Review on Panasonic KX-TGA101S Silver Extra Handset w/ Charger for KX-TG1032S, KX-TG1033S, KX-TG1034S Cordless Phones: Enhanced Connectivity by Johnny Nguyen

I have been using the Panasonic Dect 6.0 Expandable Cordless Phone System for about 16 months now. One night one of my phones was stolen from my porch so I needed a replacement. I can tell you that the clarity is great as long as there aren't too many walls or devices between you and the base unit. Nice features included: Hands-free option in the phone is first class. You can turn it on whenever you're on standby while listening to music while waiting for your call to go through. Most people will never know you're on a speakerphone call if you have the handset on the table in front of you. . If you have concrete walls or the base station is parked two floors up, this can happen more often. Unimpeded range is pretty good, around 200+ feet. Remember this is a cordless phone only, not a walkie-talkie. I like the fact that regular AAA batteries can be used. Factory originals are just enough for 550 mAh. They last all day with moderate to heavy use. But if you tend to leave your phone without a charger for days and then have long calls, consider upgrading to high-capacity rechargeable AAA batteries ranging from 700 to 1000+ mAh. However, if you use it moderately, you should charge your devices every night. The battery indicator is no joke: 3 bars when fully charged. And in a bar you'll need to make a succinct call or reach for another handset, which should be ready on the charger. When you hear the low battery beep, you have a few minutes left at best. So don't say I didn't warn you. Phone locator is your best friend. These phones are small and easily lost or hidden under a pillow or paper. The perforation buttons are large and easy to read. In addition, the screen is very easy to read. You can adjust the screen contrast as you like. Other nice features include: easy retrieval of answering machine messages from the handset, a programmable alarm clock, a built-in phone book, caller ID and a memory that stores the last 50 calls. Useful when you forgot to write down an important phone number. In general the phone does what I expect it to do. The only gripe is the quirky nature of the random missed calls. Again, correct placement of the base unit is important. If you have a three story home, the base unit should be on the second floor. You may need to experiment to get the maximum range from this phone. However, I live in a multi-story concrete building, so I'm not expecting much from a cordless phone. Here in a nutshell; This phone does the job if you don't expect too much from it e.g. For example, standing too close to some active devices or talking under high-voltage power lines across the street. I recommend this phone. The only reason it didn't get a 5 star rating is the lack of a backup battery in the base unit to keep the phones going during a power outage. Panasonic has built cordless phones with this feature in the past. So they have the technology, but they chose not to use it in this model. So don't plan to get rid of all wired phones. Small point, I concede, but it cost them a star in my rating.