CLARITYCLARHA40 Portable Telephone Handset Amplifier

Simple to use and does the job. I will note that I only need about ten decibels of amplification so I don't know how well it works at higher amplification levels. Well worth the money (as of December 2023). Remember to buy some nine volt batteries when you order this, it comes with one but eventually the battery will need to be replaced.One Year After Purchase (November 2024): This phone amplifier still works as it did when new and it is still using the same Amazon Basics battery I put in it when I first put it into service. I am happy with it so far.

Connected to a new phone bought on Amazon. (AT&T) for seniors. My mother could not make out the words in a voice call. IT only worked for a few calls, then failed to work at all. I thought this to be a quality device after reading reviews of other phone amplifiers. There are no actual phone amplifiers that work after reading what others claim. I ended up buying a 20w external amplifier and used a external computer speaker. Opening the phone, I disconnected the phone speaker and wired it directly to the external amplifier. This setup works very well. External volume and tone controls. It's just like turning up your TV for true volume control.

I did a good lot of online research before buying this. I had been using a Beltone Sound Wizard (discontinued, and not cheap) with its handset-cord adapter module. I had two S.W.'s, and they both failed. Something seems wrong in their design, possibly excessive sensitivity to static discharge. Was using them with an excellent set of headphones (Plantronics HS1, from Year 2000 or so; discontinued). Had excellent results, and audio in both ears. Both-ear telephone headsets (and the electronics to operate them) are quite pricey, it seems.This amplifier is quite well built; it contains a lot of hand-assembled discrete components (I'm a retired electronic tech.; sorry!) and the workmanship is quite good. Physically, it's substantially made -- built to last. It has excellent rubbery little feet so it won't easily slide off a typical clean table or desktop. As other reviewers (iirc) have said, the cable that came with it is awfully short. I used the Sound Wizard cable.What you need to have is a handset cord; it's not the same as the cable that connects a desktop phone base to the tel. co. Hope you can get one that's short enough, or find a competent geek with stock cable, plugs, and an attachment tool.IIrc, I had to call Clarity to find out what kind of batter[ies] it uses; it's the extremely-common 9-volt rectangular snap-connector type. I didn't dare risk expensive lithium coin cells. I expect quite-good battery life. (IIrc, the red LED dims as the battery depletes.) It came with a battery, not made for retail sale, and just possibly with a longer life than typical retail batteries.It has no power switch. Very likely that it never turns off, but like an LCD wristwatch, it's always on, but at really low power. Audio in the earphone part of the handset cord "wakes it up" quickly, and a bright red LED just beyond tho boost button glows happily. Silence, or near-silence, puts it back to snoozing; the LED dims as it's going to sleep (fun to see).My hearing loss is moderate in my left ear; muzzle blast from 8 or so rounds of a .45-cal did a number on my right ear. Dry absorbent cotton was pathetic. Nevertheless, I can hear loud bird calls and tire noise of passing cars.It has an almost-frightful amount of gain available, and, unfortunately, no volume limiter. I fact, it seems to have a volume expander! (A friend I chat with often was heard with very-loud peaks if I boosted the gain enough to hear his quiet speech; not true of the Sound Wizard.) The gain (volume, sorry) slider has quite a wide range; if you advance it only modestly, you're not likely to be bothered.Nevertheless, like the Radio Shack Stereo Amplified Listener, a good product that really should aim its microphones to the sides, this amplifier can put out levels loud enough to be worrisome. In particular, I found tone dial beeps to be extremely loud. Moreover, the sidetone (your own speech, heard in the earphone end of the handset) tended to be too loud.Do be careful not to start using it with the volume control advanced all the way, unless you're quite deaf!Ideally, this should have a level limiter with a threshold adjustable for the specific handset in use to protect one's hearing; however, that might be beyond the understanding/ability of some users. Be prepared to pull the handset away from your head as quickly as you can, just in case!It would also be quite nice to have a level compressor, which reduces the difference between loudest and quietest sounds.The Tone slider simply provides progressively more boost of the high frequencies (think hiss), to make up for partly-deaf ears' loss of sensitivity to highs.The Boost button seems to increase incoming loudness only moderately. I haven't used it, yet; nice to have a microphone muting switch that's easy to find and use. (It also mutes the microphone, if you haven't yet read the details.)While I'm not completely happy with it, nevertheless it's a decent product, and Amazon's discounted price makes it a no-brainer for people like me who sometimes need a device like this.One reason it's needed is that various telephones (even Verizon Sales) put out such quiet sounds to the phone line that anyone with any modest hearing loss might not be able to hear the caller. Before the Bell System breakup, this would have been unthinkable.Terminology: Handcrank telephones of a century ago had the microphone fixed to the front of the box.The earphone ("receiver") had a nice cord, and some of them actually hung on a spring-loaded hook when not in use. That switch disconnected the speaking part of the phone (but not the ringer). It was called the "hook switch". Around 1920, maybe, a major redesign combined the microphone and earphone into what's correctly called a handset, and the weight of the handset when not in use did what the hook switch did.With our wondrous desire for continuity ("steam shovel", "steam roller"), some traditionalists call a handset a receiver.I'm using it with a Radio Shack ET-3205 repertory-dialer desk set (wall mountable), apparently a decent product that was not popular. Handset is original.In short, while not perfect by far, it's tremendously helpful, very modestly priced, and built to last. If you're in doubt, I'd say buy it. Just be careful of too-loud sound at the earphone!I dare say that a professional hearing aid, a medical device, would never put a too-loud sound into your ear.

