Getting my mom a smartphone

Hi guys

Am wondering if you can help me to suggest a smartphone I should get for my mom. She is in her late 70s. Fingers are good but not very nimble. Eyesight is ok but not perfect.

She still has an old candy bar Nokia - she can hardly type SMS messages on it because it’s so small. She often presses two keys at once,

I want to get her a smartphone to replace this

Her main thing will be to use WhatsApp - to communicate with the family.
My thinking is something with a big screen so it has a big keyboard will be better for her

Next thing is probably good battery life. Ie at least a day or two with minimal use.

Any suggestions around the R5k budget mark?
I don’t want to pay a huge amount because my mom won’t use it all that much or as her primary digital tool - she has a PC with a big screen for internet , email, FB etc

I saw the Samsung A31 (I think) - new midrange smart phone that looks good (about R6k) but I don’t know anyone that has it. Don’t want to go to the shops if I can help it. So want to pick something and get it delivered.

Any suggestions of what to consider for a WhatsApp smartphone for an older person?

Huawei y5/y7/y7p. None are the latest models so to speak but all will serve the purpose you seem to need served.

Go onto gsmarena and use the compare tool to compare these 3 devices side by side.
Just compare screen sizes as this will obviously determine which is a better fit in hand so to speak. Compare battery life as well.

Whatever you decide on, just increase font size in phone settings for ease of reading.

Granted practically all these smartphones are full touchscreen with no physical qwerty keyboard so there is a bit of an adjustment your mum will need to make in terms of typing, but it's easy enough.

If I were you - install TeamViewer on the phone so that you can also connect to it and assist where needed (unless your mum lives with you in which case it's easier to show her how to use the phone at first).

It will be an adjustment none the less to go from basic feature phone to a full one smartphone.

Also remember to get a screen protector and cover as the adjustment to new device size means it may get dropped a few times as well.

Thanks very much @M.Adhir !

Appreciate all the comments!

I forgot about the ability to make the text font bigger using the OS settings. That is a gem, thanks.

I would suggest any of the Huawei devices that @M.Adhir suggested as well as the Samsung A20 or A30. Great battery life and reasonably priced.

You can also install WhatsApp on the PC. Great for those of us who hate finger typing on a smartphone.

Get her a Iphone 6, Iphones just work much easier and less problems. Increase font size and get the whatsapp pc app for easy typing

Xiaomi. Best bang for back out there

SmokeyJoe said:

Xiaomi. Best bang for back out there

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Agreed on bang for buck. Problem is when it breaks - after sales service is slim to none locally.

Andre said:

You can also install WhatsApp on the PC. Great for those of us who hate finger typing on a smartphone.

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Thanks @Andre - I also use it on the PC !
But didn’t think about this for her, doh

www.miphones.co.za

Great products, great pricing, but expensive to repair an LCD, so be sure to get protection.

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions!
You have given me a lot of great guidance

Silver said:

Hi guys

Am wondering if you can help me to suggest a smartphone I should get for my mom. She is in her late 70s. Fingers are good but not very nimble. Eyesight is ok but not perfect.

She still has an old candy bar Nokia - she can hardly type SMS messages on it because it’s so small. She often presses two keys at once,

I want to get her a smartphone to replace this

Her main thing will be to use WhatsApp - to communicate with the family.
My thinking is something with a big screen so it has a big keyboard will be better for her

Next thing is probably good battery life. Ie at least a day or two with minimal use.

Any suggestions around the R5k budget mark?
I don’t want to pay a huge amount because my mom won’t use it all that much or as her primary digital tool - she has a PC with a big screen for internet , email, FB etc

I saw the Samsung A31 (I think) - new midrange smart phone that looks good (about R6k) but I don’t know anyone that has it. Don’t want to go to the shops if I can help it. So want to pick something and get it delivered.

Any suggestions of what to consider for a WhatsApp smartphone for an older person?

