7 best smartphones for the elderly

*Editor’s review of the best ones. About the selection criteria. This material is subjective, it is not an advertisement and does not serve as a guide to purchase. Before buying, it is necessary to consult with a specialist.

Cell phones for the elderly at one time even formed a niche market with its own distinctive signs. They even received a semi-serious, but well-established name – “granny phones”. But this applies only to push-button phones, the functionality of which is increasingly becoming insufficient for even the most basic modern standards. That is why time itself demands a gradual transition of elderly people to smartphones. And it is worth to choose the right model taking into account the features of this social group.

The editorial staff of Expertology magazine has conducted its own research and our experts have chosen the best smartphone models, which are best suited for the elderly.

How to choose a smartphone for the elderly

First, let’s understand the criteria that should be considered when choosing a smartphone for a person of age. Some of these things do not seem obvious until people encounter them in practice.

The technical level in general and the price

Button “granny phones” confirmed the opinion that a cell phone for the elderly is a priori inexpensive. Indeed, these models are often designed for basic functionality, and therefore by definition can not be expensive. This logic may seem intuitive in the case of smartphones for grandparents. However, here, this pattern is no longer valid for reasons that will become clear later.

It should be understood from the outset that saving money on a “babushkosmartphone” is unlikely to work. Not only that, it may well turn out that the minimum appropriate smartphone for grandmother may be more expensive than the one that will be enough for her grandson.

Performance

And immediately to reveal the main reason of this opposite regularity. The interface of a smartphone for an elderly person should not lag, the touchscreen should be as responsive as possible.

The reasons are clear – if you can still press the buttons on a regular phone slowly and consistently, watching the leisurely moving cursor, the smartphone is different. It is very difficult for an elderly person to get used to swipe controls. And if the smartphone will “slow” on the simplest actions, it will be a continuous frustration up to the complete refusal to use.

Responsiveness and sensitivity of the touch screen is also important, because electronics has to catch the not always dexterous movements of an elderly person’s fingers, with all their physiological peculiarities related to age-related changes.

All this implies the need for far from the weakest processor, which means that the smartphone will certainly not be the cheapest.

Case

The second point is related to the peculiarities of use. It is quite expected that the phone in an elderly person can slip out of their hands, drop, including in liquids. Hence another need – moisture protection. If it is possible to put a case on the fragile or slippery glass case and solve the problem of shock resistance, then without waterproofing an accidental ingress of water into the device is almost guaranteed to destroy it.

On the other hand, elderly people are often very frugal, and on the contrary, they will keep their smartphone in the cupboard, wrapped in three layers of soft cloth. So, here we should take into account the individual characteristics of the future user.

Memory capacity

Another factor in the rise in price. It would seem that just here it would be possible to neglect the gigabytes of internal memory. In some cases – yes. If the grandmother or grandfather will only call the grandchildren and take rare photos, then no problems. But the more “advanced” retirees have often mastered messengers like the same WhatsApp and begin to actively share pictures and videos. Learning to clean up temporary application files is often beyond the “technological singularity” even for a young person, let alone an elderly one.

Therefore it makes sense to initially buy a phone with a large capacity of built-in memory, so that you do not have to every two or three days to conduct “service” smartphone especially sociable relatives.

The Battery

Here it’s the same. It is unwise to give an elderly person a smartphone, if you have to charge it twice a day. It will be especially unpleasant in comparison with its push-button predecessor, which worked for weeks on a single charge.

Focus only on the battery capacity is not worth it, because the battery life is not determined by the capacity alone. You need to look at reviews, reviews, and conclusions of experts – like the analysis that Expertology has prepared for you.

The screen

Here there is already some relaxation in terms of standards. The screen must be big, but not necessarily expensive. OLED matrix can be a bad choice because of PWM flickering, which a healthy person may not notice, but the elderly will feel the strain on the eyes. OLED matrix without PWM – an option, but IPS will still be quite enough.

And the high resolution in this case does not play a special role. Rather, on the contrary, a lower resolution will even be preferable – almost everything will be displayed larger, and a visually impaired person will better recognize text, will see more details in the photo.

Again, this does not mean you have to completely eliminate OLED displays from your choices. You only need to consider the possible flicker factor, and if a certain model does not have this problem, then OLED, on the contrary, will be better than IPS for obvious reasons.

Speakers

Another point that most young people can easily neglect, who prefer headphones and do not know how smartphone speakers sound, because they do not use. But older people are just the opposite – they do not associate with headphones, especially the newfangled in-channel headphones

ue wireless.

