A cordless phone connects a base unit and handset wirelessly, allowing users to answer calls and move freely throughout the home. Popularized in Japan from the late 1980s, virtually all home landlines sold today are cordless.
Early cordless phones used analog technology with poor quality, interference from neighboring phones, and eavesdropping risks. Modern digital (DECT standard) phones feature encrypted calls with greatly reduced interception risk. Range is approximately 50-100m indoors and 300m outdoors.
Cordless phones transformed telephone usage. No longer tethered to a wall-mounted phone, users could talk from any room. This "carrying a phone around" experience arguably prepared people psychologically for mobile phone adoption.
Modern cordless phones include Number Display, nuisance call features (auto-recording warnings, block lists), answering machine functions, and inter-handset intercom. See telephone evolution history for the landline timeline.