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Simplified Smartphones for Boomers and Seniors
By Jim Miller
There
are several manufacturers who are now making simplified
smartphones with features designed primarily for older users
who have limited experience with modern gadgetry. Here’s a rundown
of what’s currently and soon-to-be available.
Pantech Flex: One of the best and most affordable age-friendly smartphones on
the market today is the Pantech Flex,
sold
through AT&T for only $1 with a two-year contract.
This Android-powered touch screen phone has a bright 4.3-inch screen, with a
fast 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 8 megapixel camera. But what makes this phone
ideal for seniors is its Easy Experience mode which provides a simple, clean
home screen with large fonts, clearly marked icons, and quick access to the phone’s
most essential features – your phone, camera, messages, menu, Web, contacts,
along with shortcuts to your favorite apps.
It also offers convenient features like voice dialing and voice commands, and
SwiftKey technology that predict the next word you want to type to make texting
faster and easier.
Individual monthly service plans for AT&T start at $30 for 200 minutes of
talk time (for customers 65 and older), $20 for unlimited text messaging, and
$20 for 300 MB of data.
Jitterbug Touch: Offered by GreatCall Wireless – the same company that
makes the Jitterbug big-button cell phone – the Touch is actually a Kyocera
Milano smartphone that’s been rebranded and loaded with GreatCall’s
simplified user interface software.
It offers a 3-inch touch screen, and a full slide-out keyboard with raised, backlit
buttons that makes it easier to type messages. And when you turn the phone on,
you get a simple menu list with large fonts that let you access often-used features
like the phone, camera, messages and pictures, along with your contacts and apps.
This Android phone also offers voice dialing, a 3.2 megapixel camera, and optional
features like medication reminders, 5Star personal security service, a live nurse
service to answer your health questions, and more.
Available at greatcall.com or 800-733-6632, the Touch sells for $149 with a one-time
$35 activation fee, no-contract, and calling plans that cost $15 per month for
50 minutes, up to $80 per month for unlimited minutes, text messages, operator
assistance, and voicemail. And their data plans run between $2.50 per month for
10 MB up to $25/month for 500 MB.
Samsung Galaxy Note II: If a bigger screen is the most desired feature, the Samsung
Galaxy Note II has a huge 5.5-inch touch screen display
and can be used with a stylus, which makes it easy to see and maneuver. It also
offers an Easy mode feature which simplifies the home screen providing access
only to key functions like the phone, messaging, Internet, contacts and your
favorite apps.
Available through AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular for $300
to $370 with a two-year contract, the monthly service plans for talk, text and
data start at around $80. Doro PhoneEasy 740: If you don’t mind waiting,
the Doro PhoneEasy 740 is
another excellent option, but
it won’t be available in the U.S. until later this year.
This Android slider phone has a 3.2-inch touch screen and a numerical slide-out
keypad with raised buttons for easy operation. It also offers a large-text, clearly
labeled menu to frequently used features like the phone, email, messages, Internet,
photos, games and apps.
Expected to cost around $99, other age-friendly features include a 5 megapixel
camera which can double as a magnifying glass, and an emergency call button that
will dial and text five preprogrammed numbers when pressed.
This page and its contents ©2013
Metropolitan News Company, Inc.
