Panasonic KX-TG6645B DECT 6.0 Cordless Phone with Answering System - Excellent phones at a remarkable price

Technical Details

•     DECT 6.0 Plus Technology
•     All-digital answering machine
•     Intelligent Eco Mode
•     Range Boost; Tone Equalizer
•     Power back-up operation (handset)
•     Dect 6.0 Plus Technology Cordless Phone
•     Dual Keypad on both Base and Handset
•     Hands-Free Speakerphone on Base & Handset
•     Power Back-up Operation
•     Talking Caller ID/Call Block/Silent Mode

First, one of the reviews above states they have used these phones for years, but this series was first shipped in May 2011, so this review must be for a prior generation. And it is important, because this series has a lot of pluses that the prior generations did not have.

Second, we have used Panasonic phones (with very few exceptions) since their old wired phones! This product is replacing an earlier generation wireless series with 4 phones. We had two batteries in the old units starting to fail, so rather than buy replacement batteries for 5 year old phones, I bought this and am not disappointed at all. Some of the key reasons this may be the best Panasonic phone system yet are:

• The screen is so much better to read. I wear reading glasses and the old screens were tough to read without them, but the high contrast, white backlit screens on these phones are so much easier to read!
• The menu systems seem much better. Much of what you want to do is handled by the soft-touch buttons with screen readouts so rather than searching the small text below some of the buttons, the choices are much easier to see on the screen.
• The reception is so much better and covers a longer distance than before. Our old phones (5.8mHz system) would get harder to hear on both ends if we walked to the other end of the house and walking a few steps outside was sure to cause a drop, but this new DECT 6 works anywhere in the home and far outside with no noticeable diminution in sound quality. (Pana makes a range extender optional piece you can add to the system, but I cant see any use we would need for it!)
• One of the best new features is the ability to use one of the handsets for temporary battery backup during a power outage! Most wireless systems go down entirely if there is no power, so if there is an emergency or even a short duration power failure, you cannot call out or receive calls. With this phone, if the power fails but your handset is charged, just putting it in the base station powers it and allows you to call out or receive calls. This feature alone is why I waited a few months for this version to ship. We have had a number of short power outages, but this feature eliminates most of that as an issue.
• We use the phone company's voicemail system so we do not need the recording function, but this phone includes the ability to speed-dial the external voicemail and, more importantly, if there is a message on that system, the Panasonic handsets still show a flashing light to alert you to a message and when you pick up any handset, the screen also shows you there is a voicemail.

There are a lot of other features that we do not use, like the Voice Caller ID that announces who is calling (we don't need the extra noise!) but they worked fine (until I turned this off). So I have to say that this is a great phone system overall. Light weight, easy to use, easy to read - just excellent!