Review on 📞 Panasonic DECT 6.0-Series Dual-Handset Cordless Phone System with Answering System: High-quality Communication and Convenience (KX-TG1032S) by Dee Parson

Many years ago - more than a decade ago - I bought a Sony SPP-AQ25 cordless telephone with answering machine. This was before 900MHz phones and it had a big, long antenna sticking out. It transmits and receives at a frequency of 44/48 MHz and the sound quality is almost indistinguishable from a wired phone. I'm not exaggerating. And the range is incredible. 100 feet or more, although sound quality continues to degrade. The answering machine uses a tape to record messages but has a digitally recorded greeting. I paid $120 for it back in 1998 or so. The handset is large and comfortable to hold but light, the buttons are very large and easy to press, and the action and accompanying sound when pressed is also excellent. Why am I mentioning this? Well I've been worried for a long time: What do I do if my Sony SPP-AQ25 dies? What can it replace? I've bought two or three cordless phones for my parents and in-laws in the last five years and have never been happy with the phones. They were all far, far away from me. They had poor sound quality, short range, were small and difficult to use, and they were just plain cheap. Well about a year ago I investigated the issue more closely hoping to find a replacement before I needed one and was relieved to find Panasonic DECT 6.0 phones. I liked the KX-TG8232 from the Panasonic range the best, but when I tried the phones at Target in person, I wasn't entirely satisfied with their feel and ergonomics. I also thought that a color LCD might not be needed. So I kept using my 10 year old Sony even though I had 8232 in mind. Then about a month ago my Sony phone's answering machine died. The motor (or belt) driving the tape was no longer driving it, so no message was recorded. I went straight to Revain to order 8232 but found it was only available through one vendor in the market. This got me thinking and wondering which newer Panasonic model it replaced, which led me to this very phone system: the KX-TG1032S. So, hoping for the best, I ordered it. Well let me tell you I'm very glad I did and that I got this system instead of 8232 because the ergonomics of the phone are great. This phone feels good in the hand and menu navigation is done with a wheel/knob rather than a joystick plug. The buttons are large and easy to use, and the display, while not in color, is clear, concise, and easy to read. When you lift the handset from the base the backlight turns on for easier reading, but when the handset is just resting on the base the backlight turns off and it's definitely hard to read in the dim light. Of course, this is easily fixed by simply picking up the phone. The phone has a subtle curve in side profile: it's not flat. And that's part of its comfortable feeling. The back is also nicely arched, which fills out the hand better and ensures a good grip. Plastic feels good, even for plastic. More importantly, this thing can get LOUD when you want it to: both your phone's speaker and your regular earbud will sound louder than you're likely ever going to want. Speakerphone also works exceptionally well - the people on the other end of the line might not even know you've switched to speakerphone. Very impressive. And the range is very good. Talk time is also better than you'll likely ever need. Even after more than an hour of calling, the battery still showed a full charge. While I haven't tested the 17-hour claim, it doesn't seem unlikely. However, some reviews mention talk time/battery issues and that doesn't surprise me. You see, the rechargeable batteries used in things like cordless phones are almost invariably junk. They are cheap and of poor quality. In that case, the batteries are probably a bit better, but I'd advise getting really good quality batteries for your phones ahead of time (you'll need two per handset). I recommend Sanyo Eneloop 4 pack AAA NiMH pre-charged batteries. And they have more capacity than the batteries that come with the phone. However, it is unlikely that you will have problems with batteries! The charging system in mobile phone bases is intelligent enough to stop charging once the batteries are fully charged. I checked the temperature of both the supplied cells and the Sanyo Eneloop cells right after charging and they were only slightly warm. If you pick up the handset and immediately hang it up again, the system still knows that the batteries are fully charged and does not initiate a new charging cycle. Even if you actually use the phone for a minute or so and then put it back on the base, it still won't initiate a new charge cycle. You have to use the phone for a full four or five minutes before the charging circuit decides to charge the batteries. And again, when they do, they won't overcharge or overheat. Very good. The main reason for the failure of NiCd and NiMH batteries is constant overcharging, which is completely eliminated here. As mentioned, the fact that these phones use standard NiMH AAA batteries is a very nice feature. If and when you need to replace them, you don't have to pay extortionate prices for a dedicated battery. The sound quality of this telephone system is very good. Best I've heard other than my Sony. (Yes, believe it or not, it just isn't as good as my 11 year old Sony. But... it's still pretty good.) And you get the benefit of digital spread spectrum with this phone at a frequency, does not stand in the way, nothing else. Not only is it much more secure than my old phone, but two other people can connect to you using other phones. We bought this version with two phones, so I can't personally confirm that all three phones can be active at the same time, but I'm sure that statement is true. In any case, this function is activated not only when someone is talking to an external participant. no You can make calls between handsets at any time. Just pick up the handset, press the intercom button in the bottom right corner and dial another handset's assigned number and it will ring. When the other person picks up the phone and presses the call button, you are on the line with them. This feature is actually so useful it's too useful: my wife takes full advantage of it to ask me to bring such and such up when I go up (or down if I go down), or to ask me about something and so on. That is very very helpful. At one point I heard faint interference ("white" noise), but when I tried the VoIP setup at home (which I gave up after about a month), this noise went away. And my wife and I recently moved to a new house and this noise has not returned. I don't know what it was, but it wasn't a broken phone. I'm guessing it was just a problem with the phone line in our old apartment. Sometimes I found I had to adjust the handset volume when making or answering a new call, even though the volume was just right before. But that doesn't happen often and there's no need to worry. Too loud? Just press the menu button with the up arrow. Too soft, just press down. Just one adjustment always got me in the right area. And yes, if you want a phone with a ringtone that's easy to turn on and off, this isn't it. To turn off the ringer, you essentially have to turn the volume all the way down. It's just not set up to be easy, although it can be done. The answering machine is fine, but the audio quality of the recorded messages is not very good when set to "3 minutes". ie you have the option to record a certain number of 3 minute messages at a low bit rate or the same number of messages at a higher bit rate, reducing the maximum time per message to 1 minute. Changing this setting will definitely improve the sound quality from something tolerable to something decent. Unfortunately, 1 minute is sometimes too short for some messages! Oh good. I still think it's worth the compromise. Anyway, one of the advantages of this system is that you can hear on all phones when someone leaves a message, which is a nice feature when you're checking your calls and you're away from the base station. And although the flashing red light that indicates a new message is only present on the base, each handset says 'New Message' on the LCD screen when there's a new message, so I don't see what's wrong . . Also, in our case, the phone base station is on the door, so that's the only place we really need a blinking red LED. When you get home, let's take a quick look at the base station. It seems simple and logical to me. Yes, I mounted the base station on the wall and it worked great. I'm sure it's not hard to break the plastic fastener that allows you to wall mount the base station, but I didn't find it flimsy or cheap. It's plastic, of course, but what do you need? Finally, one of the best things about this cordless phone system is that removing AC power from the base station will NOT cause your settings, messages, greetings, address book, or anything else to stop working. leaving. If the power is cut, you cannot receive a dial tone, make a call, or establish an intercom. BUT, once the power returns, you're back in business - that's all they ask of you! The disadvantage of this is that if you remove the BATTERIES from the phones, you will lose all settings, messages, etc. I personally prefer a normal situation where you have to re-record the greeting every time you have a power outage! YMMV. Overall this is a five star product in my opinion. I would give 4.5 stars or 4.75 stars if that was an option but rounded up to five. The only minor issue with this phone, in my opinion, is the difficulty in turning off the handset ringer. So if you need to do this on a regular basis, this is a four star cordless phone system. Otherwise it's five stars. Highly recommended.