My mum is a prime example for someone in their senior years who just refuses to get a smartphone because she is worried she won’t be able to use it properly. However she will happily ask me to take a photo, use IMDb, the Weather app, Shazam and even the TV remote app on my phone and every time I suggest she should get her own she starts rolling her eyes and says, “yeah right”. The 8030 could actually have been designed with my mum in mind, it is a touch screen phone but it also has 3 “real” buttons as my mum would call them, Return, Recent and Home button which are large enough and with just the right resistance for people with limited movability, arthritis for example, there is also a really cool assistant button on the back which allows you to customise a message to pre-programmed numbers so you could set it to anything from “thanks for a lovely day” to “I need you help!”. The icons are large as you would expect but they are also named in practical ways such as Something on the Internet or The Weather Forecast and the menu is titled View, its true to its USP the smartphone that thinks like you! There are step by step tutorials on the phone to help you learn how to use it as well as being hearing aid compatible, it works with an android lollipop system so you can still download the same apps as you can on any android phone.  There is an app that comes free for the first year called Care & Connect, which can be downloaded for free by carers, friends or neighbours, it can be used to set reminders, for example did you promise to take mum to the hair dressers, it will give you notifications if the owners phone has been idle for too long so you can check in to see if she is ok and it will send out a provide GPS information if the owner needs emergency assistance. It also offers remote control so if the user has trouble down loading an app for example you are able to log in and see their screen and control it to help overcome any problems whilst at the same time showing the owner the process. It has a 4.5” screen the fits comfortably in the hand, offers suitably load volume, there is a 5MP camera and a very low resolution front facing camera which will just about make do for a skype call. The keyboard display is quite small and its response is a little delayed but it isn’t enough of an issue to put you off the Doro, this isn’t just a smartphone with a larger display and louder volume packaged for seniors users it really is a stripped back, helpful smartphone that aims to make life easier and safer for seniors. RRP £180

For Latest Price Click Below

Buy now

4.9 out of 5

Pros

Intuitive design

Loud volumes

Comfortable size

Large, explanatory icons

8GB storage

Great value for money

Connect & Care app

Assistance Button

Remote control assistance

Cons

Low resolution rear facing camera

Small keypad with a little lag

Doesn’t use the latest android system