Has anyone had success of late with HA user-friendly cordless phones? I can’t hear squat on my AT&T cordless any more and ask folks to call me back on my cell. If my wife has to talk after I have, I have to change my Iphone settings from Bluetooth to regular so she can use it.
I’m looking at maybe the Panasonic KX-TGF544B. Adjustable handset volume and a telecoil would be nice features to have. I’m not crazy about the technology that marries cell phones with cordless phones.
Thanks.
Eliot
I do okay using the speaker phone part of the cordless phones
Thanks. The quality of the speaker phone bit on my current ones is a tad marginal, and there are plenty of times I don’t want to share my conversation with others. That’s why I’m concerned about the audio quality of the handset ear-speaker (if that’s a word!).
I have Oticon hearing aids and a home phone adapter, but seldom use it because when do I can’t respond to any questions that requires my to punch keys on the dial pad
I’ve also got Oticons, OPN S1s, and I had one of those boxes 20 years ago and got tired of it. I just want to be able to hold the phone to my ear and have a conversation without sharing the conversation. But I’d like to stop short of the phones with flashing lights and massive amplification! We’ll see.
If I buy the one I mentioned earlier I’ll get it from a big box store where it will be easier to return if I can’t stand it.
I gave up on holding any phone to my ears for conversations a long time ago, it just isn’t possible for me
I’m with you on that. I far prefer to use Bluetooth via my cell. I’ve become very much dependent on it. But there are times and circumstances when I have no choice but to use a cordless handset, which prompts my query.
On my AT&T set I have an excellent speakerphone on the cordless handsets. Excellent in that the other person says I don’t sound like I’m on a speakerphone. But if it is an important call, I call back on my cellphone and listen/speak through my KS9s.
I use a Gigaset SL450 (uncertain availability) with Bluetooth. My Bluetooth streamer (in case of ReSound it’s the PhoneClip) can stay connected to both the cell phone and the cordless handset at the same time, so calls to either of them can be answered with the PhoneClip. It works all over the house with the phones in a central place.
Perhaps you wouldn’t like this Panasonic KX-TGF575S cordless handset system then but it’s working great for us. In the Amazon Q&A for the product a member of “Team Panasonic” says that the handsets are T-coil compatible but in speakerphone mode both the base and the handsets can be very loud, too. Paired with an iPhone, the base and each of the handsets can announce the name of the caller, if you’ve imported your phone contact list to the Panasonic base, or the calling number. The cordless handsets with an iPhone can also announce that you’ve gotten a text message and again, who it’s from. Used with an Android phone, the handset system can announce other Android notifications as well, too.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072N3T79P/
Basically the Link2Cell feature effectively greatly extends the range that you can be from your cell phone and still answer your cell phone anywhere in the house no matter if you’re in a distant room from where your cell phone is. I think (someone correct me if I’m wrong) that your cell phone has to be within classic BT distance of the base unit but since the base communicates with the cordless handset units using DETECT 6.0 technology, a lower, more penetrating RF frequency than 2.4 GHz BT, you can be up to 300 ft away from the base unit (and your cell phone) and still take and make phone calls through your cell phone using a handset. But with my cell phone in the bedroom, the base unit in the kitchen about 30 feet away, I can answer a call to my cell phone using the cordless handset, which is easier to answer than my iPhone, and the call clarity is pretty good. I tried an indoor/outdoor experiment with my wife and carrying a cordless handset clipped to my belt, I could go out into the yard about 150 feet away from the house and still answer a call to my cell phone left in the kitchen from her cell phone, loud and clear. When it’s 107 degrees or so outside in the summer, I don’t want to be carrying my cell phone outside the house for long periods since it’s battery isn’t easily replaceable if I kill it with the heat but the special NiMH batteries in a Panasonic cordless handset are easily replaceable (not cheap, though). My only regret is that the handsets are not rated highly for dust or water resistance so they need some TLC if taken outdoors or being used near dirty, dusty work.
When I got our Panasonic system back in March, a unit with 3 handsets was ~$120, a unit with 5 handsets was $133, so we got the one with 5 handsets and now have them distributed all around the house, replacing a much older 2008 Panasonic cordless system. It was worth it just for the caller-announcing feature and the call blocking feature (works at least as far as blocking handset ringing goes, haven’t analyzed whether it feeds back to cell phone ringing).
Thanks for such a thorough endorsement. I was actually looking at buying that model, or the 775, which is fractionally newer. Panasonic told me both have telecoil and a volume control for the ear area of the handset. I’m going to get one of those two, but I don’t think I’ll hook up my cell to the Panasonic unit. It would confuse the heck out of my non-technical bride, and I don’t need to have my cell address book loaded into the Panasonic system and announced. I’m just looking to be able to hear incoming calls to our landline, and right now my AT&T units are failing mightily on that score.
Again, many thanks for such a detailed and descriptive response. It’s helped me nail down what I want to do.
Just as a followup, I ultimately got the Panasonic 775 and love it. I can hear callers again and no need to ask folks to call me back on my cell, or me to call them. I have no use for the cell phone-relay/phone book feature, so it’s lost on us,. But I am thrilled to be able to conduct a conversation on a handset again.