Home > Consumer Reviews > VTech 5831 5.8 GHz DSS Expandable Cordless Speakerphone with Caller ID/Call Waiting

I just bought the Vtech phone with two add'l handsets. I have been using them now for two weeks.

The GOOD:
Very high marks for voice clarity; range; and ease-of-use. The menu system on the phones and base unit are VERY well laid-out and everyone in the family quickly learned how to use it. The phone and base feel really solid and quality has been high all the way around.

I have found the voice quality on the base unit speakerphone to be very good. It rivals systems I have used at work.

There are a few really useful functions that I have already become addicted to. The ability to transfer calls from handset to handset (or handset to base) is great - as is the ability to page the base as an intercom ("Kids, come up for dinner, now!!). I no longer feel I'd like to have an intercom system between my upstairs and downstairs.

Also, the ability to use each handset as a speakerphone is really, really useful and the voice quality is very good.

The BAD:
Vtech left off two functions that I really miss from previous phones I've owned:
(1) One-button voicemail dialing. Your only option to access your (phone company) voice mail is to dial your number and enter your password, or scroll throught the redial menu or memory menu for your phone number. You still must enter passcode.
(2) No one-digit speed-dial functionality. This is almost unbelievable to me that Vtech would omit this. The phone stores a large number of entries, but you can't speed dial any of the memorized numbers via entering a memory location (e.g., #1, #2, #3, etc). While you CAN scroll through the list of numbers (either from memory locations or from the dialed number locations) - select the number you want - and press "on", that is different from dialing, say, "Mom and Dad" by simply pushing a location number (e.g., 15) and pressing "on".

Overall, this is a good quality phone. My only negative is the absence of a couple of traditional features.

This phone is the best I have ever owned. Clear as a bell from as far as about 70 yards from my apartment, outside, through the buildings brick wall. The person complaining about it not working with DSL is misinformed, in fact it CAN'T interfere with DSL. Of course if the person didn't install the filters that come with every DSL kit ever produced, then ANY phone will cause trouble. On top of that, because this phone is a 5.8GHz phone, it doesn't interfere with 802.11b (Apple AirPort, or any other WiFi) networking either. I have yet to hear ANY static of any kind using this phone.

The caller ID works flawlessly. The hand set has held a charge for over 3 days without recharging. The memory works as advertised. There is even a jack for a headset as well, this jack uses a 2.5 MM input, which is becoming the standard for Cell phones, so there are plenty of choices of which head set to get. The speaker phones on both the hand set and base are very clear, and people I have talked to on them say there is very little distortion.

This phone is easy to set up, has great features, wont interfere with the wireless or wired networking/internet connections in your house, and the price is right. I cant recommend it more clearly.

After trying several other phones that I didn't like, I'm extremely pleased with this phone. Looks great, works great, outstanding sound quality and good volume range. The uncluttered keypad appeals to members of the family who like it "simple" while still allowing the power users to customize it. It has a mute button (unlike many popular cordless phones), and it has a simple system for transferring calls between the base and the handset, or handset to handset. The backlit display has text that is large enough to read without a magnifying glass. It even lets you cycle through variations of the caller ID numbers to handle situations where you need to dial 1 or you shouldn't dial an area code.

Unlike another reviewer, I have had no trouble using the phone on a telephone line with a DSL connection.

A few quibbles:
- The caller ID "New Calls" list has to be separately cleared on each handset and the base. This involves many key presses that must be repeated at each location because each caller ID entry must be separately acknowledged.
- By default, both the base unit and the handset ring. This seems like a great idea until you try and locate the handset by its ringing, which is close to impossible if it is in the same room as the base. Fortunately, you can turn off either one.
- It would sure be nice if the caller ID understood custom ringing - we have multiple phone numbers that go to the same phone. Unfortunately, I haven't seen a phone that does this.
- In spite of the prominent "5.8 GHz" designation, the phone only uses 5.8 GHz in one direction - it's 2.4GHz in the other direction. You have to read the fine print to discover this information.

I've used primarily VTech and Panasonic phones for years now. I replaced my Panasonic with the 5831 and 3 additional 5820 handsets. This phone isn't perfect - but it's awfully close.

Yes, it's dual-band - but the 2.4GHz is reserved for the handset, and it's lower power, so there's less room for interference with your 802.11b/g equipment. My Panasonic 2.4GHz hosed my 802.11b network, but these phones work just fine with it.

It would have been nice if the handsets shared more info with the base station, but that's a minor quibble. A bigger quibble is that sometimes, when you press a number quickly twice in a row, it only registers once. Not that big of a deal if you remember to look, but it shouldn't happen at all.

I've recommended this phone to many people and they've all been very satisfied. They're very attractive, too, and they haven't been scuffed yet. (My Panasonic lost its shiny silver coating fairly quickly.)

Regarding the 'no redial button' - there is one. It's the leftmost menu button. It's a softmenu, so if you look above it, you'll see quite clearly that it's labeled 'REDIAL'. (The three items are 'REDIAL', 'MENU', and 'MEM'.) Press it and it will pop up a list of your most recently called numbers - then press 'ON' and it will dial it for you.

I recently bought this phone and 3 additional handsets (a total of 4). We live in a 4-level house with concrete floors and needed an extension on each floor. The setup was completely painless - it worked exactly as described in the manual. All handsets found the base immediately and worked fine. The handsets have a jack for a headset, a speakerphone function which works great, and a mute button which is a feature I had a tough time finding on other other cordless phones. Sound quality is excellent - I really can't tell the difference from a land line. The menu interface was intuitive to me. I had no issues with set up and use.

Two things to be aware of: 1) The range appears to be somewhat limited. It had no trouble going through our concrete floors, but the sound started to break up less than 100 feet from my front door. This was affected by the presence of other buildings between base and handset. If long range is important to you, look for another phone. 2) Telephone numbers saved in the handsets will not synchronize with each other - you have to enter numbers in all of the handsets individually. I believe that some other products offer this functionality but the V-Tech does not.

All things considered, I am satisfied with this product. It satisfied my requirement for a cordless system with multiple handsets, good sound quality, acceptable range, a decent speakerphone, and a mute button. Lastly, it doesn't interfere with our 802.11 wireless network.