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Mom needs a new phone, Android or iPhone?

mpcdesign
Mayor / Maire

Hey everyone,

 

So, my mom finally switched from a flip-phone to a smartphone about a year ago! But, it isn't the greatest phone on earth and has some issues with it (it's one of those free phones with a pre-paid plan). I myself used to use an iPhone but made the switch to Android about 2 years ago. I personally didn't justify the costs of an iPhone to Andriod when I wanted my space on the phone (you know to hold all those photos!). 

My wife has an iPhone, and she loves it. I made my wife switch from an Android phone to an iPhone cause her immediate family and cousins use an iPhone. Plus, my wife got a free iPhone via her credit card rewards! 

Am curious to know what phone you use and what brand? As well, if you had any issues.

Thanks to everyone who posts a reply. 

16 REPLIES 16

Joshadamsj
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

My dadIn his 80s used to have the old flip phone I swore by it he refused for years to switch to the new were smart phones he was outdated and did not know how to use the technology my dad could even turn on the laptop computer and go on the Internet without my help I decided to get him the iPhone he loves it it was very easy for him to use and understand he now swears by iPhone and is had three iPhones in the lastFour years my dad has an iPad as well  for older people who do not know the new technology I would refer you to get them an iPhone it’s the easiest to learn easiest to use and easiest understand 

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@stonechucker yes, their previous experience and other ecosystems they're already invested in are quite important.  I also take into consideration what their support network looks like (friend and family available to help with quesitons and issues).  If I'm the primary support available, I would definitely try to go with Android, as I'm not very helpful with iOS.  If they have a preference for iPhone or are invested in the Apple ecosystem, I might try to make sure they have someone else that can be their helping hand. 


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stonechucker
Mayor / Maire

For me, when suggesting a phone for someone other than me, I ask them what they know for phones, and what OS they use for their other computer 'stuff'.

 

Based on that - I will suggest the best-suited phone OS for them, and then let them start researching.

 

For anyone who hasn't used a smartphone, and doesn't have preferences on what platform of anything including phones and computers, it's a toss-up.  They're going to have issues either way.

 

I find both Android and iOS devices can be brutal or wonderful for first smartphone experiences.

bluesword
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

When it comes to not as tech savy people, id recommend the iphone over a samsung phone. Case study is of my own mom, to which she bought a samsung Galaxy S7 few months back and her personal opinion is that the layout and design of the apps, app store aren't as refined and aren't as new user friendly compared to iphone!


@srlawren wrote:

@computergeek541 yeah I agree with your thoughts.  I woudn't touch a phone with less than 2GB RAM, no matter how cheap it might be!

 

FYI The model I got my mom for Christmas last year is the G5 Plus with a 1080p display, 4GB RAm, 64G storage, a snapdragon 625 (not a powerhouse, but serviceable!), and a usable 12MP rear camera that's not awful.


The 2GB of RAM seems to be a sweet spot.  With phones available for about $100 brand new that include that, I can't see there being much reason to get any phone these days with less, unless perhaps someone wants the absolutely cheapest available, and even then, only if it's for about $50.

 

I would say that except for someone who wants to run a bunch of games and run benchmarks (sometimes for bragging rights), that something with 3, 4, or 6GB of RAM probably isn't necessary, and that most people probably don't need to be paying extra for the additional memory.

 

I'm a little suprised that with Snapdragon 625, 4GB RAM, and 64GB internal storage, that your mom's Moto G5 Plus isn't considered an X or even Z Play series model.

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@computergeek541 yeah I agree with your thoughts.  I woudn't touch a phone with less than 2GB RAM, no matter how cheap it might be!

 

FYI The model I got my mom for Christmas last year is the G5 Plus with a 1080p display, 4GB RAm, 64G storage, a snapdragon 625 (not a powerhouse, but serviceable!), and a usable 12MP rear camera that's not awful.


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@srlawren wrote:

@mpcdesign you mentioned she has issues with the Moto G?  What kind of issues, if I may ask?  Do you know which G model she has (there have been several generations, and most generations have a few variations in different sizes and capabilities).  The Android my mom uses is a Moto G5 Plus (not the S version that @Chanah suggests, which is also very nice) and it seems to meet her late-70's needs just fine.  The cameras on the G series aren't going win any awards but maybe the newer variations (they're in the G6's now and the G7 series is coming up pretty soon) are pretty serviceable.


srlawren, I sure you're already aware of the points that I'm going to make, but I'll post my thoughts about the Moto G devices so that others may consider if it is worth it for them to get one.

 

Moto G series phones, for the most part, are better than used to be (and sometimes more expensive).

 

Moto G phones have always been targeted towards people who don't want to spend that much on a phone.  Despite whatever shortfalls these models have historically had, whether it's the 720p screen, small screen sizes, mediocre cameras, and whatnot, I'll say that I believe the main problem with many of these devices was the lack of RAM and storage space.

 

Most of the time, you could live with the entry level cpu, the "just okay" camera, and lower resolution screen, but the way that many of these devices only had 1GB of RAM made it so that they would lag for sometimes a few seconds at a time (or even appear frozen) if running multiple apps at a time and trying switch between them.  And the 8GB of storage in many of these meant either you couldn't install all the apps that you wanted, or that you would have to depend on much slower app loading from an SD card.

