Customer Reviews

Siemens 4215 Gigaset 2.4 GHz DSS Expandable Cordless Phone (Silver and Black)

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(26)
1 star:		(37)

 

 

This phone does it all. Since there are too many functions to list. I will mention a few of my favorites.

1. Voice dialing (Works very well!)
2. Speaker phone on handset (Loud and clear)
3. Sleek, clean design (Internal antenna is nice)
4. Programming 200 names and numbers
5. Ring volume reduces at night. (You can program the timeframe and volume)
6. Digital Answering machine. (Replaces our voicemail service)
7. Rechargable double "A" batteries instead of the expensive brand name phone batteries. (nuff said)
8. Multiple handset add-on feature is great for expanding.

The few negative aspects of the siemens 4215 are:

1. Buttons could be a little more responsive. (Just press a little harder)
2. Room monitor is not sensitive enough. (But I did not purchase it for that extra feature)
3. The programming of all the features may be a little complex for your average user.

Keep in mind, the positives definitely surpass the negatives for this product. I highly recommend this phone system for any one looking for a phone that will do it all.

...as in Dustin Hoffman's famous portrayal of an idiot savant.

As others have pointed out, this phone is a puzzling mixture of the stupid and the brilliant. The reviews here are very helpful and largely accurate, but I was almost put off sufficiently by some to stop me from buying the phone. I would encourage you to at least give it a try and then return it if the negatives outweigh the positives. My family is extremely happy overall.

The major +'s & -'s have been well covered in other reviews, so let me just a list few things that do not appear to have been stressed:

NEGATIVES:
-1) The sound quality of the handset is merely OK (though in my house it does *not* suffer from significant background white noise, as others seemed to have complained). It just sounds a bit thin and tinny. [But see +1 below.]
-2) The default sound quality of the answering machine is *poor*, but if you set the user-configurable quality setting to high (which cuts recording time down from 30 minutes to 15) it becomes adequate.
-3) Sharing saved phone numbers with extension handsets is not difficult, but there is no setting for automatically doing this. Every time you add entries on one phone you must remember to manually send these entries to the extension phones, one phone at a time.
-4) It's been said by others, but the lack of a true MUTE function is bizarre.
-5) Never put someone on HOLD without trying it out on yourself first---the electronic Muzak that the phone inflicts on the caller is embarrassing!

POSITIVES:
+1) The speakerphone in the handset is nice and loud and, more importantly, to my ears is noticeably *clearer* than listening with the phone pressed to one's ear. I therefore use the speakerphone whenever possible.
+2) The sound quality is not symmetrical: if you call John, you may only hear what he says with adequate clarity, but John will hear what you say with crystal clarity.
+3) I thought the voice-activated dialing would simply be a gimmick that I would never even use. But in fact it works so flawlessly that now I dial *every* regular number with my voice!
+4) It feels solid and well made in the hand, and it looks elegant and high-tech, but not in that faddish way that can often end up looking silly in just a year or two.
+5) Contrary to what some people seem to have claimed, I do *not* notice an interference with my 802.11b (=WiFi) home computer network.
+6) The intercom feature works very well, and is a crucial plus in a big house where people usually have to yell down two flights of stairs in the hopes of being heard.
+7) Some have complained of useful features being buried too deep within the menus, but it's also true that some of my most commonly needed items have been very conveniently placed---holding down the # key locks the keys so that my small children can do no harm, and holding down the * key stops the phone from ringing.

Don't buy this phone until you understand the following.

