Uniden DXAI5588-2 Twin Cordless Phone: The word “crappy” comes to mind

Why, oh why?
I know what you’re thinking, “Scott, you’re on epinions all the time. Why, oh why did you buy this phone despite the eleven previous reviewer’s glowing ratings?” Well, we all make mistakes sometimes. Mine was to think that at the price this pair of phones with an answering machine was selling for, I couldn’t go wrong. Sadly, I never checked the reviews . . . sadly, they were dead on.

But it seemed good
A mere $59 for a 5.8 GHz cordless phone by itself seems like a good deal. I had to figure that a pair of phones along with a digital answering machine was kinda like getting . . . oh an extra phone and digital answering machine for free. How could I pass on that, right?

Before I get too far ahead of myself here, I think that I need to explain some things. These are cordless phones, relics of a day when your phone was tied to your house. These aren’t cell phones (maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, but there are a couple of you that have no idea that phones once had cords, admit it!)

The answering machine is also something of a relic. I that one day I might have to look into that newfangled voicemail stuff. Answering machines are like voicemail but without the extra bill from the phone company. They also tend to lose your messages.

Anyway, this phone set has a pair of handsets that will work in your home (assuming it is too small to warrant the need for a second handset, more on that later). There is only one receiver that works with both phones. The second handset has its own charger.

The answering machine stamps the date and time on all the calls. It also allows you to record a message without calling the phone such as, “I ran to the phone store to get a better phone. I’ll be back in five minutes.” It’s a handy feature to leave a quick message if you’re too lazy to write a note. (I’m too lazy to write a note).

Just about the only thing that I like about the answering machine is the ability to erase a single message. The old machine that we replaced was an all or nothing erasure deal. The machine also features a nice man’s voice which tells you things such as, “You have 2 new messages!” He does not, however mention, “They didn’t mention this phone was going to suck when they asked if they could feature my voice on it, so sorry.”

Why it’s actually crap
The biggest problem with the Uniden DXAI5588-2 is the reception. Anywhere more than about twelve feet from the base, there is some pretty serious static that starts to happen. Now those of you who aren’t all that familiar with these old fashioned devices, static is somewhat similar to what you might expect with your cell phone. You know those annoying little blank spots when neither party can hear the other? It’s kinda like that.

A little static once in a while is part of having a cordless phone. It’s just an unfortunate fact of life. But this one might set some records for static. I’ve had Sony phones and Motorola phones that would burp a little static once in a while. This one works like a radio that won’t quite tune to a station. The further you get from the base, the worse it gets. Upstairs in our house, it’s pretty sketchy. Outside, forget about it.

Battery life is fair, but not good. You won’t get more than about a day of the phone laying about before you need to get up off the couch to put it back on the charger. Any cordless worth a bean will allow you to sit on the couch for a full week without getting up. (I’m too lazy to leave a note and you want me to get up to answer the phone?!)

The layout of the key functions is illogical as well. The “Talk” button is fine. You press it to make a call. No problem. However, to end the call you press end. That makes perfect sense to the cellular crowd, but the rest of us push “Talk” again to end the call and end up annoyed because the dang thing doesn’t hang up.

The arrow keys are annoying as well. You’d think that pressing one of them might take you to the caller ID results. Instead they make the phone ring, which makes you think, “How weird, I was just about to call someone and my phone rang!” Actually, once the initial disappointment fades, you remember that the arrow keys adjust the volume.

Another thing that sucks about this phone is the inability to program an area code and dialing rules. While you have long distance calls on the caller ID, you cannot simply press talk to call them. The silly phone won’t dial the one for you. (Again, still lazy).

The phone will store 10 numbers in memory. That’s paltry by today’s standards though.

The handset is comfortable enough, but there is no earpiece volume control.

Answering machine functions
The answering machine is fair. The sound on it is better than the one it replaced, but it lacks any real listening controls beyond volume. This leaves you with essentially the ability to listen to the message over and over. You cannot fast forward or rewind to get that phone number that long-winded Aunt Tilly left eight minutes into her message. Neither can you slow down highly caffeinated Uncle Stu to catch the address that he blurted out more quickly than a stifled burp.

The controls are about as intuitive as the rest of the phone. This of course means that they are confusing as programming the clock on a VCR (another antiquated device that two of you are unfamiliar with). Fortunately, pressing the Clock/Menu button will bring back the helpful man’s voice telling you what to do.

There is one nice feature to the answering machine. Our old digital answering machine used to eat messages whenever the power went out. This one is polite enough to save them for a while. I haven’t unplugged it for various amounts of time to see just how long the power can be off before your messages are lost to oblivion, but I do know that a couple hours isn’t a problem.

Final Thoughts
In all, the price was probably about right for this phone set. It was indeed not a bargain. I’m glad that I only wasted $60 though. The reception is bad enough that I usually keep the Motorola phone handy if I actually expect a call or plan to make one. The Unidens are reserved only for emergency use when I don’t want to run across the house to answer one.

I’d say spend a little more money on some other phone set, or make do with your current piece of junk phone. This one isn’t too good.