Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Learning Phone Reviews

• Lots of fun...

  
  By A3BPW96E32VF21 on 2005-01-07
  My 2 children (ages 2 and 11 months) love this phone! My daughter (the 2 year old) loves that it says different things like, "I love you", "Bye bye", etc...! My son loves the music and lights (of course) and will dance with it as it plays!!
  
  As far as the volume goes - there is not a 'volume control' switch. It is not 'loud' if you aren't holding it up to your ear. I know that younger children will probably not hold the phone up to their ear and play with it like that (they would probably prefer to push buttons, listen to the music and watch the screen light up... like my 11 month old at this point), however, my 2 year old does use this phone like a 'real phone'. She will hold it up to her ear and talk and act like she is talking to 'mommy' or 'daddy' or 'grandpa/grandma'. When I held this phone up to my ear I noticed that it IS loud! So, when it's not used as a phone it really isn't loud (although, my son does still enjoy playing with it) - but when actually used as a phone the volume is plenty loud!!!
  
  I like the different 'settings'... such as you press the "ABC" button and then when you push the buttons (1-9) it will say the letters on the button that was pushed. If you push the "123" button then push a 1-9 button it will say the number of the button pushed. Then if you press the music button it will play music when a 1-9 button is pushed! The bottom button (and my daughters favorite... the 0) says different 'cute phrases' when pushed!
  
  One other thing that I really like about this phone is how PERFECTLY it goes with the laugh and learn learning home! How adorable!!!! It sits perfectly in the 'holder' by the 'phonebook' on the 'inside' of the home :) Brilliant!!!!
  
  

• Wish It Would Sing Full Alphabet

  
  By A2BCDP4UNI99M3 on 2005-08-17
  I got this toy because my son LOVES the phone. I was hoping to distract him from the real deal and get him to play with this one. No such luck!
  
  This phone is a neat toy, but it doesn't sing the whole alphabet. It plays the music and shows the letters on screen, but doesn't sing the letters out loud. I wish that it did that. It says hello and good-bye, but I'm not sure which keys you have to press to hear that. It is fun and makes noise, but not what I expected it to be.
  
  

• my 1 yr old loves the toy but has to be alone to hear it

  
  By A1CWTESW0FXX32 on 2004-10-29
  I purchased the phone because my daughter loves the laugh and learn house. She plays with it all the time. I had read the reviews before hand and couldn't understand why some people said the volume was bad. Now I know why. In the store it worked great. Once I took the tab off the sound dropped severly. Yes, I did change the batteries but that did not change anything. I am a mom of 3. If I had this for my first child when my house was quieter it probably would have been great. Three children does not make this toy great to play with amongst other people, very hard to understand. I have three other phones all with volume controls-- I understand when I put it to my ear its okay but most children don't put it their ear.
  
  

• Pretty great toy.

  
  By A3NMIZOMLSFOEM on 2004-12-06
  When my baby recieved this toy it was loud in the box. Then good old mom tried to get it out of the box so he could play with it. In the process, I dropped the toy approximately 5 times accidentally. So I think it turned out to be pretty durable.
  
  When I pulled the demo tab out of the back, the toy's volume lowered exactly 60 decibles. This is supposed to happen. It is an FCC ruling the it not be loud so that the toy doesn't blast your child's ears out when they immitate you talking on the phone. This may be annoying to some parents, but it's to protect your child's hearing. When the tab is in the back of the toy, and it's still in the box, it is in "DEMO MODE". This is loud because toy departments in stores can be extremely loud and they want you to be able to hear the toy over parents who are screaming at their own screaming children. My house is not as loud as a toy store because my child doesn't run it, and the toy works fine.
  
  The ABC tunes and Numbers are just what I want my child to see. They are very clear on the screen, and the large variety of sounds and light patterns are pretty neat. I think that it offers a great capability of clearly teaching children some basic building blocks of literacy, and would recommend this toy to anyone.
  
