A mid-priced smartphone arrives touting easy-to-use software for technophobes and the elderly
Unlike almost any other mobile manufacturer, Doro probably doesn’t make phones for you. It makes them for your friends and relatives, the elderly ones who may live alone and have never have used a mobile phone.
Getting them to use a smartphone would be quite something, but that’s exactly what Doro has attempted in recent years with its Liberto line of modified Android handsets. These phones guide newcomers in the ways of navigating a smartphone that most of us now take for granted. When the user gets the hang of things, they also let you install apps that might be useful.
The company’s latest effort, the Liberto 820 Mini, is an attempt at a lower-priced version of its top-end smartphone. But in doing so, has it had to make compromises that affect the experience?
DESIGN
On paper, this seems like a reasonable downsizing of the excellent Liberto 820. The 4-inch screen is the optimal size for most hands, and while the low-resolution 800 x 480-pixel display suffers a serious case of the jaggies, text is still perfectly visible.
But pick up the phone and the problems begin to show. The 820 Mini is one of the most poorly constructed smartphones we’ve tested in a long while. The burgundy-coloured plastic isn’t offputting to the eye, but it’s cheaply constructed and creaks at the slightest squeeze. To make matters worse, the back cover is a nightmare to remove – we had to use a pen to lever it off, and it nearly snapped in the process.
Then there’s the three navigation buttons – ‘menu’, ‘home’ and ‘back’ – below the screen, which have a horrible, mushy feel. Google actually phased out the ‘menu’ button in favour of a ‘multitasking’ one a long time ago, so it’s disappointing to see it still lingering here, especially when you have to counterintuitively hold down the ‘back’ button to bring up all your open apps instead.
It also takes an age for the navigation buttons to do anything, which points to another problem: a press of ‘home’ will sometimes leave you waiting so long that someone lacking an understanding of cheap Chinese technology will think something is broken. That’s likely, in part, down to the slowish processor. Unfortunately for Doro, this is no longer acceptable in a phone at this price: Motorola’s super-cheap Moto G and Moto E phones show that snappy Android performance is perfectly possible in a circa-£100 phone.
One other hardware niggle worthy of note: we did notice that wi-fi radio strength was significantly weaker than other smartphones, meaning you might have problems staying connected. This will likely only be a problem in larger homes where the router is tucked away in a cupboard, however.
Doro has at least included all the hardware features we’ve come to expect of a phone for the elderly, including a ridiculously loud speaker that rivals the HTC One for volume, if not quality; T4/M4 hearing-aid compatibility; and an assistance button on the back to alert relatives or friends of any problems.
SOFTWARE
Doro’s made a much better effort with the software, neatly figuring out how to present Android 4.4.2 ‘KitKat’ to you in such a way that all the usual tweaking options are there if you need them, but you won’t accidentally get mired in the settings if you don’t know what you’re doing. Unlock the phone and you’ll see a home screen with extremely large icons for all the basics: phone, text messaging, camera, as well as customisable slots to pin your own apps or contacts. To the side, all the standard Google apps are present, as well as a few of Doro’s, including its own calendar, alarm and browser apps, and a simple game, Move it!
WEB BROWSER
The browser is a great example of what Doro has done to improve accessibility. It has step-by-step tutorials clearly and concisely explaining how to use the browser and search the internet.
Such tutorials are littered throughout Doro’s operating system, though they’re easy to dismiss if you don’t need them. Combined with the fantastic SwiftKey keyboard, which comes preloaded by default and learns your writing habits to predict the next word you type, the 820 Mini is just about the easiest beginner phone out there. That is, when you’re not waiting for the damn thing to catch up with your finger presses.
Perhaps the Mini’s most useful software features are the ones the user will never see: the ICE (in case of emergency) options to put contact details on the screen, and My Doro Manager. Think of it as a remote assistance service, like Amazon Mayday, where you, the relative, are the friendly call centre assistant. Set it up on behalf of a loved one, and you can use your own smartphone (it only supports Android, sadly) to fiddle with any of the settings. This means that if the user has a problem, you can fix it for them, wherever you are. This could make the difference to someone hoping to use a smartphone for the first time.
CAMERA & BATTERY
It should come as no surprise to hear that the rear 5-megapixel camera is mediocre, but there’s a front camera for video chatting, too. The user interface for the camera app couldn’t be simpler, with options for scene mode, flash, and nothing else. Battery life is pretty respectable for a smartphone, amounting to a couple of days of light usage. Handily, Doro has included one of its charging cradles, so the owner is encouraged to treat the phone as a landline handset, meaning they’re unlikely to let it run out of charge very easily.
CONCLUSION
Doro has done a tremendous job bridging the gap between simplicity and power, allowing older adults to tap into the potential of smartphones. But the frustratingly unresponsive screen is a compromise you may be unwilling to accept.
VERDICT
The well-thought-out software has been undone by the feeble and frustrating hardware, and the lag it introduces when you tap a command can lead to confusion. We reckon Doro’s more basic flip phones or its flagship Android smartphone are a better bet, as the compromises made on the 820 Mini to create something in between fail to bring together the best of both worlds, just problems.
SPEC SHEET
OS Android 4.4.2 KitKat
Processor Quad-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A53
Screen 4 inches
Resolution 800 x 480 pixels
Memory 1GB RAM
Storage 16GB
MicroSD compatible? Yes
Rear camera 5MP
Front camera 640 x 480 pixels
Video 480p at 30fps
Connectivity 3G
Dimensions 153.5 x 77.3 x 7.6mm
Weight 165g
Battery 1,500mAh