A retired person may trivially want to listen to a smartphone as a radio. That’s why you need good speakers with plenty of volume, so they don’t croak at high volume. Oh, and speaking of radio, having FM radio in the smartphone would be a plus. This feature is available in almost all modern smartphones, but not everyone can receive radio stations without an external antenna, in which role exactly are the headphones. This is worth paying attention to when choosing, if radio reception is important for a person.

Quality Camera

And that’s exactly what you can save on, it’s the megapixels of the camera. Of course, you can not choose the camera for a certain smartphone model – you will have to be satisfied with what you have. But if you have to choose between a more expensive and a cheaper smartphone, and the difference between them will only be the camera, then it makes sense to choose a cheaper option.

Of course, this recommendation does not apply to those cases where an elderly person consciously wants to get quality pictures, is fond of photography in general.

The 7 best smartphones for the elderly

Nomination	Location	Name	Price
The best inexpensive smartphones for seniors	4	Xiaomi Redmi 9A 2/32 GB RU	7 667 €
3	Samsung Galaxy A12 (SM-A127) 4/64GB RU, blue	12 490 €
2	realme C25S 4/128GB, water blue	13 809 €
1	OPPO A54 4/128GB, black	13 999 €
The best mid-range smartphones for the elderly	3	Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S NFC 6/128GB RU, onyx gray	19 085 €
2	Xiaomi 11 te 5G NE 8/128GB RU, marmalade blue	23 978 €
1	Samsung Galaxy M52 5G 6/128GB, black	29 001 €

The best inexpensive smartphones for seniors

Although we have indicated the position that the cheapest smartphone to give an elderly person would be a bad idea, this does not mean that we should focus only on the expensive segment. There are plenty of budget models, which are well balanced with important parameters. Performance drawdowns are observed only in the most voracious applications that older people mostly do not need.

Xiaomi Redmi 9A 2/32 GB RU

Rating: 4.5

Opens the review the cheapest version, which is suitable if your grandparents need a smartphone urgently, and the budget is limited. Here immediately comes to mind the brand name Xiaomi and the line of budget electronics Redmi. The Redmi 9A model in the minimum package is a super affordable option, in early 2022 costs less than 8k. rubles.

This smartphone is often positioned on marketplaces in user reviews and reviews of independent testers as the best for the older generation. Such conclusions are reasonable because here we see a combination of features important for this target audience, while virtually none of the excesses that would greatly affect the price, and an elderly user would not be useful.

The first of the important – a really big screen 6.53 inches. The matrix is the usual IPS and resolution is low – 1600×720. But, remember, resolution in this context doesn’t play a big role.

Second is a powerful 5000 mAh battery. Since 2021 smartphone manufacturers have finally made such a capacity almost unspoken standard, but still there are models with weak batteries, and here with this complete order.

The body is plastic, of course, without any protection against dust and moisture. But in the hand it feels good even without a case thanks to the special texture of the back cover. A case or bumper would still be desirable for this model as well as all the others in the review.

In terms of performance, there are already difficulties with this. Here stands the budget MTK He

o G25, and RAM only 2GB. There is a version with 3GB. In order for the smartphone to work quickly and not frustrate people with lags, you should not overload it with applications. This option is good just for communication, photo/video viewing, but no more.

Another thing – this is a global, fully localized version, so that there will be no difficulties and surprises with the interface elements in Chinese, and this is also a plus.

From Yandex user review.Market with the status of “Level 5 Gadget Inspector”: “I bought it for my dad because the big screen is just right, the battery lasts long, there is nothing extra on functions, there is Internet for Vyber and Wapsap. That is, a person in the age – the most suitable phone in terms of size, quality, price.

Advantages

• A large screen;
• dual speakers;
• FM radio;
• flashlight;
• 5 mAh capacity battery;
• memory card support;
• super affordable price.

Disadvantages

• limited performance.

Samsung Galaxy A12 (SM-A127) 4/64GB RU, blue

Rating: 4.6

More expensive and more advanced model from Samsung – quite sensational in its time A12. At the beginning of 2022 costs about 12 thousand. RUB in a complete set with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal memory. On sale are also modifications of the same model with more memory at a higher price.

Here we also see a balanced ratio of screen size matrix type and resolution. Balanced in the direction of minimizing cost with acceptable features. So, the diagonal screen in this model is 6.5 inches, and the resolution – 1600×720. Completely enough for an elderly person, plus it is almost guaranteed there will be no cases of microscopic text. Matrix technology – PLS. It is an improved version of IPS with the same maximum viewing angles.

