Recommendation for mobile phone foe elderly person

Aidanmc

I'm looking a mobile for elderly relative. Non-smart phone would be best.
Any suggestions?

Murmansk

Doro are a well known brand for such customers - relatively simple with big keys

Frozen_up_north

Make sure the Doro is at least 4G, some of their lower cost ones are only 2G and that may get switched off in the not too distant future. Also Three (and iD Mobile, etc) don’t have 2G, which limits your network choice.

Aidanmc

Frozen_up_north said:

Make sure the Doro is at least 4G, some of their lower cost ones are only 2G and that may get switched off in the not too distant future. Also Three (and iD Mobile, etc) don’t have 2G, which limits your network choice.

Yeah i see the cheap Doro's are 2G, that was going to be my next question!

Vitor

Don't overlook hearing aid compatibility and dexterity adjustment like double-press rejection

PHK

You need to choose a phone to match the capabilities of the person (regardless of age). 

My 90 year old friend prefers a touch screen as she has dexterity issues which means she can't manage more than a touch, but has no problem with her eyesight and is as sharp as a pin

On the other hand my mate in his 50s, struggles with any phone and needs a simple phone he can just dial a number on. It's not his age, he's always been like this. 

I would be extremely cautious of the Doro feature  phones, they have big buttons but the user interface is confusing. 

Savvy_Sue

PHK said:

You need to choose a phone to match the capabilities of the person (regardless of age). 

My 90 year old friend prefers a touch screen as she has dexterity issues which means she can't manage more than a touch, but has no problem with her eyesight and is as sharp as a pin

On the other hand my mate in his 50s, struggles with any phone and needs a simple phone he can just dial a number on. It's not his age, he's always been like this. 

I would be extremely cautious of the Doro feature  phones, they have big buttons but the user interface is confusing. 

Agree with this: I have a friend for whom I have had to set her phone up so you have to press and hold a key for 3 seconds before it activates. Drives me nuts, but it's what suits her. 

subjecttocontract

All 'elderly' people are different. There are lots of different phones. You should select a phone that matches the person's specific needs. As we don't know those needs in detail I don't see how anyone can advise you.
Your question makes it sound that elderly people need special phones......that's not necessarily the case

Aidanmc

subjecttocontract said:

All 'elderly' people are different. There are lots of different phones. You should select a phone that matches the person's specific needs. As we don't know those needs in detail I don't see how anyone can advise you.
Your question makes it sound that elderly people need special phones......that's not necessarily the case

Of course.
I didn't think too much about it and could have posted my question better...sorry.

Savvy_Sue

Another comment about Doros: I used to use them at work for a very specific reason - they had a key on the back which, when pressed, rang a number. We used them in a Drop-in where occasionally a 'volatile' situation might develop. A staff member kept the phone in their pocket, and would hopefully be able to press the button and alert staff upstairs that something was going on. Didn't need to speak: we could see who was calling and hear what was going on (and then go and look!)

For that purpose, it worked well - but as a phone for making calls and sending text messages it was a horror! Limited space to store text messages, clunky interface etc. 

(We had other alarm systems, but they relied on you being able to get to them, and all it did was ring an alarm - no way of hearing what was going on.)

p_anotherguy

Aidanmc said:

I'm looking a mobile for elderly relative. Non-smart phone would be best.
Any suggestions?

Should it be a "regular" smartphone or more old style?