Help me find a phone for my mother?
July 27, 2017 11:00 AM Subscribe
I'm trying to find a smart phone for my mom, and I'm totally overwhelmed by the choices.
Basically, my mother has just come to live with us (yay!), moving from a very small town (where she was still driving around) to a small-ish city (where she's not driving any more, because of vision issues). She currently has an old flip phone that isn't working very well, and she has been pre-buying minutes, and she'd like to upgrade to a smartphone that she will probably use mostly for ride services, Facebook (that's still a maybe), and phone calls. She's also low vision, so we need something she can zoom in to read and see pictures, and other adaptive features are also nice.
We are usually an iPhone/iPad family, but Mom is on a fixed income and will resist having us just buy something for her. We're happy to add her to our AT&T family plan, if that makes the most sense, but we're open to other options if needed. It's going to be best if I can just pick something for her, or offer her two or three options, because she'll be even more overwhelmed than I am when faced with this choice.
I did find GoGoGrandparent, which looks cool and I will mention it to her, but right now I just need to narrow down the smartphone field. I'm guessing less than $200 will be best.
Help? Advice/thoughts on the best options for Mom are welcome.
Basically, my mother has just come to live with us (yay!), moving from a very small town (where she was still driving around) to a small-ish city (where she's not driving any more, because of vision issues). She currently has an old flip phone that isn't working very well, and she has been pre-buying minutes, and she'd like to upgrade to a smartphone that she will probably use mostly for ride services, Facebook (that's still a maybe), and phone calls. She's also low vision, so we need something she can zoom in to read and see pictures, and other adaptive features are also nice.
We are usually an iPhone/iPad family, but Mom is on a fixed income and will resist having us just buy something for her. We're happy to add her to our AT&T family plan, if that makes the most sense, but we're open to other options if needed. It's going to be best if I can just pick something for her, or offer her two or three options, because she'll be even more overwhelmed than I am when faced with this choice.
I did find GoGoGrandparent, which looks cool and I will mention it to her, but right now I just need to narrow down the smartphone field. I'm guessing less than $200 will be best.
Help? Advice/thoughts on the best options for Mom are welcome.
If you all have iPhones, the absolute best thing you can get for your mother is an iPhone.
You will need to provide frequent tech support. It's easiest to do this on a device you're already familiar with. TRUST ME.
posted by phunniemee at 11:13 AM on July 27, 2017 [7 favorites]
You will need to provide frequent tech support. It's easiest to do this on a device you're already familiar with. TRUST ME.
posted by phunniemee at 11:13 AM on July 27, 2017 [7 favorites]
Can you upgrade one of your phones and give her the old one? Otherwise, AT&T often has buy one get one free on iPhones if you go with the payment plan.
posted by soelo at 11:43 AM on July 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by soelo at 11:43 AM on July 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
Agreeing that an iPhone is really your best bet. I have a 5C, which is going for less than $200 on eBay, but which should be perfectly sufficient for her needs - I use it for all the things she does (Uber, FB, calling, plus texting) and it's more than enough.
Bonus: her having an iPhone means all of you can communicate via iMessage.
posted by Tamanna at 12:01 PM on July 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
Bonus: her having an iPhone means all of you can communicate via iMessage.
posted by Tamanna at 12:01 PM on July 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
I just got my mom a new phone. We bought her a Samsung Android phone and installed Big Launcher. I find this is a more flexible option than the features on the iphone (which I also loved, but my mom struggled with a bit. We chose a very large screened Samsung to give her the biggest target possible, but I think Big Launcher will work with any phone. I am fairly geeky, but it took me like, 10 minutes to get a hang of it, and she is very happy with it, and is using it far more than she ever used her iphone. We are all iphone people so I really hesitated, but, so far am 100% not regretting it, and it was a cheaper option.
posted by Northbysomewhatcrazy at 12:38 PM on July 27, 2017
posted by Northbysomewhatcrazy at 12:38 PM on July 27, 2017
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You also know how to deal with problems and issues on an iOS device. Maybe you can position it as saving you all money and making it easier to have her on your family plan?
posted by Cranialtorque at 11:11 AM on July 27, 2017 [1 favorite]