Philips Luceo cordless DECT home phone review

Whether you call it fixed line or land line, the fact is this is an oft forgotten about area of communication. Most of us carry at least one means of communication around with us each day, so why bother with a home phone? Well, most broadband packages will include a land line in with the deal, so why not use it? Also, it saves munching through your call allowance (if you have one) and won’t run down your mobile’s battery. I also prefer to use a home phone when making longer calls as they are generally more comfortable than having a flat slap against my head. I have been living with the new Philips Luceo cordless phone, and here is my review.

Philips obviously realise the importance of style when designing something that will probably sit in your main room. Having to find the right mix between having something that looks good and something that will blend seamlessly in to everyone’s decor can’t be easy – but has Philips managed that with their Luceo telephone?

Philips Luceo design

The Philips Luceo, or M6601WB/22 to give it its code name, is available in black or white and I have been sent the black one to review. I think either would sit nicely in most homes and the black one has a faux carbon fibre effect finish.

It’s a very modern design and likely to fit better in more contemporarily decorated homes but, as I have already said, I am sure that there would be a suitable place in most homes for the Luceo.

The front of the base unit is equipped with a high contrast 2.7-inch (7cm) white on black display which can be programmed as to when it is on. I have it set to show the time during the hours of 6am and 1am – as that’s when I am more likely to be up and about. This display will also show caller ID information that you have stored in to it – this means you don’t even have to get off the sofa if you don’t want to chat to whoever’s calling.

The handset also packs a white on black display. This 1.8-inch (4.6cm) LCD screen is where you can access the phone’s menus, as well as making and receiving calls.

The Luceo’s illuminated 20 key keypad is responsive and clear to read.

Philips Luceo performance

The more complicated fixed line phones get, possibly to emulate their mobile kin, the more fiddly their menus tend to be. Not so the Luceo.

I am firmly in the “don’t look at the instructions until you’ve broken it” camp and I found navigating through the various settings, phone book and such really straight-forward.

Within 10-15 minutes I had the front display set to show only during fixed times, selected one of the 10 polyphonic ringtones I preferred and even loaded a few caller IDs in to the device. I liked the fact that you can assign up to three numbers to one contact (Home, mobile and work will be the most common I suppose) – that’s so much better than having to scroll through a list that’s at least twice as long than it really ought to be.

The Luceo has capacity to store 100 contacts.

You can also set the Luceo as an alarm clock should you have it in your bedroom.

Also a nice touch is that there’s charging contacts on either end of the base unit so it doesn’t matter which way you put the handset down when you have completed your call.

In handsfree mode, there’s a really decent speaker which I could hear clearly from anywhere in the room and they seemed to hear me ok too. When using handsfree you can replace the handset on to the base – handy if it is low on charge.

The sound quality of the calls is really good – this shouldn’t be a surprise as Philips does make some excellent audio products, but it seems that they have utilised this knowlege for their DECT phone.

The in-built answering machine can store up to 30 minutes worth of messages, which should be plenty.

The handset will allow for up to 16 hours talk time and up to 250 hours stand-by when it’s away from its charging base.

Philips Luceo review conclusion

It has been a while since I have spent any time considering my home phone. Yes, they’ve been DECT cordless units for the last number of years, yes they have programmable elements and they’ve generally looked OK.

The Philips Luceo proves that there’s still makers out there that care about how the phone looks, as well as performs.

Calls were clear, with good range, and the handset comfortable to use over decent call lengths.

Both displays were clear and stylish, and the menu easy to navigate.

If you are looking to update your fixed line phone, I would recommend that you check out the Philips Luceo in either black or white, depending on your tast.

Philips Luceo price and availability

You can buy the Philips Luceo now for £77 from Amazon.co.uk or £59.96 from John Lewis.

Prices correct at time of article.