3g for my mother.

May 26, 2010 10:29 AM

I'm looking for an easy to use 3g phone that my mother can use. All she needs is the ability to make/recieve phone calls & texting. Touch screens are a no, no. And the phone should be under £100. 3g is a must as we need to get her on the 3 network in the UK.
posted by nam3d to shopping (4 answers total)

Depending on how old your mother is, this might be useful.
posted by fearnothing at 11:30 AM on May 26, 2010

I'd recommend she go into a 3 store and have a play with the phones in there.
I've been into 3 or 4 and they've all had a dozen or so real phones plugged in and working, unlike most shops which just have dummy phones.

I've been asked to recommend a few technophobes phones and I have found what one person finds obvious in a phone, really confuses another, so its best to test if possible.

You also won't need to spend anywhere near £100, pay-as-you-go phones start at about £10 on 3.
posted by chrispy108 at 12:27 PM on May 26, 2010

Just to clear up a misconception, you don't need 3G to work on the 3 network. 3G is just a method by which the phone can access the internet.

Personally I would recommend any series 40 Nokia handsets. They are simple to use, reasonably inexpensive and will do everything she wants. Unfortunately Nokia don't tell you what on their website is series 40 and shop staff will look at you as if you have a screw loose when you ask them.

(side note: avoid the £10 phones as they are normally made by companies such as ZTE and Huawei. They'll do the job but the UI will be a mess and it'll take her ages to get used to it)

The nice thing about Nokia series 40's is that they all float around the £40-£100 price point and their feature set is pretty much the same. In other words, she can buy the one that meets her budget and looks the prettiest and you'll be sure you get a phone that'll do what she wants.

Assuming that you have to get it from 3, then there are three options:

1. Buy a phone on contract.
2. Buy a phone on pre-pay from 3.
3. Buy a phone elsewhere (eg. direct from Nokia) and a SIM from 3.

For (1) and (2), 3 give you really only have the one choice, the Nokia 2730 which can be bought from Nokia directly for £89. On pre-pay, 3 are offering it for £50. You may need to work out how much she'll use it to determine whether contract or pre-pay is better value for her.

For (3), you will have a bit more flexibility. However if your budget is only £100 then you've really only got one other main contender which is the Nokia 2330 classic at £49 direct from Nokia (you may find it cheaper elsewhere).

Yes you're effectively the same price for a lower spec phone but she doesn't need the additional functionality and you can probably save money by taking a SIM only deal from 3 which'll give you more texts and minutes for less. Over the period of a year it could make a reasonable saving.

If you need any more help PM me.
posted by mr_silver at 3:49 AM on May 27, 2010

@mr_silver My understanding is that you're wrong and 3G actually is a requirement to use three.

three carry their calls over 3G with fallback to 2G in areas where there's not enough coverage.

Try to use a 2G only phone with a three sim and eventually they'll block it.
posted by curious_yellow at 6:40 AM on May 27, 2010