The best cellphones for seniors in 2023

Aging can carry new challenges, not the least of which is selecting a cellphone for seniors. Older customers want units that maintain household and buddies shut whereas boasting further well being and security options and accessibility choices to make up for modifications in eyesight and listening to. Today, even the most well-liked cellular gadget makers embody heart-rate monitoring, treatment reminders, and voice-boosting controls in their flagship fashions. Senior-centric units typically deal with simplified interfaces and enhanced security options like one-button emergency response. But there’s no age-to-phone components. Some of the young-at-heart nonetheless crave the flashiest, most feature-rich smartphones accessible, whereas others ought to take into account a specialised telephone to accommodate elements like reminiscence impairment, low imaginative and prescient, or a bit much less grip power. The best cellphones for seniors will accommodate all these customers in the best methods doable.

How we selected the best cellphones for seniors

We carried out thorough analysis on smartphones and dumbphones (also referred to as a feature-phone, or any telephone that may’t run apps), inspecting numerous sources resembling our PopSci evaluations, peer suggestions, important analyses, and consumer testimonials to curate choices and stroll you thru the decision-making course of.

The best cellphones for seniors: Reviews & Recommendations

Oddly, there isn’t one age when the world agrees that somebody has grow to be a senior citizen. Some eating places and retailers start providing reductions at 55, which suggests individuals born the identical 12 months Apollo 8 rounded the moon and the primary Boeing 747 jumbo jet flew have gotten eligible. In different phrases, Gen X. How do you choose a telephone that meets the wants of a Gen Xer and a Boomer? You don’t. Whether you’re wanting for a telephone for your self or a beloved one, consider their particular person wants, consolation with expertise, accessibility wants, and, after all, finances.

Best general: iPhone 15 Plus

Specs

• Dimensions: 6.33 inches by 3.06 inches by 0.31 inches
• Weight: 7.09 ounces
• Screen: 6.7-inch Super Retina show
• Battery: Up to 26 hours
• Network: Any, if bought unlocked
• OS: iOS

Pros

• Extensive well being monitoring
• Plenty of accessibility settings
• Compatibility with listening to aids
• Multiple power SOS options
• Front-facing digicam and two rear cameras (24MP and 48MP)
• Facial recognition to unlock telephone
• Supports 5G

Cons

• Expensive
• No charger included

The Apple 15 Plus—the bigger model of the most recent iPhone—gives an easy-to-use well being app, tons of accessibility options, crash detections, and an emergency satellite tv for pc SOS sign in case one thing occurs the place there isn’t any cell sign. It’s a full-featured smartphone for somebody who needs energy, good cameras, and all the most recent extras.

The telephone’s design goals to be inclusive, which advantages older adults. The well being app tracks numerous metrics, together with coronary heart well being and stability. The medication tracker permits customers to enter medication knowledge right down to the colour and form of a tablet and construct a schedule. The telephone sends reminders, which go away when a dose is logged or actively dismissed.

Accessibility options transcend growing textual content measurement and utilizing the flashlight to learn menus. The iPhone 15 is suitable with totally different listening to units and might scale back background noise on calls or enable stay captions. Swipes, faucets, and gestures might be personalized utilizing the assistive contact, which might help adapt to tremors or effective motor management challenges. Voice management can also be an possibility.

The 15 Plus begins at $900, relying on configurations, although Apple and cell suppliers typically run specials and supply trade-ins. This cellphone is a superb alternative for individuals of all ages, however Apple’s dedication to holding its telephones working and enhancing them via common software program and safety updates means the senior in your life gained’t have to consider upgrading.

Best Android: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Specs

• Dimensions: 6.4 inches by 3.1 inches by 0.35 inches
• Weight: 8.25 ounces
• Screen: 6.8-inch AMOLED show
• Network: Any, if bought unlocked
• OS: Android

Pros

• Big, brilliant display show
• Good battery life on a single cost
• Front-facing digicam and 5 rear cameras with two telephoto lenses (starting from 10 MP to 200 MP)
• Includes S-Pen stylus

Cons 

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, priced at $1,200, stands out as Samsung’s top-tier flagship, full of 5 high-resolution cameras and an enormous AMOLED display. Its distinctive visible expertise earned it the title of general best Android telephone, although it additionally comes with well being and security options preinstalled.

Accessibility settings like TalkBack allow spoken suggestions when deciding on gadgets or going via tutorials, whereas gestures and faucets might be personalized to adapt to coordination points. The listening to enhancements enable for alerts when doorbells ring or infants cry and help settings to spice up voices throughout conversations.

The S23 Ultra comes with an S Pen stylus, and whereas not everybody digs utilizing a stylus with a telephone, the handful of followers we all know are in larger age brackets. These followers like having a device to hit small keys, even when it takes some time.

