Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The Panasonic KXTGD222N is a two handset cordless phone system that has a built-in answering system. It is made in China and distributed by the Panasonic Corporation of North America in Newark, New Jersey (www dot panasonic dot com). The phone system operates in compliance with the DECT 6.0 standard. The DECT 6.0 standard is the North American variant of the European DECT standard and it allows multiple cordless handsets to communicate with one base station connected to a single phone line. The system is "interference free" out to about 100 yards outdoors with a much more limited range within buildings. The handsets have an automatic "eco mode" which means the radio channel operates at a reduced power when near the base station to conserve battery life. When further out, the handset increases the radio channel power by switching over to "boost mode". The cordless radio channels have been designed to operate in congested radio traffic environments without interference with common transmission sources such as Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth links, motion sensors, baby monitors, etc. The wireless connection is rather weakly encrypted and can be compromised. Needless to say, this is not a secure phone link. In addition to the integrated digital answering machine, the KXTGD222N has the usual standard features like caller ID, a speaker-phone capability, a lost phone pager button, and intercom communication between handsets. There is also a "silent mode" (or night mode) option. This allows the user to shut off the outside call ringer for a select period of time (e.g., while sleeping at night). It should be noted that to completely silence the system, you need to select silent mode for each handset and also turn off the base station ringer. The KXTGD222N also supports call blocking of specific numbers and talking caller ID which audibly announces the name/number of incoming calls. As you may know, to use caller ID features, you will need to activate the ID service with your local phone company. The talking ID feature is activated by default. To be honest, I don't want my phone audibly announcing who is calling, so I have turned off talking caller ID. The KXTGD222N has all the basic features you would expect and the white/silver color scheme gives the system a clean look. The handsets have a 1 1/8" tall by 1 1/4" wide white backlit display, illuminated keypad, and come with belt clips. I do have a concern that the pristine white look of the handsets will be harder to maintain than with a darker color handset. The silver/white color scheme may not be a good choice for dirty environments such as a garage. Just as a comparison with the older Panasonic KXTG4731 cordless phone system I am replacing, the newer KXTGD222N handsets are slightly smaller than the older KXTG4731 handsets; however, the KXTGD222N handsets do not have side volume buttons and don't have amber top light bars that flash when the phone rings. Overall, this is a basic cordless phone system with all the features I need, so five stars.