Customer Reviews

Uniden TRU-5860-2 5.8 GHz DSS Cordless Speakerphone with Dual Handsets

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this phone from a local store less than a week ago (June 28th, '03), charged it, tried it out...and here's the deal: the phone looks cool. Has an orange LCD display that is quite surprising, quite bright & runs the length of the phone--serving as keypad lighting (which the phone actually doesn't claim to have). The buttons are smaller/thinner than the average phone, so one must press them a little harder for it to register. The handset itself is lightweight, fairly small in size, too...but not uncomfortable. The base unit has no purpose except to be the main antenna (the big hump in the picture), to locate the handset, and to show the charge status (which is a red light that always stays on...meaning the phone is in contact with the base).

The features on the phone are rather nice, I'll admit. The range is supposed to be 5.8 GHZ--huge, if this is something that matters greatly to you (it's not too big a deal for me, frankly). Thus far, the reception seems great.

The phone itself is feature-packed. Please note that all features are the same on both handsets. Each handset has all the basics: Call Waiting/Caller ID capability, with the name, date/time, and number showing up on the LCD screen. There's also the option for Caller ID Deluxe, where an unwanted caller can be redirected to voicemail or get a 'not home' message without them realizing you're home. The caller ID/call waiting options are available on the phone but can ONLY be activated as ADDITIONAL services subscribed to from a local phone company.

Other features include: distinctive ring tone (can be set to identify a specific caller) and mx. ring tones (can set a different one per handset) that range from annoying beeping sounds, a softer tone (my fave), or a ping ball machine, Beethoven's 9th, Elise, Merry X-mas, & Home Sweet Home. Has autotalk (answers a call when the handset is picked up without having to press any keys), redial (last 3 #'s dialed), phonebook (100 #'s), speed dial, tone/pulse dialing, volume adjust (from low-to-max, easily audible), speakerphone on handset (excellent, but picks up some interference and room background noise), headset jack (also has good reception, though headset is sold separately), flash button (for call waiting), and transfer capability betw. handsets. It comes with two handsets (NOT expandable beyond this), two bases, one phone jack, two belt clips, and a red light on the top of each handset to indicate voicemail waiting. The redial, ring tones, and caller ID lists are NOT shared between phones--meaning, for instance, that if a call is made from Handset #1, you cannot hit the redial button on Handset #2, because it won't have registered the origianally dialed # from Handset #1 (confusing enough?). Basically, these two handsets operate like two separate phones altogether, except for sharing the initial phone settings (set local area code, call waiting/caller ID set-up, and tone/pulse dial mode). Overall, the phone has lots of great features, mostly very good ones.

My beef with it (and the reason for the 4 stars), however, is the sound I hear on MY end as I'm talking with someone. The caller's voice comes through very clearly, loudly, BUT...I also hear this slight background noise that I can't seem to stop listening for...it sounds like a computer fan, and has nothing to do with my computer being off/one. I've tried to reduce the noise by turning off all appliances, but to no avail. The handbook suggests removing the base from near 'major appliances', including, TV's, VCR's, computers, microwaves, and other cordless phones. That means putting it in a room all by itself or sitting out in an open field?! Not very practical. It also picks up interference from the central A/C, from which is impossible to remove the phone.

I'll keep the phone for another week, or less, just to see if I can adjust to this background noise. I still need to track battery life (comes with NiMH, and yes, it may cause cancer) & the reliability of caller ID coming through--two of the problems which made me return my Panasonic TG2700S model--which was terrible for both those features, btw.

Hope this review helps some. I'm usually fair about writing reviews, and for this kind of money, you ought to know what you're paying for.

Nov. 22nd, 2003--**UPDATE!**

I've actually kept the phone thus far. The slight hissing/fan sound in the background remains the same, but I think I've learned to tune it out. Also, depending on who it is that I'm talking to (and their phone), I have to turn the phone volume up and down accordingly, which is sometimes annoying because I either can hardly hear them OR I go deaf upon "hello". The caller ID #'s almost always come through (both on regular and call-waiting), so I'm thrilled about that. The battery charge is not so bad, and can last a good 2.5-3 hours of constant phone use before beeping that it's running out of battery. The nice thing is that then you hit the "transfer" button and your other phone rings for you to pick up, so you have another fully-charged phone ready to go. And, as I'm told by my callers, no one ever knows that I've just transferred phones, which is very nice. The recharge on the phone happens pretty quickly as well--in about 3-4 hours. The phone seems fairly sturdy, as I've dropped it several times on my carpeted floor by accident, and it still seems intact. I love the fact that I can control the ringer volume, to set it at a fairly low volume for evenings (so I don't get jolted awake with early a.m. calls) and to really loud for times when there's a lot happening around the house and I can't even hear myself think. The range/reception is not too bad on the phone (about a 3.5-4 stars out of 5). I haven't taken it too far from it's base, but I've made it fine to my garbage shoot outside my apartment by about 6 feet, and still get decent reception. One point: if you put the phone on speaker-phone and are sitting near a computer, the phone might start making this whistling/airy noise if the volume is set too high. Lower the volume and then the sound/whistling usually stops. I don't know what's that about, but since you can do something about it, it's not too much of an annoyance. Overall, I'd keep the 4-stars on the phone, based on my own experience. Hope this update helps!

