GE - 25951 Cordless Phone Review

After searching various stores, I finally purchased the slick looking, silver and black GE 25951EE1 Cordless Phone. This phone had the reliable GE brand behind it, came with all the bells and whistles, and to top it off, was only $39.99. Was my mission successful? I think not.

My Experience

First Impressions

When I first got this phone home and took it out of the box, I was pleased with the look. The answering machine was already attached therefore I didn't have to purchase one separately.

When I picked up the handset, my first thought was that it seemed quite heavy and I wondered how that would interfere with any long conversations that I might have. After using it a few times, I found that the weight is somewhat of an inconvenience.

Following the instructions

As the manufacturer required, I let the cordless phone battery charge for 16 hours before my first use. When this mission was completed, I moved on to the answering machine set up. This portion of the task was pretty much standard. I had to set the voice prompt language, voice time/day stamp and speaker volume. I then recorded the outgoing announcement and set how many rings I wanted before the answering machine picked up. All the instructions were included to complete these tasks and were very simple to follow.

Answering Machine

The playback sound on the answering machine is fairly clear and I really don't have many complaints in this department. There is no option to set how long a message will record. I have not yet had anyone's message cut off therefore I would have to assume that there is no time limit. I have read through the entire instruction booklet and there is no information regarding the length of incoming messages.

Ringtones

Now came the fun part! I got to choose from one of the thirteen ring tones. Actually, there are three true ring tones and ten melodies to choose from. I whole-heartedly believed that, out of thirteen choices, I would be able to find at least a few that were acceptable. Oh, how wrong I was.

After listening to the choices, the only thing that I could imagine was a roomful of laughing GE employees sitting around a table after having a few drinks, coming up with the absolute worst possible ring tones/melodies ever.

There isn't an actual listing of the names of the melodies but some are recognizable such as The Entertainer (you know, from the movie The Sting), The Flight of the Bumble Bee, and oh yes, there is even When the Saints Go Marching In and of course, Beethoven's Fifth. I cannot name the others but I assure you, they are not appropriate for any phone. Oh, my head.

Handset, Sound Quality, Range and Battery Life

Another major gripe I have about the GE 25951EE1 Cordless Phone is the fact that the talk and speaker button are raised so high and in such a bad location that, when holding the handset up to my ear, I constantly end up either hanging up on the person or putting them accidentally on speaker. The volume control can be adjusted on the handset fairly easy but you only have the choice of either high, low or off.

While I am on the subject of talking, when I speak into the phone there is an echo which is extremely annoying. The person on the other end doesn't seem to hear it but it is still difficult for me to have a conversation that way.

There is no specific range listed in the instruction booklet but I can go to about the end of my driveway before the phone begins to get static. My driveway is about 55 feet long.

We have owned this phone for about eight months and have had not had to replace the battery. There have been a few instances when we have left the handset off of the base for a couple of days and the battery did die but we just had to let the phone recharge on the base for a few hours.

Final Thoughts

The echoing, the inappropriate choice of ring tones, the weight of the handset, and the bad location of the raised talk and speaker buttons leads me to conclude that this phone is not one I would recommend or one I would buy again.

Overall, although I have many gripes with this phone, there are a number of features that are decent and, because of that, I have to give this cordless phone a 3 star rating. It's average and inexpensive. If you can live with the inconveniences and annoying echo, the phone does hold up and works as it should. I would much prefer to spend a bit more for better quality sound, ring tones, and less unnecessary features. Because the phone is so inexpensive, GE would have been smarter to manufacturer a high quality basic phone rather than an inferior one packed with features that most households rarely need or use.