Tesco has become the latest retailer to sell two cheap mobile phones geared towards senior users. The Doro PhoneEasy 409s and Vodafone Emporia RL1 have large keys, ringtones that you can’t ignore and straightforward menu systems. Tesco will join Virgin mobile and Carphone Warehouse who are also stocking the budget “silver generation” phones.
The Doro PhoneEasy 409s is a clamshell phone that features the requisite big buttons and high ringtone volume. It also has a large, rubberised alert button that enables you to preset an emergency SMS that will be sent out to designated friends and family.
There’s no web browser, email functionality or app store and any connectivity is severely limited, but the spartan look and feel is designed for simplicity. Even its most basic applications like the calendar, alarm, messages and games can be removed from the main menu. The only features you have to keep are Phonebook, Call Log and Settings.
The Vodafone Emporia RL1 has added features such as an alarm clock, birthday reminder, built-in torch and the ability to alter the size of text from big to massive. It’s not the most stylish of mobile phones, but achieves the basic phone functions of calling and texting with no fuss. It looks like a home phone with a 1.8” screen and OLED panel. The buttons on the side are just as big as the front buttons and deal with volume, lock and a torch which can even be used when the phone is off.
The Vodafone RL1 sits in a designated dock, and can only hold a maximum of 100 contacts but maybe enough for the market it’s designed to appeal to.
Neither phone is likely to change the face of mobile phones, but as cheaper alternatives for technophobics or elderly users who don’t need a feature-laden modern device, they’re worth a look.
The Doro PhoneEasy 409s is a clamshell phone that features the requisite big buttons and high ringtone volume. It also has a large, rubberised alert button that enables you to preset an emergency SMS that will be sent out to designated friends and family.
There’s no web browser, email functionality or app store and any connectivity is severely limited, but the spartan look and feel is designed for simplicity. Even its most basic applications like the calendar, alarm, messages and games can be removed from the main menu. The only features you have to keep are Phonebook, Call Log and Settings.
The Vodafone Emporia RL1 has added features such as an alarm clock, birthday reminder, built-in torch and the ability to alter the size of text from big to massive. It’s not the most stylish of mobile phones, but achieves the basic phone functions of calling and texting with no fuss. It looks like a home phone with a 1.8” screen and OLED panel. The buttons on the side are just as big as the front buttons and deal with volume, lock and a torch which can even be used when the phone is off.
The Vodafone RL1 sits in a designated dock, and can only hold a maximum of 100 contacts but maybe enough for the market it’s designed to appeal to.
Neither phone is likely to change the face of mobile phones, but as cheaper alternatives for technophobics or elderly users who don’t need a feature-laden modern device, they’re worth a look.
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