Top 10 Best Corded Phones – 2024

What are the best corded telephones? Close up of a Black BT Converse 2300 telephone

Last updated on January 31st, 2024 at 12:04 am

We’ve spent a lot of time coming up with a broad mix of our favourite 10 corded phones suitable for standard analogue UK lines. From fully featured telephones with caller id, answering machines, speakerphones, large name & number directories with bluetooth and headset ports; to your basic high-quality plug & play corded desk phone. We have tried to put together a solid range here to suit most needs from homes, professional offices to hotel room phones. Our experience and customer feedback has taught us which phones are the most reliable and best loved by our customers. 

All the phones here are analogue compatible and will plug into any standard UK BT Socket. They will also plug into an analogue port on most PBX systems, should you need basic functionality for hotel room phones, door entry phones etc.  

Digital switchover

All of the phones here will work when the landline telephone network is switched to being digital only VoIP. They will simply plug into the analogue port on any compatible router supplied by your provider.


Agent 1100 – Corded Office Telephone

Agent 1100 Telephone in Black

The Agent 1100 is a superb value for money phone, offering all the features of higher specification phones for an entry level price, and it’s this that gives us good reason to rank it highly amongst its compatriots. With its exceptionally high build quality the Agent 1100 also comes with a built-in amplifier and a headset port, so it is perfect for someone who is busy on the phone a lot. As an optional extra, an office headset can be plugged in to the built-in RJ11 port for professional users to take advantage of hands-free calling. As a small or home office telephone, the Agent 1100 represents outstanding value for money! 

Top features of the Agent 1100

  • Large LCD Display 
  • Caller ID 
  • Headset Port (RJ11) 
  • 50 Name and Number Directory 
  • Speakerphone 
  • Wall mountable 
  • PSU included in the box 

BT Decor 2600 – Corded Home Telephone

The BT Decor 2600 is a modern, user-friendly desk phone that is aimed at home users who want something that looks unfussy, yet very functional. As ever with BT the build quality is exceptional, the buttons feel great with large but unobtrusive print and an LCD display is very clear and easy to read. 

Call Guardian 

The BT Decor 2600 comes with some very nice call security features to prevent nuisance and fraudulent callers. You can set up the BT Duet to only allow callers stored within your phone book to get straight through to you, however, all other callers are first screened before the Décor 2600 rings for you. The phone will play an automated message to the caller asking them to give their name and any other details then it will ring and play back their message to you, so you can decide whether to accept the call or not. 

The Decor 2600 also comes with a simple call blocking button, so it is very easy for users to block nuisance callers by simply hitting that big red button at the top of the phone. This will block up to 1000 numbers.

Also included is a 30-minute built-in digital answering machine which for some users is an absolute must, along with a 200 name & number phone book for easy quick dialling – all accessible from the large, easy to read LCD display. 

For such a feature packed phone, we found the BT Decor 2600 remarkably easy to use. Everything is labelled sensibly and clearly; the build quality is great, meaning it’s just hard not to recommend this as a perfect house phone. 

Top features of the BT Decor 2600

  • Call Guardian – Nuisance Call Blocker using award winning TrueCall technology 
  • Answering machine with 30 minutes record time 
  • 200 name & number phonebook 
  • Inductive coupler for hearing aid compatibility 
  • Handsfree Speaker  
  • Caller Display 

Alcatel T26 – Corded Office Phone

The Alcatel T26 Basic Telephone is a great option for anyone looking for a simple, reliable phone, with contemporary sleek design it suits well in any modern office and has all the essential features you need, including a built-in speakerphone, redial, flash, mute, and pause. The large keys make it easy to dial numbers, even if you have poor eyesight. The phone also has a visual LED indicator that shows when you have an incoming call.

If you are looking for a simple, reliable, and affordable phone, the Alcatel T26 Basic Telephone is a great option.

Top features of the Alcatel T26 Basic Telephone:

  • Wall mountable
  • 3 volume levels for the ringtone
  • Visual LED indicator for incoming calls
  • Long battery life
  • 1 year warranty

If you are looking for a basic, no-frills phone that is easy to use and reliable, the Alcatel T26 Basic Telephone is a great option. It is affordable, easy to use, and has all the essential features you need.


ATL Berkshire 420 – Corded Office Telephone

The ATL Berkshire 420 is a brand-new design from Berkshire replacing its previous model the Berkshire 400. We like the new, more modern 45-degree angled desk stand which makes the 420 easier to dial than the previous model, the buttons are clear and tactile making it a cinch to use. 

The Berkshire 420 is a high-quality desk phone with sleek looks and a great build quality. With 10 quick dial memories, handsfree speakerphone, RJ11 headset port and hearing aid compatibility. This telephone is a great option if you need a sleek looking desk phone, with some extra bells & whistles to allow you to work more efficiently.   

