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Low-Feature, Durable Cell Phone for older adult.
Priest
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Greetings all,
My parents have used these flip-phones for years now. My mother recently had her first grandchild, however, and with her flip-phone dying, wants something that handles pictures better. She's not looking for the new blinged-out phones, just something durable that she can reliably make phone calls on (which smartphones seems to be getting worse and worse at).
I've had a lot of trouble finding any examples of phones like this, wondering if anyone has any recommendations / advice. I'm seeking a non-data reliant smartphone for my Mom, key features would be:
- Small to Medium sized, no larger than 4.5" Screen.
- High-Resolution Color Screen (IE: Not like a Flip-Phone Screen)
- Hardware and Software keyboards are acceptable (IE: Slider phones)
- Wi-Fi & 4G Capable. (3G is an acceptable fallback, No 2G)
- Android Preferred, other OS acceptable, prefer no Apple devices.
- High durability
- High call-quality
- Battery life 48 hours + (This is hard to find, but not impossible in smaller phones)
- T-Mobile - Must be GSM network + SIM card friendly.
- Off-Contract
I'm willing to pay a higher price for a smaller phone like this ($200-$300) to gain durability and battery life at the expense of size, brand-name, and high-processing power. Because she'll solely be using it for Phone Calls, Texting, Pictures, and Wi-Fi email, all other features are irrelevant.
Thanks in advance, folks
My parents have used these flip-phones for years now. My mother recently had her first grandchild, however, and with her flip-phone dying, wants something that handles pictures better. She's not looking for the new blinged-out phones, just something durable that she can reliably make phone calls on (which smartphones seems to be getting worse and worse at).
I've had a lot of trouble finding any examples of phones like this, wondering if anyone has any recommendations / advice. I'm seeking a non-data reliant smartphone for my Mom, key features would be:
- Small to Medium sized, no larger than 4.5" Screen.
- High-Resolution Color Screen (IE: Not like a Flip-Phone Screen)
- Hardware and Software keyboards are acceptable (IE: Slider phones)
- Wi-Fi & 4G Capable. (3G is an acceptable fallback, No 2G)
- Android Preferred, other OS acceptable, prefer no Apple devices.
- High durability
- High call-quality
- Battery life 48 hours + (This is hard to find, but not impossible in smaller phones)
- T-Mobile - Must be GSM network + SIM card friendly.
- Off-Contract
I'm willing to pay a higher price for a smaller phone like this ($200-$300) to gain durability and battery life at the expense of size, brand-name, and high-processing power. Because she'll solely be using it for Phone Calls, Texting, Pictures, and Wi-Fi email, all other features are irrelevant.
Thanks in advance, folks
Priest on
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This might fit the bill, I'm not sure about durability but their selling point is they are designed with seniors in mind.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
Some of the older people I know or work with hate charging their phones because it sucks. Fumbling around with a tiny ass latch to open the tiny ass port to plug in a tiny ass USB charging cable backwards so you can flip it around and try again only to realize that you had it right the first time is a pain for anyone, let alone an older person who might have poor eyesight and arthritis, so I'd recommend seeing if you can find a phone that has an aftermarket dock that is easy to use so your folks can simply place it in a dock to charge.
Alternately, if the main reason they want nicer phones is for pictures, what about using simpler phones that they are used to and grabbing something like a cheap android tablet? They could use phones they are already comfortable with for making calls, but have a separate device that is easy to use for sharing pictures or Facebooking/keeping in touch with grandchildren or whatever it is that they want to do.
@Priest Have you considered looking for phones that have aftermarket batteries available for them? They add thickness to the phone (which might be nice for some people...I'm not a fan of super thin phones because the grip on them feels poor) but can easily triple the stock battery life.
You could also consider getting her a battery extender/wireless charging system for a smartphone.
Here is why:
Also I second BlindZenDriver.
Configuring a smartphone properly to not use much energy can also help a lot.
It started out on a tablet that my siblings and I got them, but it has since migrated to their computer and smartphones.
I'd have sworn my parents were technophobes, but once they found video chat, that was all she wrote.
Their single biggest requirement of their phone? It had to video chat. Which is why they upgraded to a smartphone.
Assuming the galaxy S5 mini is exactly the same as the S5, my phone has been thrown on the floor/concrete a million times and is no worse for the wear ( I dont use a case, either). Its also water proof to a certain point, which is helpful.
Call quality is so so, but that may be my network in my area (verizon). wifi calling has helped. The galaxy has an "ultra power saving mode" that turns the phone black and white and keeps it alive for days. I use it while traveling and at conventions, calls and texts still come through but it turns off all the crap. I think at 50% battery when you turn it to powersaving it gives you 7 days.
If shes technically inclined enough to switch between the modes, its not a terrible option. That plus an aftermarket battery, I'd imagine, would really make it ridiculous. She'd have to remember to switch back and forth when she wants to take pictures and look at stuff in color, which is probably a deal breaker, but better to know its an option.
Throwing an update here. So Slider phones are stupidly expensive, considering what smart phones cost. Also, nobody except for smartphone makers are putting decent screens in their phones.
Turns out the LG Optimus is a reasonably sized phone that only cost $125. I'm happy with that. Took two nights, but got her trained on using it and getting used to touch-keyboards. Been a gauntlet getting through that, but thankfully her mother (my grandmother) and her sisters have been texting her non-stop to force her to practice using the phone. Humorous day that my Grandma is more tech-savvy than my mother. It wasn't Phablet sized, had a removable battery, and wasn't too terrible on the vendor-OS.
I forwent flashing Cryanogen on it, just due to the fact that Cryanogen isn't 100% stable on phones, and I don't want my Mom to have to deal with it. I purged most of the apps, especially the LG built in apps, cleaned her home screen, basically made the phone as user friendly as possible for her. Apparently Android doesn't require you to sign in with Google anymore, which is a boon, as she didn't want Gmail (she uses Yahoo, I could care less what people use).
The LG Optimus has fantastic call quality - best I've heard on a smartphone. Highly recommend it for people looking for low-end smartphones. Decent speed, not flashy. Bundled LG and T-Mo software is a sloth though, and must be purged with fire and hatred.