Home > Consumer Reviews > GE 29481GE1 2-Line Corded Speakerphone with Conferencing and Caller ID

I tried five different corded telephones before I finally came across this GE 2 Line/Caller ID Phone. All the others had terrible audio feedback problems and I literally could not stand the sound when using them .

This particular model is very well made and has good audio and I have finally found an acceptable phone. (Beware, a lot of the other corded phones are marginal. Someone commented on another review that all the design effort is going to cordless phones and that therefore corded phones are little more than unwanted orphans. Some people cannot use cordless phones because they are electrically sensitive. Also, the microprocessors for some corded phones can sometime cause these same people problems. In that case they should NOT use touchtone phones where the keypad is in the handset proper. It is going to be an evil day for these people when they can no longer find an acceptable phone... It is difficult enough now to find a phone that they can tolerate. If you find a good one, you better stock up with a spare or two, just in case!)

This phone is great quality for the price range, although the sound quality is a little less than my older similar model, the 29418 (which didn't have caller ID or LCD display).

I bought this model for the Caller ID, and because I liked the old 29418 a lot. This phone, the 29481, is slightly smaller, similar in quality, but has more electronic controls rather than analog. This is particularly noticeable in the volume control. The older phone had sliders for volume which worked great. Changing volume on this phone is done with a single push button. Each push raises the volume 1 notch, until the max. volume, and then it starts back down. So it can be a pain (requiring up to 14 presses to lower the volume one notch for example).

One major problem is lack of call waiting caller ID. I rely on this with my cordless - if I hear call waiting, I check who it is before switching over. On this phone, you don't get call waiting caller ID so you have to click over and answer the call to find out who is on call waiting.


My last complaint is that the buttons are smaller on this model, and it can be a pain to hit the right one. The speakerphone button especially, as it has a tiny redial on one side and flash on the other.

In response to a previous review, the line 1/2 buttons are the same as my old model, which held up just fine for 2 years with a lot of use. In fact, I think they have a solid THUNK to them which seems like it will last a long time.

If you are looking for a decent quality 2-line speakerphone with caller ID for under $100, this is the best pick I found after 10 hours online.

A bit disappointing -- the "Line 1" and "Line 2" switches feel flimsy and likely to break; you really have to click them in to get a dial tone rather than press softly. The speakerphone function works like a 2 way radio, i.e. you can't talk and listen at the same time. If you plan to use this phone as a business phone, forget it; it's a toy. The speakerphone is useful only for listening purposes, and switching between lines causes a quick burst of static, at least on my model. For the price I suppose it's OK, but if you need a work-horse phone with durability and a useful speakerphone, this isn't it.