Customer Reviews

Panasonic KX-TG4053B DECT 6.0 PLUS Expandable Digital Cordless Phone with Answering System & Range Extender, Black, 3 Handsets

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I bought this phone because I needed a phone that would give me better range than my panasonic 5.8gHz model without the interference with my computer equipment. I live in a pretty good sized house, ( 3 stories, 6000 sq. ft., lots of steel too). My 5.8 gHz model didn't quite cut it for range from one side of the house to the other. I really started seeing problems when they installed my wireless network for the house. I did some research and found out that the interference issue was common with 5.8 gHz and the wireless router because they operate on the same bandwidth and therefore can have some interference issues. As for the range, I was out of luck until I found this phone that has an included " range extender ". Set-up for the phone was very easy, ( 6 steps including " insert batteries and charge for 7 hours"). I put the range extender at about the distance where my 5.8 gHz started to fuzz out. This is easily installed as well. All you need is a power outlet, no phone jack. After the charging period, I tried the phone everywhere in the house with no issues. I can even go down to the lake to watch the kids with no issues. Also, from reading the directions, I noted that you can add one more range extender to increase your range even more. I think panasonic really got the idea right when they made this phone and included the range extender. I would have to say that my only disappointment is the handset display size and that it is not in color. If you are looking for a solid phone system with great range and no computer interference issues, you can't go wrong with this phone. Buy it! You won't be sorry.

This is my 3rd Panasonic phone system (they last me about 3 years), and I was happy with the previous ones, so I am truly surprised by how much I hate this one.
So here are the problems in order of severity :

1)Delayed ringing - I pick up after one or two rings, and the person has hung up, or the call has gone to the phone company voicemail. When I ask the person who has hung up, why they hung up so fast, they tell me that the phone rang 5 or 6 times.
I only heard 1 or 2 rings :-(

2) Delayed Caller ID - if you really want to make sure that you miss the call, try waiting for the caller ID - both the talking and the visual caller ID don't show up until the 3rd ring, and that coupled with the above described delayed ringing makes sure that the caller is long gone by the time that you pick up. With my 3 year old Panasonic the talking caller ID was right after the first ring and left me plenty of time to decide if I wanted to get the phone, find it, and answer before the 4th ring. I am shocked that the newest version is so inferior.

3) Way too much scrolling and buttons for every function - old phone allowed me to scroll through caller id, press talk, and the phone dialed. Old phone allowed me to scroll through caller ID, press erase, poof that number was gone, and the next one appeared. This new phone has way too much of "Are you sure you really want to do that? Scroll up for yes, down for no, press another button to confirm the yes or no, now press another button to exit, go back to the first button to go back into caller ID, scroll again, select a number, scroll and press another button for what you want to do with that number, "are you sure that you really want to"...yada, yada, yada

4) Terrible battery life (and I don't think it's a bad battery, because it's the same on all 3). I'm not so obsessed with battery life that I time it, but I've learned that if the phone doesn't make it to the charger overnight, without a doubt, sometime the next day the battery would die.

5) There is such a thing as too light weight - although they have not broken, they are constantly getting knocked over because it barely takes a light breeze to do so.

Has anybody found one with talking caller ID in another brand that is decent? 2 months with this one, and I'm in the market for another...

I'm only using my new KX-TG4053B for a few weeks and thus far it meets all my expectations.

I live in a two story concrete home with a reinforced concrete floor between the floors. With my previous phone reception in the upstairs bedroom was weak as the base unit was in the ground floor.

The new KX-TG4053B enables me to put the range extender at the top of the stairs and the reception in excellent.

We (my wife and myself) are low-tech phone users and probably will never use all the features that this phone provides so my review relates to the most important features:
- Clear sound
- Ease of installation and use
- Large and bright dispaly, large lit keys and most important large font.
- Clear speaker
All these features are of very high quality.
This is a very good phone.

