Customer Reviews

AT&T CL2909 Corded Phone, White, 1 Handset

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

Just went and bought this phone today after considerable research. And so far it is meeting expectations.

My needs in order of priority:
1. No electrical hookup - should run off phone line, like all old analog phones
2. Need speaker phone for occasional conference calls
3. Need Caller ID to screen calls.
4. Nice to have - programmable phone number bank
5. Ringer control - should be able to turn off ringer or make it go to visual
6. Should be able to put caller on hold or mute.
7. No answering machine needed

Needless to say - this was the only phone I found which could meet all of the above. The need to have one phone in the house which can be used if the electricity is off just made all the other phones miss out in some other aspects in the list above. Mostly they wouldnt have caller ID. All these features in this phone work on 4 -AA batteries and we will see how the consumption rate on that is.

It was easy to setup, though the wall mount , did have an issue with the hook for the handset. It just wouldnt slide out.... had to bring the screw driver and pry it loose.

Next, I will programme the frequently dialed numbers and see how that goes. It seems fairly easy from the instruction book.

So far I have tested the speakerphone and the handset - the sound quality is great! Our previous phone was introducing a lot of static in the calls, so this is a good replacement and I am happy with the price. ANd we have freed up one of the electrical sockets as this needs no electric connection!!

This is a great phone for those of us who still like to have a corded phone in the house. Everything was as advertised, except that it has a 25 number programmable directory in addition to the 14 "one touch" numbers. The online description and the package information fail to mention this great feature. I was almost ready to spring for the next model which for twice the price promised a 50 number directory.
I also like AT&T's caller ID software that can be set up to know whether incoming calls need 7, 10, or 11 digits for a call back. Some other phones make you toggle through the 7, 10, and 11 digit options woth the # key before you can call back.

I was hoping to use this phone for business purposes. I work from home and often dial in to the office for on a conference bridge. When I'm not speaking I like to put the phone on mute in case my dog begins barking or there is some other background noise. Unfortunately this phone produces a loud clicking sound that is audible to the other party when the mute button is pressed (not to mention a loud beep in my ear). I simply cannot dial in to a meeting if my phone is going to produce noises that will annoy the other people on the line or constantly make them wonder if someone has hung up.

I have little to knock about this phone. It's nice not being tied to a power block, it's easy to use and understand too. My big complaint is that the mfg's picture clearly shows the display as green back-lit. It is not back-lit! I don't hold Amazon responsible because they get their images from the mfg. With all the comparisons I've done, I'm not returning this phone because it was the best match for what I wanted.

I love this phone! The shape of it wasn't my favorite, but we picked it for the features, reliable brand, and inexpensive price.

It's been working great for us. I've been pleasantly surprised that the ringer (when set on low) is very unobtrusive.

The only thing that isn't perfect is when programming the phone, it isn't completely intuitive how to program it (it could be easier).

For the price, features (speaker, caller ID, etc.), and general function, I'd say I'm very satisfied.

After my local phone company crosswired the DC on my phone line and fried the phones in my home, I had to replace the stalwart GEs that I had had for years, speakerphones that just plain worked. I checked reviews and decided the AT&T CL2909 was a good option for one of the phones I needed to replace.

Boy, are some of the reviews of this phone WAAAAY off. This thing is an engineering catastrophe.

Every function on this phone, save for the basic function of actually dialing a number and talking with another human over the handset, WILL NOT WORK unless four AA batteries are installed! Considering that all landline phones draw DC power by default, how is it possible that this phone can't tap any advanced functions without batteries installed? My old speakerphone used one AA to keep numbers in memory alive should there be a power failure, yet even the speakerphone function on this AT&T will not work unless all four batteries are installed. Here's the FAIL list if the user does not install batteries:

Memory backup
Caller ID
Menu functions
Mute
LCD display
Speakerphone
Clock
Directory
Hold
Redial
Flash
CALL INFO light

That's a joke. Worse, the box veils the truth by playing up that this phone does not need AC to run. Well, neither did my old GE speakerphone, as only one of its functions depended on batteries, not most all of them. An addendum inside the AT&T box tells the sad truth about what leaving the batteries out means. And yes, I removed the batteries as a test, and this phone's advertised strengths vanish. The manual doesn't even get this lack right, insisting the display works without batteries when the handset is lifted. Again, tests reveal this to be wrong also.

Obviously, battery consumption will be huge with this phone. That's a joke, too.

This is supposed to be a desktop/wall-mountable unit. But hanging it on a standard wall mount reveals two maddening problems: The backing plastic is thin and doesn't make for a tight connection, so the phone wobbles on the wall mount, plus the LCD display angle shifts so badly it becomes unreadable, no matter the lighting. No amount of contrast adjustment fixes that LCD-readability problem, either. (The Amazon.com picture of this phone implies it has a helpful greenish backlighting, but no backlighting exists. No doubt AT&T supplied the image.)

Do I even need to talk about the clipping when the speakerphone volume is raised? Should I mention the clicking heard by people on hold?

If this phone had been released in 1980, some of these problems could be excused. But for this phone to be so much worse than a phone I purchased 10 years ago is reprehensible engineering. It doesn't matter what the cost, I'd pay twice as much for this phone if it matched what my old GE could do. That it claims to and yet fails so miserably is frustrating to the nth degree.