For performance is responsible very good in its class processor – 8-core 2GHz Samsung Exynos 850. Built-in memory can be expanded with a memory card, and here we have to praise the manufacturer – the slot supports large cards up to 1024GB, and it’s also separate, not paired with a second SIM card slot.

With the battery in this model, too, all is well – the same as in the previous smartphone, the battery capacity of 5000 mAh. Provides over 30 hours of talk time and over 100 hours of standby time.

It is noteworthy that the charging of the battery, as well as the wired connection of the smartphone to the computer is carried out through the interface USB Type-C. This is a big plus, because in low-end models, manufacturers often install outdated micro-USB.

Another “flagship” chip in this inexpensive model – the presence of NFC. It’s also a big advantage for an elderly person because you can easily pay with this phone at the cash register in a store with a contactless banking terminal.

Advantages

• large screen;
• large brightness reserve;
• Not a bad processor in this class;
• USB Type-C;
• NFC;
• Dedicated memory card slot;
• Support for large cards up to 1TB;
• Value for money.

Disadvantages

• no major drawbacks identified.

Realme C25S 4/128GB, water blue

Rating: 4.7

Another Xiaomi product, which came out as part of a kind of “experimental” line realme. The model has been successful in the best traditions of the Chinese technological giant – decent features for the affordable price – about 14 thousand euros. rubles.

In terms of key features, this model has a lot in common with the previous one – a large screen 6.5 inches diagonally, the matrix with a modest resolution of 1600×720, not bad in its class 8-core processor (here is MediaTek He), and the display has no

o G85 with a frequency of 2GHz). There is also a module of NFC contactless payment. Supports external memory cards in a separate slot, but smaller in size – up to 256GB. There is the same amount of RAM – 4GB, and even twice as much built-in memory – 128GB.

In other characteristics this smartphone already looks even more attractive. For example, the battery. Here we see an increased capacity of 6000 mAh – a lot even for the high standards of 2022. On a single charge with moderate use, the device can last several days – just what you need for an elderly person. Charging via USB Type-C, which is also nice.

That’s what the device already pleasantly surprises is the rear camera unit. Here is a group of three sensors, leading to 48Mpix. So it will be good news for those parents or grandmothers who are at least a little bit sophisticated in the art of photography. But, you have to understand that we are not comparing with the flagships, but with the most budget-friendly options. That is, the camera unit is far from top-end, but only much more interesting than the most simple and cheap solutions.

As for the connection, here, too, things are quite good. Quality of reception of cellular operators is quite decent, and dual-band Wi-Fi provides fast Internet. So that to communicate with relatives via video call in high quality will turn out without problems.

From a Yandex user review.Market with the status of “Level 4 Gadget Inspector”: “Holds base stations well even at the cottage, very fast Internet. Decent photos, the screen is visible even in sunny weather outdoors, etc.d. A very decent device for the money.

Advantages

• Not a bad processor in its class;
• large screen;
• A dedicated slot for memory cards;
• NFC;
• Bluetooth 5.0;
• high-capacity battery;
• USB Type-C;
• relatively good cameras;
• combination of price and features.

Disadvantages

• No obvious flaws detected.

OPPO A54 4/128GB, black

Rating: 4.8

Completes the selection of the best inexpensive smartphones for the elderly model of another Chinese brand – OPPO, which is rapidly gaining popularity. For the same price as the previous model, this smartphone has some interesting features that might incline the choice in its favor.

In terms of basic features, it is almost the same here as in the case of the previous two smartphones. Large screen 6.51 inches, a modest matrix resolution of 1600×720, a little more powerful processor MediaTek He

o P35 (MT6765) on eight cores with a frequency of 2.3GHz. Also has NFC, dual-band Wi-Fi, high-speed Bluetooth. The battery capacity is also commendable – 5000 mA⋅h, charging via USB Type-C. The memory is quite ordinary for a “budget phone” – 4GB RAM, 128GB built-in, dedicated slot for external memory cards.

On the background of the listed features, this model still has some differences that may be important for an elderly person. First, there’s the special “vision care” mode, which according to Sun technology

ght Screen automatically through “smart” algorithms dynamically corrects the hues of the played image, selects the optimal ratios, removes the harmful part of the blue spectrum.

In addition, the already high-capacity battery is equipped with a super-saving mode. Even if the battery charge is less than 10 percent, you can not be afraid of a sudden disconnection of the gadget. This is especially important in emergency cases when an elderly person needs urgent help.

From Yandex user review.Market with the status of “Gadget Inspector Level 2”: “I took the phone for my grandmother as a gift. I liked the glass back panel, full protective equipment (film, case). Large battery paired with not the most powerful processor gives tremendous usage time”.

