2g or 4g?

Grumpysally

With regards to a bog standard, dumb, calls and text only mobile. Is there any need to go for a 4g compatible handset?
Thanks

Heedtheadvice

Obsolescence

Grumpysally

Heedtheadvice said:

Obsolescence

But according to my search enquiries, 2g will be phased out by 2033. I suspect the person I need a phone for will have phased out before then.

TadleyBaggie

The 2G and 3G networks are currently being shutdown by the providers, so getting anything less than a 4G compatible handset at this time would be madness. 

Cisco001

Nokia 110 4G is only £17.
Why bother 2G only?
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3113736

TELLIT01

Vodafone is switching 3G off this year.  EE and 3 at some point in 2024.

Grumpysally

Cisco001 said:

Nokia 110 4G is only £17.
Why bother 2G only?
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3113736

Because it is not suitable for the person who would be using it

Grumpysally

I should have elaborated more in my original post. 
I'm looking at mobiles for my elderly mother, so am looking specifically at phones  marketed as for seniors / dementia friendly/ hard of hearing. 

Once you rule out all the suspiciously cheap and suspiciously highly rated models on Amazon, you are left with phones at around £60 that are 2g, so calls and text only which is what I want. Or phones that are 4g at around double the price. Even though not smart phones, they have some internet capability which is completely useless for my mum, just more things to confuse her.

If the only difference is the internet capability there's no point paying double the price. If 2g is going to disappear in 3 or 4 years time, well the phone will probably need replacing by then anyway.

TadleyBaggie

2G and 3G are going sooner than that, next year. Don’t buy a 2G or 3G phone now. 

flashg67

Looks like you'll be ok for a while - from www.mobileuk.org 

glennevis

I wouldn't advise getting a 2G/3G phone either.

You can get an unlocked Alcatel 4g flip phone with a real keypad for £45 from Tesco (other shops are available). I set one up for a friend last month. He's hard of hearing and found that their phones suit him (tried a similar Nokia but it was too quiet).

I was speaking to him yesterday and he's happy with the phone which he only uses for calls and texts. You don't have to set up the internet on it. I checked and it has used no data, so it doesn't need os or apps updating. In the end what limits smartphone life to 3-4 years is the lack of updates. And the alcatel has a removable battery so could last much longer than that.