Cordless Phone Quandry Part 1: Analog vs. Digital

Now that I'm shopping for a replacement cordless phone, it's now pretty clear that a lot of things have changed isince I bought my AT&T 2.4 GHz 1460. For one, there's a newer frequency option—5.8 GHz—which is good, since so many other things operate at the 2.4 GHz frequency. Wi-Fi computer networks, microwave ovens, baby monitors, and wireless speakers are just a few devices that can interfere with phone calls.

Analog phones continue to be the least expensive models available. They offer good voice quality and plenty of range; you can talk on the phone in the yard and in the house far from the base. Digital and digital spread spectrum (DSS) phones offer the same kind of range but they provide better security and less chance of line interference. Maybe I should be concerned about security and privacy over our phone lines, but I'm not sure I am—especially if it means paying twice as much for a phone that will meet our needs.

Analog phones cost between about $15 and $100, depending on the number of handsets and whether an answering machine is built in. Digital phones range between $50 and $130. The cordless phone market is dominated by AT&T, VTech (which now makes phones under the AT&T name and its own), Bell South, GE, Panasonic and Uniden.

When I told the phone guy at my local Best Buy I was looking for a phone that will last, he steered me to a $119 Panasonic system, saying Panasonics are the most durable and offer the best clarity. They also have the highest price tags on the shelf. But I've got my eye on the Uniden 5.8 GHz DXAI 5588-2 advertised in the Target flyer for $59.91. 

How about Uniden? I ask him. Pretty good record - not bad, not great, he says. I glance down at the Consumer Reports ratings I brought along and notice the Uniden model on sale at Target has a higher rating for voice quality than the Panasonic KX-TG5452M, selling for $119 at Best Buy. The sale Uniden model (not on Best Buy's shelves) lists at $75 in Consumer Reports, so I'm wagering the Target buy is a good deal for a good phone.

Down the road at Target, I look for the price leader on the shelves, but it's gone. I ask the electronics department salesperson and he checks his handheld inventory computer and quickly finds there are more in the back. (I'm so psyched to not hear, 'Whatever is on the shelves is what we have.'). He brings one out.

Sold.

You'd think my kids have never seen a phone before; they are so excited a new, working one is in the house. Of course, we haven't plugged it in yet.