PanasonicKX-TPA50 Cordless Handset

Great phone. I have had Panasonic phones for many, many years. This one is for our office internet phone system. We have three of these. They all work great. Very good sound quality. Easy to use menu system. I do wish there was a dedicated line button, but that is a use case kind of thing.The charge lasts long, but mine is mostly on the charger. The ability to assign a different ring for contacts is useful.Buttons are easy to press and feel solid. The joystick in the middle works well for making selections. It allows vertical and horizontal movement and presses to select. The phone has a very premium feel to it. The display is easy to read and lights when you pick it up or press a button. A light on top blinks amber when you have a voice mail or missed call.You can custom name the phone so it shows on the display. For example my phone says James. Nice feature to have in an office with several of these phones.The speaker phone works well. Not too tinny sounding.

[Note: I have read the 1-star review and it's a shame this person had such a negative experience.It wouldn't surprise me that there would be a particular unit that didn't function very well.My experience with Panasonic support was just great and I'm thinking they would take care ofthis person. I had a problem upgrading the firmware and was in communication with Panasonic Support.They offered multiple suggestions and ways to diagnose what the problem was.My base unit just wouldn't take when I performed theupdate on my network. However, since I lived near the vendor I took it back and they updated the firmware in a fewminutes without any gymnastics. It was a problem on my side, somehow.]This is not a device for the weak-kneed. It's a little formidable what the device is capable of.Being a VoIP novice at the outset, this was a little daunting. But I needed to get up to speedand not rely on the good graces of some turn-key VoIP system.However, after getting used to the unit for a while and practicing with the configuration, itis not as intimidating as it started out. Thanks to the folks over at dslreports.com for all theirassistance in correcting configuration errors.Also note that this is NOT an ATA device. This does not convert the digital signal over the internetinto a signal that runs over your copper, in-house phone wiring. This is a 100% digital unit thatconverts the signal to/from analog on the handset speaker/mic only.The TGP550 and TGP551 are essentially the same as this unit except the base unit is an actualphone with a corded handset attached. All the extension handsets are identical for these systems.All the base units have a web interface that must be started from the hand set before it canbe accessed.Now to the review itself.Really love the feel of the handset. The feel of the buttons is just outstanding.I'm a button lover in an increasingly buttonless world. Woe is me. I love the device'sergonomics and even though I'm right handed, I love that it doesn't have a lefty orrighty feel to it. The handset alsoas a unit feels solid and durable. No questionable creaks or groans when squeezing itor torquing it slightly. Not sure how it handles a drop as it hasn't happened yet =)The battery life on the handset seems to be fantastic. I had Unidens with a dedicated lionbattery pack and it always seemed to be on the edge if out of the charger for a few hours.Just as a test I have left a handset off the device for a few days, and there were still acouple of blips on the battery. Nice.The base unit also feels strong and seems nicely constructed. See below for other comments about it.There is one button on it that will register handsets in range and can be used to restart the device.Only one light on it to indicate that it's restarting (red), initializing software or registration error(flashing amber) or all systems go (green).Basically a good product. As I have not compared other VoIP devices to this one, I cannotindicate how well it performs in relation to others. Reading reviews on dslreports.com seemsto show there is consensus for the all-digital VoIP devices: the KX-TGP500, 550, 551 area breed apart from other consumer-level devices.With any product, there is usually always some room for improvement.1. Changing registration configurationThis has come up in the past few days and especially today. I have had to tweak the registrationover the past few days, and it appears to be working fine. However, today I had to change theAuthentication ID and Line ID for one line. The ID and password were exactly correct, but justclicking 'save' started the device blinking amber. However from maintenance when I restarted thedevice, it successfully went green.Request: 'Save' on the VoIP config pages would do everything necessary to successfully re-register.If it means a restart, so be it.For now, lesson learned: Any config change to the VoIP settings just restart the device.2. Handset headphone jackThis is located exactly where the phone might be held in your hand making it a little awkwardto hold and use with a headset. The headphone jack could be either on the top or the bottom andthe problem would be solved. Or on the side near the top of the device.3. Handset joystickWould greatly prefer a 4-position 'rocker' button for up-down-left-right navigation and a clickpush in the middle. There seems to be enough real-estate for it and it might take up less spaceinside the handset itself.The buttons on the handset truly rock. I love them and they feel solid and durable, whereas thejoystick does not give me the same impression.4. Base unit designPersonally not a big fan of devices that use non-functional shapes. It would fit nicer in mydevice stack (vertically oriented) if it were a simple black box, rather than what it is rightnow. I have several vertical and several horizontal devices. It would be nice if there weresome kind of industry standard for device shapes of this type. They all have to co-locate,so it would be nice to have them all fit into the same kind of footprint.This is a comment on the industry at large. Panasonic is just part and parcel to this mystifyingarray of disjointed and unmatchable devices that constitute our LANs.5. Phone displayIt would be nice to have better display on the handset for incoming calls. I have 4 linesassigned and it would be nice if it were a little more clear which line and number. Forexample the incoming call number/name in 'bold' and the line id and number in 'light' orsomething. I'm sorta used to the way it is, but it would be nice..6. Ringer tonesWould be nice to have more options. Downloadable? =) They offer user-customizable tones forthe calls themselves (dial tone, ringing, busy, etc). How about the handset ring tone as well?7. Web interfaceThis is one of my areas of expertise. This one looks old-fashioned and needs some features:a. on the Telephone Multi Number Settings, it would be nice to set some some things globally,like the default line for a handset, which phones use which lines, etc.b. the ability to load profiles for either specific lines or the entire VoIP configuration.When I'm testing things, I have to manually change every niggling detail every time.It would be nice to have a CallCentric profile that I could assign to Line 3 and it justgets set to my CallCentric configuration automatically. Or just to save a golden profilefor the entire set and reload it if things get too out of whack.c. Copy configs from one line to anotherd. Name lines so I don't have to remember who is on which line every time I change something.e. Status page shows *all* the status: there just isn't that much to show, why click so manylinks for the whole status?f. Context-sensitive help icons - a question mark icon that can be hovered or clicked on everyfield with full details as to what it really means and how it's used.g. Configuration wizard (or basic/advanced pages)h. Web server should be able to be set to always run, and not have to always restart it after someinterval.

