using a traditional copper wire or a VoIP connection (and, in the latter case, on how much bandwidth is bachelor).

The IS8151-iv is slightly more than modern-looking than our other picks, simply it still has a vintage feel compared with a touchscreen phone. Photo: Michael Hession

The IS8151-4 has a panoply of features; there'due south actually nothing some other telephone does that it doesn't do. In terms of hardware, information technology has a dial pad and a speakerphone on the base unit, something that less-expensive phones but don't offer. This model comes with a mounting bracket, too. Every bit for robocall blocking, the IS8151-4 is equipped with both ane-touch on blocking and (like the AT&T DL72210) smart call blocking and Bluetooth cell telephone connectedness features.

If you lot don't need four handsets, VTech sells an otherwise-identical three-handset package, but since information technology's merely about $10 less, information technology'due south not as practiced a value. If you need more handsets, you'll too detect a v-handset option. Yous can extend the phone to include up to 12 handsets, but equally of this writing the IS8101 accessory handset is out of stock at Amazon and not readily bachelor anywhere else.

Other proficient cordless phones

Not-amplified

VTech's CS6124 is identical to the CS6114, except that the CS6124 has a digital answering organization on its base of operations. Virtually people don't need this characteristic on a budget phone, but if y'all do, the CS6124 is a good choice.

AT&T's CL82219 is similar to the AT&T DL72210, with almost of the aforementioned features, an almost-identical handset, and a comparable cost. The big departure is that the CL82219 doesn't have a Bluetooth connection, so you can't pair it with your cell phone. In testing, we were able to take the CL82219 nearly a business firm and a half farther earlier the incoming audio broke up, but that extra range isn't enough of a bonus to be worth giving up cell telephone pairing.

Amplified

Panasonic's KX-TGM450S is a noticeably louder variant of our amplified pick, which may go far better suited to people with more severe hearing loss. Panasonic says the KX-TGM450S's vocalization book tin reach 50 dB and the ringer can go up to 112 dB, compared with 40 dB and 100 dB, respectively, for the KX-TGM420W. Retired audiologist Lisa Devlin slightly preferred the tone adjustment on the KX-TGM450S, proverb information technology was "slightly clearer when I went to a more high-pitched accent." She besides noted that the ho-hum-spoken communication function, while identical between the ii phones for recorded messages, worked improve on the KX-TGM450S for live calls because information technology slowed the speaker downward more than on the KX-TGM420W. These upgrades all come up at a cost: The KX-TGM450S is almost twice every bit expensive as the KX-TGM420W. But if whatever of these features will help you communicate, that's a cost well worth paying.

Panasonic'due south KX-TGM430B is another variant of our amplified choice that offers the same features and volume, plus a Bluetooth connectedness to your jail cell telephone. All the same, it costs much more, so nosotros recommend it only if a jail cell phone connection is especially important to y'all.

The competition

Non-amplified

Panasonic'south KX-TGD510B offers call blocking and a handset speakerphone, which VTech's upkeep phones don't. But it costs twice as much as our budget option (the CS6114). If you're searching for a low-end phone with some more-advanced features, choose this ane.

VTech's CS5229 and AT&T'due south EL52119 both come with just one handset. Also, they don't have smart phone call blocking or i-push button call blocking, and they don't connect to cell phones.

Because Panasonic's KX-TGE633M comes with a tertiary handset, information technology's more expensive than the AT&T DL72210. It doesn't support smart phone call blocking or connect to your jail cell phone, though.

Panasonic'southward KX-TGC352B is inexpensive compared with other two-handset bundles. But it doesn't have smart call blocking, a digital answering system, or a Bluetooth cell phone connection.

Although AT&T's DLP73210 has features that lucifer those of other high-finish phones, it comes with just ii handsets, and in our tests it had the shortest range of whatsoever phone we tested, at about 130 anxiety.

Panasonic's KX-TGE675B doesn't offer smart phone call blocking, something we consider a necessary feature for phones in its price range.

Amplified

At about $200, Clarity's XLC8 is the most expensive amplified phone nosotros tested. It doesn't excel in any of the features information technology shares with the Panasonic KX-TGM420W, and it doesn't offer whatever additional functionality. Our tester too found its tone adjustment to be neither piece of cake to use nor effective.

Sources

1. Stephen J. Blumberg, PhD, and Julian V. Luke, Wireless Substitution: Early Release of Estimates From the National Wellness Interview Survey, July-December 2019 (PDF), Centers for Disease Command and Prevention , September 1, 2020

2. Ruth Wilson, marketing chair, DECT Forum, Zoom interview , September 3, 2020

3. Robert Pepper, What Does Total Duplex Mean?, GetVoIP , September xiii, 2012

4. Lise Hamlin, director of communications, Hearing Loss Association of America, phone interview , April 12, 2021

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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-cordless-phone/

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