Jethro SC490 4G Large Button Senior Cell Phone for Elderly + $10/mo Unlimited Talk & Text Jethro Mobile Prepaid Plan

Great phone for elderly - or anyone who wants a simple, bar phone style cell phone. Very easy to operate and make calls. I bought this phone for my 92 year old dad, who is in a nursing home. He had not used a cell phone for a number of years and has arthritic hands. I was actually doubtful it would work out. Amazingly, he is able to make and receive calls. He hears well during calls. Ringer volume plenty loud. Reception is great in his area. The customer service provided by Jethro helping to activate the phone and set up a calling plan was excellent. When I called Jethro, I quickly got assistance (this in and of itself is not the norm in today's world) that was friendly, easy to understand and accurate. Calling plan prices are very reasonable. I can't say enough about this phone and the Jethro company. I wish every product and company operated this way. Thank you Jethro for providing a great product and service.

This phone is a joke. And let me be clear, I LOVE "dumb" phones. All I want is something simple and easy to use for texting and calling. But the OS seems like it was designed by some middle-school kid for computer class. It's unwieldy, missing tons of basic functions, and is so difficult to navigate that I literally cannot imagine an older, less tech-savvy person using it. I can barely get it to work myself. On top of its almost total lack of functionality or user-friendliness, in the week or so that I've had it, it has shut off and reset during almost all of the calls I've made, won't download MMS texts (apparently a firmware update is coming, but COME ON, this technology has been around for at least a decade!) and is bizarrely quiet - again, this is a phone designed for seniors?! I don't think I've ever been more disappointed by a piece of technology. Returning it first thing tomorrow and buying literally anything else instead.

I got this for my 90 year-old mom. She used to have a flip phone, and has spent the last year or so getting used to a smart phone. I customized the screen on the smart phone to make it very easy to use, with big picture icons and only the needed functions. Even so, she doesn't like it much, so I purchased this flip phone for her, thinking she might prefer something with an actual, physical dial pad. Especially since it has a nice, red emergency call button on the back. It turns out - not so much.While it is easier to understand what is going on with this flip phone, and harder to accidentally activate some app that happens to be present on the main screen, it is also somewhat difficult to manipulate the up-down, left-right control at the top of the keyboard. My mom has small fingers, and even she has a little trouble with it. A guy with big fingers would have a real problem. It needs to be at least 50% bigger.Since the phone runs on Android, it would be nice if the maker at least allowed side-loading some apps. Let people hack into them, and just let them know the warranty is void if they do that. If the maker was bold enough to do that, the hacking community might even embrace the phone, and modify it to make it more useful for elderly people. To add a good call-blocker app, for example. If I could have done that, I think it might have been enough to keep the phone on the counter, and use it as the land-line. But no - you can't load apps. So I put it away in a box, and keep it "just in case" mom loses her smart phone. It has all her contacts loaded, and she can use it, but it wasn't quite as friendly as we were hoping.It still seems to be better than the other flip phones out there, but not quite good enough to trump the customized smart phone. Maybe we'll try a Jitterbug one of these days. Sigh.

Seniors with hearing loss will enjoy talking on the phone again with its larger buttons, no side buttons to accidentally run the ringer volume down and speakerphone which is amply loud. IPN setup can be found on the web for carriers for manual entry. Phone still needs a help call to your provider as they send a signal to their tower to complete activation. Charging cradle is nice for the elderly also as no cables to daily attach (although you can) to your phone.

Got this for my in-laws who have memory issues. The phone is pretty easy to use. Adding contacts is not easy. Also, I wish there was a way to delete the pre-programmed Jethro numbers. My in-laws don't understand while they're there and why those numbers at set at the top of the contacts list. These phones are mostly for seniors. Why not make it as straightforward as possible? Also, the phone started randomly ringing, like an alarm that would not turn off. My techie kid couldn't even get it to stop. We restored factory settings, but then the phone would not allow us to [re] input contact names and numbers. We sent it back and got a replacement which is why I gave it 3 stars, not 1.

Great little phone for seniors. Easy to use and fits the purpose for those that just want a phone and not the internet and annoying apps. great product ! Speaker phone option is good because mom can set the phone down and not wear out her arms. Price is right and I suggest if your elderly parents or friends need a phone that is easy to use this is the one .

This phone is excellent for older people that experience challenges with operating a normal call phone. It is practical it is easy to use and it functions extremely well. I purchased it for a 91 year old man and he can use it like a regular cordless phone. I do recommend this product. Quality is good and it is very well made for the price point.

This phone is NOT easy to use; the user interface could have been designed so much better. The buttons are small which is difficult for old hands, making a phone call can be a challenge as my mother found out when she fell and could not get up. My brother (IT professional) is now trying to figure out how to make it ring when you get an incoming call. Frustrated at every turn. Their support page is interesting. There is a link to download a PDF version of the manual ("download the pdf version user manual") and it downloads a Microsoft Word .docx file!!

Liked how quick it charges, and how long it holds charge. We live where there is no wifi, and it works fine on 4G/LTE network, sometimes better than a smartphone. Used Telus, because that is available where we live. For a senior. Learned how to use it fast. Nice and loud. Speakerphone works well too. Not great for picture or video texts, unless just general (not detailed like a smartphone). For the person who likes to talk mostly, and text a little, it is perfect. Takes decent photos, but don't use that feature hardly at all. Like the sos feature. Works well, even alerts others to low battery. All in all just what we got it for. Extremely happy.