Philips SE6591B/17 DECT Series 2-line Cordless Phone with Answering Machine
Product Description
The SE6591B cordless phone by Philips uses DECT 6.0 technology that offers a crisp and clear sound for all your phone conversations. Enjoy high quality conversations with Philips Enhanced High Def Voice. The sophisticate… More >>
$59.95
Philips SE6591B/17 DECT Series 2-line Cordless Phone with Answering Machine
I’ve been waiting for a 2-line DECT phone to hit the market and this one had all of the features that I wanted with the possible exception of a Bluetooth interface.
Likes:
- There are discreet keys for speaker and mute on both the desk unit and the handset. This is much better than trying to get to these features through soft keys.
- The voice quality and handset range is excellent. The DECT technology did not interfere with any wireless network devices and there was no interference whatsoever heard on the phone.
- The speaker phone and microphone quality were very good, although the speaker phone volume is a bit weak and needs to be operated at the maximum volume level to be useful.
- Having both the deskset and handset keypads is very convenient.
- The lit key surrounds are nice.
Dislikes:
- Not having seen one in person, I was a little surprised at the size of the unit. This is a very compact and lightweight unit with a smallish display and tiny screen text fonts.
- The buttons are made of a soft material but have smooth slippery surfaces that aren’t as pleasant to use as most rubber-type keypads.
- The setup functions are rather clumsy in their execution, but otherwise get the job done.
Deal Breakers (for me at least):
- On the deskset keypad, there is an annoying delay from when you press the key to when the number is accepted by the phone. For me, this often resulted in dropped number entries and miss-dials.
- The keypad feel on the handset is OK, but the keys on the deskset felt cheap to me. My particular unit had two bad keys that you had to hit very hard just to get them to register an entry, but even the other keys had no tactile feel, which just compounded the delay problem. You can set a tone to sound when you hit a key, but the phone also plays a tone when accepting the number, so you have multiple tones per keystroke – very odd.
- When a line is in use from another phone in the house, it doesn’t light up the line so that you know it’s in use.
I’ve been waiting for this phone to become available since it was first introduced at the CES show back in January and really wanted to like this product, but unfortunately just couldn’t live with all of it’s shortcomings and returned it. Hopefully some other manufacturers will start introducing 2-line DECT phones soon, as the underlying technology appears to be excellent. My opinion is that Philips missed the mark on this early entry.
Rating: 2 / 5
I found this to be a quality product.
1) Sound quality is very good, especially with the XHD Sound feature enabled.
2) Sound volume is exceptional, especially on the handset.
3) Displays could be a little larger.
4) Response time on the base dial pad is a little slow, but not awful.
5) Response time on the handset dial pad is ok.
6) Range is good.
7) Every button on the handset lights up and the buttons have a good feel to them.
Something else I noticed that I like about this phone is that there is only one caller ID log and only one phone book. They are in the base only. The chordless handsets have access to the log and phone book on the base. This makes it easy to maintain the phone book and caller ID log since there is only one of each.
I just discovered two other features of this phone that I like.
If you subscribe to Caller ID and you receive a call from a number that you have in your phone book, the display will show the name from the phone book rather than the name from the incoming Caller ID.
Also, if you subscribe to Caller ID, the date and time are automatically updated from the Caller ID information.
If I could, I would change the rating to 5 stars.
Rating: 4 / 5
This is a wonderful wireless phone system with excellent range, amazing features and a straight forward user guide that makes sense of the menu driven “brains” of the system. There are only a few quirks which prevent me from rating this a 5 star system.
What I like about this system:
a) Quality of appearance and design is superior. Look and feel of the base and the portables is exceptional. It is very appealing to the eye.
b) Sound quality is very good. Tends to be a bit over driven, but easily adjusted by turning down the volume. Volume range is also very good.
c) Speaker phone function at each station is a great feature.
d) Useful range is phenominal compared to my prior Panasonic 5.8 multi-line system.
e) Backlighting on handsets and the base is excellent.
f) Clock on screen of handsets is an excellent size when these stations are sitting idle.
g) One phonebook and one call history list! They are stored in the base station and shared by all the portable phones. Any station can add entries to the phonebook. (Note: any station can also delete entries, so there needs to be some ground rules with your family or small office as to who is the decision maker for edits.)
h) Clock and date seem to be updated by the land line system.
What I don’t like:
a) Wallpaper images are limited from the manufacturer and cannot be altered. There are only 4 out of the box options.
c) Ring tones are set by the manufacturer. No user upgrade option. There are a number of choices, which is good.
d) Since the phonebook is stored in the base and shared by all the stations, only one station has access at a time. Not a huge issue but can be frustrating while waiting to gain access.
Some folks have commented that the response time on the base dial pad is a little slow. Well, yeah maybe, but only 1 or 2 seconds, and if that is a big deal to you, you must be too busy and impatient….take a chill pill! This is really not bad and is no big deal.
If you live in an area which requires 10-digit dialing, do not list your area code in the set-up screen. If you do, it will not post the area code in the call log, and you will not be able to use the redial / dial back feature.
