How We Research
Every guide on LovelyLocket starts with one question: will this product work for the person who is shopping for it? For our cordless phone guides, that means the phone line you have, how many rooms you need to cover and the features you'll use every day.
Here is how we answer it.
1. We start with your phone line and your home
A cordless set connects to your home phone line, and that line can be a copper landline or an internet phone service. A bigger home or more rooms may call for more handsets.
We check the handset count, the answering machine and the line types the maker lists. When your phone service limits the choice, we say what to look for.
2. We compare specs and features
We look at the handset count, the answering machine and its recording time, call blocking, link to cell with Bluetooth, the display and key size, DECT 6.0 range, the battery type and whether a wall mount comes in the box.
Panasonic, AT&T and VTech describe their phones in their own words, so we name the brand for every claim. We also note the warranty terms the maker lists.
3. We look at buyer feedback
We read through what buyers report after using a set. We look for patterns, like handsets that lose the base, batteries that wear out early, answering machines that are hard to set up and call blocking that takes extra steps.
One angry review doesn't sink a product. A pattern does.
4. We score each product
Our score weighs specs, features and buyer feedback against what you're shopping for. A product that's great for one reader may score lower in a guide written for another.
Scores spread out on purpose. A 10 is rare.
5. We keep pages up to date
Products change, and some disappear from stores. Some models also have renewed twins with the same name, so we check each model name and we only link new units.
We skip unknown brands with no track record and any product with a known recall. When we update a guide, the "Updated on" date at the top changes with it.
What our picks are not
Our picks are research, not lab tests. We don't claim to have used every phone we cover.
Call blocking works the way the maker's manual says it does. We don't promise that any phone will stop every scam call or robocall.
We list features like volume boost and large keys as the maker describes them. We make no medical or health claims about any feature.
We make no promises about range or battery life, and we label maker claims as the maker's claims.