  

• Bad bad bad

  
  By A32104NJMRUP6D on 2004-11-28
  This is the worst Fisher Price item I have ever gotten my daughter..You can't even hear it.My daughter just turned 1 and received this for a gift..I liked it in the store and thought it would be great for her to learn numbers and letters...Nope not happenen..You can't even hear the thing..Changed the batties and still have the problem..Called company said they were sorry and that I could return to store and exchange for a new one..Said no thatnks that if this one is that way they all probably are..Well guess I was right..The old Fisher Price phone was a lot better..at least you could hear it...I'm keeping the phone though because though you can't hear the thing my daughter loves to carry it around in her purse..If I had to do it again I would have spent my money on something more usefull..I love Fisher Price toys but this phone is just a waste of money..
  
  
• Very Disapointed!!
  By A39P7ZZWWWDZX6 on 2004-11-17
  This would probably be a great toy if my son could hear it. You absolutely can not hear a single thing. I also thought the batteries were dead. It still did not help. I called FP and they said they have been getting tons of complaints on this - but that it is working properly. I will be returning it to the store. My son also has the laugh and learn house which he loves..
  
  
• ***A tip about the sound...
  By A39RFG0CGYCUY2 on 2004-12-04
  When I saw this in the store it really impressed me. When I got home and took it out of the box I noticed that you had to hold it up to your ear to be able to hear it. There is a little tab on the back of the phone that you pull out to switch from display mode to user mode. I reinserted the tab, stuffed it in really good, and cut the excess off as close as I could get it so that is flush with the surface of the phone. This way, it doesn't come out. We've used this phone for several months this way and it hasn't slipped out yet (and it has taken a beating that's for sure) Now the phone plays as loudly as it did in the store and my daughter doesn't need to put it up to her ear to hear it. She's 10 months old now and LOVES this phone. She loves to use her index finger to press the buttons...the "0" button is her favorite. I understand the frustration about the sound but it's a great toy with this minor alteration.
  
  It's also great for role playing with my daughter. I am able to get her to raise it up to her ear and "talk" to it. When the phone rings, I hold it up to my ear and Say "Hello? Is Gabby there?" and then I hand her the phone and she brings it up to her ear. It's so fun to play with her with this phone. Now when she sees a real phone she presses the buttons and brings it up to her ear.
  
  This toy is *very* durable and has been dropped time and time again from up high and the fall does not phase it.
  
  
  
  
• Keep the demo tag inside the toy if you want to hear it!
  By A3T6KDSY9JPSWV on 2005-01-15
  I bought this for my 1 year old for Christmas. We took it out of the box and pulled out the "demo" tag (this tag makes the toy louder for in the store) for safety reasons. Well, my 1 year old who was infatuated with this toy when he could hear it (read: in the box) tossed it to the side and left it there because he couldn't hear it. I couldn't hear it either. I was about to send the POS back when I got the idea to shove the demo tag bag in and clip the end of it off, then cram the remainder of the tag in as far as it will go so my son couldn't pull it out and choke on it. It works great, now and it's one of his favorite toys. So, thanks Fisher Price for making a toy that only works properly with a choking hazard inserted into it.
  
  
• We forgot this in Orlando and haven't missed!
  By A17VIBT0O9LTPO on 2005-09-02
  Our daughter got this phone in her Easter basket. She LOVES the phone...corded, cell, cordless...any phone. We thought this would a good alternative to her playing with the deal. Well we were wrong! The thing is SO soft you can't even hear it most times! Then it doesn't sing the whole alphabet and it doesn't do all the numbers. But the biggest thing was she knew it was a fake and really wanted nothing to do with it. I think that was mainly becasue she couldn't hear it.
  
  We ended up leaving this in our hotel room in Orlando when we were there on vacation a few weeks back and when the hotel called us about returning it to us, we told them clean it and add it to the toy bin in the daycare center. It wasn't worht the shipping charges to get it back to us!
  
