KX-TCA60 Hands-Free Headset with Comfort Fit Headband for Use with Cordless Phones

I've seen several reviews which mention how this set doesn't seem to work with other phones (apparently mainly cell phones, it seems). I guess I'm not surprised to hear that, since the headsets I had previously, which I had used with cell phones, didn't work properly with my Panasonic DEC phone set. Likely, they're designed for different electrical requirements.I've used these with Panasonic DEC style phones exclusively, but two different models. In both cases, they've worked flawlessly and given far better sound quality than the phones themselves do (and they're no slouches, either!)I've just purchased several more, because, frankly, I've gotten so accustomed to using the headset with my home phone that I don't like to make calls the old-fashioned way anymore. I'll just clip the phone to my belt, put the headset on, and walk around getting near-perfect sound, barely noticing the headset at all.It's quite comfortable for me. I suppose for someone with a very large head, it might feel tight, and for someone with a very small head, it might feel "loose" and sloppy. You can't really adjust the "head size."The microphone seems to provide much better voice pickup quality than any other microphone I've had... with the exception of some studio-quality stand microphones.The cord is just the right length... not so long that it gets in the way but long enough to allow you to set the phone down on the desktop if you wish and not worry about tugging it off the edge.The little "collar clip" is my only real complaint about this phone... the little tab on the back where it attaches to the cord is a bit weaker than it needs to be... I snapped mine off a while back, and had to find a replacement for it. The replacement I found is a lot sturdier. (see the Audio-Technica AT8439 Clothing Clip for Cable)

We have one of those all-you-can call long-distance plans for calling in Canada and the United States, and having a large family across the country you end up making a lot of long distance calls. It's not convenient to use the handset all the time, especially when you are on the phone for 4-5 hours at a time.We purchased two headsets about 3-years ago and literally used them until they were not usable. So I started looking for inexpensive headsets, but were of good quality -- yes, that may be an oxymoron but there are some real hidden gems out there.I gravitated towards Panasonic because this is what we used previously and my wife is a stickler for brand names and wanted something that would be more "like" our Panasonic cordless phone.Searching Amazon the Panasonic KX-TCA60 was one of the first headsets I found and it was virtually identical to a previous model we had bought which was foldable and had a volume control, and one touch mute button on it -- but that headset was also over $25.00 and we wanted to buy 2-3 this time so we don't have to keep looking for one.I'll admit one of the deciding factors was price - at under $10.00 (I think we paid $9.00 and change) I could buy 2 or 3 of the headset for the cost of the one premium one we bought (from a box retail outlet).The KX-TCA60 had over 2,000 reviews -- which was important, but not a deciding factor, I looked at dozens of reviews. Many were good 4 or 5 stars but there were quite a few with 1, 2 or 3 stars -- each tells you a story about what people expect.Because we're buying on Amazon you can't really try the headset on for feel so some of the reviews were very important, and looking at the picture available also was helpful -- though more pictures would be better, this low-cost headset probably didn't warrant too much work and now as there are thousands of positive reviews it practically sells itself!The headset was identical to the premium model we bought a few years ago, less the inline volume control (which we've never used) and the one-touch mute (which would have been nice to have, but not necessary).The important parts were the ear piece and headband because my wife uses it regularly and for long periods of time. As both were identical to the previous one we bought we decided to go ahead and buy this one and placed our order.Now some people complained that they didn't get it in the retail packaging however we rec'd both items in its full retail packaging and well packed.The headset was exactly as we expected. My wife tried it on right away, and found it was as comfortable as the $25.00 headset we had just thrown away and the headband was adjustable as well. The microphone was also adjustable and came out a fair distance so you could speak into it and the person on the other end could hear you clearly.We bought the headset in November 2013 and it gets frequent and constant use (in excess of 10-hours per week) and it still works like it's new. I would never expect consumer versions of headsets to work as well as commercial versions (FYI - I manage a busy call center where we buy headsets that are over $100.00) but these are a hidden gem. We got 3-years out of our first headset, and I would expect we'll get the same from this one.Needless to say my wife is very happy with the headset and is glad that we bought one more spare.

Four or five years ago I purchased a Panasonic KX-TCA88 to use when I'm on the phone. I loved it. It had a better impedance match to my phone than any other head set I had tried, and worked very well, with no problems. Last year the over the head strap broke. I glued it back together and it continues to work.Because the trap had broken and glued, I was no longer able to adjust the size of the head strap, but it fit me fine. However, this was a signal to me that I aught to get a couple of spares so I would not be caught short when the microphone, or ear-piece stopped working (Because the fine wires in these headsets tend to break and drop you out of a conversation. This is true for all headsets, not just Panasonic.)My wife saw these KX-TCA60s on sale for $10.00 each and I decided to get several so I would have one to use and a couple for back-ups. When they arrived, I put my TCA88 aside and started using one of the new TCA60s. It seemed to work fine for a few days, but then any time I talked to someone for more than 10 minutes, they would start telling me they could not hear me, then they could, then they couldn't. The voice quality would not degrade, I would just suddenly go silent. I replaced that one with one of the others, and the problem has gone away. But who knows how long it will be before it comes back.I like Panasonic headsets in general, and have had good luck with several of them in the past, but I believe the quality on this particular model has been lowered to the point that they have become of questionable reliability. I would suggest you consider a more reliable (and therefore, probably more expensive) model than this one.