# Need a smartphone that doesn't look like a smartphone



## brix_kitty (Jan 5, 2017)

I want to get a new phone for my 70yo mother. She is vehemently against smartphones and currently has a Nokia 3330 which to be fair does everything she wants it too. But I would really like to get her on WhatsApp so we (and the rest of my family) can keep in touch better. Does anyone have any recommendations for a very, very basic smartphone? Preferably one that looks like a old phone - it has to have buttons, she won't use touch-screen. All it needs, in addition to calling and texting, is the ability to install and use WhatsApp. She won't use anything else and I will probably delete everything else off it anyway. She won't even use predictive text so I need to be able to turn that off as well. I did check the Nokia website but it said they don't do smartphones at all!

Cheers


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## Throbbing Angel (Jan 7, 2017)

Doro Liberto (various models) or PhoneEasy 745?  They have physical buttons and a touchscreen - look a bit like a smartphones though but  aimed at older users - there are a few models available   homepage

You can access WhatsApp from the web apparently via WhatsApp Web but need to be able to scan the QR code on the webpage before you can log in (or something).

That whatsapp page mentions all the phone platforms that can use the Whatsapp, err, app, including Nokia S60 - which may mean that you can use an older phone to get her on Whatsapp.


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## brix_kitty (Jan 8, 2017)

Thanks, will check them out!


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## editor (Jan 8, 2017)

The Doro seems a good choice too.  

Doro 8030


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## hash tag (Jan 16, 2017)

I too would love to get my M I L on to a smart phone but haven't found the courage yet! My last phone I got for her from the RNIB. Not the cheapest but very helpfull, very friendly and with a prod, VAT free Telephones and mobiles - Technology


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## Throbbing Angel (Jan 16, 2017)

FYI, those Doro clamshell's get reduced to £40 in Tesco quite regularly.  The vary the price for no reason I can work out. I paid £39.99 for my Dad's.  Obviously, it is locked to Tesco Mobile. 

Some of the unlocked.prices seem very steep.


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## lazythursday (Jan 16, 2017)

I just wish I could get my parents onto mobiles let alone smartphones. Being able to text them would make life soooo much easier - they constantly ring me when I'm in the middle of something and have gone out / can't hear the landline when I ring back. Their lack of / aversion to any sort of technology is really infuriating, and it's really affecting their ability to navigate the world.


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## Cosmic (Jan 16, 2017)

lol, everytime I come down to London to visit my parents, I become tech support for the weekend, and part of that is the "fallout" from gadgets that I have bought for them. I managed to get my dad to use a handmedown iphone 4 which was my old work phone which I bought for £40. He calls it his "fandangle" (I have no idea why). He's not overly confident on it and not great on whatsapp yet, but manages to make and recieve calls and access his email without too many issues so that's a start. He gets a bit confused with popup messages and the fairly regular os/app update requests which he doesn't know what to do with.

You may have already done a search but this might be of use (at least one of the phones in this list has already been suggested)
No fuss smartphones for those who don't need it all

It's a tough one really. If the phone was going to be used only for calls and texting then that's as simple as it gets nowadays. As soon as you introduce things like whatsapp into the equation, you're effectively using a computer and that's what complicates things.


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