Maybe I missed it in reading the specs or the manual….I’m not sure how this system handles a power outage, and my system is so new that we’ve not yet experienced a power outage. Most all data and setting are stored in the base. The base gets power from a wall converter, and there are no batteries in the base. I am hopeful that the memory is not volatile but cannot comment further on this concern today. Maybe another consumer can comment on this!
Rating: 4 / 5
I’m impressed, unlike some reviewers my experience to date with this system has been exactly what I wanted and needed. I ordered this unit with two additional handsets to replace an older Panasonic 5.8Ghz two line system. Like other reviewers I found the features and specs exactly what I was looking for. To date the performance of the base and the handsets has been outstanding. For my home/office use I wanted a handset on the base and not a corded phone on the base as seems to be the case on many two line phone systems currently available.
Installation and setup was incredibly easy with auto handset registration. Note that handsets should be charge for 24 hours before normal use. However the batteries that come with the system will power on the handset immediately after insertion and begin to search for the base so you may want to plug in the base first before activating the handsets. The handsets will be assigned a consecutive number for easy identification but this can be easily changed later.
The clarity with DECT 6.0 is excellent. The equipment both handsets and base not only appeal with their aesthetics but both are light weight and do not consume excessive space like older multi handset and base units. I am not using the wall mount so I cannot comment on its usefulness.
The speaker function on the handsets is impressive, loud and clear which helps my wife who has sever hearing damage. The base speaker is also good. I have not had any issues with dialing or the keypad keys on the base as some reviewers complained about. The LCD readouts on both the handsets and base make sense and are easy to read and use. The color background is an appealing novelty but not of any real benefit. It is easy to make snap judgments about the quality of signals but I have found this is often dependent on the calling or receiving parties line or phone, especially cell phones. Having tested and knowing what the line or reception quality was at the other end of a given call I was able to see really how well this system and these handsets work. Excellent in my experience.
There are a lot of great features and I’m sure from reading other reviews that some folks are not aware that they can do things they think the system doesn’t allow. I guess we all hate to read manuals but this system is easy enough that my wife has worked most of it out without reading anything at all because she really hates manuals.
The handsets use rechargeable AAA batteries which is a huge plus over those outrageously expensive proprietary batteries of older systems. Everybody has different needs, use their systems in different was and will have different opinions. Still I recommend that if you currently have a home/office two line phone system requirement then the Philips SE6591B/17 base and SE6590 handsets are worth evaluating against any other two line options available to see if they suit your needs as they have mine.
On my wish list is wireless for using a Bluetooth headset with the system.
Rating: 5 / 5
Like many other reviewers, I bought this phone based on it’s features and Philips’ reputation for quality products. I’ve purchased many other Philips product and I’m generally pleased with the value for the dollar. That said, I feel this phone is a great deal at it’s current price. Suggested retail price is too high given it’s good, not excellent, sound quality. Mind you, I’m coming from a Uniden PwerMax 5.8 GHz phone. So this review is based on my experience with the Uniden. My set up is a Ma Bell landline on Line 1 and VOIP on Line 2, which is the way to go these days.
Audio quality – As mentioned earlier audio quality is good. Regardless of whether I’m using the speaker phone or the handset, the sound is a bit tinny compared to the Uniden. Volume however is more than adequate, including when I have a headset plugged in. Never does the audio sound bad.
Quality of construction – Compared to the Uniden, the base is on par if not better than what I’ve had in the past with the last two Uniden systems I’ve had. However, the Philips handsets are lighter in weight hence they feel a little bit more flimsy. That’s not to say they’re not well constructed. I like the soft rubber buttons and the belt clip actually attaches more securely than the Uniden belt clips.
Display – The handset displays on the Philips have bright and easy to read. Though a tad bit smaller than the Uniden’s, they pack a lot of information on the home screen in a very efficient manner. The color displays are also a refreshing site and even though there are only three wallpaper images to select from (four if you count the blank white screen) they make it fun to give each handset it’s own personality. When in standby mode the screen displays the time in large extremely legible numbers, which can be read day or night without having to activate a backlight. This is a very useful and nice feature.
2-Line features – What sets this phone apart is it’s 2-line capability and how well it works. You can set a default line or AUTO for answering the phone or making phone calls. You can conference callers from both lines. The answering machine keeps messages from Line 1 separate from Line 2.
Misc – There’s a very nice alarm that allows the handsets to double as alarm clocks. Phonebook entries saved on any handset are automatically shared across the the entire system (base as well.) I remember on the Uniden this required an extra step, which you had to remember to do from time to time if you wanted all the handsets to have the same phonebook entries.
Overall I’d say the Philips is a very good phone based on the current Amazon selling price. I’d suggest it to anyone who’s looking for a feature packed 2-line cordless phone. The folks at Philips put a lot of thought into how a person might use a 2-line phone and I think they’ve put together a very good phone. If the sound quality were a bit better this could easily be an excellent phone.
Rating: 4 / 5