Customer Reviews

Uniden CEZA1998 5.8 GHz Cordless Phone with Corded Base, Speaker Phone and Digital Answering System

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I bought these phones for my 70 year old mother. She has a difficult time with most of the newer, smaller phones; both in setting them up and using them. Although the 62-page user manual intimidated her a bit, she was able to set this phone system up herself. She loves it--the big buttons, the speaker phone, and the special emergency 911 button! The telephone companies need to know there's a whole market of older folks out there who need items like this.

I needed a phone that had at least three features: Corded so that I had a phone during electrical failures, a digital answering machine, and a loud ring capability, as I am hard of hearing. This phone has all these features, plus it's attractive, and there is an extra handset that I can use in another room. The set up was easy....with a clearly written manual combined with voice prompts from the phone base. The base handset is a very comfortable weight and has a very natural "hand fit". Also, the sound quality is excellent. I've only used the remote handset once, but it worked as well as the base handset. I would recommend this phone for anyone, not just "older" folks who need the larger keypad or the louder ring!

This phone was purchased for my aunt & uncle, both in their 90's and living in a two-story house. Some of this phone's features are well thought-out and work perfectly, such as the one-touch speed dial buttons and paging from the corded base unit. This phone has several shortcomings, however, that would prevent me from choosing it again (except that one one else seems to offer a better alternative):

* No battery backup--after every power failure, I have to go over and reset the answering machine clock
* Emergency call button poorly located on the cordless handset--easy to press by mistake
* Pager button is also hard to find on the cordless and it doesn't have any one-touch speed dial buttons
* Answering machine buttons are small and difficult to read with poor eyesight--especially for elderly users who aren't familiar with the symbols used on button labels
* Handset audio is mediocre, although speakerphone clarity & mic sensitivity are very good (no speakerphone on cordless handset)

My biggest complaint about this system is that it is non-expandable. There is no way to affiliate an additional cordless handset to use with this system. I guess they assume all seniors & hearing/vision-impaired persons are living in 2-room apartments.

When I was considering the purchase, I liked everything about this phone except the fact that nowhere was a speakerphone capability mentioned. I even went to the Uniden site to see if that feature was mentioned ... no luck. But even with that omission, I liked everything else enough to order the phone. But once it arrived, to my delight it actually DOES have a speakerphone as well. And a wonderful one at that! GREAT!! This phone is, of course designed for the hard of hearing, but don't make the mistake of assuming that it is only for that purpose. My wife and I are not hard of hearing, but our old 2.4GHZ phone interfered with our wireless network, and this one at 5.8GHZ and a very reasonable price offered a great value. It sounds crisp and clear. And the visual ringer and extra amplification can all be turned off very easily. The answering system is easy to use and very clear, and although the phones are no larger than our old phones, the buttons are MUCH bigger and easier to see. How did they do that without increasing the size of the phone? All phones should have such large lighted buttons. No gotchas here, just great, straightforward, and simple to use design. Buy it! At $90 for a great corded phone, an excellent cordless one, a fine speakerphone, and a fine answering system, you can't lose.

Bought it for my elderly mother, who is getting hard of hearing. The volume control on each handset has helped her a lot. She also says that the clarity from the handset is better than anything phone she's had before. The extra large size base unit dial buttons are also very helpful for her.

Good phone with pretty good features
I am hard of hearing and it has been great
Love the caller anounce feature
Only con is you get some static sometimes with the handheld amplification on.
Other than that My wife and I have been happy

I'm not really hearing or vision impaired, other than what turning 50 does to you, but I found that I couldn't read the caller id window on my old phone anymore. The display on this phone is easy to read, and you can't miss the fact that its ringing, what with the lights and loud ringer and all. Really easy to set up, too. Heed this warning - disable the red button that dials 911 automatically unless you really, really need it. I was plugging the phone in and accidentally hit the button. Two minutes later, National 911 called. Twenty minutes later, the State Police called. Two hours later, the State Police came to my door to follow up. I told the callers and the officer at my door what happened, but I recommend avoiding the embarrassment all together - disable the button.

This is a fabulous phone. Absolutely one of the best we've tried. It was a purchase for my 70-year-old mother which I made after reading the reviews here, and she just loves it! Dad was an old AT&T man so you can only imagine how picky they are about phones. And, after many, many attempts, this one fit the bill. The sound is fabulous, but it also contains the old fashioned push button type phone with an attached extension, with the clarity that resembles the old Bell Telephone system phones. (Too bad they're not free like they used to be in the good old days!) Mom set this up by herself without any difficulties whatsoever, so if you're thinking about a purchase for an older person, or even a young person just starting out, this is a great investment and one that will be around for quite awhile. Highly, highly recommend!

I purchased this phone for my elderly mother who is both vision- and hearing-impaired. She also suffers from arthritis and neuropathy, and the big buttons (particularly on the base) are a tremendous selling point. The ringer on the base unit, when turned to maximum, is quite loud and easily heard, and the flashing ring indicator is a wonderful backup cue. On both the base and the remote handset, the volume and tone quality are exceptional; she can use both phones without any additional amplification required. The only real glitch we've run into isn't a design flaw, but rather something I haven't researched enough to change. The CEZAI998 has a "red cross" button on both the base and handset, and the default setting is to dial 911. As I understand it, the number can be changed through the menus, I simply haven't done so yet. I only mention this because, to a visually-impaired person, a big red cross isn't exactly enough to thwart you from pushing the button. Mom had emergency crews show up the day after I bought her the new phone because she inadvertently hit the button. We can laugh about it now, but it scared the spit out of her when it happened. I realize that this is a safety/security feature actually designed into the phone. Uniden may want to put a physical indicator on or around the button (a raised "bump" on the button, or perhaps slightly depress it into the body of the phone; something to give a tactile cue that this button is somehow different than the rest.) Overall, this phone is a sure hit, particularly if you or a loved one has seeing or hearing problems. It is, without a doubt, one of my better gift selections.

I bought this phone for my parents, and it's perfect! It does everything they need it to do, and then some. Having the integrated answering machine gets an extra gadget out of the house. It's white, so although it is bulky, it doesn't overwhelm against the white kitchen wall. The integrated cordless base station gets yet another electronic gadget out of the house (before, they had separate corded and cordless phones) while still keeping a corded phone in place for blackouts/emergencies. Setup was super easy, even mounting it on the wall, which I particularly appreciated since I did the setup (!). The large buttons are handy, and I really like the emergency number button being there. So far, everything has worked with no problems, and there has been no interference from other phones or networks. As of now, I can completely recommend this phone.