Mobile Phone for 94 year old

[HouseofHolbein]

Does anyone have any recommendations? Mom is 94 poor eyesight as she needs her cataracts doing but may not be well enough. She has a very very old Samsung which isn't really much use to her.

She has recently gone into a care home and enjoys getting phone calls and texts and the odd photo but her phone is unreliable runs out of charge quickly and so she is feeling quite cut off.

I'm looking at the Doro phones. Don't want to spend too much tbh and want something simple. Tempted by a flip phone to give her buttons and a biggish screen.

Any advice very gratefully received 👍

If your Mum has previously used a mobile and knows how to text, phone and access her contacts then a Doro would be fine. My inlaws on the other hand never had a mobile are now in a care home and really cannot work it despite many, many demonstrations resulting in frequent 15+ calls each day. Just make sure that she either remembers to charge it each day, can work out when the battery is low so that she can charge it as required or places it back in the charger constantly, which has been another issue with my in laws. We have not had any issues with poor sound quality or connection with the Doro at all.

She is totally ok with charging texting and speaking on a mobile 😊 there is a car phone warehouse near where she lives I'll have a browse when I visit on Wednesday.

Thank you 😊

If it’s an eyesight thing would an iPad or larger iPhone where you can set the large type text be better?

if she can operate it well enough to view sent photos, a basic phone may not be enough? Smartphone will mean she can FaceTime etc as well.

Iphone or ipad mini

My dad's 89 & severely visually impaired. He's switched to an iPhone which he controls by voice using Siri & finds much easier than his previous phone. Not a cheap option though! He did mainly switch because he can link up his hearing aids to the phone & control the settings to screen out background noise in social settings, but it's been such an improvement all over.

I can't afford an iPad or iPhone and tbh she had a tablet a few years ago and got rid because she didn't like using it.

Have you thought about having the battery replaced on her current phone? She knows what she's doing with that one so there's no learning curve. Batteries fade over time, it doesn't mean the rest of the phone is toast.

I spent a long time trying to keep my mum on the phones she was used to but she couldn't manage the small buttons.

Switching to a Doro worked really well, the larger buttons and colour contrast are great.

There are quite a few options on Amazon, like this one. They have a cateory for "senior mobile phones" and I used the search term "large button."

It's great that your mum is happy to use a mobile phone. That's half the battle, she sounds like one smart cookie! 🤩

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Uleway-Elderly-Unlocked-Emergency-Flashlight-Blue/dp/B09S9WT8YX/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=large%2Bbutton%2Bphone%2Belderly&qid=1693257149&rnid=1642204031&s=electronics&sr=1-3&th=1

I liked the look of this one but not sure the screen is big enough for what she needs. I need to get to a shop and look at some I think

Be careful with the doro phones as the memory is very small and even having WhatsApp on is an issue for my mums one. Wish I'd got her an iPhone

I would recommend an iphone and then put "child locks" on the apps or even don't download any apps that she's not going to use. She can also use it to listen to audiobooks, if she's got eye issues.

You can setup action blocks on android to make it easy to select common tasks

support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/9711267?hl=en-GB

I just got a Doro flip phone for my 89yo mother and it's brilliant. She's not very computer literate so couldn't handle a smartphone- she's learned to so-so navigate a Samsung tablet but it's a challenge both intellectually and physically (arthritis).

The Doro replaces an ancient Nokia which had become too hard to operate - bad sound, tiny dial buttons. Everything's just so much easier now on all these accounts. Even so, it's taken quite a bit of training to get her to use basic functions on a new phone. I'd hate to think of anything more difficult.

Not sure if they're still around but I got my dad a vodaphone "simple" large Buttons and text it didn't do pictures or I telnet though. (Maybe they do now it was a few years ago?)

Itd definitely worth asking in a phone shop