Review: VTech Soft Singing Phone

This was probably the activity toy we bought our son. He was very young and had been given many gifts at his birth which were soft rattles, blankets, clothes and cuddly animals. This toy was what I got him when he started to show an interest in holding items at about four months old. So let us review the VTech Soft Singing Phone!

At first Baby Al mainly tried to learn to simply hold the toy. His small hands found it tricky at first as it's fairly bulky but he soon got the hang of it and would simply stare into the shiny mirror and the lights when he accidentally caught one of the buttons or if I had pressed one in. Gradually over time he developed new skills and started to press the buttons all by himself, mainly with his thumb. Now he can hold it with one hand (or two if he wishes), press the buttons and even shake it around to make it rattle. Also now that he has his top teeth coming through the little aerial which is made of fabric has become a rather chewy teether as he'll stick it into his mouth and bite on it to help relieve some of the pains he is going through. The big red and blue button at the bottom of this toy also turns to show two different smilie faces and when pressed will sing a short but cheery tune. The four light-up buttons are of animals which your child "calls" on their toy phone and flash when a tune is played or simply light up when first pressed. Around the mirror are some small balls which rattle around. There is also a handy velcro tie at the top of the phone so you can connect is to a car seat and not have to worry about it falling onto the floor as you drive about. It's also pretty darn durable. Baby Al loves to hit it against anything solid and drops it from his highchair fairly often. It took him several months before he finally did enough damage that the blue light now doesn't light up, but he sure did a heck of a throw! Another bonus to this toy is it came with batteries, something not all electrical toys come with and the batteries that came with ours lasted a fair few months and lots of use before we had to change them.

I do have a few issues with this toy. The balls which make the rattle sound aren't very good and barely make a noise, he use to shake it often but because it barely made a noise he just stopped. He'd rather shake my iPhone which has a rattle application on it. Another is I somewhat wish the big button at the bottom said other things and not just "Ring ring ring, play away, who is on the phone today" as this little tune soon got on our nerves once he learnt he could use his fingers to press it. A few more cute chimes would have been nice.

All in all this toy is a good one, and at £9.99 you really can't go wrong!

Pros

- Only £9.99 for a toy that lasts!

- Fabric makes it easier to hold and chewable.

- Big bright buttons catch baby's eye.

Cons

- Tune gets on parents' nerves after a while.

- Rattle part of toy isn't very good.

And our judges have settled with their scores and here they are!

Baby Al's Rating: 7/10

Petit Mom's Rating: 7/10

Looks like we are in agreement on this toy. Thumbs up to VTech from both of us!