I work out of my home as a full time interpreter from Spanish to English and am constantly with at least two parties on the line and sometimes more, often with poor cell-phone connections from them and most often dealing with sensitive information. Since the listening and accuracy is so critical on both ends, so as not to make errors in the interpretation I found myself straining to hear one party or the other in a good percentage of the calls, and so I began to search for amplifiers.I liked the ratings on this one and the price is so reasonable that I decided to give it a try and it's exceeded my expectations. I haven't had too many occasions to use the tone control, but it has helped a few times and reduces certain background hissing as long as the voice isn't too deep already. And like many users have commented, be careful with the volume control unless you're really hard of hearing.....or you will HEAR!! I simply put a piece of tape at the highest point that I'd ever use (about 1/3 up)so that it won't go higher without a lot of effort and this way I won't accidently bump it and not realize it until the next call.....TOO LOUD!!.The only other issue I had was in the battery life and I realize this won't be a problem for the occasional user but when you're on the phone 300-450 minutes a day, the battery life became an issue after about a week. I thought about simply investing in a bunch of 9v batteries and would get in the habit of changing them, because this is such a worthwhile addition...... but then I had an idea when I was looking through a box of electrical adapters for something else.Why don't I remove the battery and connect this 9 volt adapter to the two terminals and plug it in the wall outlet?? I connected the two tiny wires that I stripped from the end that plugs anto an appliance of the adapter with two pieces of electrical tape, put the cover back on after I pinched out a small opening with needle nose pliers for the wires to pass through, plugged it in and have had uninterrupted service from it for the past 4 months!! Just make sure that the adapter output says 9V or it won't work and might damage the equipment and that the wires are connected positive to positive and negative to negative. If they're not, it won't hurt anything but will not work, like a battery put in backwards.Today I'm ordering one for my mom, who is hard of hearing and even though she refuses to admit that she could use it, I'm sending it to her ....just in case. Good luck and trust me if you're looking for a quality amp that will help you over the phone, get it and you won't be sorry.

My elderly mother really likes to chat so not being able to hear people on the phone is terrible for her. This is hard to rate because it worked great until the volume slider broke and it didn't work at all. Luckily she lives in assisted living, so there was another phone she could use until I could get over to figure out why there was no sound coming through her receiver. It's been a while since I returned it and she's asking me to buy another, so we're going to try again. I hope the next one lasts longer.

Device installs inline between handset and body of telephone. It works well exactly as described. The adjustable volume makes it suitable for people with normal hearing as well as those who have impaired hearing. It was delivered within a week. A perfect solution for those with impaired hearing not wanting to spend extra for an special telephone.

impresionante y muy util. Buen costo beneficio

Lorsqu'on parle avec une personne, il y a un bruit de fond qui fait: toc toc toc toc ....Si on baisse le volume pour ne plus entendre le bruit; on entend plus non plus à personne avec qui onparle. Très déçu !

En resumen, no lo recomiendo para quienes trabajan a través del teléfono y que se pasan todo el día en el teléfono. Pero para uso ocasional sí lo recomiendo, pues es un aparato muy útil para aquellas personas que tienen pérdida parcial de la audición, puesto que sí aumenta el volumen de la llamada considerablemente. Es muy fácil de instalar y de usar. Usa una pila de 9V que viene incluida, sin embargo no tiene ninguna entrada para conectarle un adaptador de corriente externo.Yo trabajo como intérprete desde casa y estoy ocho horas al día en el teléfono. Compré este amplificador con la esperanza de que me ayudara con aquellas llamadas telefónicas que se dan frecuentemente en mi trabajo, en las que el volumen es muy bajo y es muy difícil escuchar y entender a mis interlocutores. Lo estuve usando con un teléfono Plantronics modelo Práctica T110 y desafortunadamente el amplificador introdujo varios ruidos y distorsiones (artefactos) en la línea que hizo que fuera demasiado molesto e incómodo para mi usarlo durante periodos largos de tiempo. Por ejemplo, cada vez que presionaba la tecla de "mute" en mi teléfono, se escuchaba un pitido muy agudo y molesto que también escuchaba mi interlocutor. Lo mismo sucedía cuando, por ejemplo, marcaba otro número telefónico para hacer una llamada tripartita. También había un zumbido en la línea, que aunque era bajito, después de varias horas ya empezaba a molestarme. Pero para una persona que use el amplificador ocasionalmente, estos ruidos y distorsiones pueden no molestar ni causar ningún inconveniente.

The Device as multiple adjustments that allowed us to adjust the level and tone to a setting that my 88 year old Father in-law with hearing aids could hear and understand the conversation