  We did find her a phone a few weeks ago. Its by Parents (the magazine people). It looks just like a real cell phone and it talks, beeps and plays music. Plus you can record a message for her to hear. She loves to hear her daddy during the day when he's at work and he loves comign up with new mesages to leave her each morning.
  
  
• Not really for babies, but cute.
  By A3CNPA50218H6N on 2004-10-26
  My son was approximately 6-months-old when my mother bought him this educational toy, the age minimum suggested for use. I feel, however, that this item is better suited defitnely for older toddlers. The main reason being that at 6-months my son could not hold onto this phone on his own as it is wide/fat. He was not sitting too steadily at this age either for me to place it in front of him for him to bang away at so at that point I would only use it if he was in my lap and I held it in front of him.
  
  Now he is 9-months-old and is defitnely interested. He'll go to grab it and I will make him press a button and when it starts making sounds he just stares..and then will go for it again! He likes hearing the music and I like that he is hearing the alphabet and numbers repeatedly at his young age.
  
  I am always a fan of toys with a volume control as this one has--a low and high volume. It's very durable at least it has been because as I wrote above it's pretty wide for a little babies hands so it does get dropped.
  
  It will defitnely be more handy and useful when he's a bit older in teaching him how to use a phone or when he gets older to understand making pretend phone calls as a game. For now, he obviously does not really understand what it's all about and it more interested in just the fact it makes a noise and also he sees the numbers, letters and faces flashing on the screen.
  
  This is not a toy that will keep a baby's interest for a long period of time, in my opinion. At that "exploration" stage my son is much more interested in banging at something or putting things in and out of places.
  
  Still it's cute and small enough to carry even in my small diaper bag--so it goes everywhere and comes in handy when we're in a line or waiting somewhere! But the second I take it out, all the other little toddlers come to get it! It is also easy to wipe down.
  
  A cute toy.
  
  
• Laugh and Learn Phone
  By A3K41OM646UXGC on 2005-04-12
  I bought this product (for my 16m.old) after reading the other reviews for this item, So I knew about the claims for the sound quality. After I took the phone out of the box, I Put the little demo tab back in to the slot and I taped it on so that it can't come out. The sound is excellent since I taped the tab in place. Other than that, It is a an excellent quality toy. Very educational, Showing the ABC's and saying the ABC's also the 123's, and other cute phrases.
  
  
• VERY LOUD-BE WARNED
  By A1Y5096X8DVORS on 2007-07-15
  This toy is a wonderfully educational and fun toy but it is so loud! There is no volume control and when I held it up to my own ear when I was playing with my daughter I was shocked and terrified by how loud this was. If it made my ear ring what was it doing to hers? The only way to remedy the problem of the noise was to remove the batteries which takes away from the appeal. I give it fives stars for it's fun, educational, and durable qualities but really want to caution parents about the decibel level that, with prolonged use, could do some permanent damage to a small child's hearing. I was suprised Fisher Price was not more aware of the problem and did not attempt to make it more safe and user friendly. I typically only buy Fisher Price toys because of the quality but would urge them to consider volume controls or limits on their toys. I know as a parent I should be more cognizant of the dangers of toys I purchase for my children but in my haste to find a teaching toy I overlooked the aspect of safety. I figured a one piece toy with no obvious design flaws, small parts, choking hazards, etc. would be perfect. This is how I learn as a parent and I hope my experience helps others out there who want their children to be healthy!
  
  
• Do not buy this if your child loves noises!!!
  By A2R9FLVANUISPL on 2004-10-03
  We bought this toy for our son and he played with it for 30 minutes in the store because he loved all the sounds it made. HOWEVER, We took it home and wrapped it up for his birthday and gave it to him yesterday. I took it out of the box and couldn't hear any noise--it was very faint. I thought the batteries were going out so I replaced them. Still, very little sound. He couldn't hear it so he did not want to play with it. When I read the directions they said that the toy's volume would adjust when taken out of the box due to federal guidelines or some crap. Fisher Price knows that the sound goes down once it is out of the box. Well, my opinion is--if the child can't hear the toy--what good is it????
  
