Siemens 4215 Gigaset 2.4 GHz DSS Expandable Cordless Phone (White and Silver)

I have gone back and forth on whether to get this phone or not, based mostly on the hot or cold reviews it has received (people seem to either hate it or love it). After using it for a while, I am very glad I bought it. I find most of the complaints about it totally unjustified. Here is my response to some of the top complaints: 1. Too complicated to use: Say what? Just because it has 4 or 5 times as many features as any other cordless phone doesn't make it too complicated. The setup menus are very clear and logically organized - and if you don't like the "complicated" features, well then don't use them. For instance, it has the ability to program the ringer to be softer at night (say between 10:00 pm and 7:00 am)...kind of overkill if you ask me, but like I said, if you like it, use it, if not, forget about it. In general it works just like your cell phone, as opposed to most cordless phones which are less "complicated" (you do have a cell phone don't you). 2. Sound quality: This complaint is somewhat justified, and the reason I gave the phone 4 stars instead of 5. When I first set it up, I had a lot of clicking noises, but I had the base unit right next to my 2.4 ghz wireless network router (I figured that would be a problem, but I had to try). I moved the base unit to another room, and no more clicking. That said, the voice quality is not stellar, but I would say it is adequate. I have certainly heard better, especially for a digital phone, though. 3. Battery life: No problems here. I can talk for several hours without problem. I do always return the phone to the cradle afterwards though, so if you don't that might be a problem long term. The batteries are Ni-cad, but they are standard AA size, not a propietary battery. So if you need to replace them, you can buy any old rechareable ni-cad (or better yet nickel metal-hydride) batteries. 4. Call waiting feature is not intuitive: This one cracks me up. The mem button (which is used to access this feature)is located all by itself at the bottom right corner of the phone. It is used to program the one touch dial feature of the phone as well as access call waiting. I assume if you rarely used call waiting, you might forget which button to use, but how is that any differnet than a cell phone (most cell phones use the send key to access call waiting...that's more intuitive?). At least the button is in a good location...if you ask me, it is more intuitive than most phones. I suppose they could have labeled it mem/cw for those who forget how to use their phones... Overall, I am very happy with this phone. It has a list of features that simply blow everything else on the market away. I wish the sound quality were a little better, but I can live with it.

PROS: Cool features, cool design, good battery life CONS: Poor sound quality, wierd ring tones After searching for several months for a replacement for our old Panasonic 900Mhz cordless, I happened across the Siemens 4000 series. Looking at the spec sheets, these phones seemed to have everything that I wanted - expandability, greater range than my current phone, caller ID on the handset, and a built-in answering machine. They also have lots of extra features that sounded really cool. One of my friends has an older model and highly recommended it to me, so I decided to give it a try. I chose the Comfort series, and ordered the base station and one additional handset from Amazon. I received the phones quite quickly and set them up immediately. After charging the batteries, I took the phone for a test run. I didn't find the phone to be overly complex, as long as you refer to the manual during setup. One thing that immediately struck me as odd was how when I set the greeting for the answering machine, the voice prompts were extremely crisp and clear, but the greeting I recorded sounded fuzzy. I placed several calls from both handsets, and they both sounded the same - voices were fuzzy and the sound quality was horrible. It sounded like you were always at the edge of the range for the phone, even though you could be in the same room as the base station and still hear the static. I tried moving the base station, to no avail. It seemed that computer generated voices by the phone were clear, but any recorded or transmitted voices were fuzzy. The other thing that drove us crazy about the phones were their ring tones. While I appreciated the variety of choices, it would have been nice to have one normal ringtone. None of the available rings sound like a real phone - instead they all sound like a pager or cell phone with trendy rings. THE VERDICT: I really wanted to like these phones, because they are definitely cool. While I could get over the ringtones, I just couldn't live with the poor sound quality from a phone that costs as much as this one does. For me, the most important feature in a cordless phone is how it sounds, and this phone just does not sound as clear as it should. After a two week trial, I returned the phones to Amazon (great return service from Amazon, BTW). I think I'm going to look into the Panasonic phone systems that are similar to this one, so maybe I'll be able to compare them soon.

This thing is awesome. The only issue I had (and I noticed a number of other people had the same problem) was the line was EXTREMELY full of static. After being very disappointed and frustrated for 5 min, I switiched the phone cord to the one I was using with my old phone. STATIC GONE. The features are amazing (speakerphone workes fantastically), very easy to program, and extremely intuitive to learn the menu system. I strongly recommend this phone.

