What cheap Android-...
 

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[Closed] What cheap Android-y type phone for getting on a bit parent?

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My mum currently has one of those ****ing awful big button things and wants to be able to get on tinternet - mainly for google maps and suchlike.

I'm a BB user and don't really keep up with what's wot in phones these days - so can anybody point me/her at a phone? Last time the wife changed we ended up with a MotoG from advice on here so hoping for some more this time!

No iphone recommendations please - she's from Yorkshire and will be buying this cheeeeap, or trying to barter for some homemade jam. So £100 probably the maximum.

Had a search and can't seem to find anything that recent so apologies if there is and I've missed it...


 
Posted : 26/07/2016 7:43 am
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Wileyfox Swift. Less than £120 if you shop around...


 
Posted : 26/07/2016 7:52 am
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Buy a second hand Samsung ?


 
Posted : 26/07/2016 7:54 am
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Don't go too cheap, she'll need a good screen if she has old persons' eyes. Why not another MotoG?


 
Posted : 26/07/2016 8:01 am
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Win Phone. Cheap models are surprisingly good kit, especially the Lumia stuff.

Easy to use / understand for old folk. Familiar if they use Windows. Not likely to get you support calls trying to understand why the phone has gone bonkers again or to determine which rogue app is draining battery/data at a crazy rate suddenly (sometimes a Google app!). Plus if you're used to a different Android brand and you're trying to describe how to do something it gets frustrating when their launcher is very different, or even the Android version is different. "You see that menu that says XYZ?", "err, no".

Yes, lack of apps in some ways but core things are there and most old folk just want browser, email, maybe Facebook for friends/family, and more likely they actually want to make voice calls (shocking I know!).

Google Maps on Win Phone will be the sticking point though. Google won't do Win Phone apps. You can launch it in the browser though and works okay. Though Microsoft Maps is good, especially now it's merged HERE Maps into it, and can download entire regions for offline use. Traffic info is less comprehensive though. Google have a feed off Waze that fills in a lot of the gaps. There is a Waze app for Win Phone, but it's very outdated as they seem to have discontinued it.


 
Posted : 26/07/2016 8:03 am
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Mind you can run a "big button" launcher on any android phone.


 
Posted : 26/07/2016 8:03 am
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Might be an idea whatever you get, to put nova launcher on it, then you can customise the interface for her a bit, for example just have one home screen with just the things she'll use, maps, messaging etc. So it's a bit easier to use?


 
Posted : 26/07/2016 8:23 am
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Thanks for the tips everyone.


 
Posted : 26/07/2016 11:29 am

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