  
• great for phone play & learning letters/numbers
  By A3VGQ25XQVC32L on 2004-10-18
  Our 21 month old son is really into counting & saying the alphabet - the LCD on this phone shows the letters/numbers & says them. He loves seeing the letters & saying them with the phone. He also loves to dance to the song in the numbers setting. It is a great small sized toy to take with us - I try to keep it as a diaper bag toy (though he finds it & pulls it out at home) because it will entertain him for so long - which is really handy in restaurants or stores!! It is loud enough for him to hear, but quiet enough that people next to us don't have to listen to it. I would highly recommend.
  
  
  
• Volume is too low!
  By A3PHXFSYQTENRY on 2005-01-19
  This toy would be great if you could only hear it as well as you can in the store! Once we took the demo tag out, the volume decreased to a point where I thought I needed to change the batteries. However, changing the batteries did not help and then I read several reviews indicating this is just the volume of the toy after the demo tag is taken out. Fisher Price should recall this item to improve the sound intensity/quality!
  
  
• The Best Toy Phone
  By A3IEC6EJWI4GLE on 2006-09-25
  My daughter received this phone for Christmas last year when she was 19 months old. Almost a year later, it is still one of her favorite toys. It speaks all the letters of the alphabet and numbers 1-9 in a pleasant, easy-to-understand voice and plays snippets of popular children's and classical songs. There's a simple display that shows block letters in ABC mode, numbers in 123 mode, and animated patterns when the songs are played in Music mode.
  
  What I like: This toy is very portable and has gone everywhere from the grocery store to restaurants to the mall. It's not so loud that it will disturb others in a public place, but it's not so quiet my daughter can't hear it well either. There's no volume control but I think it would be an unnecessary feature anyway. The phone is also very durable. It's been dropped on cement floors and blacktop parking lots and has emerged with hardly a scratch. Best of all, during the year I've had this toy I've only had to change the batteries once, and the switch is in the "on" position about 95% of the time.
  
  What I'm not crazy about: The graphics are a little low-tech for the high-tech world we live in, but they clearly display numbers and letters for easy recognition. If the display was more advanced, it would probably eat up a ton of batteries, and the simple monochromatic graphics don't deter my daughter from playing with this toy every day. Saving on batteries is worth the lackluster display in my book.
  
  We received an Elmo phone last Christmas, too, but the Laugh and Learn Phone is by far the better toy. It's helped my daughter learn her letters and numbers and has kept her entertained when we're out and about and at home without annoying the heck out of me like the Elmo phone does. I would recommend this phone to anyone with a child 18 mos or older.
  
  
• Flaw: Loud Noise Warning
  By A1KAERT0MPBZOO on 2007-06-07
  This item is fun and the LED display is cute.
  
  But there is one badly designed play pattern. According to the accompanying manual, you should pretend-play with your infant by putting the phone to your ear and pretend you're having a phone conversation. It also suggests handing the phone over to your infant to also pretend to converse on the phone. That's all fine... except if you do it as the phone is automatically shutting off. When it's in the process of shutting off, the phone will ring. If you then place it next to your ear to pretend to answer it (as I did), you will be greeted with a loud "BYE-BYE" that is significantly louder than any real phone that I have ever used. I was surprised by its volume and I would not recommend letting kids place the phone to their ears when it says that. (But how will anyone remember when it's safe and when the voice will shout in their ear?).
  
