Advice on senior citizen phones

All senior citizen mobile phones have the same goal: excelling in user-friendliness. Despite this, they come in various shapes and sizes, with or without a charging dock. There are candybar phones and flip phones. The latter are useful, as their keys are automatically locked when you close them. This prevents accidental pocket dialing. You can also open or close them to pick up or end a call.

A senior citizen phone excels in how simple it is. It's a mobile phone without unnecessary features. The phone is simply designed for SMSes and phone calls. You won't find many extra functions, which keeps the menu clear. You can start using it with very little knowledge about phones. Your friends and relatives are just a few clicks away.

Easy controls are combined with a clearly legible screen. The display of a phone for senior citizens or the visually impaired is as large as possible and has a high contrast. It has a clearly legible font that's adjustable in size, so the letters really stand out on the screen.

Another feature that benefits senior citizens and the visually impaired, are the large and clearly legible buttons. They're often backlit as well, to make them even clearer. That way, you'll always press the right button and you can quickly navigate through the menu.

The emergency button may be the most important feature of senior citizen phones. You can use it to reach multiple preset contacts in case of emergency. Tip: make sure to test this function beforehand, so you and the contacts know exactly how it works. They'll usually get an SMS, after which they'll be called one by one until someone picks up. We recommend entering mobile phone numbers, as landline phones often can't receive SMS messages.

Clear notifications are indispensable for a mobile phone for senior citizens and the hearing impaired. They have a a loud ringtone and an LED light that flashes in case of incoming calls or messages. This way, you won't miss a single message from your friends and relatives.

Senior citizens and the hearing impaired with hearing aids can't take having conversations via mobile phone for granted. Things become a lot easier if your phone is compatible with hearing aids. The majority of senior citizen phones support and can be comfortably used with hearing aids, without shrill or whistling sounds.

A senior citizen mobile phone with a charging dock saves you the frustration of messing around with charging cables. You can give your phone a fixed place to charge, so it's always charged and ready when you leave the house.

Some senior citizen mobile phones have FM radio. Plug in your headphones or earbuds and listen to your favorite radio station wherever you want. Some senior citizen phones have a camera. The number of megapixels is quite low, but you'll always have nice photos of your loved ones in your pocket. There are also senior citizen smartphones. These phones have a simplified operating system and extra large touch buttons, sometimes combined with physical buttons. You can use them for internet and WhatsApp, for example.