 

The Moto G3 was a strange animal in the sense that it was really the only version that included more high-end features (compared to what else was available at that time) such as the 13 megapixel camera and IPx7 water resistance

 

Espeically with 1GB RAM variants of the many Moto G-series devices, things were a nightmare during the initial installation of apps and Play Store updates.  We're talking like 30 second pauses when the phoen doesn't respond, but then suddenly executing 10 screen/button presses at once.  But this was really limited to the initital setup because of the pure number of apps being downloaded and installed right after one another.  Usually, things were fine once everything was installed and up and running the way you like it as long as you didn't try to repeitively switch between multiple apps.   Things were actually quite snappy most of the time.

 

The current Moto G devices don't have the RAM and storage problems.  The current levels at the bottom end of 2GB RAM an 16GB storage doesn't sound like much, but it's probably enough for most basic users to get thourgh things without the type of lag that I described earler.

 

I'll say that I see the current Moto E series as really being more of what the Moto G devices used to be.  The "Play" Moto G models are more low end than other current Moto G devices. We've been seeing things such as 1080p displays in many Moto G phones of late, something that was unheard of a few years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@mpcdesign you mentioned she has issues with the Moto G?  What kind of issues, if I may ask?  Do you know which G model she has (there have been several generations, and most generations have a few variations in different sizes and capabilities).  The Android my mom uses is a Moto G5 Plus (not the S version that @Chanah suggests, which is also very nice) and it seems to meet her late-70's needs just fine.  The cameras on the G series aren't going win any awards but maybe the newer variations (they're in the G6's now and the G7 series is coming up pretty soon) are pretty serviceable.


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Chanah
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

Moto G5 S Plus is a decent upgrade to that, and can be had fairly cheaply. It's nearly stock android, just moto gestures (like chop twice for the torch) that are very useful. 

 

I'm 61, and phones and computers have never held any terror for me, but stock android is pretty intuitive, even if your mum is a technophobe.

@will13am, no she has no idea what's Facetime. But she loves her WhatsApp

@srlawren, no, she doesn't use anything fancy on the phone. She does like the WhatsApp software. She doesn't even use voicemail but, she does want to use the camera more. She's using a Motorola one. Motorola Moto G Android smartphone. 5 MP primary camera, 1.3 MP front. Pretty basic. 

 

My mom is in her later 70's and all her siblings have an iPhone. But, she's fine, she doesn't want to facetime with them anyways. The immediate family all have Android, but I think the iPhone is much easier to use...well, that's when I remember when it is. 


@stonechucker wrote:

@will13am, oh I don't know.  My iPadAir is SpaceGrey with a home button, and it works better than any Android tablet I've had.  Live a little, go for Rose Gold.  I also think they've stopped with the home buttons now, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

 

Work with me here.  You know what I mean.  BTW, I have bought a rose gold phone before, back when that color was popular.  The wife love's it.  I know we are not supposed to judge these days.  It doesn't go well with a Tim the toolman Taylor look. 



@srlawren wrote:

@mpcdesign tough question.  There's pros and cons to both, neither platform & ecosystem is perfect.

 

What is her current smartphone?  Is it Android?  If so, the learning curve for her would likely be smaller going to another Android device.  Plus given that you're most recent experience is with Android, it might be easier for you to support her.  Are there people she would benefit from being able to iMessage/FaceTime if she went iPhone?  Does she have much "investment" in either ecosystem--e.g. paid/premium apps, does she use iTunes for music, etc?  Most Google cloud services are available on either platform but the same can't really be said for Apple, though there are workaround for most things like iCloud storage and you can still get iCloud Mail (or whatever they call it) on an Android.  

 

It's really hard to say for sure.  I'm an Android fan myself, so I set both my mother (78) and uncle (63) up with Android phones and they seem to manage reasonably well. I get questions from time to time but they learned the basic stuff they do all the time pretty quickly.  (Calling, texting, WhatsApping, Candy crushing (mom), streaming radio (uncle), etc).


Do they ask you about this app called facetime that they can't seem to locate in the app drawer?  Smiley Tongue

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@mpcdesign tough question.  There's pros and cons to both, neither platform & ecosystem is perfect.

 

What is her current smartphone?  Is it Android?  If so, the learning curve for her would likely be smaller going to another Android device.  Plus given that you're most recent experience is with Android, it might be easier for you to support her.  Are there people she would benefit from being able to iMessage/FaceTime if she went iPhone?  Does she have much "investment" in either ecosystem--e.g. paid/premium apps, does she use iTunes for music, etc?  Most Google cloud services are available on either platform but the same can't really be said for Apple, though there are workaround for most things like iCloud storage and you can still get iCloud Mail (or whatever they call it) on an Android.  

 

It's really hard to say for sure.  I'm an Android fan myself, so I set both my mother (78) and uncle (63) up with Android phones and they seem to manage reasonably well. I get questions from time to time but they learned the basic stuff they do all the time pretty quickly.  (Calling, texting, WhatsApping, Candy crushing (mom), streaming radio (uncle), etc).


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@will13am, oh I don't know.  My iPadAir is SpaceGrey with a home button, and it works better than any Android tablet I've had.  Live a little, go for Rose Gold.  I also think they've stopped with the home buttons now, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

will13am
Oracle
Oracle

I like value and so I will never use anything that's white with a round home button.   Consistent with the value approach, I shop non mainstream android brands.  Carrier brands are avoided to the extent possible. Ideal options are those that have great software support either from the OEM and/or XDA.  Most recently, I have developed a liking to Xiaomi brand and android one editions.  My approach has never resulted in disappointment, just a lot of savings and the opportunity to use a lot of devices.  

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