  
• How To Fix The Volume
  By A5JJZD4PXKT7M on 2005-02-08
  The Volume is awful!! But yes, I gave it four stars. Here's why! Before you take that "tag" out of the back of the phone, the volume is great. After you take the "tag" out, the volume lowers dramatically. It's ridiculous! Here is what to do. Sorry, I don't know terms, but hopefully you'll understand what I'm saying. I took all the screws out of the back of the phone and popped it apart. The front and the back are now only being held together by wire. On the back piece of the phone, there is a purple "piece" that has a wire running from it to the front of the phone. On this purple piece, you'll see a small black "piece" hanging down from it. This black piece can be pushed upward. If you'll look at the back of the phone, you'll notice that this is exactly the place where you take the "tag" out. I used a small flat head screw driver to push the black piece up and I inserted a small folded piece of paper with tape around the paper to keep it together. I'm talking a small piece of paper. I wedged it in there between the black piece and a "small white shelf" that is directly under the black piece and it brought the sound back. Now it works great. I don't know if it will lesson the life of the phone, but now at least it gets played with and enjoyed. If you at least take the phone apart and look in there, I am sure that you will understand everything I just said. It's easy, really! It only took me about 10 minutes. Hope it works for you, take care.
  
  
• You can't hear it!!!!
  By A17XQUJE9CHO6V on 2005-04-27
  I thought this phone was a great toy for my triplets grandchildren they just love the Play & Learn House...This phone is the worst thing I have ever seen... When I first purchased it I thought it was broken because you can barely hear it, so back to the store I went and purchased another one!!! Only to come home and hear it is exactly like the first phone I purchased barely audible. The kids pick it up and just throw it back down because you have to be totally quiet to hear it. What a disappointment this is!! Some salesperson told me it is very low to protect small childrens ears. What a joke if its not audible no one will ever play with it. You need something to get a little one's attention. This is definitely not the phone to purchase. By the way my grandchildren are 18 months old, they actually don't even pick it up.
  
  
• Definetly not loud enough!
  By A9Y0RJ7W0PTGS on 2005-04-29
  I have a 3 year old and a 9 month old. They both like the phone but lose interest pretty quickly. Because they can't hear anything the phone is saying. I think they would play with it more if the volume was louder.
  
  
• Not a waste of money, but not a #1 purchase
  By A16HGTIFS84S41 on 2005-10-18
  I don't think this toy was a waste of money. I think there are better toys out there that hold their attention longer. I have 15 month-old triplets and only one of them really likes it. It doesn't hold the attention of the other two.
  
  Durability-- well, my son likes the number 5, and pressed that a lot, and now all the letters have rubbed off that number. Other than that, it handles lots of throwing and banging and slobber no problems
  
  Volume -- I agree that the volume is quite soft. If you read the instructions, it will tell you that it is designed to be soft for your baby's ears. The toy is meant to be held up to their ear and "talk" in it like a real phone. The volume is adequate, but I do wish it had a volume control, since my kids NEVER put it up to their ear (yet).
  
  Overall I think it's great if you can get it on sale!
  
  
• Not a Good Toy
  By A1PC1GEGCI8YCS on 2005-11-04
  I rated this toy not good. When I brought the toy my daughter played with it in Toysrus and she loved it. When I brought it home and took it out the box the volume of the toy is very low. You can barely hear it. Very low volum.
  
  
• Too loud!
  By A3S84PR3YN9UW7 on 2006-12-08
  Neat toy, however, the volume is far too loud for a toddler to hold up to their ear. The volume is not adjustable, and is ideal for the child to hold like a video game or a book. I advice shutting the toy off when the child pretends to use the toy as a phone and talk to someone.
  
  
• ABC's in telephone clusters
  By AU4MX7JJH3PMA on 2006-12-15
  I got this phone because we have the learning home and there was an empty slot for the phone - I know consumerism - but anyway I thought my daughter would like it because she always wants to take the phone when I am talking on it and since it lights up and talks I figured she would leave my phone alone. Well, she likes it but it doesnt hold her attention for too long.
  
  The phone says the numbers you press but in ABC mode it says the group of numbers the key represents. Not the best way to learn ABC's but maybe as she gets older and can recognize the letters on the light up screen it will be more meaningful.
  
  Otherwise a cute phone - if you press it once and walk away it will ring to remind you to come play - then if it is still ignored it will happily say goodbye.
  
