Home > Consumer Reviews > VTech 2431 2.4 GHz DSS Dual Keypad Speakerphone

After owning and loving my Vtech 900 model 1930c digital cordless for 3 years, I though the natural thing to do would be to get another more advanced Vtech...ala..the 2431 2.4G.

WRONG!

This phone is disappointing for several reasons:

-The reception is poor. I can barely hear the person speaking, although they say they can hear me fine.

-To increase the volume is complex and involves moving the phone away from you ear and pushing a couple of buttons. None of this helps with the voice reception/quality of the other party on the line.

-The range is poor. To go down 4 flights of stairs to the basement laundry room results in the signal getting cut off. Yet I can go a block and a half down the street. My roomates Panasonic 2.4G can go down to the laundry room and 2 and a half blocks down the same street (but no one can hear him on his cordless (ain't that a bleep).

-The handset is too small to rest on your shoulder. Although I could have lived with this if the previous mentioned problems were non-existent.

I took it back and I will hold on to my old Vtech until I review the Panasonic Panasonic KXTG1000N 2.4GHz.

This phone drives me nuts. I wish I could return it. Half the time, when I press the button to answer it, nothing happens. The range isn't that good either. Don't waste your money.

I read the reviews and found them to be inconclusive. Some people love this phone, others don't. After spending a few days with the one I just bought (and returned) I have to say I come down on the negative side. There was an incessant hiss in the background which really got irritating. I also could not seem to get rid of a sort of echo/reverb that was quite distracting. While I liked the size of the phone, the handset is not paticularily comfortable to hold. The headset I tried, just made all the audio problems worse. Why can't someone make a small cordless phone that sounds good and works? The menu options are difficult to navigate, especially volume which varies from call to call for some reason. All in all, I would not recomend this phone. BTW: AT&T and Panasonic both sell this same phone in different packaging. Post review note: A friend of mine suggests uncoiling the power cord helps with the static, as they use it as the antenna.

I bought my VTech phone (and an extra handset) almost exactly a year ago. Since then I've gotten to know the phone inside-and-out and discovered just how "durable" it really is.

Pros: - The phone size is excellent. The smaller the better and this is by far the lightest, smallest phone out there. I can fit it in my pocket easily. If you dislike small phones then this might be a con for you.

- Handsfree dialing. I can dial my 7 digits and then hit talk. It's a silly feature, but I love it. Can't explain why. I can also hit the speakerphone button instead of talk and it goes right into speakerphone mode.

- Great speakerphone mode. Very clear. I can set it on my desk and talk to someone at a comfortable distance and they can't tell I'm on speakerphone unless my AC is running.

- Good range. I didn't measure the distance, but I live in an apartment complex and can go downstairs, around the building, past the next building, and to the pool before it gets fuzzy. It also chirps when it loses contact, which is nice to know.

- Good features like the headset jack, speakerphone, and multiple-base support.

Cons:

- After a year, one of the phone's batteries is completely toast. They're not cheap either.

- After 6 months of usage, the headset jack now makes static whenever you move even the slightest bit.

- Caller ID works but could be a LOT more intelligent. You can't easily store numbers from Caller ID into your phonebook.

- Volume is a pain to adjust. No easy up/down buttons, it's in the menuing system... which is slow and cumbersome.

- If you answer the phone while it's gathering the Caller ID data (during the first ring) the phone will crash and you'll lose your call. This is VERY annoying.

- I don't know why, but I never used the phonebook function to store numbers. I think I found it too cumbersome like the rest of the menu system.

So.. if you don't mind the occasional crash or replacing your batteries yearly, then this isn't a bad phone. However, I have to hope that there's something better out there with a better interface, more reliable components, with the same feature set and small size.

If only Nokia would make a cordless.

I first bought the panasonic 2500s and ended up having to return it because the sound quality was unbearable, I then went with this v-tech 2431 because of high praise from my family, the phone is stupendous, it is much smaller than you might think from looking at the picture up above, the sound quality is great, I even purchased an additional handset for my mother, it is like having your own office or something because you can call each handset from another handset or base. It is better than what the picture depicts, you won't be dissapointed, Get It!! I did