I bought this phone about three weeks ago. This is indeed one of the clearist cordless phones that I've ever owned. However, the EXTREME complexity of this phone left me with little choice but to return this product. Pros: 1) Sound clarity, stylish, small, German engineering. 2) Everything is located on the handset. 3) Good speaker-phone. Cons: 1) Complicated, need engineering degree to operate. 2) Random clicking noise and humming noise in the back ground. 3) Awkward belt clip. 4) Lack of head phone jack. 5)Not truly "voice dial." After dealing out cash for a cordless phone, my expectations were very high. The previous reviews all agreed on the clarity of this phone and for the most part they were accurate. Although I did notice some interference and random clicking and low level humming noise that were a little annoying, especially considering the price tag. The German engineers packaged this phone with all kinds of neat features. Perhaps too many features, thus making the phone extremely difficult to use. The so called "voice activated dialing" is another one of the "unneccessary" options. First of all, I do not believe it is true voice dialing. As I understood it, you have to record your own voice(which is a real pain to do) and to dial, you have to search the directory, goto voice dial, select the person and the phone will just replay your recorded voice and to dial you still have to press a botton. So, if you think that it will automaticaly dial, like your cell phones, you're mistaken. Overall, it is a good phone with numerous problems, making it an average product. I hope this helps. MT

This phone was a replacement for a Panasonic 2.4 GHz cordless that I've used for 6 years. I read all the reviews and decided to get the 4215. I have not been disappointed thus far. Its features are great (though many in number, so lots of menu clicks at times). It's similar to a cellphone in operation and menu structure. Call quality and message quality are great. I love the musical ringtones! With a second handset I can call between the handsets for intercom capability within the house (nice for when I'm in the basement and everyone else is on the second floor). I've read elsewhere that people have had trouble with battery life. Since a lot of people don't properly charge the batteries initially, I thought this would not be a problem. Indeed, initially I had 4-5 days of battery life. But after 3 months the battery life was down to about 2 days. So I got 2 new AA-size NiMH batteries. After I got them I noticed that the stock NiCd phone batteries are 700 mAh, whereas the Energizer NiMH batteries I purchased are 1850 mAh, i.e., over 2.5 times the capacity. We'll see how these work. I took one star off because they went with the cheaper batteries (for a more expensive phone), there is no headset outlet (although I don't use that option very often anyway), and the handset is tapered at the top so it may fall out of your hand before you get used to it (ergonomics issue). The base appears to be geared towards table top usage, since I don't see how it can be attached to the wall. But the footprint is pretty small anyway, so no problem for me.

I purchased the 4215 with high expectations, as you would expect.... I was looking for a state-of-the-art phone with cool features, that is hands-free capable as has great reception What I recieved was a phone that, although does some very cool features, is not comfortable to hold for long periods and is not hands-free capable (yeah, they got me there... you have to buy the additional handset for another [amount of money]). Also, the frequency of the phone is too close to the that of a microwave oven - so forget about chatting while you are cooking in the kitchen (but you'll need 2 hands for that anyway....) However, these problems were minor when capared to the technical issues experienced with the phone. I have had to return the phone twice because the phone "lost registration" and couldn't "find" ther base station. Yes, this phone is certainly is "state-of-the-art"... And be warned - Siemens will not refund your [money] they only "repair or replace"... Needless to say, here I am with a [less expensive]hands-free phone, trying to defend the logic of spending [more money] on one of lesser quality...

Love: -Cordless Speakerphone has amazing quality, most people do not know they are on speaker unless there is a medium/high level of background noise. I actually use the speakerphone 90% of the time, even if I don't need to. Some people complained about the lack of a headset jack, but you only need that if you want privacy. -Elegant design. Small, comfortable to hold. It stands upright on a flat surface (great for speakerphone mode). -All functionality on the phone, not the base. I Like the selection of ring tones, and the massive number of options like the intercom and room monitor. Hate: -Answering machine playback quality is terrible. I could not understand a message that I recorded. -This is not a 2 line phone. I knew that when I bought it, but that would ice the cake for me if it were. Anoying but OK: -I had trouble with the call waiting feature. I called Siemens support, and they helped me fix it. I had to adjust the 'flash' setting under the 'base settings' menu. Now it works fine. -The key delay is slightly anoying, but I have all my numbers in the directory, and voice dial (which works 75% of the time). Rebates: -Don't forget to go to the Siemens website and download [any available] rebates .... I love this phone.

This is a fine unit. There are tons of features (and despite the contrary views here, very easy to access). I still haven't turned off the telco$ company's voicemail yet to try out the digital answering machine. I especially like having to enter information once, and "downloading" it to the other handset. Now if only everything were Bluetooth...