Home > Consumer Reviews > AT&T 5800 Accessory Handset for 5800 Series Phones

I'm fussy about small buttons, hard to program menues, poorly lighted dials....this phone has none of that! The talking caller ID on the base unit is terrific and the plug in add-on units are very convenient. Very good reception, easy to use call log...I like this phone a lot!!

We 'bought in' to this sytem about 4 years ago and i've never been so thrilled with a set of phones. I've never had a problem of any kind. They are clear and never interferred with any of the 3-4 baby monitors we've owned over the years. They have an amazing range and super battery life.
In the last few years we've added a few new handsets for convenience.
The other thing to note is that my 6,5,3 and 1 year old have not been as kind as they could be with the phones. These things have been thrown, dropped, pushed off counters, antennas chewed off, submerged in water, etc. Frequently, they hit the tile floor and the battery cover shoots one way and the battery shoots the other way. Someone goes to time-out and i pop the battery back in and we're good to go until that gets repeated the next day. One hundred times i've expected to put that battery back in and not see the screen light up, but alas, nothing seems to be able to phase it.They've held up through thick and thin. Only recently are we having to replace two handsets of 5 we've owned for 3-4 years.

I will be one sad mom when I'm not able to replace the handsets any longer and they are unavailable. Knowing how these things hold-up though, they should survive all 4 kids growing up and moving out and then I won't have to worry about replacement concerns any longer :)

I had a Sony multiple handset phone that I LOVED. Unfortunately, I found, when I moved into a bigger house, that the phone had been discontinued, and I could no longer get additional handsets for it.

I purchased the AT&T 5840 to replace it, and I suppose my disappointment with the handsets is probably more based on the fact that they pale in comparison to the former Sony ones, than that there is anything intrinsically wrong with them.

My primary complaints with the handsets are these:

1. The blue light that indicates that the handset is charging is bright enough to make it hard for me to get to sleep at night.

2. The caller ID lists incoming calls strictly based on what the phone company has in their system (i.e. "Cellular Call" instead of the name of the caller). The Sony phone would display a name for any number I had stored in memory (so if I had stored a number as "Annoying Guy" that is what the caller ID would say when that person called - and of course it also displayed my friends' names or nicknames as I had entered them too). This was particularly useful for me, as I have a terrible memory for numbers, and need a name in order to know who is calling. This is the feature I am most disappointed about losing.

3. The phone does not automatically store caller ID numbers in a format that allows me to call back with a single button press. In order to call a person back from the caller ID feature, I have to hit CID, then OPT #, and then select the appropriate number format. Although this process is not excessively difficult, it's annoying when I used to have a phone that allowed me to simply hit 'talk' to call a person back. It is also more difficult due to issue number 4 below.

4. The menu buttons 'wear out.' After regularly using the menu buttons for about a year, I have found that it now requires me to really push them hard, and sometimes several times, to get them to work.

I would recommend this phone to people who a) have a great memory for numbers and don't need a name listed on the caller ID and b) people who don't push buttons often. It does what a phone is meant to do, and so far, aside from the failing button issue, I have had no maintenance issues with it. I just became spoiled with all the features of my previous phone, and this one just doesn't come close in comparison.

I have the base and three other handsets. Best I can say is that they work. The problems would seem to have simple solutions--they must have rushed this to market without putting on the finishing touches.
Problems:
(1) The handsets don't synch with the base with respect to time, caller ID, and memory dialing. You have to repeatedly set the time on each handset. And caller ID only records on the handset where you take the call. Same issue with memory--who wants to punch inmemory dial numbers on 4 separate handsets.
(2) The text on the screen (numbers, letters, and a digitied analogue clock) look very Atari.
(3) The controls on the base simply stink--not intuitive and somewhat clumsy.
Pros:
The system isn't that expensive. Buy it, keep it for a couple of three years, and dispose.