The Best Cordless Phones (2022 Reviews)

Do you remember when you were younger and your friends called you up? Back then, only executives had mobile phones, and you had to drag the phone as far away from the wall as you could to keep your parents from listening in. Nowadays things have changed – with a cordless landline you can walk around the house whilst talking if you want to.

The trouble is that there are so many different kinds of cordless phones available. This makes it difficult to separate the good from the bad, so we’ve picked five of our favorite models in order to save you from having to research them all yourself.

5 Of The Best Cordless Phones For 2022

Take a look at the table below. In it, you’ll find the name of each product that we’ll be reviewing, as well as the number of handsets it comes with. This should make it easier for you to quickly find a product that’ll suit your needs, but hold on for just a minute, we’ll be going more in-depth shortly.

Now that you know the name of each product we’ll be reviewing, let’s jump right in.

We’ll be trying to identify any strong points a given product might have, as well as any areas where they could use a little work. We’ll also be trying to find the kind of person they’d be best suited to, and deciding which is best overall at the very end of the article.

For now, let’s begin with the VTech CS6114.

VTech CS6114 DECT 6.0 – Best Budget Cordless Phone

These days, technology doesn’t have to expensive. You can pick up a budget tablet for under 80 USD, so why should a simple cordless phone cost more than 15 USD? That’s the philosophy Vtech had in mind when they designed their CS6114 landline – it’s inexpensive, but that doesn’t mean it’s not great, as we’ll explain.

It’s a fairly basic product, admittedly. It comes with a single handset, as you might expect. The phone and dock are made of white plastic, and it features an old-style screen as opposed to a fancy new LCD, but that’s okay. It comes with a built-in phone book which is capable of storing up to 30 names and numbers and can even keep track of the last 30 people who have called you, which is great for those times when you want to phone someone back quickly.

This phone has caller ID and call waiting functionality, and it’s hearing aid compatible, which means that it’s the perfect product for someone who is maybe a little older and just wants something nice and simple to take and make calls with. Unfortunately, there’s no speakerphone and no answering machine included. You can pick up an answering machine for around 10 USD, though, so don’t let that put you off.

Not only that, but this phone uses DECT 6.0 technology. A full explanation of this would get a little too technical, a little too quickly, but simply put, it increases the audio quality by reducing the amount of interference and distortion caused by your other devices like wireless routers. This phone even comes with a few different language options: whether you speak English, Spanish, or French, it’s simple to use and easy to set up. It can also be mounted on a wall if you’d prefer since it comes with a mounting hole on its back face.

Another thing that makes it great for older people is that both the screen and keys are backlit. This makes the digits easier to see and since the interface is nice and clean, it’s unlikely to be too confusing for someone who isn’t technically minded to use. The volume can go pretty loud, although there’s no jack for a headset, so if that’s something you’d be interested in, this might not be the product for you. You can change the volume and the sound the phone makes when it rings, but to be fair, those are pretty standard inclusions.

All things considered, this phone is about the best you can get in this price range. For less than 20 USD, you get access to a landline that can store several numbers, accommodate hearing aid users, and fulfill all of the functions that you’d expect a budget phone to. This product would make a great gift for anybody in dire need of an upgrade – maybe they haven’t bought a new phone since the 90’s, and if so, there’s a lot here that they’d find useful.

What We Liked

• Nice and inexpensive
• Great for older people
• Basic phonebook

What We Didn’t Like

• Answering machine

Motorola L601M DECT 6.0 – Best Budget Cordless Phone for Large Households

Just because you don’t have the largest budget right now doesn’t mean that things won’t change in the future, right? As such, it would be smart to buy a product that has a lot of room for growth, such as the Motorola L601M.

This phone is relatively inexpensive, costing around 25 USD, but it provides the ability to connect a further four handsets at a later date. Since these all run from the same phone line, this allows you to put a phone into a room that doesn’t even have the correct connection! This would be great for people who want to run an office from their home, or even just people who want to be able to answer calls quickly, no matter where they are located in the building.

The L601M has enough internal storage to hold up to 30 contacts, and since it’s ENERGY STAR certified, you know that it’s more energy efficient than its rivals. The battery is powerful enough to provide up to 12 hours of talk time and can last up to 180 hours on standby, although really you should be replacing it on its charging dock once you’re finished with it.

This phone is capable of displaying the caller ID of the person who phones you, and there’s even a call waiting indicator if you’re popular enough to have multiple people calling at the same time. There are ten ringtones to choose from, and if you’ve got your hands full, you can use the speakerphone function to talk as you go about your business.

The handset itself is nice and simple. It has a classic black colour scheme, and an orange backlit screen that can display up to four lines of information at any one time. The controls are a little more advanced, but since the menus are laid out in such a clean and understandable way, they’re quite intuitive to navigate.

