Home > Consumer Reviews > EnGenius SN920 ULTRA HS Accessory Handset for SN920 ULTRA BU Expandable Cordless Phone

I have owned five of these phones (each purchased with an extra battery) for a year and can not recommend them, for these reasons:
1. Line of sight range was only ~1.5km, not the 8 km claimed. This is under ideal conditions over a stretch of remote beach.
2. They are quite heavy and run *very* hot--are uncomfortable to use.
3. Seven of the ten batteries have already failed, suggesting that the charger design is no good. New batt's are $50 each!
In the same period under the same conditions my Panasonic Multitalk-8 system has been flawless, and those phones cost half as much, in fact just a bit more for the whole phone than the Engenius *batteries*.

I have had an Engenius phone and base unit for over 3 years. It has always worked and continues to work despite my best efforts to destroy it. It still uses the same battery it came with and works over 1 mile from my house inside my vehicle. I bought the phone because I wanted to have access to my home number at the neighborhood park, swimming pool etc. and in areas where our cell phones do not work well.

Oh, I did leave it outside all night during a thunderstorm several years back. I found it when I backed out and ran over it with my truck. I took out the battery and dried it out for a few days and it still works. Nobody can guarantee that kind of performance but for once I got something that works as advertised.

Check this model for how it is turned on and off before you buy. My earlier model required the user to hold down the "End" button to turn the phone on and/or off (presumably to conserve battery power). Result: two useless handsets when the contacts beneath said buttons soon wore out. It was cheaper to buy a rebuilt handset than to have the single critical button serviced (which means it wasn't "cheap" at all). A simple on-off switch on the front or side of the phone would alleviate the problem. As it stands, the expensive handsets are now utterly useless because they can no longer be turned on.

The batteries (for my model, anyway) are proprietary and expensive. That means you can't go into a Wal-Mart or Radio Shack or Staples and buy replacements. Also, again doubtless because of the power requirements, they wear out quickly.

On the plus side, the system performs admirably and as advertised. Or I should say, performed. I've since replaced it with a simpler and cheaper Panasonic system that doesn't have nearly the range...but does have an on-off switch on the handsets (and a much easier-to-use intercom set-up).