UKH

Hi. To my great surprise my 76-year-old father is declaring that he needs to get a smartphone.

I say “surprise” because he’s actually had one for about four years and didn’t even realise (a very basic cheap Windows/Nokia thing with a tiny screen and a physical numeric keypad). He also got a new Kindle Fire or similar last Christmas and has barely touched it.

It took me 15 minutes to clarify to him what a full touchscreen was as opposed to something with buttons. Ha can just about do email on a desktop or laptop, and does some online work but only when there are easy-click portals etc. 

All he really wants from a smartphone is email connectivity and frankly that’s going to be about the limit of his capabilities. 

However we don’t want to get some cheap basic tat with a horrible interface and sluggish processor etc. Say we will budget up to £160

What do we go for? I think we’ll have to force him into full touch screen “like the SatNav”, in his words, as I am assuming physical keypad stuff is a bit of a compromise. Or are Blackberries making a comeback?

Any recommendations welcome. Am thinking a low end Motorola 

He has an existing mobile number on an EE PAYG but has rarely used it. Is there anything to be gained by not bothering to get it ported? Basically I want to choose a model, go to Carphone Warehouse and get it all set up for him on his existing number  regardless of network. Is this too big an ask? Is there still going to be a load of legwork for me? 

Moto G's are good.

Unless keeping the existing number really matters for some reason, why not get a new SIM from Giff Gaff and set him up with something like a five quid a month direct (cancellable anytime) direct debit 'pre pay' deal.

Thanks Rob. Given that he barely ever used his old mobile, the old number should not be important. However , he is an old man with old fashioned ideas and fantasies about lucrative jobs coming his way only by someone ringing his old mobile number (which nobody has ever relied on) so I might humour him in this one rather that battle through convincing him that it takes 25 minutes to contact everyone important and tell them of your new number  

Got new phones last month.

Keep the old number, it's easier. Get PAC from current company to give to new company. EE were crap, did not even offer sensible deal when we asked for PAC.

Moto G6 Play decent, maybe not as good as Samsung J6 my better half got.

Virgin, maybe all of them, have a permanent special offer that fluctuates* £8-£10 pcm 2-5GB pcm and silly number of phone minutes and texts.

*so they can pretend it is a time limited offer

Looks like a Moto G4 at CEX unlocked, "B condition" for £50 , or a Moto E5 Play for somewhere between £65-85 new from Carphone Warehouse or EE etc. I bet

he wants it this weekend (parents are visiting me and just dumped this research requirement on me, they aren't desperate to have this but they will never sort it on their own...)

Cheers. Yes old number is easier, we will manage. Do you need only the number for the PAC? His old phone seems to be missing! 

He'll want PAYG even if a monthly deal is better. Stubborn like that. Old man and old fashioned, terrified of accidentally running up a big bill (and knowing him he probably would TBH)

I have a Moto E2, with a Three 3-2-1 PAYG SIM (3p/min, 2p/text, 1p/MB. Eternal.

Motos are fairly plain vanilla Android, without a lot of bolt-on crap. I got mine from a friend who didn't need it, for £30. The only thing it lacks is a compass, which I think the G series has. I use mine more as a small, portable computer, but it works fine as a phone and GPS.

I also have GiffGaff SIMs for trackers. You can get a basic PAYG SIM that doesn't need a monthly deal.

Can"t see how you could get PAC without phone or some account details.

The Samsung is much lighter and thinner than Moto and more so when in a case.

Thanks all. Already a lot of helpful info. UKC forums come through again. Keep it coming 

What do you mean by "Eternal" in this context?

Think about second hand. Lots of companies refurbish phones and sell them at much reduced prices. E.g. my "new" phone now is a Samsung Galaxy S7 I think, 2017, refurbished, cost me £100 and is more than adequate for email, web browsing, Google maps, etc.

Plus you're recycling otherwise wasted rare earth metals, etc. Win-win.

Some SIMs expire if not used. By eternal, I mean that this doesn't happen.

Thanks

Yes, I already commented about a second hand one (CEX) and was thinking about the environmental aspect kind of vaguely, but (seriously) thanks for making it explicit 

The Nokia 1 is a cheap and simple smartphone that might well be just the ticket. 

So you did! I'm not my most coherent this time of night.

Has anyone got any experience of the JCB smartphone? Behind the marketing smokescreen it looked like a good option for those keeping it simple.

I’ve persuaded him it’s easier to get set up on a totally new number (or in other words, I can do that this weekend and if he wants his old one he’ll have to do some faffing on his own) 

So now just a choice of handset first, then probably down to Tesco or Carphone Warehouse to get a SIM deal. Guess that rules out Giff Gaf

thanks all, taking a holistic approach from skim reading a bunch of review sites, a lot of candidates were compared to the Moto G6 Play so that one is clearly the benchmark, so I’m getting him that. £110 Carphone Warehouse on EE PAYG. Cheers for all contributions 

unless there is some horror story I’ve missed, about this model

Agree about Moto phones. I have a Moto G4 which does all I want. It cost me about £140 a couple of years ago. The newer Moto models also get good reviews and their range starts with reasonably priced ones.

Dave

You know what - I'd look at a used iPhone, maybe a 5.  They are so much more intuitive for non-IT-savvy people than Android phones.

It would have been my choice, saw a load of 5 and 5s etc at GAME, in decent nick and at a good price, and I've seen people (maybe you?!) posting on here to say that they still work nicely, but he wanted a new phone because.....no strong reason given actually! I guess he thinks the warranty is meaningful!

I've sent him away happy with his Moto G6 Play, I've put the Yahoo mail app, WhatsApp, and Nest (for his central heating) app on there, which is all he wants. In the end I actually bought it at John Lewis, unlocked, £130, because Carphone Warehouse doesn't keep them in stock and it was worth the extra £20 for it being unlocked and for getting it on the day (whilst they were with me visiting) so I could start to set it up. I just put a £15 GiffGaff bundle on there, will probably last him a couple of years  

My mum has a Moto G5 so I think it will help that they are similar models. She's had that one for a year or two and gets on OK with it, for a non-tech-savvy older person. 

Thanks again everyone for your help with this. 

I have changed my Android 'skin' to Nova Launcher and really simplifed the look of the screen interface. So no longer have loads of app icons, just a simple home screen with just the apps I need in lovely monochrome.

Might be worth doing.

Thanks, I'll suggest that. He won't manage it on his own though. Maybe next time I see him. 

I haven't read all the replies, but I would go to Carphone Warehouse and tell them what you want, rather than go with a plan - I have always found them super-helpful and of course with up-to-date knowledgable,

Chris