Panasonic KX-TGA651B DECT 6.0 Three Pack Handset Bundle for DECT 6500 Phones

(see my review for Panasonic KX-TG6513B DECT 6.0 PLUS Expandable Cordless Phone System, Black, 3 Handsets, quoted below)

We got these to replace some aging V-Tech phones. I liked the easy setup, the expandability to 6 handsets and especially the range extender. They are a snap to setup if you take the 2 minutes to read the instructions. The common phone book is a nice feature and the best part of all is they use NiMH AAA rechargeable batteries! We all know that phones eat batteries eventually and this will make it a snap to replace them - it's so much easier to find standard batteries than to have to find the specific battery pack / connector combination used by some other phones. Also (deviously) you can raid the handsets if your TV remote control batteries die in the middle of the big game!!! Someone did their homework.

Bought this (and the base unit and 1 other handset), set it up, it just worked. No issues, no problems. Everything worked as described. A couple weeks later one iphone would not connect. Disabled and reenabled bluetooth on the iphone and it worked again. no problems since. Time function works great to stop calls on the handset in the bedroom between 9pm and 7am. Multiple rings work as described. each handset rings with the ringtone of the iphone receiving the call and the home line with its ringtone. Have 5 handsets total. wife loves it because she can plug in her iphone when she gets home and get her calls on the handset. I like being able to get hold of her in the house if I call her iphone. hard to imagine anything working better.

I've noted some other reviews which said that the KX-TGA6581B does not pair with bluetooth convergence on KX-TG6582 or KX-TG6583 phone sets. I can confirm the add-on phone pairs the same as the base units. The answering station actually pairs with the cell phone bluetooth so that you must keep the cell phone near the answering machine. The KX-TGA6581B handset menu is automatically reconfigured to match the base phones so that you can call both over the land line or cell phone line. I keep my cell phone downstairs and the answering station in the room upstairs above. The cell phone pairs just fine. I'm able to take cell phone calls anywhere in the house. I also like that the handset announces the caller for anyone I have programmed into the address book. Otherwise it pronounces the caller number.

I'm "on call" for work and this lets me move around the house without carrying the cell phone everywhere. If I could just figure out how to alert SMS messages, the...Read more