Cordless phones: How to buy the best Dect cordless phone Cordless phone performance
Which? has reviewed more than 200 Dect cordless phone packs, from the major brands including BT, Siemens, Philips and Panasonic. We test a huge number of phone features, including the most important basics:
Range
Most cordless phones claim to work over a distance of about 300 metres outdoors (without obstacles) and 50 metres indoors.
There are some models that will work over greater distances, so they're ideal if you have a large garden.
Manufacturers sometimes quote theoretical optimum working ranges, typically between 300-2,000 metres, for their cordless phones. However in practice, range can be affected by many factors, including radio interference, obstacles such as internal walls or weather conditions. That's why we assess and rate the range of every phone we review.
Power consumption
Which? looks at the power consumption of cordless phones to test the energy-saving claims that manufacturers make. The best cordless phones use less than 1 watt when in use.
Sound quality
Which? rates cordless phones for sound quality of the phone handset (earpiece, mouthpiece and speakerphone) and the answering machine.
Read our cordless phone reviews to find handsets with the best sound quality, and find out if manufacturer claims such as ‘HD sound’ or ‘iSound’ give improved sound quality.
Screen size
Cordless phone handsets have LCD screens that display useful information, such as the numbers you’re calling, the phonebook, battery and range status and answering machine messages.
Screens can vary in size and quality, and cordless phones can either have single-colour (monochrome – often orange, green or blue) screens or multi-colour screens.
Basic models have a single-line display, but more advanced cordless phones can display as many as six lines of text, making it easier to scroll through a phonebook or read SMS text messages.
On-screen text and numbers can either be displayed with 7-segment characters (like an old calculator), 14-segment characters that are clearer or matrix pixel characters that are the easiest to read.
The largest screens on cordless phones are around 2 inches – similar to those on many mobile phones. Like mobile phones, many cordless phones now have icon-based menus for navigating through the phone’s functions.
Battery life
Which? tests two key aspects of cordless phone battery life:
Standby
The length of time that a battery lasts while on standby, without making or receiving calls, having been fully charged. A typical value is 250 hours (more than 10 days).
Talk time
The length of time that a fully charged battery can be used for incoming and outgoing calls. A typical cordless phone talk time is 15 hours.
Answering machine recording time
The recording time available on digital answering machines varies, so check that the cordless phone you’re interested in has sufficient recording time for the number of messages you’re expecting to receive.
The best cordless phones can record 40 minutes or more on their answering machines.
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