Best below $500: iPhone SE (third technology)

Specs

• Dimensions: 5.45 inches by 2.65 inches by 0.29 inches
• Weight: 5.09 ounces
• Screen: 4.7-inch Retina HD show
• Battery: Up to fifteen hours
• Network: Any if bought unlocked
• OS: iOS

Pros

• Extensive well being monitoring
• Plenty of accessibility settings
• Compatibility with listening to aids
• Emergency SOS
• Front-facing digicam and one rear digicam (12 MP)
• Fingerprint recognition to unlock telephone
• Supports 5G

Cons

• No headphones or charger included
• Smaller display

The Apple iPhone SE (third technology) gives lots of the similar well being and accessibility options because the 15 Plus with a a lot lower cost tag. As PopSci’s general best telephone below $500 in 2022, the SE has stable name high quality and extra listening to settings, together with hearing-aid compatibility. The smaller measurement makes it simple to carry one-handed or to suit in pockets, upping the percentages that the telephone shall be in your particular person if one thing occurs. But meaning a smaller display. The fonts might be elevated to make studying extra comfy, however anybody who likes contact controls might discover the keyboard teeny-tiny. It additionally doesn’t have crash detection or satellite tv for pc SOS calling. It additionally options Touch ID, the fingerprint-based technique to unlock the telephone as an alternative of facial recognition—a plus for individuals with biometric worries. However, it’s nonetheless for an older grownup who feels comfy with expertise.

Best senior-centric: Jitterbug Smart4

Specs

• Dimensions: 6.6 inches by 3.01 inches by 0.35 inches
• Weight: 6.7 ounces
• Screen: 6.75 inches
• Battery: Up to 37 hours
• Network: Lively solely
• OS: Android

Pros

• Inexpensive
• Google Assistant
• Long battery life
• Simplified menus
• Internet entry
• Front-facing digicam, three rear cameras (13MP)
• Supports 4G LTE

Cons

• Screen could possibly be extra responsive
• Single button for Urgent Response requires mid or highest plan

Smartphones might be remarkably the identical, whether or not you’re a die-hard Apple or Android fan. The Jitterbug Smart4 is one other acquainted rectangle slab form with a giant 6.75-inch display and first rate cameras, however the interface may be very totally different. Instead of display after display of app icons, the Smart4 depends on a text-based listing with massive fonts. These easy modifications eradicate memorizing what every icon means, by accident clicking on a look-alike, or puzzling over when an app overhauls its look. For about $150, it’s an inexpensive telephone full of Google Assistant, stay captions, and loud audio system.

Jitterbug telephones, nevertheless, should be used on the Lively community, and an enormous a part of its attraction is the U.S.-based human help. For the $20-a-month fundamental plan, customers can faucet the help group for assist with their gadget, get instructions, or schedule a Lyft trip with out utilizing the app. Higher tiers unlock a one-button Urgent Response agent, alerts for specified individuals when an incident occurs, care advocates, and on-call nurses. Some customers observe the display could possibly be extra responsive, with some faucets requiring a few tries.

Best for cognitive points: RAZ Memory Cell Phone

Specs

• Dimensions: 6.49 inches by 2.98 inches by 0.34 inches
• Weight: 6.56 ounces
• Screen: 6.5 inch
• Battery: Up to 12 hours
• Network: Any if bought unlocked
• OS: Android

Pros

• Remote administration by caregiver
• Supports video calls
• One-screen solely
• Location monitoring
• Can block incoming calls
• Low imaginative and prescient and tremor modes

Cons

• Emergency providers require a further plan

Memory and cognitive impairments like dementia or Alzheimer’s can flip a telephone right into a double-edged sword. You need the one you love to have the ability to name household and buddies whereas defending them from spam calls that will confuse them. The RAZ Memory Cell Phone gives a simplified interface and an app for a caregiver (or caregivers) to regulate it.

RAZ appears like a smartphone, nevertheless it doesn’t have any apps. The massive display contains a set variety of footage that can ring up a beloved one with out navigating menus or contact books. The level is a simplified telephone expertise. When a name comes in, the telephone proclaims the caller’s identify and shows solely related buttons like reply or dangle up. It also can obtain (however not begin) video calls with out switching to a different app. The recipient doesn’t need to make selections or danger confusion. A sticky-note reminder takes over the display when the battery wants recharging.

The caregiver app, which might be shared by a number of individuals if wanted, in the end controls the Memory Call’s settings. Caregivers can add and edit contacts, arrange “quiet hours” with no calls allowed, lockdown the telephone so solely accredited contacts and numbers can come via, and even see how a lot battery life is left. It additionally gives location monitoring, actively updating the telephone’s whereabouts each quarter-hour.

A big, crimson emergency button will join the caller to 911. For a further charge, RAZ Emergency Service can display the decision to keep away from repeated non-emergency calls. It additionally alerts as much as three pre-selected numbers {that a} 911 name went out.

