Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony SPP-ID975 900 MHz Digital Cordless Phone

I got this phone after wasting my money on Vtech's equivalent model. The Vtech echoed, was too loud, and was an all-around disappoinment. This phone, by contrast, is pleasing all around.

The jog dial is the best feature on cordless phones since digital security. You can quickly scroll through names and numbers in your directory or caller-id list, just like Sony's revolutionary cellular phone, the Z100.

The speaker phone is clear, and people tell me they can't tell when I'm using it instead of the handset. The handset allows you to choose b/t a variety of rings, but 2 of the 4 seemed specially engineered to give you a headache. One of them is more soothingly office-like (so it's a nice change of pace in your house).

You can use the phone as an intercom b/t the base and the handset. You can even transfer calls b/t the base and the handset, something I have never seen before. Also, the base has a red-light indicator when you have voice mail.

The phone programs quickly, but there are some idiosyncrasies. For example, the 3-touch speed dial system used by the base is separate from the directory-dial system used by the handset. Anyway, to dial a programmed number from the handset, you push the jog dial in, and then just start turning the wheel until you see the name/number of the person you want to call. Then you press "talk". To speed dial from the base, you hit "speakerphone", "speed dial" and the 1-9 button that corresponds to whoever you want to call.

You can turn the ringer off on the base, but not on the handset (as far as I can tell).

The phone has caller-id with call waiting, so you can see the number of the person who's calling you on your "other line", if you have that service set up with your phone company.

You can automatically transfer names and numbers from your caller-id list to the handset's stored directory of names/numbers, a handy feature.

The sound quality is excellent, alhough I wouldn't say perfect. I don't think it's quite as good as my other, 4-year-old Sony cordless phone, one of those little ones that fit in your pocket. That was a good phone, too, but they discontinued it. But the sound quality is 100x better than the Vtech.

As far as regular digital versus DSS, I can't tell the difference in sound quality. I live in a large apartment building in downtown Boston, but haven't had any jamming or clipping or interference problems.

To sum up, this phone has many great features which I have previously seen only in cell phones, and its sound quality is very, very good. I think for $100, it is the phone to get, especially if having a base speakerphone is important. If not, you could probably get by with a cheaper phone.

Because of the idiosyncrasies, I'd give it 4.5 stars if that were an option.

After reading some of the reviews here, I was hesitant. My old Sony ID910 was having its own problems, with the LCD losing entire rows of pixels. But I loved it otherwise, and still wanted a 900 MHz phone which wouldn't interfere with my 2.4 GHz 802.11b computer network. The ID910 always had great range, the digital 900 MHz quality was great, I wanted a speakerphone, and I needed Caller ID. The ID975 was one of few choices.

Thank goodness! I haven't had any problems with battery life, scrambled directory entries, or reliability. The range is at least as good as the ID910, and it still charges an extra battery (the same T23) in the base. Best of all, it improves many annoyances of the ID910: The handset is much lighter. The 3-line LCD display shows both the Caller ID title and number, so you can try to figure out who it is even if Caller ID doesn't know. The jog wheel makes a user manual completely redundant - I've never even looked at the paperwork, but had no problems entering speed dial numbers or changing the ringer. There are two bright red LEDs on the base unit which indicate if someone has called, and if you have any messages (I'm guessing it listens for a stuttering dial tone when you're not on the line).

All is not perfect, however. Where the ID910 handset had no real external antenna, the 3-inch extra at the top of the ID975's handset is a step backward. The extra battery charging in the base unit cannot power the base unit during an outage, as the ID910's could. And while the New Call and Message LEDs on the base are very nice, there is no indication on the handset of either. Sony still won't let us control the volume of the ringer. It's either style 1-4 or off (0). But these are minor issues.

Overall, I'm very happy with this phone. I hope I don't need a new one until cordless phones and WiFi are no longer competing for the same frequency space. With 2.4 GHz phones becoming popular, good digital 900 MHz phones (most are analog) are becoming hard to find!

After reading the review from Boston we decided to purchase this phone. We have been using it for several weeks now and continue to think it was a great buy. We especially like the jog button on the handset that allows several calls using the built in directory without returning to the base. The intercom function we thought was interesting to put on a phone, but we use it quite a bit!

After reading the great reviews of this phone I bought one and had nothing but trouble. The battery made poor contact with the phone contacts, so I added tape and seemed to solve that one. Then it started going dead and I had to unplug it, pop out the battery and essentially "reboot" it. THen sometimes if you got more than ten feet away from the base the static was total. Eventually my wife ordered me to give up on it.

Too bad tho, like the ergonomics, the sound was excellent, and when it worked it was a great phone. Maybe I got a lemon.

Amazon however handled it great, giving me my money back!

...I've had little trouble with this phone. It has held up well after being dropped on numerous occasions. I've found the sound to be good, even far away from the base unit, and the speakerphone has worked well. The only problem I have had was with the Call Directory. On three occasions now (in six months time), certain numbers that I've either programmed into memory or have saved from the Caller ID feature have somehow become corrupted and unusable. For my first 900 MHz phone, though, I'm very impressed.