  
• Can barely hear a thing.....
  By A3KKUT5D3L53GH on 2004-09-27
  This toy does nothing to interest my grand-daughter. I thought
  perhaps the batteries weren't good that came with the phone,
  so we replaced them, but we still can barely hear anything
  coming from the phone...neither sound nor lights. She picks it
  up and within seconds she's moved away from it.
  
  The concept is cute, but it needs perfecting. The lights need to be brighter, the sound needs to be louder so baby can hear it
  and also get the baby's attention. You can't learn something if
  you can't hear or see it.
  
  
  Yia-Yia Elaine
  
  
• This toy is the worst Fisher-Price toy I have seen.
  By A320UXK5DFH1ZX on 2005-01-17
  This toy was usable in the box for demo purposes. And the volume was fine. When we got the toy out of the box the volume cut down so low that you can not hear it if the tv is even on in the same room. I changed the batteries and after reading the instructions, it stated that the volume would automatically reduce to lower volume after removed from the box for better enjoyment for children. And it has no other volume control. So unless the house is totally quiet you can not hear what the toy is saying. I am a strong lover of Fisher-Price and expected much better from them.
  
  
• Can't hear it!
  By A840K3HFRGQLO on 2005-04-18
  I bought this for my daughter for Christmas when she was 17 months old. She is now nearly 2 and still doesn't play with it. I loved it in the store and thought it was a great toy. I loved that the numbers and letters show up on a screen while the phone speaks them. But once the demo tab is out, there's no hearing it. I called Fisher Price and they said it was not defective but made safe so a child won't get hearing damage when it is put up to her ear. I completely understand that but what I don't understand is how a child is supposed to push the buttons and look at the screen with the phone up to her ear. What a poorly thought out toy. I'm sure Fisher Price will stop selling it soon.
  
  
• How I solved the volume issue.
  By A1RU4S4ICBQDE5 on 2005-05-15
  
  
  I liked this toy for my 8 month old because it relates the pushed buttons (number or alphabet depending on the play mode) by visually showing them on the screen and audio ably saying them as there are shown; I thought what a great teaching tool.
  
  When I got it home and opened I noticed the volume was not as loud as it was in the store, I thought it was broken. I was considering returning it, until I realized a manufacture's pull tab (located in the back beside the screw to open the battery door) had been automatically removed and decreased the volume.
  
  I simply reinserted the tab, cut off the excess and taped up the opening. If you've already thrown away the tab anything you can make a 1½" to 2" long thin plastic strip from will work (a plastic milk jug).
  
  Since I bought this for its visual effects I don't consider it a hold to her ear toy and I won't encourage her to use it that way, if as she gets older it becomes a problem, I'll re-adjust the volume. But for now my solution works for us.
  
  
  
• Don't buy..You'llbe disappointed!!
  By A1E2Y47OTZXBKH on 2005-11-22
  We were very disappointed with this phone. In the package it seems great! However when you take out the piece of cardboard on the back of the phone which allows the noises to be audible in the store, you can't hardly hear anything unless the phone is right up to your ear. My daughter got very annoyed with this phone because she would push the buttons and then "when nothing happened" because she couldn't hear anything she would throw the toy on the floor. My husband tried to jam a piece of paper back into the spot on the back but then my daughter would fixate on it and say "Fix it Daddy, fix it" . After hearing this over and over again I wanted to pitch the toy. After a year she still hasn't ever really played with it so I gave it away. I suggest the phone my friend has. I think it is endorsed by Parents magazine. It is silver and you can record a message for your child if you want on it. Whenever we visit my friend this is the toy my daughter just has to play with!
  
  
• Broke after 5 months
  By A2JBKQM94WBKNI on 2007-01-17
  My son absolutely adored this toy- until it broke after 5 months. It was as if the keys became stuck. The toy kept saying "7" over and over again. Then two of the other keys stopped doing anything at all. I might buy another just because my son loved it so much but beware that this was a flaw.
  
  

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