Customer Reviews

Philips CD 4401 High DefVoice Cordless Speaker Phone

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am compelled to write this review because it has been reviewed poorly by other reviewers and I feel this is unfair. If you decide to purchase the phone, I highly recommend that you read through the instructions carefully. Everything is explained there quite simply. This is a smart phone with a lot of capabilities and options. In order to make use of the vast choices, you have to know what exists and how to access them. Once you do, it's quite logical.

When I was shopping for a new phone, I looked for a variety of features. This phone had exactly what I wanted:
*No answering machine (I have digital voice mail through phone service.)
*Caller ID, Call waiting, Call waiting ID
*Nice looking
*Good quality
*Buttons that are easy to press and it is clear when buttons are depressed
*Headset Jack
*Speaker phone

I shopped for the phone in person at a store rather than online so that I could feel the phone and see its quality up close. I really liked the design and feel so I purchased it.

At first, it took some getting used to. As others have mentioned in their reviews of the same product but in different bundles (e.g.Philips CD4402B/37 DECT 6.0 Digital Cordless Phone System with 2 Handsets, there were a few features that were a bit odd:
1) When dialing, the key is registered not when you depress a button but when you release it.
2) To get to the caller ID list, you have to press "CID" then "OK," whereas to get to the phonebook, you need only press "PBK."
3) Its small size makes it tricky to rest it on your shoulder and hold it "hands free" while conversing.

But, because the phone is so good in other ways, I found it easy to forgive Philips for these now seemingly minor issues. Not only did it meet the criteria I had listed above, I also found that...
*The sound quality is excellent.
*It does not interfere with my wireless internet service.
*It was easy to add on an extra handset: Philips CD4450B High Def Voice Cordless Phone Handset for CD440 & CD445 Series
*I could easily transfer my phonebook to the new handset.
*I could label each handset with a name that described where it's base/charger is located in my home (e.g. "by printer" or "dining rm")
*The light that indicates you have a new call not only shuts off when you view the caller ID on one handset but shuts off on the other handset.

In a nutshell, this phone doesn't have the stuff I don't want yet has the stuff I now realize I needed.

Philips CD 4401 High DefVoice Cordless Speaker Phone is terrible. It is hard to hear, hard to program and hard to work with in general. I will try to return it.

I bought this for the office for a tele-conference call. It worked great. It was one of the few phones that you could by singularly and without an answering machine

This is a case of a quality brand who put out a sub-par product. I, along with other people who've written reviews on this, encountered a lot of battery issues with this phone. It doesn't hold a charge too well.

But now, a little after a year from purchase... the microphone stopped working completely! The people I call can't hear a thing on their end, despite how well I can hear them.

For this brand, for this price, this unit should be much more dependable.

Although it is not perfect, I am happy with my purchase of this CD4401 phone. It is sleek, good looking, and thanks to DECT 6.0 has excellent sound quality with no background static whatsoever, not even a whisper of static that you inevitably hear even in the best 2.4/5.8 GHz technologies. A real plus was the standard 2.5mm headset jack, which seemed difficult to find in DECT 6.0 phones. The online CD4401 product descriptions were ambiguous about exactly what kind of headset connection was offered (it just says "country dependent"), but I can verify that this one sold to me by Amazon in the USA contains the standard 2.5mm headset jack. The shortcomings of this phone are (i) the display characters fade significantly when the blue backlight is on, even using the highest contrast setting, and (ii) the cradle cannot be wall-mounted, it must sit on your desk. But for the sub-$50 price tag I am willing to put up with these inconveniences.

Battery doesnt last that long ..wish it wasnt this kind of batteries. All else good but take it seriously when it comes to batteries.

This phone is one of the few I can find that does a few simple things:
-Make a phone call
-Mute
-Hold
-Have a standard headset jack input
-*Not* have multiple handset or an attached answering machine

However, there is a low static in the background of every call. I checked the manual, and it says to keep the device away from other electronics (done) and away from ... metal objects! Interesting that my previous $25 cordless phone didn't have that requirement, but this "high tech" phone does. I moved the base away from metal (which pretty much means putting it on the floor)... still no improvement.

Plus, the device is poorly made. The plastic is junk, the menu options are hard to navigate, and the ringing options are hideous.

This is the second phone I've tried to buy (the last one was a lovely Panasonic but despite what the Best Buy salesperson insisted, there was no headset jack). It just shouldn't be so hard to make a decent fixed-line phone. I resent that Philips should design something that takes more time than simply plug and play. Sheesh. I'd return it but life is too short.