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Which touch screen for a 70 year old?

My almost 70 year old mum has an ancient nokia slide phone which is now on its last legs, nokia is all she has been used to using, she is not tech minded at all and is the type to still ask me how to copy and paste something on her computer which she has had for nine years, she has said she would like a touch screen phone, she has zero experience with them, I do not live close to her at all so would be helping her to set it up over the phone. She has given £90 as the maximum she wants to spend and will not budge on this price at all.

I have been looking for a few days and I have found a nokia 3, which is on sale at tesco at the moment, my husband works there so with his discount he would get it for £90. The only other option would be a samsung j3, which is more expensive but I don't mind putting money towards it, would get that for £117.

I have no idea which to go for, in terms of which would be easier to use for a complete novice, or can anyone point me in the direction of something else that I might have missed in the £90 price range?

Did look on gumtree etc for galaxy s4/galaxy s5 and they were all around £100, scratched etc so thought a new phone would be better to go for. She is on giffgaff and does not want a contract so I am a bit stuck finding something she would be able to use.
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Comments

  • Ms_Chocaholic
    Ms_Chocaholic Posts: 12,679 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Why does she want a touchscreen phone.

    Wouldn't you be better just replacing her old phone with a like for like phone that she can use, I can't imagine her using apps.
    Thrifty Till 50 Then Spend Till the End
    You can please some of the people some of the time, all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time but you can never please all of the people all of the time
  • I am thinking the same thing, she would be much better with a phone with a keypad, but she is adamant she would like a touch screen, she does use facebook on her computer to keep in touch with family and has said she would like to get a more modern phone, I can see I will be on the phone everytime she gets a text to ask how to reply!
  • littleredhen
    littleredhen Posts: 3,292 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    The mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work unless it’s open.:o

    A winner listens, a loser just waits until it is their turn to talk:)
  • Ms_Chocaholic
    Ms_Chocaholic Posts: 12,679 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Do you ever get to spend any length of time with your mum, I wonder if that's the time to upgrade her as you will be on hand whilst she gets the hang of it.
    Thrifty Till 50 Then Spend Till the End
    You can please some of the people some of the time, all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time but you can never please all of the people all of the time
  • pmduk
    pmduk Posts: 10,655 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker

    I suspect the screen on that may be a little small for a 70-year-old - or even me for that matter!
  • suki1964
    suki1964 Posts: 14,313 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Does she have full use of her fingers? Mum has arthritis in the hands and got talked into buying an iPhone , and she struggles with the touch screen keyboard and can only use it with a stylus
  • Nelski
    Nelski Posts: 15,197 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I was looking at one of these for my elderly mum its supposed to be very user friendly

    https://www.doro.co.uk/mobile-devices/smart-phones.html
  • McKneff
    McKneff Posts: 38,857 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Why not a contract. I only pay £6 a month with 02 and get 500 minutes, unlimited texrs and 500mb of data which is all i need.
    The same amount is available on Sky for £5 a month
    make the most of it, we are only here for the weekend.
    and we will never, ever return.
  • mchale
    mchale Posts: 1,886 Forumite
    Have a look at "wiser app", it makes any smart phone easy to use, the are other apps similar as well.
    ANURADHA KOIRALA ??? go on throw it in google.
  • SeeMe
    SeeMe Posts: 343 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 100 Posts
    Having been bought my first smartphone at xmas the younger family members are telling me to install whatsapp to make free calls and text to them.

    As someone over 60 and used to using a candy bar phone with payg on three mobile are there any catches with whatsapp? i get accused of being a ludite at times and not very tech savy lol.
    I will install it if there are no catches/hidden charges.
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