The phone looks great and has lots of nice features that are all very easy to set up and use, but the sound quality is awful. When talking on the phone, I can hear the person I am talking to perfectly, but there is also a high pitched background noise that both I and the person to whom I am talking can hear. The people I am talking to also say that they cannot hear me very well and that it sounds like I am talking in a can. I tried all the trouble shooting techniques listed in the handbook including moving the base unit around, turning off everything else electrical in my house (except the refrigerator which was far away), changing channels, changing my DSL filters, and a few other things which I forget. Finally I called Uniden, went through some trouble shooting with them, and was told to exchange the phone because they thought it might be defective. So I went to a local store, purchased another phone, tested it, and had the same problems. So both phones went back. I really wanted to get the phone to work properly because I really liked the way it looked, but I couldn't and the sound problems were too annoying to live with. I ended up purchasing the VTech 5831 5.8 GHz phone instead. The looks aren't as nice, but the sound quality on the VTech is excellent, even on the speaker phone. Some of the VTech features are also nicer. For instance, the memory locations on the Uniden are not big enough to hold my calling card number and pin in one location, while the Vtech memory locations can hold my calling card number and pin with lots of room to spare.

These phones provide clear reception and a good set of features. The second handset does not require a connection to a wall jack which is handy. There is a flashing light if you get a voice mail (using v-mail from the phone company) and a good variety of ring tones so you will probably find one to suit you. The handsets are well lit and have a solid feel. But the main thing for me is that the phones have good clear reception,

I have owned this phone for approx 6 months now. I purchased it as an upgrade to my 2.4ghz Uniden phone that interfered with a cordless baby monitor. I can say the phone is great and provides no interference to any of my existing electronics. Good reception, good range and nice speaker phone option. Also, allows for a headset. In my opinion, the best cordless available, but it does come at a premium price. Amazon has the best price I have seen on this phonein fact I just ordered another one for my mother.

Our 2.4 system (vtech) was approaching unusable due to static. I finally decided to give the 5.8 phones a try. The phones work great. Clear as a bell. The other reviews capture the qualities of these phones.

My only issues ...
There is no battery indicator. Only the battery low beep, when the battery is about to die. I've grown accustomed to some type of indicator to show me the current status.

The caller id doesn't allow for a number 1 to be added to a number that you want to return a call to. In our area, we need to dial a 1+area code to dial the next door neighbor.

The speakerphone has too much static, but I don't use that feature often. It certainly doesn't sound as good as the handset.

The base could have been designed a bit better to stand vertical. Again, not a big deal.

We can't seem to get into the habit of hitting End to finish a call. Everyone (family, friends and neighbors) taps the large Talk button again when they are done with a call and set the phone down. About a minute later you hear the sound of a phone off the hook.

Having said all that, we really like the phones.

-Sam

The other reviewer that claims to be from Chicago must have some kind of bad electrical installation at home. He posted reviews for at least two cordless phones that didn't work well for him.
I got this phone last week and it works like a charm. No background noise, no voice distortion.
This phone has the sleekiest deisign around and almost all the features I wanted.
The reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is because I miss the intercom feature, to talk from handset to handset.
A common problem among cordless, multi-handset phone systems is that they store all the phone settings on each handset. So you have to configure each one individually (think about configuring the phonebook).

This is an exceptional 5.8 GHz cordless telephone. The sound quality, range, speakerphone on handsets, caller id and simplicity of use are all excellent. Having the 2 telephones means you will always have a telephone charged and ready to use when needed. The battery and standby capability both work very well. The design is both clean and aesthetically pleasing.

The only negative that I will assign to this cordless telephone is that the buttons are slightly on the small side.

If you are looking solely for a two telephone 5.8GHz system that is easy to use and secure, this is the one.

First, ignore the review written by "An Electronics Fan" because they discussed an answering machine in the review, and this item does NOT have an answering machine.

These phones operate perfectly. The DSS offers a phone with no interference or distortion of voices. Very clear reception, good range, and you can store 100 numbers in each headset, which is certainly sufficient for most at home purchasers. The instructions are reasonably simple and the price is not high when you consider that you have 2 phones for the price of 1. I highly recommend this item for anyone wanting to take "the next step up" with their cordless phone.

Absolutely supurb sound quality in both handsets; Caller ID + Call Waiting ID + Handset speakerphones + distinctive ringing + many other great features.

The only disappointment was the range of my phones was only about 80 feet from the base.

In spite of the range problem, I love these phones.

Perusing earlier reviews, I can't imagine that the people who talk about line noise, lack of clarity and range are suffering problems related to this phone. I've used it literally all day long, with a VTECH headset of the over-the-head type with the mic right in front of your lips, and I think it's superb. If you have a wireless home computer network broadcasting at 2.4 GHz, as most do, you're going to get line noise because both systems are on 2.4 GHz. Your choice is either go back to 900, which I tried months ago and was stunned at the mushiness of the audio (a VTECH), then got these Unidens. The VTECH 5.8GHz system is not true 5.8--the system broadcasts between handset and base at 2.4. Caveat emptor. Yes, it doesn't store enough numbers. That's the major drawback. So get voice dial if you can. Right now, this phone is the one to beat.