I have now ordered two additional KX-TPA50 handsets to go with my  Panasonic Cloud Business Phone System, KX-TGP551T04, Black, 1 Handset (VoIP/ SIP)  that I bought from an auction site. I have been VERY impressed with these little handsets. The sound is clear, and they use standard-sized AAA NiMH batteries. They also seem to go a LONG time on a charge. I'm not a big phone talker, but in the weeks I have had these I have never had one show less than a full charge.I was also impressed that in both cases I received the box, opened the package, inserted the batteries, and the handset display told me what button to push on the phone base unit to "pair" the new handset with the base. Then the handset told me to charge it for six hours. At that moment, except for having a low charge, the handset was ready for use. Each of them were functional and on the charger by the time I received the text message via Amazon saying UPS had delivered the package! :-)The display is clear and legible, with backlights so you can see the display and buttons even in low light situations. The buttons and legends are reasonably large for such a small item. Nobody has had trouble with the sound, either -- it's as good as the wired handset on the base. So far no complaints by anyone.If I had any big criticism it would be the price -- this thing retails for $100 and the cheapest you can get it most of the time is about $70. It resembles the much cheaper Panasonic handsets you see at department and office stores, but of course they are not compatible.Another minor quibble is the display of things like past caller ID information, such as for missed calls -- by default you just get a list of the names, and you have to press a couple of buttons to see the time and date of the calls. There are several features that take a few presses and toggles of the little joystick. But they are generally logical and easy to figure out.

I purchased a phone from here 2 years ago that stopped working after 2 months. I should have known not to try my luck again. This time I spent 3 hours I will never get back with Nextiva trying to pair this with the base station - which should be a simple 2 step process. After firmware upgrades and troubleshooting Nextiva determined the phone was bad and it needed to go back.

Phone part itself works good. When using the speaker phone part, it is very bad. Hardly anyone on the other side can understand you. Switch over to normal talk, issues go away. Bout to toss in garbage for i like to be on speaker phone and if my conversations arent clear, phone is useless

Pros:Great HD Sound. Supports Codec G722 HD and G711Build quality is great, it has good range and good battery life for standby and talk timeIt supports Codec G722, which is HD Voice, if your VoIP provider supports it.It is a 100% digital unit.I replaced Panasonic HHR-65AAABU AAA 2 Pack Rechargeable Batteries (600mAh), which came with the phone with:BK-4HCCA4BA eneloop Pro AAA New High Capacity Ni-MH Rechargeable Batteries (950mAh), for more talk timeCons:Battery gauge needs calibration with firmware update.It displays 25% charge even when it’s fully chargedIt would also be nice if the 2.5mm headset jack could be moved to the top of the phone.Panasonic should add Talking Caller ID