Panasonic KX-TG4053B DECT 6.0 PLUS Expandable Digital Cordless Answering System with 3 Handsets & Range Extender

I gave this set as a gift to my parents and they really like them. They have a large home and had problems with other phones cutting out or getting static. Not these phones! Plus these phones have some nice features that make life a little easier for my parents, like the light up display, handsfree talking, the intercom, talking caller id, speakerphone and the message system. Great range, clear sound and lots of features make this a truly awesome phone set!

Note: My only regret is that I wish I had bought the Panasonic set with 5 handsets. Two more handsets would have been perfect. It would have been cheaper to buy the set with five than to buy 2 more handsets now. Something to keep in mind.

{LIKES}
- Great range & Clear sound. A large home, a large yard, deck, shop and garage - the phones do not cut out or get static. The range extender works really well.
- Long battery charge. no problem with low battery, even when talking over 2 hours or leaving the phone of it's base a few days.
- The Keypad lights up as soon as the phone is removed from the base or when a button is pressed. Easy to see the numbers.
- Display is bright and easy to see. Shows time, date, battery charge, signal, handset name (if set) and the handset number.
- Expandable. You can have up to 6 handsets on one phone jack.

- Talking CALLER ID: A female voice reads the caller id name out loud between rings. It's a text reader so doesn't always pronounce the name correctly. Sometimes it's amusing to hear her try to pronounce a name. You can turn this feature off. My parents like it, though.

- Handset Name: We gave each handset a name according to the area it's in: KITCHEN, SHOP, BEDROOM. It allows 10 letters max in the name.
- INTERCOM: To call from phone to phone in the house, select the intercom from the handset's menu and then arrow down to the room you want to call. If my mom is in the kitchen, she can call my dad in the shop to come in for dinner. They can call each other if they need help with something.

- MESSAGES: You can listen to recorded messages from any handset, not just the main one. The handset plays them out loud.
- From each of the three handsets, you can listen to a caller leaving a message.

- PHONEBOOK: You can add a name & number to the phonebook using the caller id history; easier than typing it in by hand.
- Groups: can add phonebook entries to Group 1, Group 2, etc.
- When you save a phone number on handset #1, it automatically updates the phonebook on handset #2 and #3.
- PHONE NUMBER BLOCK: Blocked a pesky salesperson who was calling every other evening - NICE!!!

- Speakerphone button on every handset. Clear sounding. Volume can be adjusted using the button on the front of the phone.

- Headset Jack/Handsfree talking: Each handset comes with a belt clip and a headset jack. Great for multitasking! Any headphones/headset with a 2.5 mm jack and a microphone should work. My mom loves to get some housework or laundry done while talking. And sometimes the arthritis in her hands makes it difficult to hold the phone for a long time so handsfree works well for her.

{DISLIKES}
Would like to be able to rename the phonebook groups. Something like FRIENDS, FAMILY, DOCTORS, etc.
Can't think of any more.

We are all impressed with this phone system - Good job Panasonic! I think I will get myself a set, too!

UPDATE 1-4-12 Happy to say that these phones are still working well. The battery lasts a long time, and believe you me, my mom can talk for hours on the phone (bless her heart) so these phones have got a work out. Also, there have been no problems with delayed rings or anything like that.

Ive always loved panasonic phones. the last phone system i had was almost 8 years old. I decided to update my old panasonic 2.4gig phone system. This new system is wonderful. The range is incredible I can make phone calls and the quality is perfect even next door at my neighbors house,(this was BEFORE I plugged in the free range extender included with it). I can also run the microwave and my wireless router doesnt affect the quality. I have a daily alarm set on my living room phone to remind me to take my morning medications. This phone does so much. It also has a sleep function if you dont want to be disturbed and can be set so certain phones (bedroom phone) do not ring during certain times. You can also block certain numbers so when someone calls that you do not wish to be calling you, they get a busy signal. The talking caller id is GREAT! Now if I cant reach the phone I can hear the phone tell me who is calling. The display has a bright white backlight so the contrast is great with the black numbers/letters. The phones use 2 aaa batteries and are easily replaced. Much better than other systems which used a specific battery pack which was sometimes hard to find and very expensive. The handsets also come with speaker phone function built in and also have a headset jack.

we purchased this panasonic phone set to replace an older set that has worked great for about 6+ years. the range & clarity on these phones are much better than the set we retired. I was so impressed I ordered a set for my parents.Panasonic again came through with a wonderful product that more than met our expectations.