You have the ability to store nine numbers on speed dial, and there’s a jack which allows you to use a hearing aid if you choose to. Again, there’s no answering machine built in, so you’ll likely want to spend a little more money in order to get one of these. The volume is pretty good, although might be a little quiet for those of us who are hard of hearing. Unfortunately, due to the shape of the handset dock, it can’t be mounted to a wall, but it’s not the kind of phone that’d look out of place on a side table, which is good.

This phone would be best suited to a person who wants to fully connect their home. It has a nice, low price tag, but offers most of the functionality that some of the more expensive models do. On top of that, it’s really easy to get to grips with and looks pretty good too. For under 30 USD, this product is a bargain.

What We Liked

• Energy efficient
• Simple to use
• Allows you to add more handsets

What We Didn’t Like

• Can’t be mounted to a wall

AT&T CRL32102 dect_6.0 – Most Versatile Cordless Phone

Sometimes the simpler products are the best, but when it comes to a home phone, often you’ll find yourself wishing for something with a little more functionality. So what do you do? Do you replace your phone every year, or do you spend a little more initially and buy something like the CRL32102 from AT&T that will last you for years to come?

This phone costs around 40 USD, so it’s far from the cheapest one around. It makes up for this by providing functions that you probably never even expected a phone to have. For example, whilst this model has an answering machine built in (it holds up to fourteen minutes of recordings), it allows you to playback your messages more slowly – if you haven’t listened to a voicemail at some point and wondered what in the world the person was saying, you’re in the minority.

The other thing about phones is that you generally can’t control how they sound. Not this one, though: it comes with its own equaliser that you can adjust until you get the call sounding just how you like it. This carries over into the speakerphone too, so it really is a “set once” kind of thing.

This phone is ENERGY STAR certified, so it won’t cost you too much to run. Additionally, it’s as though it was designed with older people in mind: the buttons are all very large, as is the screen, and the text is black on a white background for greater visibility. When the phone rings, you can answer it immediately by hitting any button, not just the dedicated one – this is great for when a call catches you off guard and you panic.

It has a 50 name and number phonebook and call history, and despite its shape, it can be easily mounted to a wall. As you might expect, it allows you to see who’s calling before you pick up, and the menus are ultra-simple which makes it easy to find exactly what you’re looking for.

We especially liked that the keys on the answering machine are well-spaced and enlarged – these machines can be frustrating at the best of times, but this one is particularly well put together. There’s even a button whose sole purpose is to take you straight to the mailbox. This is a godsend and prevents you from having to navigate several menus in order to perform a simple task.

When you take this unit’s versatility into account, the 40 USD price tag doesn’t seem so bad. While it does only come with a single handset, it’s perfect for smaller homes or for people who aren’t necessarily the greatest with technology. We loved how easy everything was to use, and although we’d have liked to see the answering machine hold a little more, we really can’t complain too much given all of the phone’s other features.

What We Liked

• Wide range of functionality
• Easy for elderly people to use
• Includes answering machine

What We Didn’t Like

• Answering machine doesn’t hold many messages

Panasonic KX-TGE232B – Best Dual-Handset Cordless Phone

If you’re working with a slightly larger budget, it makes sense that you’ll want a lot more bang for your buck: added functionality, greater expansion potential, and of course, an attractive appearance. The Panasonic KX-TGE232B has all of these things, and although it retails for around 70 USD, it’s worth every cent.

First things first: for this price, you get two handsets instead of just one. They have a classic black and white color scheme, and each phone features a high-contrast, backlit 1.8” LCD screen which makes it easier to read from a distance. If you plan on getting more handsets eventually, this is perfect since it allows you to connect up to six without the need for another phone connection.

The interface is about as simple as they come, in no small part due to the size of the screen. The buttons are all large and serve a single purpose, so they’re great for people who aren’t all that comfortable with complicated gadgets.

This product comes with a wealth of additional features: firstly, it has a louder volume than most, so you can use it even if you’re hard of hearing. To help improve the quality of your calls, it uses enhanced noise reduction technology to remove any background noise, and if you find certain sounds a little too loud or quiet, you can target them specifically with the internal equalizer.

There’s an eco-friendly mode, and although the base runs on electricity, it has a battery slot too which provides the unit with power during an outage. It even comes with a key detector – these just clip onto your keys, and you can cause them to emit a beeping noise by pressing a certain button on the handset. This works from up to 200 feet away, so even if you left them in the street outside, there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to find them.

When someone calls you, the handset will read their number out to you. If it’s someone you don’t want to talk to, say a telemarketer, you can add their number to the block list. This can store up to 250 numbers and can greatly decrease the number of times you have to answer the phone every day. It has a built-in answering machine, speakerphone, and address book, and it’s even possible to listen to your incoming messages as they are recorded. We recommend using this to screen your calls if you happen to get a lot of unwanted communication through the day.

Realistically, you’re unlikely to need more than a couple of handsets. If you do want a little more though, this product will allow you to add them easily. The functionality of this phone is simply astounding – it does all of the usual things you’d expect a phone to do, but can also help find your keys, which is something we didn’t see coming.

