Panasonic KX TG8231B 1.9 GHz 1-Line Cordless Phone

We loved our old Uniden CLX485 phones but after almost two years we were experiencing a scratchy sound with one of the sets. Since we participated in the two-year warranty deal at Best Buy, we took them back for an exchange. The old phones were 5.8 GHz. We wanted to move up to the DECT 6.0 but we still wanted a phone with the joystick function. I don’t recall why we didn’t go with a Uniden again. We purchased the Panasonic KX-TG8231B about eighteen months ago or more. I faintly remember being disappointed with the selection Best Buy had at the time. Based on what reviews I could find on the Panasonic phones, I decided to give these sleek babies a try.

The Panasonic KX-TG8231B is a nice looking phone. It has the glossy look of a piano’s ebony keys and possesses a large, bright, colorful display. And when I say bright – I mean big time bright. You could practically use the lit phone as a flashlight. It also boasts a helpful backlight feature. The color aspect is a fun twist but doesn’t add a whole lot to the phone. We used the dog screen picture available for the one phone and the clouds and sky scene for the other but they’re sort of grainy appearing. There isn’t anything terribly exciting about the color screen and few screen choices available but at least it added a little, cheap thrill to our home phones. The front of the phone has a joystick function under the screen and is followed by an almost completely smooth key surface. It is a suavely styled phone.

The Panasonic KX-TG8231B feels good too. It is lightweight and sleek without feeling flimsy and slick. The phone is easy to hold and use even with my large hands. However, it doesn’t work well trying to shrug it alone between my shoulder and ear. The indentation for hearing is deeper than I expected but comfortable against my ear.

More important than the phone’s structure and aesthetics, is how well it functions. It works splendidly. We had absolutely no problems with connection, sound, volume, or interference. Hubby and I were both pleasantly surprised. The Panasonic KX-TG8231B does a fantastic job. There is a crisp, clear connection every time. Plus we experience no static or interruptions from our other wireless devices, radio, or microwave. Even in speakerphone mode it sounds great. Sure there is a smidge of distortion but nothing irksome. We can hear easily and well when using this feature.

We only had two phones in play. The one is placed on the answering machine base where as the other one goes on a small charging unit. The answering system has eighteen minutes of recording time. The machine doesn’t display the number of messages like previous systems we have used but with the handsets primarily used to retrieve missed calls – it isn’t necessary.  Hubby and I really liked how small the answering machine was. The square base had about a five inch perimeter. It fit well on our Office’s IKEA cubby shelving. I was able to place a photo frame next to it and still have room. The other handset resided in our kitchen. The small charger sat on top of our microwave.

The Panasonic KX-TG8231B is extremely user-friendly. It was very easy to set up and use right out of the box. Just plop the batteries in, charge the units (seven hours recommended), then set up the handsets. We experienced no difficulties with the phones searching for the base or a signal. A telephone pole icon is shown on the screen denoting connection. There are the usual features available similar to cell phones but not the same quantity- only three wallpapers to choose and fifteen ring tones. Plus there’s no option for downloadable ringtones and such for improved customization. Still, the fifty-entry phonebook is easy to set up and we were able to designate those numbers we wished to have a distinct ring or background color. With the caller-id feature this isn’t overly important but it is nice to have especially when the id takes a couple of beats to show.

So why did we end up giving these phones away? Well, the extra handset’s charger went bad. It wouldn’t work anymore. Sure the battery life was good but it was frustrating to place it on the charger and not have the battery life replenished. Plus, we soon realized that we needed to have more than two phones besides the corded one in the basement. Though the Panasonic KX-TG8231B is expandable up to six handsets, we didn’t want to purchase extra ones when we could find a better cost effective solution in obtaining a new phone set. Two years ago this set was $99 at Best Buy. Prices are lower now but still wasn’t in the area we were willing to spend for just a couple extra handsets.

We ended up going back to Uniden for our current phone system thanks to a great deal at Costco. We would consider Panasonic again because we were impressed with them. In fact, my mother-in-law was ready to update her ancient, single cordless phone so we gave her the Panasonics. So far she’s pleased with them – other than their shiny black surface can show a lot of fingerprints. She’s usually reluctant about navigating new electronics’ menus but has had no difficulty with the Panasonic KX-TG8231B and agrees the manual is easy to use as well.

If you are looking for a new phone system then give these guys a try. Other phone sets in this series are currently available at Best Buy, Target, and other brick & mortar locations as well as on line. Pricing has improved too on these phones. Am I advising the Panasonics over the Unidens? NO – both are good. Gather info, read reviews, and shop around. We’ve found Costco a great way to experiment with new home phones. The benefit of buying from Costco other than cost is the no hassle return policy. We tried a set of Vtechs from them and returned the slippery suckers the very next day. Hopefully, we’ll do well with our current phone system but when the time comes we’ll look at both Uniden and Panasonic again.