I have had this phone for about a week or so and I think that its fantastic, I ordered it from BT's online shop when my old phone decided it had had enough. It set me back £109.99 but remember this is for two handsets not just one. I thought it seemed quite expensive but one of my friends has one and said that she had never had a problem so I thought I would take her word for it. It is in all honesty a really good set of handsets with some great features. It has been a few years since I have bought a landline phone and I was surprised at how far along they have come. My last one was very basic with very few features, these new ones are more like modern mobiles, I couldn't believe how much they have changed.
I bought the twin set so I got two handsets but from the same place you can buy a single handset for £69.99, set of three handsets for £149.99 or if you have a really large house you can buy a set of four for £189.99. With the set of two you get one primary handset with a base that controls the answermachine , has a missed calls and sms indicators and also a find button (Use to find a missing handset). There is also a sim card reader. The second handset also comes with a base but only has a charging light on the front centre and none of the options that
the primary has.
The handsets has a very sleek and modern look and feels comfortable to hold (I should know, I'm never off the thing). They are mainly silver with black around the display and buttons. The directional keys are silver with green and red handset logos on the buttons for answering and ending a call. The bases are all silver with green and red lights on either side for charging and to let you know when a handset is in use. The buttons on both are clear cut and simple. The handsets both have colour LCD screens which illuminate when being used.
I found that setting the phones up was very easy, You need to put the handsets within 2 metres of a mains socket as that is how long the provided cables are. It is advised that you keep them at least a metre away from other electrical's as this may cause interference, I did not check this but it didn't seem to make a difference to the quality of a call. You can use the handsets outside to the point of 300 metres but the quality and signal varies. To set the phone up all you do is plug the bases into mains sockets and turn on the power. Each handset takes 2 AAA batteries and it is advised to charge the handsets on the bases for at least 24 hours before using them. You will know when the handset is charged when the battery icon on the screen shows 3 green bars. When a handset is fully charged you should be able to talk on it for 10 hours, I do not know if this is correct as even I don't talk on the phone for 10 hours straight. Without being used the batteries should last for about 88 hours.
The handsets screen will display lots of useful icons that tell you for example if you have any missed calls or messages. There is a range indicator that will flash if you are out of range. There is an icon that shows when the answerphone is enabled or not in use. It will also tell you if the keypad is locked or the handset ringer is off. Each handset is pre-registered to its base with default names of Calypso 1, Calypso 2 etc, depending on how many handsets you purchase.
One of the first things I did was adjust the date and time on the handsets which is easy to do by going through the menu to the time settings option. For a landline phone there is quite an extensive menu, I am of course comparing to my previous phone so more up to date people may not think so. I have listed the contents of the menu's, this may or may not help people decide to buy or not to buy but I hope it does.
REGISTRATION Register Handset - Select Base - De-Register.
GAMES Rabbit Runner - Hector - Bowling - Insects Hunt - Ti Aqua.
If you were to have to or more handsets then you are able to make internal calls on two of them while the third can make an external call. They have the ability to make a 3 way call or even call another of your handsets.
There is quite a large phonebook limit, it can hold up to 200 names and numbers on a handset. You are able to copy phonebook entries from a sim card. The answering machine has 20 minutes worth of recording time (bad news if someone you know likes to leave really long messages). The call lists on the phone hold up to 20 dialled calls and a full log capacity of 50 numbers.
The handsets are also able to send and receive text messages, you have to subscribe to this service though. This can be done by sending a messages to 00000 on a handset and then its ready to go. There is also the added feature of predictive text which is a big help if that's what you are used to using on a mobile phone, otherwise you can do it as you normally would. One of the reasons I got these handsets was for the answering machine feature and as I had never used one before I found this one really simple. A handset will tell you if the answering machine is full. It can be switched off completely or all calls can be diverted straight to it or even after so many rings. When playing back messages they sound really clear and I have found there is no jumping or static noise. You can even press a screen button to listen to a caller while they leave a message. You are able to operate your own answering machine by remote access, which means that you can ring from any other bt phone and listen to your messages.
The background images on the handsets can be changed and they do come with some pre-installed pictures. There are 5 ringtones to chooses from and also 5 levels of volume. You can use handsfree and auto answer calls after so many rings. There are alarms available to use and you can have a different one set on each of the handsets. There are quite a few games installed which are ok but nothing to write home about. The phones are also GAP compatible (which means they can link to additional phones).
All in all I have no real complaints about these phones, I have found them extremely easy to set up and use. They hold a lot of good features and look really great. Calls made from them are top quality, some even better than my mobile. The phones have all the features you would expect from a mobile phone and probably more, I will add that they are pretty strong also as I have dropped one a few times on a hard wooden floor and made no mark on it. I think I made a really good choice with these.
Hope this helps x x
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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remote access and caller information displayed during playback. Text messages can be sent and received using the predictive text and it also has eight polyphonic rin...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Mar 31st, 2007
very helpful by (100%):
