Home phone Guides

Cordless phones - what’s on offer?

Wednesday 6 April, 2011

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

Cordless phones give you the freedom to chat anywhere in your home - while lying comfortably on the sofa watching TV or busy cooking dinner in the kitchen - but which cordless phone should you get?

Cordless phones operate by use of a low power radio link between the handset and base station, which in turn is plugged into your phone socket, connecting you to your home phone supplier’s network.

Phones without a cord operate in exactly the same way as a regular phone, but you won’t be tied to the base station with wires, so you can move around while chatting to your friends and family.

There are plenty of cordless phones on offer at the moment, but finding one that’s right for you will take a bit of shopping around. Below is our guide to the advantages and disadvantages of cordless phones, as well as some recommended handsets.

The benefits of a cordless phone

Before investing in a new cordless phone handset, you should examine the benefits and drawbacks - you may decide a conventional phone is more suitable.

Advantages

• Freedom - As cordless phones don’t have a wire connecting them to the base station, you can move around while talking on the phone, using the phone in any room in the house while doing something else, even exercising!
• Intercom - Some cordless handsets, such as the Panasonic DECT Trio cordless phone can be used as an intercom, letting you talk to people in the house for free - handy if you want to call the kids down for dinner.
• Find it - Many cordless phones have a built-in pager feature, which lets you call the handset using the base station if you have misplaced the handset.

Disadvantages

• Lose it - Because your phone handset is not attached to anything, it’s inevitable that at some point you will misplace it, down the back of the sofa or in the laundry. And, if it has run out of the battery, the pager feature may not be much use.
• Battery - Running out of battery mid conversation is no fun. Unlike a conventional phone that is powered through the phone line, your cordless phone will have to be charged to make calls. This is usually done via the base unit, however some can be battery powered.
• Limited range - The range of reception varies from phone to phone, but most are capable of distances of up to 50m indoors, and 300m outside.

BT cordless phones

BT (www.bt.com), the UK’s largest home phone supplier, has an online shop full of cordless phones for you to choose from - and they don’t just work with BT’s landline service. Whether you’re a TalkTalk, Virgin Media or indeed a BT customer, here are some of the home phone giant’s top recommended handsets:

BT Synergy 5100 Twin cordless phones

• Price - £75
• Handsets - 2
• Customer rating - 3 stars
• Other information - This phone has a low energy power supply, space to save up to 250 names and numbers and the ability to send text messages.

Buy a BT Synergy 5100 Twin cordless phones now.

BT Synergy 5500 Twin cordless phone with answer machine

• Price - £82.99
• Handsets - 2
• Customer rating - 4 stars
• Other information - This phone has a low energy power supply, an answer phone to save 12 minutes worth of messages, space to save up to 250 names and numbers (which can be copied directly from your mobile phone sim card) and the ability to send text messages.

Buy a BT Synergy 5500 Twin cordless phone with answer machine now.

BT Verve 450 Quad cordless phone with answer machine

• Price - £109.99
• Handsets - 4
• Customer rating - 5 stars
• Other information - This phone can digitally record up to 15 minutes or 59 messages, a long battery life (a fully charged battery should give up to 10 hours talk time or 100 hours standby time on a single charge), can store up to 200 names and numbers, and has a wireless range of up to 300m, for use indoors or outdoors.

Buy a BT Verve 450 Quad cordless phone with answer machine now.

TalkTalk cordless phones

In October 2010, home phone and broadband provider TalkTalk (www.talktalk.co.uk) launched its first range of branded handsets. Like BT’s cordless phones, the TalkTalk models work with any landline service, and prices start from as little as £17.99. They are available from Argos, Tesco and Dixons. Some models that Argos shoppers recommend include:

TalkTalk 1000 Black telephone – Twin

• Price - £29.99
• Handsets - 2
• Customer rating - 4.5 stars
• Other information - This phone has an eco mode for energy saving, a long battery life (a fully charged battery should give up to 10 hours talk time or 100 hours standby time on a single charge), can store up to 20 names and numbers, and has a wireless range of up to 300m, for use indoors or outdoors.

TalkTalk TT2023 Telephone with answer machine – Triple

• Price - £64.99
• Handsets - 3
• Customer rating - 4 stars
• Other information - This phone has a long battery life (a fully charged battery should give up to 10 hours talk time or 100 hours standby time on a single charge), can store up to 20 names and numbers, and has a wireless range of up to 300m, for use indoors or outdoors, and has volume controls for the speaker and ringer.

TalkTalk 1000 Green telephone – Single

• Price - £17.99
• Handsets - 1
• Customer rating - 4 stars
• Other information - This phone has an eco mode for energy saving, a long battery life (a fully charged battery should give up to 10 hours talk time or 100 hours standby time on a single charge), can store up to 20 names and numbers, and has a wireless range of up to 300m, for use indoors or outdoors.

Other cordless phones

There are plenty of other cordless phones on the market, from brands such as Motorola, Sagem, Siemens, Panasonic and Binatone.

These are available from most electronics retailers, as well as shops like Argos, Tesco and Asda.