I had long postponed switching over to “digital voice” because I had my own high spec router which was remote from the master socket. I was reluctant to change to a “standard” BT router and had a 5 handset DECT answer-phone system, all of which was well established and worked very well indeed. In the end I was forced to change by BT.Before the system was changed over, I researched routers with a built-in DECT base unit, but could only find some basic and quite “old” alternatives. So, I decided to give the BT Smart Hub 2 a try. I also ordered the “free” BT Digital Voice adapter which I intended to use with my existing DECT phones. When the new BT router arrived, I installed it and set it up to mimic my own old router. I found that it was actually quite a good router. It was enabling faster, and more consistent, WAN download speeds than before and Wi-Fi coverage and speed was very good.My thoughts then turned to my old DECT phones. These were very old. Some had button problems, some had fading displays. It would also mean that using the BT adapter would re-introduce an analogue link into the digital phone system. Upon looking at the specification of the “BT Advanced Home Phone” I found that these would be ideal for my setup. The BT Hub would support 5 phones from its built in DECT base station. There would not be a local answering-machine, but 1571 would in fact work better.I bought five of these BT Advanced Home Phones from Think Assemble, and installed them with the BT Smart Hub 2 router. The phones I received were a mixed-bag. Three were BT branded with the BT logo and a purple screen display. Two were the later EE type of phone with “HD” branding and a black screen display. This was rather odd, but all five phones worked in the same way, and looked much the same. Because they appeared to be “old” stock, sold at a reduced price, I updated the phones firmware from each handset to the latest version, and brought them up fully up-to-date. It was clear that the phones were old stock and the batteries were slow to charge. As a precaution I decided to change the batteries for some Panasonic Eneloop ones – which have a long service life.I have not enabled or used Alexa, so it is something I cannot comment on. It is not something I need or want. The phone is so very easy to use without it.The phones more than met my expectations. The sound is very good indeed – of course provided both ends of the call are “digital”. They are easy to use. There are many configurable settings with a lot of user options. The Contacts can be imported (into the BT router) via a .vcf file, or exported from the phones to a backup file from which the Contacts can be restored to the phones. Reviewing recorded messages is a one-button operation. The phones are very easy and logical to use.The phones themselves are excellent, but have one downside – they only work with the BT Smart Hub 2.If you want to keep, and improve, your telephone landline after Digital Voice changeover these phones are an excellent way of doing it. They are fully recommended, and will give you a far better solution than the old analogue landline.

Good handset, bought after we were converted to digital. Very clear reception. I had been told by BT I could no longer use the voicemail facility on my existing DECT phone system and would therefore be provided with the BT 1571 service “free-of-charge” ie as part of my package. Not entirely true, the DECT voicemail would still have worked. This was not a great problem as I wanted newer/better replacement phones anyway…Until I discovered the EVIL, UNDERHAND side-effect of using 1571…you cannot simply press a button to return a call to someone who has left a voicemail message without incurring an extra BT charge (size UNDISCLOSED at the time!!!). Sure, you can dib-dab to discover the number and phone it back manually to avoid the charge but this is very dishonourable of you BT … VERY BAD SHOW !!!

This is a WiFi phone: easy to setup, just plug into the mains and follow on screen instructions.No problems with use, setup, or sound quality. But a couple of minor issues.. Buttons could be bigger, my wife finds her nails get in the way when trying to press the ‘phone book’ button.. The online manual mentions logging on to your BT hub to backup the phones contact list. But, you can also use this process to import a contact list: with some issues! Backup your mobile phone contact list (.vcf file) and import to a PC or MAC. The BT phone directory does not recognise +44, so edit the vcf file in Excel and replace +44 with either 0044 or 0 (same with International numbers). You can have a max of 3 numbers per contact, so also edit in ‘work’, ‘mobile’, ‘home’, etc, if needed. Logon to your BT router (instructions in the online phone manual), and import the edited vcf file – took me about an hour, but saves having to enter a long list manually into the phone. Problems with this process: do a web search and there’s some help on the communty.bt web site.

A good product, works well with the BT WiFi.