Customer Reviews

Uniden EXAI-398 900 MHz Cordless Phone with Call Waiting/Caller ID & Answering System (Black)

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

 

 

In a period of three months, I have purchased 4, yes 4 different cordless phone answering machines, and this Uniden has been the best by far (my AT&T was the worst). The reception on the Uniden is clear, and the voice quality on the digital answering machine is far superior to the other digital answering machines I have had. Unlike my Panasonic which constantly cut off messages early, the Uniden is great at capturing the entire message. My AT&T phone answering machine had no option for turning off the message alert which means any time you turned off the ringer, you could still be woken up or interrupted by the beep of the answering machine telling you there was a new message. The Uniden has the capability to turn this feature on and off. Unlike other phones, the controls on the Uniden are easy to use and I was able to program names and numbers in the phone without using the manual (a first for me). Common controls such as headset volume and ringer on/off are easy to use buttons on the Uniden (other phones had to be programmed and were very difficult to change). The Uniden also displays on its screen information such as ringer status, volume control, caller ID, talk time, etc. It also has a feature so that the phone automatically answers upon removing it from the receiver instead of having to press to talk button. The factory default is set with this feature off, but it can be easily activated through the menu. The phone has a plug that works well with my headset. It also has a neat feature called "rocket dial" which is a button that you program for your most commonly dialed number. Just pickup the phone, press the button, and it dials the number. This particular model cost me [very little] and it is better than other models I have purchased for double the price such as Panasonic, GE, AT&T, and V-Tech. I cannot believe the number of features they have packed into this high-quality phone at such a bargain price. I will never buy anything else.

After reading through different user reviews, I found that Uniden had got quite high rating in their cordless phone products. My original cordless phone was 900 MHz (AT&T), it works just fine (sound quality is not so good). I need to purchase another cordless phone with caller ID feature. I've considered to purchae either 2.4 GHz or 5.8 GHz but eventually I think the sound quality and some basic features (caller ID, memory function) are the most important factors. Besides, 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz are more expansive than 900 MHz phone set.

I've purchase one (southwestern bell) from Ebay and it turned out to be a big mistake (very poor sound quality). I suggest you should purchase cordless phone sets from retailers (ex. Best Buy or Circuit City) so that you can exchange for other brand/models if the one you purchased turns out to be a mistake.

I'm very happy with this Uniden phone set, it's easy to setup and it has all the features that I need. Most important of all, the sound quality is great. I love it so much!!

PS. Most new buy phones, you will have to charge them for more than 12 hours before you can verify their function and features but you do not have to wait with this product. As soon as you installed the battery, it's ready to rock.

I always liked Panasonic telephones. I bought this for my Mom w/ a coupon I got. I ended up keeping it. I own a 2.4mhz Panasonic that I will put on sale soon. I started using this phone because the Panasonic picks up to much static and interferance. Not this one, it is great and the battery last a very long time. My Mom ended up buying a Uniden to and even after dropping it in the toilet (a long story,) the darn thing still works. I use my all over the house and outside, it has an excellent range. I am very happy with it and for the price you pay, it is a great deal!

I gave 3 stars taking into account the price of this phone. otherwise i would give 1 or 2 stars only.

PROS
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1) cheapest phone as far as price is concerned
2) comes with a bunch of features like callerID, callwaiting ID, Answering system. these days everybody wants to have features like these. this is one of the most inexpensive phones with so many features

CONS
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1) i had 2 uniden phones (different models) and both of them died exactly after one year.
and one phone didnt work even after replacing the battery.
2) buttons become very difficult to push after a while
3) sound is not very clear
4) as a next option, dont go for 2.4ghz as it always had problems of static and interference with microwave, wireless networking,etc
5) customer service is not good. they dont care if u explain ur problem

I thought I'd nailed a bargain with this phone. There are a lot of pros at first glance. I liked the way it felt in my hand. The signal was much clearer than my AT&T. There were many features for the price.

Unfortunately, the problems began before the phone was finished charging. The caller ID worked exactly twice during its first day in operation. They are still listed in the phone's memory. Once the phone was fully charged, it quit. Now the phone says "Incoming Call" or once, "Data Incomplete". Just for kicks, I plugged in my old AT&T to test the caller ID. It works just fine on the old phone.

So this morning I called Uniden's Customer Service. Big mistake. The rep who answered the phone had such bad diction I could barely understand what he was trying to say. Uniden gave him a list of standard responses to read depending on the problem. If the problem doesn't fit into their box (the problem is with your house, your phone line, or the phone and it's your fault...fix it at your expense), they cannot help you. This is not the fault of the poor guy they have answering the phone; he's probably making minimum wage. This is the fault of Uniden for not giving consumers another recourse when the product is truly faulty.

As an aside, Amazon lists this phone as having 20 speed-dial presets, but there are only 10.

I'm returning this phone to Amazon and will not consider another Uniden product.

If you don't want to spend a lot of money on a new phone, and don't have time to go out trying to find one, you may wish to consider this one. Based on previous reviews by others, I purchased this phone and am pleased. I purchased a 2.4 mhz phone and the quality just wasn't the same. I've only experienced a bit of static when moving into our living room - not really sure why - but haven't had any other problems.

For $28, one doesn't actually expect much but this phone is a very pleasant surprise. A lot of features including CallerID, Call Waiting, and a digital answering machine to boot. The sound quality is good within my home - no static, and the distances I travel with it (about 50' away down 2 stories) doesn't create a problem for me.

I've had it for about a week now. No problems so far. My wife reported that I didn't sound as if I were in the bottom of a barrel with this one - unlike other more expensive models I have tried in the past. Incoming volume is fairly good, and crystal clear.

The low price should NOT be a reason to look past this model. I have paid more and gotten a lot less. This one is a winner.

this phone is a great bargin for the money, althought its 900mhz you can still travel a good distance with it before it gets to much static. the answering machine and caller id features are great, however i have yet to figure out how to program numbers into it. the handset volume is very loud which i like!!! i would reccomend this phone to others

This is my second Uniden cordless phone. The setup is easy and the voice is clear. I am still buying 900Mhz because it is more than enough for me. The phone has many features that are not mentioned on the box (such a bad marketing). It is a very nice phone.

We recently purchased this phone to replace a more expensive Panasonic model that wasn't working well anymore. While the Uniden is definitely a much cheaper-feeling phone than our previous model, it's surprisingly good for the price paid for it ($25).

There are only two minor quibbles that we've had with it so far, both related to the Caller ID function. First, we live in an area with 10-digit dialing (1 + area code before all numbers), and the Caller ID only keeps nine digits, making it impossible for us to call someone back using that function. Also, if you store a caller ID number in the phone's memory, it doesn't appear to be possible to edit that number after you've stored it, even though the manual implies otherwise (very annoying when all you want to do is add a "1" at the beginning of the number).

The sound quality is definitely a little more "hollow-sounding" than our previous phone, but it's still very clear and audible.

This is a good phone if you're looking for a cheap all-in-one phone/answering machine/Caller ID solution, and you don't have 10-digit dialing in your area. Not too many bells and whistles, and it's not as fancy as many of the more expensive phones out there, but it's a good value for the price nonetheless.