Home > Consumer Reviews > AT&T 5830 5.8 GHz Cordless Speakerphone System

The first thing you should know is this: This is a very good phone. It feels solid, its sound quality is great, the intercom works well, and it won't interfere with your WiFi network. My bet is that if you care enough to read to the end of this review, you should just buy it-- it's what you're looking for. And if the rest of this review seems overly focused on minutia, that's a result of frustration over the Phone That Might Have Been, more than criticism of The Phone That Is.

So, it's a good phone. But come on: some of the design decisions are just plain weird.

First, there's the oddity that while there's an indicator light for your (phone-company-supplied) voicemail, there's no easy way to actually dial that voicemail number and retrieve your messages. Rather than have a one-touch button, the phone requires that you assign voicemail to one of the phone-book entries. No big deal... except that it means you're pressing a minimum of three buttons (and likely more) every time you want to get your messages.

Then there's the omission of a "this is my own area code" feature. This means that all caller-ID numbers show up as (and get dialed as) 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX numbers... which can mean long-distance charges for local calls on some systems. Yes, you can edit the number, but it requires three clicks.

Lastly, there are the set of weird behaviors that come from having the built-in base-station speakerphone not know anything about the base-station phone handset. This means, forinstance, that if you answer a call using the base-station speakerphone, you can't just then pick up the base-station handset and have the call automatically transfer. Instead, both units will be active, which means you need to hang up two separate phones.

All of these are nits, but in a system costing this much, they're silly.

So should you buy it? Yes, sure: it does most of the basics well; the quality feels high; the backup battery feature will come in handy in a power-failure (though battery is sold separately); and 5.8 Ghz is the future. But don't expect perfection... and do send "you can do better" thought waves towards the folks who designed this unit.

PS-- An equally small nit about the extension handsets: their a/c adapters don't detach from their recharging bases. That means you need an extension cord if your desk has one of those holes to thread cords through-- the adapter likely won't fit through to reach the outlet.

I purchased this phone 4 months ago as a gift for my mother. I waited to write the review because sometimes you don't know if the equipment will perform as expected.

She wanted a reliable phone with excellent quality and one that wasn't difficult to use. Although this one has some very nice features that she'll never use, I still wanted her to have a nice phone.

The quality is outstanding, both the handset and speakerphone. The sound is very clear with no degradation at all. Some people experienced problems with their phones but maybe that had something to do with the area they lived in.

The talking feature was a nice surprise. It started out by announcing the telephone number but now it states the name of the caller. I thought maybe that my mother was 'imagining' this but lo and behold, it really does announce the name!

I would buy this phone for my own home if I needed a replacement. It's a good value if you don't mind spending the extra money for it.

I probably over-researched phones, and this one came up with the best ratings/reviews. We've had it now for a few weeks, and it is the best cordless we've ever owned. Superb sound quality, features are plentiful, and the talking caller ID is pretty cool.
Haven't really tested the range beyond the confines of our house, it being winter and all. I also bought the 5800 handset for use upstairs, and it works just as well 1 & 2 floors up.
This replaced my VTech 2400 because I ended up installing a wireless LAN just after buying the phone, and was having problems with the 2.4GHz interference. Be aware that this phone does transmit from phone-to-base in the 2.4G range, but I have not had any issues with it like I did the VT 2400.

I was promised a cordless phone with CID for my birthday. Unfortunately, I had to return quite a few phones before I found this one. This one has quite a few cool features to it.

One of the unique features is a talking CID that calls out the number of the person calling so you don't have to have the phone or get up to look at the caller ID to know whether or not you want to get up and answer the call. (A couch potato's dream.) Also, the talking caller ID voice message is fun because you can record an announcement to play when certain numbers call your house. It turned out useful when I started using that feature to record a SHORT message when I wanted to remember something to tell the person calling (for example, a question to ask the contractor next time they called). The message is tied in with the CID so that it only plays when the call is coming from that number. Useful for those with no short term memory, like myself.

I also like the other features, speakerphone in the handsets, and vibrator ringer (doesn't wake up the kids). I found the menus to be fairly easy to operate, and have very little complaints about the phone. I LIKE the feature that the phone book does not share between phones because my husband and I don't call the same people, and I don't want his buddy Ed's phone number taking up MY memory. I guess it would be nice if it could give a choice. Also, there is room to charge a battery in the base so that you always have a fresh battery in case you forget and let the one in your handset go dead, and also if the power goes out it supplies power to the base so that you can still use the phone. Handy.

Overall I don't regret spending the extra cash I paid for it. My only complaint is that there is no volume control on the talking caller ID so if your base is in an out-of-the-way position it can be hard to hear the talking CID.

The AT&T 5.8 ghz cordless expandable phones are nice, but don't have enough range for a large house.

If range is what you need, save yourself the time and trouble and get the Panasonic. Over the past month (August 2004) I have tried the latest models of just about every major brand that offers 5.8 ghz multi-handset cordless phones - Uniden, V-Tech, AT&T (made by V-Tech), Motorola, and Panasonic. Each of these phones is nice in its own way, but only the Panasonic had enough range to receive and send clearly from one end of the house to the other. Granted my house is big (3,600 square feet, all on one level), but the other brands maxed out about 2/3rds of the way through the house. I have a WiFi network in the house, and had no interference issues from that with any of these brands. I do wish the Panasonic could expand to a total of more than just 4 handsets, but that is a minor issue. Those big honking twin antennae on the base unit seem to actually work. Please note that I tried the versions without answering machines, so I can't offer any opinions on that part of this.