69 yr old using Windows looking for first smartphone

Lara

A friend (68) who has an old Nokia phone would like a smartphone. She uses Windows 7 on her PC but would like to take photo's and send to family in America straight away. using Something like What's App. She is with 02 on PAYG but now would be happy to take on a contract if she gets a smartphone, she has said. She uses Word a lot for documents. She's also not very technical, her words, so would like something easy to operate.
Any suggestions to pass on to her would be welcomed. Thanks.

grumbler

photos

Any smartphone can do this, but if she uses WhatsApp, the recipients must have it too. Alternatively she can email the photos from the mobile.
And it's not necessary to take a contract as there are many good PAYG options around - with or without bundles - depending on her actual needs.

For the best mobile cameras see this thread, but possibly she doesn't need the best one: Best Phone Camera

20aday

One suggestion I would make is the Nokia Lumia 635.

See: https://www.o2.co.uk/shop/phones/nokia/lumia-635/#contractType=paymonthly

diamonds

I would go for a screen slightly larger, I know a 68 year old who struggles with a 630 being slightly too small.




Do they have WiFi at home ? Need to factor in data costs.

Lara

Yes she does have wifi at home. If sending an email with a photo doesn't that cost extra?

Family in the U.S. Have What's App and knows I use it hence she thinks she needs it too. I'm not a techno person but I understand if she cakes a photo of her beautiful garden she wants to send it instantly, so to speak. She would need a phone with a large screen and keyboard as she suffers with her hands.

Many thanks for all your help. I'll pass this info onto her. She's a very independent person so will look at your suggestions.

grumbler

Lara wrote: »

Yes she does have wifi at home. If sending an email with a photo doesn't that cost extra?

Both WhatsApp and e-mails are free via WiFi.
Without WiFi both use mobile data and, I guess, very similar amounts for sending the same photo.

Family in the U.S. Have What's App and knows I use it hence she thinks she needs it too. I'm not a techno person but I understand if she cakes a photo of her beautiful garden she wants to send it instantly, so to speak. She would need a phone with a large screen and keyboard as she suffers with her hands.

Smartphones with physical keyboards are almost extinct nowadays. Typically, it's either a big screen or a physical keyboard.

NiftyDigits

diamonds wrote: »

I would go for a screen slightly larger, I know a 68 year old who struggles with a 630 being slightly too small.




Do they have WiFi at home ? Need to factor in data costs.

I agree. I had a look at this phone yesterday. Thus I have recommended the Lumia 535 and 640 as more suitable. The 5" screen is surprisingly large in comparison to the 635..

NiftyDigits

For sheer ease of use, I would recommend a Windows Phone. Another Nokia.

This Nokia/Microsoft Lumia 535 is £44.99 SIM Free when you use her existing O2 SIM to register for an upgrade. It has a sizeable screen, is simple to use and of course works well with Windows on the PC/Laptop, having familiar applications such as Outlook, Word, Excel and Adobe PDF already installed.


Better still, is this Lumia 640 at £89.99. Again going through the CPW link and using her current O2 SIM for the upgrade.
This would be my suggestion for her, as it has all of the features mentioned above, but a higher resolution screen and camera/video camera. You can take a closer look at the Lumia 640 here

Smartphones are quite helpful when it comes to writing. Tap in the first few letters and you are offered a range of words that may fit. Tap on the correct word and it is entered. So there is rarely a need to type out a whole word. Helpful for someone who has a problem with the their fingers, as they will be able to type efficiently with a single finger if necessary.

She won't be locked into any contract with either of these choices, as she will own the phone outright and can use it with any network's SIM, PAYG or otherwise.

She could probably get away with spending as little as £5 per month on PAYG or Pay Monthly SIM only, to go with the new phone. I would suggest EE, as she won't accidentally go over her data allowance. But I'm sure others can suggest a good SIM only deal.

The links are within the bold blue writing above. Click through to see the offers.

20aday

NiftyDigits wrote: »

For sheer ease of use, I would recommend a Windows Phone. Another Nokia.

This Nokia/Microsoft Lumia 535 is £44.99 SIM Free when you use her existing O2 SIM to register for an upgrade. It has a sizeable screen, is simple to use and of course works well with Windows on the PC/Laptop, having familiar applications such as Outlook, Word, Excel and Adobe PDF already installed.


Better still, is this Lumia 640 at £89.99. Again going through the CPW link and using her current O2 SIM for the upgrade.
This would be my suggestion for her, as it has all of the features mentioned above, but a higher resolution screen and camera/video camera. You can take a closer look at the Lumia 640 here

Smartphones are quite helpful when it comes to writing. Tap in the first few letters and you are offered a range of words that may fit. Tap on the correct word and it is entered. So there is rarely a need to type out a whole word. Helpful for someone who has a problem with the their fingers, as they will be able to type efficiently with a single finger if necessary.

She won't be locked into any contract with either of these choices, as she will own the phone outright and can use it with any network's SIM, PAYG or otherwise.

She could probably get away with spending as little as £5 per month on PAYG or Pay Monthly SIM only, to go with the new phone. I would suggest EE, as she won't accidentally go over her data allowance. But I'm sure others can suggest a good SIM only deal.

The links are within the bold blue writing above. Click through to see the offers.

I've never tried an in store unit for a Lumia device but do they come with Voice Dictation? If so the OP's friend could use that to compose messages seeing as dexterity is limited?

Lara

20aday wrote: »

I've never tried an in store unit for a Lumia device but do they come with Voice Dictation? If so the OP's friend could use that to compose messages seeing as dexterity is limited?

What a good idea! Hadn't thought of that.

macman

Since the phone function seems to be of limited importance here, wouldn't a better option be a wi-fi only tablet? Better camera, bigger keyboard, bigger screen and can still send the pics via email, since WhatsApp is not supported on tablets. No contract or PAYG data purchase needed: just the one-off purchase cost.