I must second a number of the negative statements made by the other reviewers- There are some serious flaws here. If you're even considering this phone then you probably care about aesthetics and ergonomics (e.g., wanting to have multiple extensions that work together), a rich feature set, as well as sound quality, which this phone DOES have in varying degrees. The major difficulty is that the positives with respect to these qualities are really great, and the negatives are shockingly bad. The feature set is so good, for a technophile like me it's hard to diss this phone too much because you just can't get voice announce and voice dialing at this price level (Closest would be the Panasonic Gigarange Elite phone that sells for 225 to 250 internet). Some of the ideas are innovative and thoughtful, like the ability to have lower volume ringing at night according to your preset times. But there is a stunning lack of field testing evident in some of the basic functions that we take for granted by now, such as the inelegance of the call waiting (MEM key, something that took me 30 minutes and three lost call waiting calls to figure out before I found that package insert), the annoying electronic music for the ON-HOLD music (sounds like an early eighties electronic watch alarm, very unprofessional and embarrassing if you're intending to maintain dignity by placing someone on hold in the first place). The sluggishness of the menu scrolling and key presses is absolutely inexcusable. Reminds me of the first caller ID units which came out in the mid nineties with very slow LCD displays. Like others have stated some very frequent options are buried deep in submenus while some low-yield options are more prominent. You really need to spend some quality time with the manual.

Some of the operations could be a little more intuitive and less repetitive. I found myself (until I spent more time with it) entering names twice, once for the voice tag and once for the directory listing. Why not zero times, e.g., have the phone pull the information off the Caller I.D. with an editing option?
The Duplex speakerphone in the handset is awesome, one of the best handset speakerphones I've heard. The volume in the handset itself is on the quiet side, and the lack of headphone jack is very annoying. The range is not very good with this phone (consistent with other Siemens multiphones-That's why they sell REPEATERS for longer range use), and pales in comparison to older 900MHz analog or digital phones, not just in my experience but by other internet reviewers. (An old VTECH went down to the laundry room in the basement, and I live on the third floor. This Siemens phone gets to the entry of my apartment and chokes - No wireless network in use here either!). A Gigarange Panasonic phone I tested works down the block and then some (I had to get into my car) in the middle of San Francisco!

Despite being a nice looking handset and feeling comfortable in both large and small hands, it had a somewhat inexpensive and plastic feeling compared to the water resistant Panasonic Gigarange phones. They're clearly attempting to maintain elegance by avoiding visible buttons on the base, but how elegant is it to have to turn the base upside-down to find a recessed button to page the handset each time it (frequently) gets buried in the recesses of your couch/bed/etc?

I guess I care a little bit more about phones than most because of the time I spend on them. This is a highly engineered phone that has serious ergonomic and aesthetic flaws, the degree of which prevent me from happily continuing to use it or to invest any further money in proliferating this user-unfriendly technology around the house in the form of extra handsets. Siemens' next attempt at this product will be much better. Don't buy until they do more user and field testing.

Okay, I'll keep this short. Siemens knows how to make electronics, but it doesn't know phones. You will get a high tech gadget made by people who are completely amateur when it comes to phone ergonomics. Like:

1) supplying the phone with batteries that wouldn't outlast my cell phone... LITERALLY. I hadn't talked on my phone all day, but apparently the ringing from about five phone calls (and maybe the little red light that flashes to let you know you have a message) drained it from full. By the way, the speed at which it goes from full to empty will make you have to cut short a lot of conversations.

2)Hiding the call waiting behind the "Mem" button... brilliant.

3)The incessant beeping when you are low on batteries... also brilliant. I can see the engineer on this one: "When ze phone ist low on batteries, ve vill make it beep loudly in ze customer's ear and interrupt the conversation... every five seconds!"

4)The maze of menus you must go through to do anything normal. I mean, how hard is it to put a redial button ON THE PHONE?

5)Lastly, no lighted keypad and no locator on the base, features I'm used to having since the early 90's.

If you think this phone is great, it's probable because you haven't had a good phone lately.

Earlier, I gave this thing a lousy review because the item was DOA - and Siemens Customer Service wasn't too strong in their concern about my situation. But Amazon replaced it in 5 days, and now the thing works as described.

If you want a VERY high end phone system (that is somewhat difficult to learn), this is it. It has taken us a few days to figure it all out, but we've done it, and quite frankly we're amazed at the features this phone has. It has a clean appearance, and the sound quality is fine. So far, the quality level seems high - everything is tight and "feels" solid.

I can now recommend this system to anyone.

This phone is so simple to operate and very user friendly. All functions are simple and easy to remember. Phone battery life is excellent. Speakerphone is very cool. From the handset you can talk as if you had a speakerphone - clarity impressive. Voice announcement is very cool. You preprogram names with your own voice and when that person calls it is announce with your own voice. Only downside so far is that their are only 20 slots to store voice recognition.