What We Liked

• Allows for up to six handsets
• Battery backup
• Can even help you find your keys

What We Didn’t Like

• Talking call ID gets annoying very quickly

Panasonic Link2Cell KX-TG7875S DECT 6.0 – Best High-End Cordless Phone

Alright, let’s get one thing out of the way before we begin: this is a product that’s going to be a little too expensive for some people, and that’s okay since we’ve suggested plenty of cheaper ones above. Instead, this phone is aimed at the people who want the best that money can buy – the Panasonic Link2Cell KX-TG7975S doesn’t have a name which rolls off of the tongue, but it does have just about everything else.

It retails for around 115 USD, but this price includes five handsets, which should be enough for just about any sized home or office. Each of these handsets includes a speaker and has a battery which provides up to ten hours of talk time.

This is another energy efficient phone, and it comes with a nice, bright, backlit display and a design which makes it a snap to use. Panasonic has managed to create a product which not only looks great but is very simple to understand.

As you might expect, this product goes a little further than most of its competition. Take the phone book, for example the others we’ve seen have offered to store 50 numbers, but this one can hold up to 3000 – an increase of almost 6000%. The answering machine has a slightly longer recording time too, at 18 minutes, but get this – it allows you to send recorded messages directly to your cell phone so you can listen to them even if you aren’t home. Ah, but then you have to make sure your cell is charged. Not a problem – there’s a micro USB port in the charging cradle.

There’s another reason to keep your cell charged, though. This model supports Link2Cell technology which means that if you pair it with your cell, all calls are forwarded to that instead. This effectively lets you take a call without every phone in the house ringing, which is perfect if you’re trying to speak to someone late at night. People can even go ahead and text your landline if they want to – it’ll ring and then read the message to you directly.

Like some of the others we’ve seen, this phone uses noise reduction technology, but whilst it minimises background noise, it also amplifies the caller’s voice. This means that regardless of whether they’re calling from the road or from a football game, you’ll be able to hear them just fine. Even better, if it turns out to be a nuisance caller, you can add them and up to 249 of their friends on the block list.

Make no mistake, this is a premium product with a price tag to match. Not everybody is going to want or recquire as many as five handsets, but for those with a large area to cover, there are few products compete with this one. One of the great things about this model is that while other units come with just one or two handsets when it’s time to upgrade, things can get expensive very quickly. In contrast, this one requires no additional investment and will last for years.

What We Liked

• Comes with five handsets
• Extensive cell phone functionality
• Crystal clear audio

What We Didn’t Like

• Pretty expensive

Which Cordless Phone Is The Best For Me?

People tend to think that home phones are super simple, but there’s actually quite a bit to think about. The cheapest cordless phone isn’t actually always the best, it turns out. To help you come to a decision, we’ve put together a brief guide which explains some of the biggest things you should consider before spending any money on a cordless phone.

Everyday Use

How’s your vision? And you hearing? If you’re starting to find either difficult, you might want to look into getting a phone that has a large, high-contrast screen or a louder than average ringer. You can also find handsets that come with large buttons, and these have another benefit too: the larger the buttons, the less of them there usually is, which means the phone is often easier to use.

Do you want an answering machine?

Here, you have two choices: you can either buy a phone that has one built-in or buy a separate one. These aren’t particularly expensive, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem, although they are actually pretty useful. One thing to note is that the phones which answering machines included generally don’t store many messages, usually just 15 minutes’ worth or so.

How many handsets are there? Some of the lower-budget models offer just one, but there are some out there which come with up to five.

Really, how many you’ll need depends entirely on your home – if it’s very large, you’re generally going to want more since these will allow you to answer it without having to run from room to room. If you buy additional handsets at a later date and don’t know how to connect them to your existing system, you can follow the helpful guide available here.

Advanced Functionality

If you have a little more money in the budget, you can get all sorts of advanced functionality. You might not need it, but some of the features on offer include built-in answering machines, the ability to connect your cell phone for easier forwarding, automatic call blocking, a larger phone book, and so on.

Consider the way in which you’ll be using the phone, and weigh up whether or not it might be worth stretching your budget a little.

For instance, if you only have a few people that you call regularly, you probably aren’t going to benefit from a phone book which stores 1000 numbers. If you hate voicemail (and who doesn’t), an answering machine likely isn’t going to be a deal-breaker.

On the other hand, one of the things we’d suggest you get is a phone with noise cancellation tech built-in. This makes it easier to hear the person on the other end of the line and is something that you’ll benefit from. On the plus side, most phones have at least some form of this included, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find a model you like.

Conclusion

So there you have it. We’ve seen five of the best cordless phones on the market, and one to fit every budget, but the time has come to decide which is the best overall. After much deliberation, we’ve settled on the AT&T CRL32102.

The reason for this is simple: it’s an affordable and versatile product that comes with all the functionality a person might need.

It’s not going to be enough for very large homes, but if you only need one handset, choose this one.