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Hi @Silver ,I'm on the market for a decent phone as well,I'm currently using a Huawei P smart 2019 edition,my last 2 phones were also Huawei but I heard that the newer Huawei's don't have Google app Store or something like that so I'm looking at a Samsung A30s,not Samsung A30,you can check it out on Takealot but basically it's a 6.4inch screen,4gb ram,128gb rom,and 25mp camera,it's better than my current Huawei in every way and at the R5k range,uses type C charger,the nice thing about this phone is on her next birthday you can buy her the Samsung watch

Slick said:

Hi @Silver ,I'm on the market for a decent phone as well,I'm currently using a Huawei P smart 2019 edition,my last 2 phones were also Huawei but I heard that the newer Huawei's don't have Google app Store or something like that so I'm looking at a Samsung A30s,not Samsung A30,you can check it out on Takealot but basically it's a 6.4inch screen,4gb ram,128gb rom,and 25mp camera,it's better than my current Huawei in every way and at the R5k range,uses type C charger,the nice thing about this phone is on her next birthday you can buy her the Samsung watch

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Thanks very much @Slick I will take note of this!

The phone is for an older person that will just mostly do whatsapp. So you dont go for best bang for buck. You go for easiest to use. Least problems. Something that can last for years.
= Iphone
She will probably not care or even know if the chipset is fast or slow or the screen have 20 more pixels

Hi @Silver. I’m in similar boat with my 80 year mum. Decided to get her the iPhone 7 Plus. Mainly because she’s having trouble navigating around her old Samsung, and I then struggle to help her as my Android knowledge is atrocious. She used my old iPhone 6 for a while and finds it less complicated than her Samsung but the screen size is too small.

Asterix said:

Hi @Silver. I’m in similar boat with my 80 year mum. Decided to get her the iPhone 7 Plus. Mainly because she’s having trouble navigating around her old Samsung, and I then struggle to help her as my Android knowledge is atrocious. She used my old iPhone 6 for a while and finds it less complicated than her Samsung but the screen size is too small.

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Thanks very much @Asterix
I am also an iPhone user so it would help for us to have the same phones.

however I think for what she wants it for it might be a waste since iPhones are quite a lot pricier.

how much does an iPhone 7 Plus go for?

Silver said:

Thanks very much @Asterix
I am also an iPhone user so it would help for us to have the same phones.

however I think for what she wants it for it might be a waste since iPhones are quite a lot pricier.

how much does an iPhone 7 Plus go for?

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They were about R6500 pre randslide. We went for a contract which was R399 x 24 months ( their xs package I think, 50mins 500mb, and R100pm odd more than her previous Samsung J5). Phone has only 32GB memory but that’s plenty for her. This was in April edit: sorry,March.

@Silver If screen size is a criterion, why not go for a tablet instead of a cellphone? Get a cover for it as well and she could still pop it in her bag when she goes out - most women have bags big enough for this!! I don't know how much tablets cost though

Hooked said:

@Silver If screen size is a criterion, why not go for a tablet instead of a cellphone? Get a cover for it as well and she could still pop it in her bag when she goes out - most women have bags big enough for this!! I don't know how much tablets cost though

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Was going to suggest this as well.

If she has access to wifi, the wifi tablets go for around R1000.

Incredible connection got a Samsung 8" tablet for R3799.

But just make sure from the dealer that whatsapp works on it. For some reason does whatsapp not work on all tablets.