Top features of the ATL Berkshire 420

  • Headset port RJ11 (headset ready) 
  • Wall Mountable 
  • Headset volume adjust  
  • 10 Direct dial memories  
  • Available in Light Grey and Dark Grey  
  • Visual Ring Indicator  
  • Hearing Aid Compatible 

Orchid XL125 – Corded Office Telephone

Orchid XL-125 Telephone

The Orchid XL125 is a simple, line powered corded telephone that has enough nice features to elbow its way into our top 10. A simple plug & play operation, with no external PSU or batteries required the XL125 puts itself in a good place amongst some of its higher-powered compatriots by giving a fitting selection of essential features such as Speakerphone, 8 one-touch memory buttons, LCD screen without overbearing the user with features they may not need or even use. That said, the XL125 is no slouch, it is PBX compatible so can be used with larger systems and the price is low enough so it suits well if you’re either on a budget, or just need a simple phone that will do the job for you. 

Top features of the Orchid XL125

  • Line Powered – No Mains Power or Batteries are Needed 
  • Auto Hang Up if Handset is Left Off the Hook 
  • Speakerphone 
  • Handsfree Dialling 
  • LCD with Date and Time 
  • 15 Last Number Redials 

BT Duet 210 – Corded Home Phone

BT Duet cradle telephone in white

We couldn’t do a top 10 list of corded phones without putting in a basic gondola phone in here. When all you need is simplicity with a trusted brand in a high-quality package, then the BT Duet 210 is an ideal corded telephone to look at, it is wall mountable, has an inductive coupler so is compatible with hearing aids, has a 10 number memory, a visual ring indicator light and a clear high, low, off volume switch on the handset. Perfect as a home phone or in a business where a simple phone is needed at a location such as a warehouse door etc. 

Top features of the BT Duet

  • Ringer volume control 
  • Visual LED ring indicator 
  • Mute Button 
  • 10 number memory 
  • Last number redial 
  • Wall mountable 
  • Hearing aid compatible 

Agent 1000 – Corded Office Phone

Agent 1000 Telephone in Black

The Agent 1000 is another phone that punches above its weigh in terms of features versus price which merits its inclusion in the list here. A high-quality plug & play telephone with 10 one touch memories an in-use light and a headset port, the design of the Agent 1000 stands out from its compatriots with its slim handset design and round buttons. We think this phone is ideal as a basic desk phone or hotel room phone. The Agent 1000 is available in Black, White and Red. 

Top features of the Agent 1000

  • 10 One touch memories 
  • Speakerphone 
  • Headset port 
  • In-Use light 
  • Ringing Volume Lo/Hi 
  • Available in Black, White & Red 
  • Wall mountable 

Alcatel Temporis 880 – Corded office phone

Alcatel Temporis 880 Corded Office Telephone in black with large buttons, clear display, speakerphone and headset buttons with 10 one touch memory buttons.

Being part of the Nokia family, Alcatel are no strangers to building a quality, robust telephone with the Temporis 880 being the top of the range of Analogue Corded phones. Feature packed and line powered the Temporis 880 is the perfect phone for a small busy office.

With a large 170 name & number directory for speedy quick dialling and an easily accessible menu system that is well designed and makes sense we found that the 880 was easy to use when selecting contacts quickly.

Large, tactile buttons make it nice to use, and with clear headset and speakerphone buttons make it obvious what you need to do should you need to use those features.

With a headset button, it follows that the Temporis 880 does come with a built-in headset port so it is easy to connect a standard corded headset to the phone should you or your staff need to spend a long time on the phone whilst needing hands free to type or write.

The Temporis 880 is a great addition to our range and comes highly recommended.

Top features of the Temporis 880

  • 170 name & number directory
  • 10 Direct dial memories – one click
  • 10 ringtones
  • Speakerphone
  • Visual call indicator
  • Call log up to 70 entries
  • Adjustable ringer volume
  • Adjustable headset/handset volume
  • 4 Line Dot Matrix Display – 1 Line of Icons, 3 Lines of Text
  • Wall mountable

Alcatel Temporis 580

The Alcatel Temporis 580 is the baby brother of the Temporis 880 – coming fromt he same high quality stock, solidly build and well designed from the Nokia family of companies, the phone itself is robust and easy to use. Simply plug in and go.

The Temporis 580 has a 50 name & number directory so numbers can quickly be recalled for speedy redials, there’s a headset port and handsfree speakerphone which can also be used for handsfree dialling. With a clear dot matrix display we find the Alcatel an easy phone to recommend for small businesses and homes where a profesional analogue phone is a requirement.

Top features of the Alcatel Temporis 580

  • RJ11 Headset Port
  • Handsfree Speakerphone
  • Wall Mountable
  • 10 Speed Dials 
  • Visual indicator
  • 50 Name & Number Directory

We hope you’ve found our round up of our favourite Corded Desk Phones useful.

Should you wish to browse a larger selection, you can head on over to the PMC Telecom Corded Phone Shop and view the full range.


If you’re looking for Cordless Phones, then take a look at our Blog post containing our favourites below.