Home > Consumer Reviews > AT&T 5840 5.8 GHz DSS Expandable Cordless Speakerphone with Digital Answering System

On the plus side, nice styling, and the features that are there, work as advertised (although the phonebook feature is useless). Sound is fine, but a bit on the quiet side. The speakerphone in the handset is awsome.

Major disapointments:

1) Not a true 5.8Ghz system, but 5.8Ghz and 2.4. So it still screws up wireless networkse (the whole reason I bought the darned thing).

2) No way to check messages from the handset.

3) Clock and caller ID features are per handset, not shared. This means that you set a whole pile of handsets when the clocks change. Also, deleting caller ID logs must be done on each handset. Very lame!

4) No speed dialing. Holly cow, my $3.99 phone could do that. Why can't a $400 phone system do this do this? Shame on AT&T!

5) Battery life is very short (only a couple of days between charging).

Bottom line...AT&T clearly no longer knows anything about human factors or usability of phones. They miss the mark on almost every score (except sound quality). They are also guilty of false advertising by claiming this to be a 5.8 Ghz phone. Shame on them!

The baby loves the blinking blue lights on the handset and base when the phone rings. My point is, it looks great, expensive and hi-tech but is not that easy to use. It does not have speed dialing and you can't dial out from the base unit. But my biggest dislike is the answering system, while listeing to messages it does not display the number on the Caller ID screen. Becase I get lots of call, that feature saves me time as I can see who is calling before they are finished their message and can skip or delete that message. Good points: from the base unit you can record a personal message and leave it in a specific mailbox; excellent sound; clarity; and great range.

I've had this phone for about three weeks now, so these are some preliminary thoughts which I'll amend down the line if need be. I'll just mention the problems that I have an issue with: 1. If the base staion is anywhere near a wireless computer or any electronic equipment the speakerphone is useless. It emits horrible howles of feedback. I've heard this is due to the 5.8 GHz specs... not a problem with the 2.4's. I wanted to use this for my home business, and now to do so is REALLY a pain. I mean, where else would I have my phone but close to my other office equipment, especially my computer!? May have to return it based on that alone... or get a corded phone and put this one somewhere else. 2. The speakerphone on the handset... once it is turned on, in order to turn it off you can't just push the speakerphone button again. This will activate the non-seakerphone function but leave the speakerphone on as well. Pushing the off button gets you a dial tone. 3. There is no dialing from the basestation... well i shoulda noticed that when i bought it! 4. To delete messages you have to push delete WHILE the message is playing. if you wait til the end, you have to push play again and then listen to the all to lengthy preamble by that computer voice announcer. 5. sometimes i can hear my voice through the ear speaker when i am talking, other times not. i'd like to my voice either amplified through to the ear speaker of the handset, or NOT. this intermitent stuff is no good! On the other hand the phone looks good, and has perfect reception for my purpose. why can't someone build a decent telephone...? bizarre.

I love this phone. I originally thought it was too expensive, but now see it is worth it. The 3 additional handsets we purchased are very durable. They have been flushed in the toilet (2 year old son), left outside in the garden (me) and "dropped" on the floor of the garage (husband), and we have not one single complaint. I love that you can buy additional handsets for various locations, my son thinks it's a fun game to hide the phone from mommy.
the battery life is excellent, better than previous panasonic, seimens, and uniden phones. we leave handsets off the hook for up to days at a time, and they will still have a charge.

I've been a cordless phone fan since the days of sub-50 mhz frequencies, and I've been using 2.4 Ghz phones around the house now for more than 2 years. They were really only a bit clearer than the 900 mhz phones they replaced, and their range was about the same. However, this high frequency seems to find itself isolated enough from household interference (lights, cell phones, etc.) to achieve real quiet! I would say the quality of the connection is almost identical to that of a corded phone.

The 5840 setup was simple: Plug it in to the phone line and power plug (the fairly small transformer is nice too), enter the base ID # from the sticker under the phone, and you're ready to use the phone.
The answering machine holds 15 mins of messages in 3 separate boxes and can be set to pick up on whatever ring delay you select. Prerecorded digital messages are standard.
The menus are just okay; they may be a bit less than perfect but they're usable without instructions. Anyway, from the menu, you may (but do not have to) select ring style, ring volume, vibrate or no, and enter the time digitally.
I've added 2 extensions (5800) and these are set up just as the base is, but the number you register on each handset is that of the base unit. Range and intercom on the handsets are great, and the voice quality again is comparable to corded phones.
In both cases, the called ID display is very nicely done. It is lit in a very attractive and functional blue with a large enough display to read both the name and number without (my) glasses.
Lastly, the message waiting light (I use the phone company's voice mail svc) is easy to see from across the room, it too a cool neon blue that illuminates an "O" around the ear piece. The effect is quite techno-hip, as well as being highly functional.
In short, the 5800 series is a very nice execution of a very good new technology.