LIVELY Jitterbug Phones Smart3 Smartphone for Seniors - Cell Phone for Seniors - Must Be Activated Phone Plan - Not Compatible with Other Wireless Carriers

Great phone for my mother in-law. Very easy for her to use.

The Jitterbug Smart3 phone is heavily marketed to appeal to caregivers buying a simpler smartphone for a loved one diagnosed with one of the dementias. My husband has mild cognitive impairment with short-term memory loss. He is still mobile, dresses and feeds himself, reads the paper, and watches TV daily. However, I was surprised to discover that the Jitterbug Smart3 actually is MORE DIFFICULT and TAKES MORE STEPS to use to make and answer phone calls, open and reply to emails, send texts, and listen to voicemails than on my normal Android smartphone. For example, for my husband to call me, he has to remember one of three ways to place a phone call. Make a Call Option 1: From the main screen, he has to tap Dialpad and then enter my phone number (including area code) from memory using the dialpad, then tap Place Call. Make a Call Option 2: From the main screen, he has to tap Contacts, find my saved name on the Call History list, tap my name, and then tap Place Call. Make a Call Option 3: From the main screen, he has to tap Phone, then tap Call History, find and then tap my name and phone number, and then tap Place Call. With his short-term memory loss, all three options proved impossible for him to remember and reliably perform, even with written instructions. Answering incoming calls is too complicated for him as well. When a call comes in from someone on his approved caller list, their name appears on the screen. However, to answer the call, he has to PRESS AND HOLD the Phone Icon button, then while pressing down on the button, push his finger up to Answer or down to Ignore. It's too many steps that must be performed perfectly in sequence just to answer a phone call. And don't get me started on how easy it is for him to accidentally press the red Urgent Response button that is at the top of the Home screen and is very easily accidentally tapped or pressed while working elsewhere on the Home screen. Once the Urgent Response button is accidentally pressed, it automatically calls a Lively Response Agent who then calls you on your phone first to ensure your loved one is actually having an emergency. My husband's palm or fingertips holding the phone accidentally pressed the Urgent Response button several times. There's no way to deactivate the Urgent Response button and once it's accidentally pressed, there's no way to stop the Lively emergency team from being contacted. This is a definite design flaw that there's no way around. Despite multiple practice sessions over several weeks, the multiple steps to complete the simplest activities on the Jitterbug Smart3 were just too much for my husband to recall and perform. It frustrated him terribly and it frustrated me too. I finally had to give up and buy him an even simpler phone that is much easier for him to use and is much more intuitive to operate compared to a Jitterbug Smart 3. He's now doing fine calling me and answering calls with his second simpler phone. If you think the Jitterbug Smart3 phone is going to be easier and more straightforward for your loved one with cognitive impairments to use, it is NOT easy and it is NOT straightforward. There are more steps required to perform the simplest phone actions than on my normal smartphone, and worse, the steps to follow are not intuitive. For someone like my husband with almost no short-term memory and logic processing issues, the Jitterbug Smart3 proved to be a complete waste of my money and time. I hope this detailed review helps you avoid the expensive mistake I made.

The battery is still working fine.

GOOD VALUE. EXCELLENT PHONE. ( i bought an as-new one where the box was opened but all accessories untouched and phone good to go, I used a sim card I had and used Google to load my apps and contacts ... from my old phone. Easy

I went to activate my phone, got all the way through, about to finalize and found this: ''Handset Activation Fee$25.00'' There was nothing about this that I saw prior to ordering. It's infuriating. Other annoyances: 1. The instructions called for typing in the serial number, which was said to be on the sticker attached to the side of the box or on the ''activation card.'' What activation card? The only number there was useless. I got a message saying something to the effect of ''We're unable to find a device with that serial number. Please try again.'' I tried again. Same result. To get the correct number, I had to moisten the sticker so it could be removed. The correct number is printed on the box. I let them know what I had to do. The response I got was to the effect of "Yes. That's the correct serial number.'' No explanation for their error, no apology for my inconvenience. 2. In addition to creating a password, it's required to create a ''customer service'' password, which must be no longer than 10 letters long and is not visible while typing it. So it's necessary to write out something the acceptable length and then type it in. 3. There is also a requirement to buy a data plan whether one wants to or not. That should be optional and something a person could add if they decided they were going to need it. I wasn't buying this for the emergency features. Thank goodness. It's my personal opinion that I would want to see far better proof of the capicity for attention to detail by this company before I'd trust them with my well being.