Hooked said:

@Silver If screen size is a criterion, why not go for a tablet instead of a cellphone? Get a cover for it as well and she could still pop it in her bag when she goes out - most women have bags big enough for this!! I don't know how much tablets cost though

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Thanks @Hooked
That is a good suggestion

But I’d rather get her a large cell phone than a small tablet
Reason is that she still needs a phone
And lugging a tablet around is probably a worse off trade for the extra screen size

The other thing is that WhatsApp doesn’t work on my iPads, I think because they are WiFi tablets and not sim carded ones. Not sure about the sim carded tablets though, I will have to look into it

Probably the best solution would be for her to have a phone and a tablet - but if pushed to choose one I think the first would be a phone

I bought myself a xiaomi redmi 8a few days ago for 2.5k (3rd Samsung in a row broke down). Phone has 32gb builtin, 6.2 screen, dual sim and memory card slot
Where i work we constantly use a secure app on the phone to logon to servers. So the phone works hard.
Thats besides getting 150 sms a day and about 300 whatsapps, numerous calls, etc
Its now been 2.5 days since the last time i recharged the phone and still have 4 hours left on the battery.
And thats with the phone permanently connected to wifi
Bloody amazing

SmokeyJoe said:

I bought myself a xiaomi redmi 8a few days ago for 2.5k (3rd Samsung in a row broke down). Phone has 32gb builtin, 6.2 screen, dual sim and memory card slot
Where i work we constantly use a secure app on the phone to logon to servers. So the phone works hard.
Thats besides getting 150 sms a day and about 300 whatsapps, numerous calls, etc
Its now been 2.5 days since the last time i recharged the phone and still have 4 hours left on the battery.
And thats with the phone permanently connected to wifi
Bloody amazing

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Slightly off topic but I have gotten better battery life since switching to newer routers that do 802.11 ax .

Update

So I ended up getting my mom the Samsung A31

It's got a big screen - I think about 6 inches, lol - might even be bigger than that
Its got 128GB internal memory
I think its a 5,000 mah battery
It's quite light and comes with a decent back cover protector in the box and earphones

Cost me R6k plus a bit - so it wasn't cheap - but not like a top end phones

Anyway, my mom is OVER THE MOON

I set it up yesterday/this morning - we ported her number from Vodacom to MTN because the MTN signal is peculiarly brilliant in my complex and the Vodacom is terrible here. Crazy.

Anyway, this phone is AMAZING
Wow - I actually like it alot

Had it going side by side next to my iPhone XS - which cost more than triple
Anyway, this phone is remarkable at the price - I can't believe it
Screen is gorgeous, everything is super fast and quick.
Android is cool - not difficult to work with at all

and most importantly - my mom loves it

Have taught her WhatsApp and how to make and receive calls and use the Whatsapp. She is getting the hang of it and is feeling empowered!

(Lol, she just sent me a whatsapp now while I was typing this, hehe)

I hope it doesn't give any troubles - but she looks after her things and doesn't use it much.

Mission accomplished

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions - it helped me alot

Here's the phone we got her (from the Samsung site)

Silver said:

Update

So I ended up getting my mom the Samsung A31

It's got a big screen - I think about 6 inches, lol - might even be bigger than that
Its got 128GB internal memory
I think its a 5,000 mah battery
It's quite light and comes with a decent back cover protector in the box and earphones

Cost me R6k plus a bit - so it wasn't cheap - but not like a top end phones

Anyway, my mom is OVER THE MOON

I set it up yesterday/this morning - we ported her number from Vodacom to MTN because the MTN signal is peculiarly brilliant in my complex and the Vodacom is terrible here. Crazy.

Anyway, this phone is AMAZING
Wow - I actually like it alot

Had it going side by side next to my iPhone XS - which cost more than triple
Anyway, this phone is remarkable at the price - I can't believe it
Screen is gorgeous, everything is super fast and quick.
Android is cool - not difficult to work with at all

and most importantly - my mom loves it

Have taught her WhatsApp and how to make and receive calls and use the Whatsapp. She is getting the hang of it and is feeling empowered!

(Lol, she just sent me a whatsapp now while I was typing this, hehe)

I hope it doesn't give any troubles - but she looks after her things and doesn't use it much.

Mission accomplished

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions - it helped me alot

Here's the phone we got her (from the Samsung site)

View attachment 200204 View attachment 200205

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Sounds and looks good @Silver!!