I've reviewed a couple hundred products here on Amazon.com, and I've got to believe that only the sonic mosquito deterrents are worse products than this utter piece of techno-rubbish. It's as if AT&T never asked a human being to use this phone so as to get actual product feedback. That so many purchasers of this phone on Amazon gave it good reviews is baffling when it fails on such simple levels.

I started out with brand new Duracell AA 2600 MaH rechargeable batteries in this phone, and so far I have had to recharge the batteries every 10-14 days. Funny thing is, I hardly ever even touch the phone. The battery drain seems to happen simply because the "Call Info" indicator lights up whenever someone picks up another extension in the house. I'm sure all the features work fine and are excellent for the price, but eventually I'm going to give up on charging the batteries and treat it as a dumb phone without any of the battery-operated features (including the speaker phone, which was the main reason I bought it).

AT&T has been making different versions of this same basic phone for years. I've owned two previous models (950 and 959), so this review will include some comparisons. The good news is the CL2909 is arguably the best in the series.

Pros
----
- Good sound quality in either handset or speakerphone use (both ends).
- Straightforward configuration.
- Easy-to-store One-Touch numbers.
- Large and easy-to-read Number keys.
- Decent manual.

Cons
----
- Visibility of the LED display a bit muted even on the highest contrast setting.
- No headphone jack.

Nitpicks
--------
- Finer control over volume adjustment would be nice.
- Caller ID memory when set to "Combined" doesn't seem to work as advertised. It is supposed to combine multiple instances of the same caller into a single entry. If someone called you five times, their entry should only appear once with a Date/Time stamp for the most recent call. This feature has never worked for me on this or earlier models.

New this Model
--------------
- The color scheme is now two-tone with the bottom half gray.
- Re-styled handset. It's heavier with a more solid feel.
- Chain dialing. Interesting idea. You can pre-record number sequences for use in voice menus, such as keying in a lengthy account number for your utility service. Not sure how useful this will be.
- Grippier rubber feet. Older models slipped around more easily on slick counter tops.

Other Reviewer Dislikes
-----------------------
1. Handset cord not long enough.
Perfectly acceptable for desktop or sidestand use. If you need a longer cord for walking around or in the kitchen, you can always buy one.

2. Callers hear an annoying click when volume is adjusted up or down.
I tested this from both a landline phone and cell phone. Did not hear any clicks or beeps.

3. Callers hear an annoying click when phone is muted or unmuted.
Handset Use - Did not hear any clicks or beeps. You could hear the ambient background noise go away then return, but what would you expect? The Mute function turns off the microphone.

Speakerphone Use - As with handset use, when the phone is muted the caller will hear the ambient background noise go away, but I did not hear any clicks or beeps. When the phone is unmuted, however, they WILL hear a slight beep. Here's why:

By design, the user hears a beep as a form of audio feedback anytime the volume is adjusted or the phone muted or unmuted. The beep is not intended for the caller on the other end of the line.

The caller hears a faint beep when the phone is unmuted on speakerphone because sequentially the phone first unmutes (turns the microphone back on) then emits the confirmation beep. This sequence allows the caller to hear the beep through the speakerphone microphone. It's fairly muffled but can be heard.

This is a design oversight. It should beep first then reactivate the microphone. Someone should contact the company and let them know, so it can be changed in future models.

Conclusion
----------
If you've been a consumer for any length of time, you probably noticed some companies will take a successful product over time and cheapen it until it is a shadow of its former self. Hello, Detroit. They do this to grow the business or maximize profits by reducing cost. The CL2909 represents a departure from that thinking. In several small yet significant ways it is a better phone than earlier models.

I highly recommend it to anyone seeking a basic landline home phone.

Update: 10-05-2011
-------------------
Original review stated the phone did not have an internal battery to store settings while changing AAs. Untrue. The phone does have an internal battery and can hold settings for up to 10 minutes while changing batteries.

Update: 03-29-2012
-------------------
More on battery life.

1. Accidentally left the AAs out of the phone for a day and a half. To my surprise when I inserted fresh, the phone settings were still there. Means the internal battery was good for much more than 10 minutes.

2. Owned this phone long enough to report AAs typically last 6 - 8 months max. That's a little disappointing. But, when you consider a) the panel constantly displays date, time, number of calls and new calls while also powering speed dial, display dial, etc., I guess 6 - 8 months is reasonable.

Still view this as a solid phone and happy with the purchase. I must be, recently bought a second one.

Nice feature set. Big buttons for dialing. Caller ID. Mute. You can adjust the volume on individual calls as well. It takes 4 batteries to run the lights on the phone, everything else runs off power from the phone line.

My only complaint, and it is a big one, is with the speakerphone. On many calls, the sound level cuts in and out on both ends of the call. The volume gets really quiet, then returns to normal. This does not happen all the time, but enough to be really annoying. Since the primary feature I need is the speaker phone, I cannot rate this product highly.

I bought two of these phones at a local Target in May. One lasted about 1 month before it stopped working. Target replaced it and it still works. The second one just quit working (all you hear is clicking on the receiver) after 6 months (beyond Targets return window), so I have to try to get ATT to replace it. I shipped it back today ($10 shipping to TX) for my $25 phone...we'll see what I get back. The warranty on the phone is 1 year. Note that these phones are made for ATT by Advanced American Telephones, a company I will now avoid at all costs.

NOTE: A third phone has now failed after about one year (microphone failed on the handset). I did receive a replacement for the second failed phone and have it in use now but am not confident it will last very long. Pretty disappointing since this phone has nice features.