Advantages

• big screen;
• Not a bad processor;
• A capacity battery;
• USB Type-C;
• A dedicated slot for memory cards;
• NFC;
• super battery saving mode;
• vision care mode;
• silicone bumper case included.

Disadvantages

• not fundamental.

The best mid-range smartphones for the elderly

In the second selection we will consider more expensive smartphones with expanded functionality, which will serve an elderly person not only as a means of communication, but also a good tool for leisure. Plus, they have some additional useful features and functions that are not in the budget segment.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S NFC 6/128GB RU, onyx gray

Rating: 4.7

First in this category we have a representative of the Redmi Note lineup. Redmi is a budget series, but the price of 20 thousand. at the beginning of 2022 puts it still at the level of the conditional mid-range smartphone.

This model differs from any of the above is the most important – the screen. It’s slightly smaller, but not much at all – 6.43 inches. But the matrix here is already AMOLED, which means a much better image quality and, even more importantly – excellent visibility in daylight. The resolution is also at a higher level – F

lHD+ 2400×1080.

The visuals are complemented by a very decent set of rear cameras – the main wide-angle 64MP, “supershirik” 8MP, macro and depth sensor 2MP. Frontal camera is also quite powerful – 13 megapixels.

Performance is higher than any of the above options: 8-core MediaTek processor He

• o G95 2.05GHz supplemented by 6GB RAM. The interface is fast, without lags, the touch screen is responsive, it is quite comfortable to use the smartphone. Older people will be pleased with the sound of this model – built quite loud stereo speakers.

  With the battery life is also okay – 5000 mAh battery is supplemented by fast charging technology Mi Turbo Charge. The interface – USB Type-C.

  Another important point – this smartphone already has, albeit basic, but protection level IP53. This implies complete protection from dust in case of falling on the ground, sand, and also protection from splashing water without pressure at an inclination of up to 60 degrees.

  Users have almost no fundamental complaints about this model, remarks are mostly subjective. The only systematic comment is to the MIUI firmware. It is known for some uncomfortable moments, an abundance of pre-installed unnecessary applications, ads.

  Advantages

  • big screen;
  • AMOLED matrix;
  • resolution F
    lHD+;
    • Not a bad rear camera unit;
    • NFC;
    • infrared port;
    • performance;
    • Capacious battery and fast charging;
    • memory card support.

    Disadvantages

    • MIUI firmware with all the known drawbacks.

    Xiaomi 11

    Te 5G NE 8/128 GB RU, marmalade blue

    Rating: 4.8

    

    The third and final number in the selection consider a rather powerful and generally interesting smartphone Galaxy M52 manufactured by Samsung. This is a confident middle class model at a price around 30k. in early 2022. But it is not suitable for any elderly person because of some peculiarities.

    In terms of usability, this model is certainly on top. Large screen 6.7 inch, high-quality Super AMOLED Plus screen with F

    l HD+ 2400×1080, excellent color reproduction, more than sufficient brightness margin. And all this at a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, which provides the smoothest dynamic picture, full comfort for the eyes.

    However, against the background of all these advantages in the reviews of users are rare, but there are comments about the rapid fatigue of interacting with this smartphone. PWM flicker is impossible to see with the naked eye, but according to the reviews, such manifestations can occur in hypersensitive people. This is largely a subjective point, and occurs very rarely, but when choosing is worth considering.

    All in all this model can be recommended to those elderly users who need maximum performance for a reasonable price plus a bright visual component in all senses. For the opportunity to take high-quality photos, shoot good video and enjoy the smooth operation of the interface will have to put up with some restrictions.

    Of these limitations that can upset an elderly person, the most notable is the lack of FM radio. Other disadvantages include the lack of a standard headphone jack 3.5 mm “mini-jack”. Headphones can only be connected via the main USB Type-C connector, and charging will not be available at that time. But the sound in the headphones will really please you with quality and all the advantages of Dolby Atmos.

    With the autonomy here is also ok – there is a battery capacity of 5000 mAh. True, there is a small negative in the reviews from users and testers, who lament the fact that the previous generation of this line stood almost unprecedented battery of 7000 mAh. Therefore, the dissatisfaction with the Galaxy M52 on this point only arises in comparison.

    Advantages

    • high performance;
    • large screen;
    • 129 Hz refresh rate;
    • Super AMOLED Plus matrix;
    • A powerful processor;
    • top communications;
    • high-capacity battery;
    • fast charging.

    Disadvantages

    • no slot 3.5 “mini-jack” for headphones;
    • No FM radio.