I read a lot of reviews on this phone before I forked about $100 for it. It's been given awesome reviews and I've been a Panasonic lover of all products for most of my life; however this one has let me down. I've had the phones for about 2 months now and they are perfect in every way, zero complaints with the exception of just one and it's a huge annoyance to me. About 90% of the time when I press the talk button on any of the 3 phones I'll get a 'busy' displayed on the screen. I have to hang up and press talk again and once again most of the times I'll get a 'busy' displayed on the screen. Sometimes it's just once, other times I have to repeat the process 3 or more times to get the phones to come on. Usually I'm within 10 feet of the base so I know I'm not out of range. I tried taking all the batteries out and put them back in but that hasn't solved the issue.

If anyone else has had the same problem and got it resolved I'd sure like to know how.

Don
Lorain Ohio

Got rid of a Uniden phone set up and replaced it with the Panasonic 6. Works wonderfully for my photography business and home use also. I highly recommend this for those searching for "practical" set up and business like efficiency. the 3 satellite stations work well for my use. I do need to figure out how to stop the speech that comes in between the rings. It tells you, as best it can, the number or name that is calling in. I find it annoying but have not taken the time to turn it off yet. Some of you may love it. It is nothing against the system as the clarity of vocals is superior. Love it.

This is my 4th Panasonic phone purchase in the last 15 years. Never had a failure that wasn't my doing. I usually keep them for 6-8 years unless I break them from abuse ( which is what happened to set #2 ). This particular set, the KX-TG4053B, has been the best yet. Range is unbelievable -- and that's WITHOUT the repeater (range extender) hooked up! All the features I dreamed of inventing for my last set, this one has. I program one phone with all my contacts, & the rest automatically receive it. I can block annoying salesmen, or anyone who's ID comes up as "unavailable" or "private". This is great for me, as I use Craigslist quite a bit ... and there's some flakes out there that like to call about your item at 1am. That's solved with the "silent" feature that you set the time of. Between those hours, they can call all they want & I'll be sound asleep. And if I get one particularly annoying pinhead, I can block them. One phone is all the way out in my detached, unheated barn/garage. No need to string expensive wires out there. It's also great for the wifey -- she can page me using the phone while I'm out there to either let me know dinner is ready, or that I have a call ....and I can decide whether to take the call or not! They are smaller & lighter than the last set as well. These phones are the best! All this, and I got 3 phones AND a range extender for $100 less than I paid for my last PAIR of phones over 6 years ago! In the sea of chinese junk out there, these are a diamond in the rough.

The Pros.

The voice quality and features are excellent. The phone was easy to set up. I have one phone in the Living room, Bedroom and Kitchen. It's an L shaped apartment with the bedroom at the top of the L, living room at the bottom of the L and the kitchen to the right of the living room. The base is located in the bed room. The base has no problem connecting to the kitchen phone through the wall or around it. Our apartment is small so reception has not been a problem and did not need to install the extender.

The CONS and Improvements that would be nice.

I found the volume a little low at the maximum setting. The speaker phone broke up at maximum setting but just under maximum worked well. The number of characters you can store in a directory listing is limited to 16, counting spaces. If you were trying to add something like "UNCLE ANTHONYS FLORIDA" you would have to abbreviate a lot. There is no reason you should not be able to add 25 or even 30 characters in today's phones. When you pick up the phone, it lights up for about 5 seconds. You can't adjust the length of time it stays lit. If you are trying to make a call at night without turning on the lights to wake up the person next to you this could be a problem.