Which Android phone for a 63 year old
Which Android phone for a 63 year old
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Discussion

richatnort

Original Poster:

3,204 posts

162 months

Monday 20th April 2020
quotequote all
My father in-law is looking for a new android phone & asked my to help him as he's 63 and doesn't know what he is looking for & been ripped off by phone shops on the high street in the past. I'm an avid iphone fan boy so know nothing about android phones so wouldn't know where to start for brands, etc.

He has a samsung at the minute and seems happy enough with it but i guess requirements are:

1.Ease of use - He can navigate fairly basically but nothing too complicated
2. A good facing camera - they want to use whatsapp to facetime us to see our daughter
3. Good security features either face ID or thumb print but something he can have on that's easy for him to use (again he's not that savy with tech)
4. Able to upload to the cloud using his google account - back ups mainly incase he breaks his phone (clumsy & works in manufacturing )
5. Unlocked so we can easily swap phone providers ( I like to do it when sim only runs out)
That's pretty much it i think in terms of features.


Budget £100 - £150
Any help would be much appreciated!

bungle

1,874 posts

271 months

Monday 20th April 2020
quotequote all
I recently got my mum (70's) an Alcatel 1c sim-free from Argos. It was about £40/50 I think.

She is a complete technophobe, but seems to get on OK with it.

LunarOne

7,341 posts

168 months

Monday 20th April 2020
quotequote all
Pretty much any android phone will do what you want. I don't buy them new - I always get a used one from a one of those Game/CEX shops so that I get a warranty. I'm currently using a Sony Xperia XZ1 which was their flagship phone launched in August 2017. I don't play games so I don't need the latest spec, and the camera is fine if not the best. I can see no reason to change it, so something similar would be fine for your FIL.

You can have the updated XZ2 model from April 2018 for your budget. https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail/?id=ssonh82164...

emperorburger

1,484 posts

97 months

Monday 20th April 2020
quotequote all
Take a look at the Honor 20 Lite

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/search-keywords/xx_x...

Honor provides a switchable 'Simple Mode' which simplifies the home screen layout with larger icons and text.

QuartzDad

3,000 posts

153 months

Monday 20th April 2020
quotequote all
Bought my 76yo Mum a Nokia 2 recently, she's happy with it.

CanAm

14,112 posts

303 months

Monday 20th April 2020
quotequote all
My wife is also a technophobe whose previous phone was a Samsung, so I got her a Samsung A10 32GB for arounf £140. She doesn't use a whole lot of features and is very uncomfortable with change, so this was an obvious choice.
She's been fine with it.

If he wants to use his exisiting SIM, be aware that the phone only acepts a nano SIM (two in fact!) so if he's had his old one for a few years you may need to get a new one. No problem.

Who me ?

7,455 posts

243 months

Monday 20th April 2020
quotequote all
Try looking at the Nokia 1 smart or the later plus1. Swimbo is total techno phobe, but she's got the earlier one and has no problems. Circa £60- £80 depending on network or unlocked. i bought GS one (plus 1) for his xmas box and he loves it.

richatnort

Original Poster:

3,204 posts

162 months

Monday 20th April 2020
quotequote all
Thanks guys going to take a look at all these tonight.

What about a Huawei P smart?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Huawei-6-21-Inch-FullView...

looks decent. is that thing on the back where you unlock it with your finger?

CanAm

14,112 posts

303 months

Monday 20th April 2020
quotequote all
Yes, I've got a P Smart. The fingerprint ID is handy and the camera is quite good, but as a phone my old Samsung was better.

The LEDs for notifications are quite small compared to the Samsung and there is no repeat facility on message notifications. If you happen to be away from your phone when a text arrives, you can easily miss it. The Samsung had remainders variable and programmable for both frequency and number.

Denis O

2,141 posts

274 months

Monday 20th April 2020
quotequote all
emperorburger said:
Take a look at the Honor 20 Lite

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/search-keywords/xx_x...

Honor provides a switchable 'Simple Mode' which simplifies the home screen layout with larger icons and text.
Just before we left the UK and got locked down in Greece, I bought SWMBO the 10 lite from Curry's. Super piece of kit with excellent battery life. Thoroughly recommend it for £140.

anonymous-user

85 months

Monday 20th April 2020
quotequote all
Samsung Galaxy A40.

My Mum (75) recently got one and is very happy. Bought phone outright and went sim-only.

richatnort

Original Poster:

3,204 posts

162 months

Tuesday 21st April 2020
quotequote all
Denis O said:
emperorburger said:
Take a look at the Honor 20 Lite

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/search-keywords/xx_x...