The $300 telephone is designed with cognitive points in thoughts however may gain advantage low-vision customers, too. The uncluttered interface and huge fonts might help with navigation, as do the voice bulletins of who’s calling.

Best finances: Jitterbug Flip2

Specs

• Dimensions: 4.3 inches by 2.19 inches by 0.72 inches
• Weight: 4.7 ounces
• Screen: 3.2 inch
• Battery: Up to 12 hours
• Network: Lively solely

Pros

• Large buttons
• Works with Amazon Alexa
• Supports 4G LTE
• No knowledge plan required

Cons

• No web
• No NFC expertise
• No hotspot functionality
• No wi-fi charging
• Single button for Urgent Response requires mid or highest plan

Jitterbug Flip2 is a flip telephone with massive, textured buttons for anybody wanting for a telephone that does telephone issues like name and textual content. It doesn’t have web entry, nevertheless it does help Alexa instructions. While the three.2-inch display can be small for a smartphone, it’s a decent-sized show for a text-based menu. It hits a lot of our senior options guidelines: highly effective speaker, hearing-aid compatibility, however solely an OK digicam. Users crow in regards to the sturdy telephone and its simplicity. The telephone’s prompt retail is below $100, although a savvy shopper can discover it for much less round holidays. And just like the Jitterbug Smart4, customers can choose from its three-tiered help plan.

What to think about when shopping for the best cellphones for seniors

The first massive choice when buying for the best cellphones for seniors is whether or not to advocate a smartphone or a cellphone, which can decide the gadget’s capabilities and consumer interface. Smartphones have touchscreens and are extra sophisticated however can do much more. Cellphones have fewer capabilities however have tactile buttons that don’t change.

Safety is a priority, so look for telephones with one-button or automated alert methods in case of an incident. Many senior-focused units supply further plans to entry name facilities with pressing care wants or nurses and methods to loop in designated contacts if one thing occurs. However, it won’t be value it for extra unbiased seniors.

There are different elements to think about when deciding which cellphone to advocate, and we’ve highlighted a very powerful ones beneath.

Cost 

Budget is at all times a consideration. While the top-of-the-line, full-featured smartphones will value a grand or extra, different choices are far much less. But the telephone is just one a part of the equation. Also, take into account current telephone contracts and whether or not your chosen gadget is suitable. Some senior-centric fashions—like Jitterbug—function on networks that aren’t AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon. However, opting for telephones with out massive knowledge plans or pre-paid choices gives one other avenue for controlling month-to-month prices. 

Health and medical options

Our smartphones mirror our society’s obsession with well being, health, and wellness with built-in capabilities like step counting and sleep monitoring and choices to obtain apps in the event that they aren’t. Double-check that any app-enabled medical units are suitable with the telephone you’re contemplating to make sure seamless integration. Some senior-focused merchandise go the additional mile, offering help traces for entry to on-call nurses, although further prices often apply.

Accessibility options 

Unless you want them, chances are you’ll by no means discover the accessibility options tucked into smartphone menus. Some characteristic instruments to assist scale back background noise for listening to impairments, modify show and textual content measurement for visible impairments, or change keyboards and gesture recognition when dexterity is a problem. Hearing aids can steadily hook up with telephones via Bluetooth, nevertheless it’s not at all times a simple setup.

While these aren’t minor changes, typically circumstances want extra vital consumer interface modifications. Blind or low-vision individuals can profit from a simplified, text-heavy menu as an alternative of screens stuffed with tiny icons. Memory-impaired individuals might favor to see a streamlined menu of individuals’s pictures to succeed in out to acquainted faces.

FAQs

Final ideas on the best cellphones for seniors

Age doesn’t dictate uniformity. By contemplating particular person wants, consolation ranges, and preferences, seniors and their caregivers can discover a telephone that may adapt to their wants and supply peace of thoughts. Cellphones for seniors might help older individuals keep related and unbiased for longer durations (and hopefully allow them to name you after they settle for that even the snowblowers and snow shovels designed for them are a nasty concept to make use of alone). Rather than monitoring an aged particular person in your life, they’ll talk with you each time they need assistance. If they’re Internet savvy, a smartphone can put the world’s data at their fingertips.

Why belief us

Popular Science began writing about expertise greater than 150 years in the past. There was no such factor as “gadget writing” once we printed our first subject in 1872, but when there was, our mission to demystify the world of innovation for on a regular basis readers means we might have been throughout it. Here in the current, PopSci is totally dedicated to serving to readers navigate the more and more intimidating array of units in the marketplace proper now.

Our writers and editors have mixed a long time of expertise protecting and reviewing shopper electronics. We every have our personal obsessive specialties—from high-end audio to video video games to cameras and past—however once we’re reviewing units outdoors of our fast wheelhouses, we do our best to hunt out reliable voices and opinions to assist information individuals to the very best suggestions. We know we don’t know every part, however we’re excited to stay via the evaluation paralysis that web buying can spur so readers don’t need to.