Customer Reviews

Uniden Big Button Cordless Phone and Digital Answering System (EZAI2997)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I searched the web and stores for months looking for a cordless phone that felt like a real phone in your hand and delivered flawless performance.
The Uniden EZAi2997 Dect 6.0 was the answer.

This phone is roughly the size of the receiver on an ordinary desk phone. Something that you can get a grip on, unlike most other scrawny, tiny little cordless phones that feel more like a toy in your hand. Additionally, the buttons have a solid touch and are big enough and sufficiently spaced that you can punch one without mashing three others at the same time.

This phone meets the expectations of choosy consumers, with excellent clarity and sound quality. I have it sitting within three feet of my wireless router and computer and have experienced no noise, interference or static whatsoever.

The range is also flawless. I tested it all over the house, the garage and the entire perimeter of the yard with perfect clarity and no static.

It comes with a large and well lit LCD display, digital answering system and the usual programmable features like most other cordless phones.

Although, I have not pushed the battery to the limit, the manual states that the talk time on the battery is 10 hours.

[...]

Phone Pros:
- Physically just right: not too big or small, not too heavy or light.
- Fits your ear and face.
- Excellent sound, good even when you turn the volume all the way up.
- Good range, I can use it outside in my yard (but not much further).
- Dedicated volume, tone, and boost buttons on the side.
- Large easy to press hard plastic back-lit buttons.
- Bright LEDs flash at ring, blink with pending message.
- T-coil for those that need it.
- Speakerphone playback of recorded messages is clear.

Phone Cons:
- LCD display text is rather vertical / narrow.
- Ringer doesn't have dedicated on/off switch (lowest volume setting = off).
- Easy to accidentally hang up on people when cradling the phone on your shoulder.
- Answering machine controls printed very small next to buttons.
- Somewhat overly complex UI, too many buttons (but no worse than most other phones).
- Extra phones cost as much as the phone + base unit!

Base Pros:
- Bright LEDs flash at ring, 2 levels of brightness with off setting.
- "Silence" button silences base unit and all phones.
- "Slow" button slows down message playback for clarity.

Base Cons:
- Lowest ringer / playback volume is much too high.
- Combined ringer / playback volume control is hateful and very awkward.


This is a great phone for anyone, but it is particularly nice for those with vision and hearing issues. It's certainly the nicest wireless phone I've use outside of my trusty Lucent 9400 which I treasure quite highly. (The 9400 is the gold standard of wireless phones: very simple operation with excellent audio, range, ergonomics, buttons, etc. - if you ever see one at a yard sale, grab it!)

The majority of my frustration with the base unit is due to the combined ringer / playback volume control. During playback it adjusts the volume of the playback, but after that it adjusts the ringer level (all the way up to all the way down, including off). So I turn it up to listen to a message, but then must quickly turn it down at the end or I'll get blasted out of the room the next time someone leaves a voicemail. After initial setup I never want to adjust the base ringer volume, so I really wish this were on the side or in a menu or something. And the lowest base ringer level is much too high. To partially remedy this situation I took the base unit apart and soldered a 4.7k Ohm (or was it 47k?) resistor in series with the speaker, which cut the lowest base ringer volume to a reasonable level (to about the same as the lowest ring level on the phone unit). Not a perfect solution, but now I can use the base ringer (at the lowest volume setting) without jumping out of my skin every time it rings, though I still have to be Johnny-on-the-spot at the end of listening to messages.

It is really nice having a centralized answering system - I like this phone so much I'll be purchasing extra extension units. I just wish the price of those units would come down below the cost of a phone + base unit!

Just to warn others you might be considering this phone that it is NOT wall mountable out of the box. Even though the description states that it is wall mountable it isn't unless you buy the wall mount accessory directly from Uniden for $5 + shipping and tax. They are currently sold out of them and are backordered until late march 2010. This is the only company I know of that doesn't include the piece of plastic to wall mount their phones. The comment on all of the Uniden phones on Amazons site should describe that fact. Should say "wall mountable with purchase of wall mount accessory" BTW Amazon doesn't sell this accessory.

We really like the rest of the features of the phone except for this issue.

I needed a phone for my father who had a terrible time hearing anything on my old GE model 20112EE2-A cordless phone. This new Uniden model is much, much better. It allows you to adjust the sound to a loud volume... enough to allow my father to hear. I got my Uniden "Loud & Clear" cordless phone at Target for $52.99, including tax.

Finally a phone with plenty of volume that feels like a real phone! It's nice to have extra control (boost) with the volume - I don't even have mine to the loudest setting. This phone is not flimsy, but is a little heavier and therefore seems to have better quality. We are a young, 30 something family, and this phone is perfect even for our needs. The phone sound is very clear, which has been a problem for us with many other phones. The large buttons make it great even for those who have bigger hands, like my husband. I love that the handset blinks when you have a new voice mail! I have even enjoyed the vocal Caller ID for when I cannot get to the handset, but want to know who is calling. I would recommend this phone to everyone, young to not-so-young.

Even though my needs are pretty simple, I have the hardest time finding a cordless phone. I want a speaker phone with a decent speaker which also has a hefty handset (I already have a tiny cell phone which I can never find). So far, this phone has been the answer to my prayers. The big buttons and ease of use are an added plus. Voice quality is good and volume is loud enough for me (I am not hearing impaired however). I must have bought 10 telephones in the past few years and there is always a problem with, among other things, major static, the buttons wearing out or the display fading away. So far, this phone seems to be holding up. If I experience any of these problems, I will report back. But for now, I'm lovin' it.

I was looking for a phone for my 86 year old mother who wears hearing aids and has macular degeneration (yes -- double wammy). Though she has a couple of other good corded phones, she needed a phone to replace her non-hearing aid compatible phone with answering machine. This phone has it all! It's hearing aid compatible, and the numbers for dialing are large and easy to read. In addition to being able to raise the volume of the ringer base, you can raise the call level volume in the handset PLUS you can change the Tone (3 settings) during a call that works best with your hearing aid. When fully charged, the phone provides 10 hours of talk time and 7 days of standby time. And best of all my mom is very happy with the phone and finds it easy to use. If you want to read up on more specs before buying, here is a link to the owners manual: [...] I took a chance on this phone and it came though on all points.

I was looking for a phone for my mother who is hard of hearing and thought the speaking caller-ID would be helpful. Well, not only could she not understand the digital voice, but neither could I, so fooey on that feature. Also, the volume control is a pain. You must hit a button EVERY time you want to use the "Boost" feature for the volume. Why did they make it optional for each call? Set it, and forget it! Other than that, it is an OK phone. The buttons on the handset are easy to use, the flash ringer is quite bright (if you happen to be looking in the phone's direction when it rings), the speaker function works well as does the answering machine. Mom did not get a new phone - I did (and I needed one, too). Still looking for one for Mom.

The phone is good but I thought the sound could be better. They have a good product but if they made it for people that have hearing problems they need to change the sounds we hear to high notes because that is what most of us are missing. It is better that a regular phone.

I bought this phone for my 80 year old parents. They both are healthy but hearing is not as good as before. They love this phone. They have no problem hearing the ring and the way the phone lights up when ringing helps also. They don't miss calls anymore. They said it is easy to use.