Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I have used this phone for about a year now, and am very familiar with its functionality. So I will do my best listing the pros and cons based on my experience with this phone.
First of all, this is by far the best phone I've ever had that can be used with a landline or VOIP. If you need a phone like this for regular use, then I'd say it's worth its price (which isn't low). If you talk on the phone a lot, this is the type of phone that allows you to clip it to your belt and walk away from the receiver, and use the bluetooth headset so that it's completely wireless. You can walk away while talking and the quality of the call will remain the same even at far distances (I have walked some 40 feet away and could still talk on the phone just fine). I used this phone with a VOIP service through Comcast. I tried using it with my new Clear service, but the quality was very poor and unacceptable, and so I have decided to sell the phone now.
Pros:
Cordldess feature of the phone is flawless, and allows you to walk far away from the receiver in any direction. Reception is still great through several walls, which is remarkable.
Phone looks and feels very nice. The whole package is nice: phone, receiver, and bluetooth headset.
Cons:
Now I will list the negative aspects of this phone, but keep in mind this is the best phone I've ever used and that it's an amazing phone. I attribute the shortcomings listed here to the phone's rare sophistication. And it is feedback that Plantronics could use to improve on.
1) The NiMH battery weakens fast over time. The battery had decent performance in the first few months, but then after daily use of about 8 hours a day the battery performance significantly dropped. This meant that after an hour or so of non-stop use I had to put the phone back on the receiver to be charged or else it would shut down. By putting the phone back on the receiver I was still allowed to use it while it was being charged (which is nice), however, the bluetooth headset does not have the same range as the cordless feature on the phone. So when the phone is on the receiver being charged and bluetooth headset is over my ear while I talk I could not walk very far from the receiver or I the quality of the call would decrease significantly. The result is that I had to stay close to the phone after an hour so the battery could be recharged - inside the same room, actually. The bluetooth headset (unlike the cordless feature) does not work well through walls. I believe this is a design flaw of the battery being used - we all know that cell phones use Lithium-Ion for an extended range, but lithium batteries are more expensive than NiMH. I did not look for another battery for this phone and do not believe I could find one that is lithium. Also, I am confident that a new battery would only be good for a few months and then the same issue of weak performance would happen. BTW, changing the battery on this phone is somewhat of a delicate process, so having a spare battery that I could use after an hour would not be a solution - especially because there's no way to recharge the spare battery other than by having it connected to the phone while it is on the receiver.
2) On a similar topic, the connectors for the phone for charging are not very good. I.e., when you put the phone on the receiver so it is charged, it does not easily get into the right position for the connections to touch each other and the phone get charged. Many times I put the phone back on the receiver only to realize that it was slightly off position and so the phone did not get charged - often leaving me unable to use the phone which was low on battery. After a number of inconveniences I learned to pay more attention to make sure the phone was in the right position to be charged every time I put it back on the receiver. It would be nice if such effort did not need to be made, though, in order for the phone to continually remain charged up. This is not an issue with the bluetooth headset, however: once you put it back on the receiver next to the phone it naturally snaps into place and it's impossible to put the bluetooth headset back on the receiver and not cause it to be recharged.
3) The interface of the phone lacks the powerful features of a cell phone. Now, granted, this is not a cell phone so expecting it to be as sophisticated as a cell phone is too much to ask. It's just that I'm used to using cell phones, and so I naturally expected my experience with this phone to be as nice as when using a cell phone. The interface is a bit clunky, and my biggest distaste was when I had was when I added a contact only to find out that the contact wasn't added - simply because I did not press a button for "done". Too many pressing of buttons are required for certain functions that on cell phones often time you can do in just one or two steps. Virtually no ability to customize functions, but again, this is not a cell phone. All in all, this is the best regular phone you can get in my opinion.
I would like to finish this review on a positive note by saying that the bluetooth headset on this phone is spectacular and the best one I've ever used yet. I often use it with cell phones, and the quality of voice on this bluetooth headset is unmatched. Also, after a year this bluetooth headset still stays on for over two days of use, which is remarkable. I have not taken it apart to look at the battery type (there are no screws visible). This bluetooth headset stands out as too big when compared to the ones being sold for cell phones, but I actually like that the mike is close to your mouth and perhaps that is one aspect that makes the quality of voice on this headset so good.
I would say the bluetooth headset on this phone alone is worth 100 bucks. If there was an easier way to charge it I'd consider keeping it. But the whole receiver is necessary in order to charge the bluetooth headset, and that takes up too much space on my bedside table just so I can have a nice bluetooth headset available.
Hope this review helps you in making a decision. One nice thing about this phone is that it is very reliable - everything works every time.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Plantronics Calisto Pro Series - Cordless phone / USB VoIP phone w/ call waiting caller ID - DECT 6.0
