I bought this phone with the express purpose to provide an answering machine for contacting a family member who was not able to afford an answering machine at this time. I was very disappointed and frustrated that it did not live up to the discription on Amazon’s site. As far as I know the phone is everything described, but no answering machine was included with the purchase of:Panasonic Dect 6.0 Dark Grey Cordless Phone with Answering Machine (KX-TG6412M)

The answering machine feature is only available when the base TGA6421 is included. This information is taken from the user manual from the phone I bought. Now I have to decide whether to keep this phone as a back-up for my family member or return it to get the features I thought I had already purchased.

This is the first time I have been disappointed with a purchase from Amazon and I have been a big fan of their selections and service for several years.
Rating: 1 / 5

The missed call feature is a pain. It lists all the calls separately even if the same person calls back 5 times. It takes a good deal of time to scroll through the huge list to get to the call that you want!
Rating: 3 / 5

Have had the Panasonic DECT 6.0 Expandable Cordless Telephone with 3 Handsets (KX-TG6413T) for two months now, so can’t speak on long-term, but so far, excellent!

I have used many different brands of cordless phones over the years, and their reception or battery-life always failed, way too quickly. However, the Panasonics have stood the test of time. I still use my Panasonic KX-TG2622 2.4 GHz Digital Cordless Telephone with Dual Handsets on my ooma VoIP system second line, and I use this newer set on my ooma primary line. This model is an improvement on the other because it has a headset jack, updates all handsets simultaneously, and does not get as grungy-looking, but the older set has served us for 3 or 4 years with absolutely no problems.

Pros for the Panasonic DECT 6.0:

- great color, black or grey
- buttons labeled with good contrast for those with low-vision, and numbers on screen are very large
- lightweight
- lighted keypad
- headset jack
- ringer volume range
- great reception
- battery life
- expandable
- my callers don’t even realize they’re on speakerphone
- ability to intercom another handset
- ability to put a call on hold, pick it up on another handset, and the first handset is disconnected automatically
- no interference with anything in my household, including my wireless network, even though the base is sitting right next to computer/modem/router/etc.
- program or edit a number in the memory of one handset, and it will update them all simultaneously

Cons (minor):

- Why does Panasonic not seem to understand that a simple ringer on/off button is so much better than surfing the menus?
- viewing missed calls could be made simpler, though it’s not as many menu clicks as it is on my cell phone
- still has a limit on the phonebook of only 50 numbers
- ringer choices
- I tend to inadvertently hit the Talk and Off buttons which are right below the difficult-to-see softkeys when I want to use a softkey feature
- like my older Panasonic, the handsets do not seem to be designed for comfortable long-term use, though this one is more comfortable than the other.
Rating: 5 / 5

This phone does everything I need from a phone and more. It comes with a clear, easy-to-follow manual, which describes all the functions available. The LCD is large and easy to read. Great, low-cost phone.
Rating: 4 / 5

This is not a great phone, even though this phone has many attractive features. My main complain about his phone is, even though we can hear the other end (people calling), they can not hear us. This is a very common problem; often we hear the other end saying–can you say it again? Your voice is too low etc. We did not have these problems with our old phone.
Rating: 3 / 5