Home > Consumer Reviews > VTech i5866 5.8 GHz DSS Expandable Cordless Phone with Digital Answering System

I run an 802.11b network at home, the router is right next to the base station and I have no interference problems. Not sure that the reviewer who disparaged the phone for interference potential actually tried it.

The phone & base look stylish (not cheap like old vtech phones) and has great features:
- Orange backlit keys
- Speakerphone on handset.
- Ability to record custom ringers from any sound source having a standard mini-plug headset jack (cord included).
- Base can take two rechargeable AA batteries (about $8 at a Staples) and let you swap for dead batts in your handset OR talk for ~2 hours during a power outage!

Only thing I'd like would be ability to listen to messages from the handset. Didn't get the 5867 because I didn't think a color display was worth extra $20; I'm pretty sure that's the only difference between the two phones.

Oh, most importantly--sound quality is great both ways.

Let me start by saying that this unit is OK. The problems have been covered in the other reviews. (Although the person who said it works on 2.4 ghz and interferes with wireless networks is wrong, it runs entirely on 5.8 ghz according to the specifications. And I haven't noticed any interference with my wireless network at home. (If you have an 802.11b/g network at home, go with a 5.8ghz phone)

As someone else said, the charging light blinks when it shouldn't. I have NiHM batteries installed, and the manual says it ``Flashes quickly when Alkaline batteries are detected in the spare battery drawer.`` Well, it detects them wrong. Probably a scam to get you to buy their own overpriced batteries. Sad, because this was a major selling point of this unit.

But the worse problem: the answering machine is HORRIBLE. Not the functionality, which is fine, but the audio quality! Everyone sounds like they are speaking Mandarin Chinese underwater. Considering how cheap RAM is these days, I don't know why these guys have to go and use such an aggressive audio codec that garbles almost all voices. And good luck if someone is leaving you a message from a cell phone, with the digital cell phone compression artifacts and the bad compression in this answering machine, make the playback quality almost unusable.

And I agree that in this day and age, it's stupid that the handsets don't sync their caller ID and address books and ringer settings.

Come on Vtech. get on the ball. This is 2005. If you can sell phones that you can download your own custom ring tones to, you can fix these other problems.

I wish manufacturers would stop the feature race and get down and create some good quality on their products!

Overall this phone is good. I have 4 handsets (one in each room), and the base. Here are the pros and cons I found with the phone.

Pros
1. It has excellent sound quality. Very clear voices.
2. No static, feedback, interference, or disconnecting.
3. It is easily expandable to add another handset.
4. User friendly Menu driven setup. Has soft keys much like a cell phone.
5. Easy to retrieve call log, and to store them in phonebook.
6. The handset lights up like a Christmas tree when it rings.
7. You can see the caller ID from 20 paces.
8. Comfortable in the hand.
9. Speakerphone on each handset is very nice.
10. Ringtones allow you to determine who's calling.

Cons
1. And this is a big one. Each handset stores a separate phone book. So now I have to go to four phones to enter a new entry.
2. The message play back is muffled, and unclear. I cannot even recognize when it's my mother.
3. If you have 10 messages that you have already listened to, and want to replay the 10th, you have to skip 1 thru 9 to hear the 10th. This does not apply to new messages which you can hear at the press of one button.
4. Handset only lasts off charger for about 2-3 days. My previous Panasonic lasted about 2 weeks.
5. There is no warning when the handset battery is about to die. Just the ear-splitting beep, and it is dead. The battery indicator on handset is worthless.
6. Intercom feature is not what i expected. It just rings another handset and requires someone to answer it.

Features I don't need
1. 3 separate message banks, requires the caller to press which bank they want to use.
2. Pictures on the headset that identify who is calling (for example, a picture of someone fishing).
3. Backup battery storage. Just make them last longer instead.

We're a six person household so the phones get a workout. We've been through several phone systems and like this one best. Its been a joy for the past year with narry a glitch.

Base station is fairly compact and handsome but notably easy to use. The 5.8 spectrum does not interfere with cell phones, or my Linksys Wireless G network. Its always clear as a bell. Best answering machine I have ever had. Records and playsback perfecty.

The handsets are great, easy to use, easy to navigate. Would be a neat trick if the memory synchronized between the handsets so you didn't need to enter phone books more than once. Also would be neat if handset could access the answering machine which is controlled directly from the base system.

Reason I am writing this review is because I came back to order another handset. All in all this is the finest home system I have had. (I did a review on the ATT 954, a thumbs down. But I have busted or dusted my share of Panasonic, Radio Shack, and Uniden over the years.)

I'd gone through about 8 phones before finding v-tech generally to be the best and most logical. I had the 2461 system which I adored, but after 4 yrs, had to replace, so I upgraded to the 5866. This is a comparison between the 2.
While loaded with silly features like a choice of ugly images, The unit is flashy, ugly and cumbersome. The 2461 neslted comfortably in the hand. The range is about the same, even though it is a 5.8g. The photo is deceptive, because the angle makes the phone look slim. The max volume is too low. The speakerphone max volume is useless with any ambient noise. Clarity is only slightly worse than the 2461. The handsets are not wall mountable, which the 2461's were. For the search through the phonebook for #s you have to press the advance key separately for each "next", which on the 2461 you just keep the key pressed. I hate it, and will try and find another of my beloved 2461s. Both phones keep the date and OGM through power outages, with the spare battery installed. This is an important feature if you have "spotty" elect service, which I've only found on V-Techs, and is not mentioned in any phone specs. Both also do not display the incoming phone #, even though I have caller ID, and the #s are in my phone book.