Honor provides a switchable 'Simple Mode' which simplifies the home screen layout with larger icons and text.
Just before we left the UK and got locked down in Greece, I bought SWMBO the 10 lite from Curry's. Super piece of kit with excellent battery life. Thoroughly recommend it for £140.
Thanks for the reccomendations, i've decided on this one actually as it seemed better and if it has that simple use to it even better.

CanAm

14,112 posts

303 months

Tuesday 21st April 2020
quotequote all
richatnort said:
Thanks for the reccomendations, i've decided on this one actually as it seemed better and if it has that simple use to it even better.
Samsungs have that simple home screen too. Having had Samsung and Huawei, I would recommend the Samsung as the better for phone and texting.

emperorburger

1,484 posts

97 months

Tuesday 21st April 2020
quotequote all
richatnort said:
Thanks for the reccomendations, i've decided on this one actually as it seemed better and if it has that simple use to it even better.
I think your father in law will be very happy with the Honor 20 lite. I've used Honor/Huawei phones for the last few years and they have all been excellent. I think it ticks all of your requirements and the 32MP front facing camera should also be great for video calls. If you need any specific advice on configuring anything, let me know.

Murph7355

42,019 posts

287 months

Tuesday 21st April 2020
quotequote all
richatnort said:
...

He has a samsung at the minute and seems happy enough with it but i guess requirements are:

1.Ease of use - He can navigate fairly basically but nothing too complicated
2. A good facing camera - they want to use whatsapp to facetime us to see our daughter
3. Good security features either face ID or thumb print but something he can have on that's easy for him to use (again he's not that savy with tech)
4. Able to upload to the cloud using his google account - back ups mainly incase he breaks his phone (clumsy & works in manufacturing )
5. Unlocked so we can easily swap phone providers ( I like to do it when sim only runs out)
That's pretty much it i think in terms of features.
...
First step to not being ripped off is not buying stuff you don't need.

Good list of requirements above. What model phone does he have now? And what of the above list can it not do/would he prefer it did "better" (define")?

rdjohn

7,185 posts

226 months

Tuesday 21st April 2020
quotequote all
My sister was widowed last July and is a technophobe. She kept her phone on 24/7/365.

I have now persuaded her that switching stuff OFF and ON makes a big difference so now she knows to routinely reboot her router, Smart TV and especially her phone since it was not locking onto WiFi and so she ran up a huge data bill as she is currently Duo-ing everyone, for hours, for most of the day.

The other extreme is that my mate bought his dad his first mobile so that he could keep in touch while he was in hospital The agreed time for phoning was 7pm and so he would switch it on at 6:55 and off at 7:10 smile

DocJock

8,722 posts

271 months

Tuesday 21st April 2020
quotequote all
CanAm said:
My wife is also a technophobe whose previous phone was a Samsung, so I got her a Samsung A10 32GB for arounf £140. She doesn't use a whole lot of features and is very uncomfortable with change, so this was an obvious choice.
She's been fine with it.

If he wants to use his exisiting SIM, be aware that the phone only acepts a nano SIM (two in fact!) so if he's had his old one for a few years you may need to get a new one. No problem.
A fiver buys you a sim card cutter from Amazon. Cuts a standard sim to micro size or nano...

CanAm

14,112 posts

303 months

Tuesday 21st April 2020
quotequote all
DocJock said:
A fiver buys you a sim card cutter from Amazon. Cuts a standard sim to micro size or nano...
I just got a new free SIM from Carphone Warehouse.

richatnort

Original Poster:

3,204 posts

162 months

Tuesday 21st April 2020
quotequote all
Murph7355 said:
First step to not being ripped off is not buying stuff you don't need.

Good list of requirements above. What model phone does he have now? And what of the above list can it not do/would he prefer it did "better" (define")?
Thanks, can you tell i'm a business analyst who just gathers requirements all day haha!

He has a Samsung at the minute which has finger print recognition and that's as far as i know and all he tells me haha.

I guess the camera is the most with video calling us it's a bit grainy but he uses it for phoning, texting, spotify, catch up tv when the mother in law is hogging the tv & that's about it not much else!

richatnort

Original Poster:

3,204 posts

162 months

Tuesday 21st April 2020
quotequote all
emperorburger said:
I think your father in law will be very happy with the Honor 20 lite. I've used Honor/Huawei phones for the last few years and they have all been excellent. I think it ticks all of your requirements and the 32MP front facing camera should also be great for video calls. If you need any specific advice on configuring anything, let me know.
Thanks, it's arriving today so expect a PM sometime this afternoon with something like how the hell do i do this or do this!