Customer Reviews

BT Paragon 650 Telephone Answering Machine - Black

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I'm normally very tolerant of minor issues with technology products, but this phone has so many issues, I've taken the very unusual step (for me) of returning it to Amazon. I guess I should have believed all the other negative reviews. I bought this to replace a broken Paragon 500, which was a brilliant phone - ringtones assignable to each directory entry, loud ring, clear calls, sensible answer machine and menu system, clear LCD display: pretty much everything its so-called replacement isn't. The ring (once you can find a ringtone that isn't hideously embarrassing, which isn't easy given the appalling choice on this phone) is so quiet, even on full volume, that I can barely hear it even on my desk, with no chance in another room. The ringtones are only assignable by category, which is much less flexible than by directory entry, and you don't get to choose the ringtone for each category. Also, it starts ringing over a second after the other phones in the house, which is stupid, as it's plugged in to the main socket. The answer machine and menu system is incredibly counter-intuitive, and the reverse LCD display looks like it was drawn with a crayon. Call quality is very poor - I can hear myself breathing through the handset louder than the caller I am trying to listen to. And yes, I have the call volume turned right up. The build quality is very poor as well. Assuming it survived violent attack (quite likely if I'd kept it) I doubt this phone would last very long in normal home office use. I've always bought BT branded phone products in the past, because the design and build quality was a step above anything else on the market. No longer, it would seem. Ashamed, BT? You should be.

Apart from the drawbacks already noted in the two other reviews, I must add:
Backlight display switches off after a few seconds, so none of the status information, time etc. can be seen.
Only polyphonic ringing tones - conventional ringtones are not available.
BT helpdesk has confirmed that neither of these problems can be overcome on this model

Although the phone itself is ok and it does what it should do, the address book is a dead loss. Once you have entered the initial letter to look up a number there is quite a delay before the list shows up on the display. this is even mention by BT on the instructions. I returned the first phone I purchased as I thought it could be a fault but the replacement was as bad.

Also when keying in a number to dial there is a delay before you hear the tones dialling out.

Finally, you can only use the redial button on handsfree, if you pick up the handset first it doesn't work.

Other phones I've had from BT haven't have these poor design faults and BT should be ashamed to have allowed this model to make it onto the shelves.

I've not had any issue like some people are mentioning about delays etc
The phone is a pretty solid build with a nice matt finish and looks the part sitting on a desk.

The only issue I had was that it wouldnt read the sim from my 'pay as you go' Orange phone so i had to manually enter numbers - hence why it only got 4 stars from me.

Also the ringtones are a bit OTT, there is no standard phone tone.

Otherwise I love it so far.

Don't be misled by the negative reviews - I nearly was, yet this phone is exactly what I wanted. A very clear sound, and works much better on speakerphone than my last one. Includes all the features I wanted (no other phones do). Easy to select and setup options. Straightforward to install and looks good too!
Yes - the ringtones are a bit odd; and it would be nice if the backlight on the display stayed on - but these are fine details compare to the overall good functioning. So, if you want it, go for it!

Pros,
Looks great. Liked the display and the back light. Dedicated and easy to use voice mail,

Cons,
There is about a 7 second delay from someone calling to the phone actually ringing (we have an extension downstairs and we always hear that one first). It also keeps ringing when the caller has hung up (again for about 7 seconds). The selection of ring tones is RUBBISH !!! The copy to/from SIM is fiddly/time consuming/frustrating and not very smart. Any contact with multiple number appears as several different entries in the phone book. They really should have made it with USB or Bluetooth connections. Using the phone book is like waiting for paint to dry.

Don't buy this phone (I didn't do a lot of research but I'm sure there musty be loads better phones on the market in this league)

BT have a real nerve letting such a badly designed and conceived product on the market.

On the plus side, the answerphone works well and it takes a SIM card, everything else is an ergonomic nightmare. The phone rings 5 seconds after any other phone, the number search is hopelessly slow, the screen backlights for too short a time to be properly useful, recall button doesn't work properly, choice of ringtones would be hilarious if they weren't so awful. I could go on. Mine's going on eBay tomorrow.

I should have looked at the reviews before I bought it. I would go as far to say this is the worst answer machine I have ever purchased.
The phonebook is extremely slow it is far quicker just to dial the number.
On occasions when you put your initial in on phonebook it completely ignores the initial and goes to 'A'.
The ringtones are ridiculous, not very loud we often miss calls because the phone is in the kitchen.
The sound is on high but it is very quiet and there is a dreadful humming on the line which is not there when we plug other phones in.
I have started to look for a better one.
Always bought BT phones but must admit this is a thumbs down from me.

After much research took plunge and ordered product. Very speedy delivery service. The phone operated reasonably well however it is a weakest that the back light does not stay lit, especially when the phone is being used.

I do have to seriously question the intelligence of BT's product designers where this phone is concerned. It should not be that difficult in this day and age, with so many years of evolution of devices like this behind us, to design a well-implemented phone. On the positive side the hardware is generally well designed - the phone looks nice, the keyboard is well laid out, and it has all the features you want (answerphone, socket for headset, handsfree, SIM card transfer, etc). But is is so badly let down by the shortcomings already mentioned here (awful ringtones, screen backlight that goes out after a few seconds so you can't see the menus and so on) that it really is an example of how you can't judge a book by its cover.

To the list of flaws already covered by others I will add another pathetic design choice - the lights that show you that there have been new calls and messages waiting do not come on and stay on, but blink about once every five seconds. So if you want to know if there are any new messages you have to look at the phone for up to five seconds until they blink. You can't just notice the fact there is a blink out of the corner of your eye, of course, because there are two lights, so you have to actually look at the phone to know what it is telling you.

This may not seem that big a deal, but after a short while it becomes infuriating, particularly because it is such a stupid error in design. Why do the lights not just come on and stay on until you clear them by checking the calls or listening to the messages? I can't think of any sensible design reason for this - the energy saving of the LEDs used must be so trivial as to be insignificant, and it is much more annoying to have something blinking at you than a steady state light being on. I despair of the product designers we have in this country if they can't even rationalise a simple matter like this and come up with the right answer.