IMO, this phone is the best all around 2.4GHz expandable cordless phone. ... As one of the reviewers has already said, many of the features people have complained about can be shut off. For example the "low battery" warning. Also, from my experience the phone has no issues with the quality of sound under normal circumstances. ... Thirdly, the problem concerning the screen that indicates there are "new messages" even if it's just a logged caller ID call. This is true, however; if you do have "voice" messages the machine will play them automatically when you press the message button. Where as, if there are no voice messages you simply will be shown a screen of caller ID numbers that were logged. ... Now with all that, here's my pros and cons list:

Pros:
Crystal Clear sound
Voice activated dialing
Sleek Design
Answering machine accessible from all headsets
In house calling and call forwarding.
Expandability
Speakerphone
Alarm Clock feature
No "barging in" feature, in which no one else can pick up and use another handset while someone is talking (this can also be shut off).
Capable of direct dialing to a specific headset.

Cons:

Poor battery performance
...No external headset jack
Flash (mem) button must be depressed for about 2 seconds to work
No "real" ringer tone

I purchased a Siemens 4215 base unit (in white, to match my kitchen) and several 4200 remote units (in silver/black, to go elsewhere in my house). I think they're great.

The 4215 has a digital answering machine -- which is accessible from all of the phones -- so I no longer need to run downstairs to listen to my messages.

The system also allows me to input my phone numbers into the directory (on any unit) -- and then distribute them electronically to all of the others (cool!).

And, best of all, all of the handsets have speakerphones, so I can listen to the answering machine -- and my voice mail messages (from work) -- while keeping my hands free! This allows me to listen -- and then transfer the info to a notepad (or to my Palm) -- without having to balance the phone between my shoulder and my ear. (Nice!)

The 2.4 ghz reception is clear throughout the house and outdoors. And all of the phone stands are small and unobtrusive (which makes my wife very happy).

My daughter chose one of the optional rings for the handset nearest her room; and I turned the ringer down for the unit next to my bed. I like how the intercom feature allows me to call any unit individually -- as if it were a phone. And it's great having full functionality -- answering machine, directory, and speakerphone -- on every handset in my house.

I initially needed to call the Siemen's help desk because I couldn't figure out how to "register" (activate the communication between) the remote units and the base. The helpful technician was able to solve my problem ... in about 30 seconds! (Hint: place the remote handset in the stand of the base unit, and the registration happens automatically.)

Overall, I've been quite pleased! This is easily the most capable home phone system I've ever owned.

I just got this phone

Great phone with these exceptions:

1) slow response of the keys (or commands)
2) noise which i think is because i'm using a wireless network on the same freq. 2.4ghz

Good:

1) voice commands work really well
2) dedicated key for voice mail even though it has a built in answering machine
3) nice grip
4) SPEAKER PHONE ON THE HAND SET ! which is not only monitor you could actually talk
5) AA batteries... supplied is 700mah i put 1600mah should last for at least a week.

Thats all i think.

I was very excited when I found this phone, it seemed like it had everything I ever wanted in a cordless phone. Yes, it is PACKED with features but the negatives definitely outweigh the <mostly useless> features:

- NO hold or mute button. What's up with that?!? And having to hold the MEM button for a flash button I don't understand...Bad design.

- The caller ID display on the handset only displays the phone number unless you go through several menu option selections to find out the name (or unless the number is in your address book). Why not put the name on the incoming call display screen like every other Caller ID system??

- NO headset capability. I didn't ever think that would be a problem but the handset is so small and awkward to handle it would be very nice to have one.

- Good range, but constant buzzing noise in the background. No, I didn't have a microwave or wireless network running.

- The voicemail system sounds bad. Too much crackling noise in the greeting and the messages.

- Slow response to button presses. Very annoying and it's hard to understand why it's designed this way.

- The display light turns off too quickly. Minor inconvenience but 'why'??

- After using it for about 6 weeks the display began to malfunction. Also, the battery began to die also. It wouldn't hold a charge for more than 3 hours on standby.

Needless to say I was very disappointed. This phone HAD a lot of potential.