Snapfon ezTWO: Simple Phone, Great for Seniors (Unlocked)

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The Snapfon ezTWO is a GSM phone designed specifically for senior citizens. It has a red emergency button on the back, that when pressed will connect its user with a trained operator that can alert 911, family members, or other emergency contacts if necessary.

The ezTWO comes with big keys that have large numbers on them. Its unique “speaking keypad” feature gives you the option to have the phone announce which key has been pressed.

While the screen is rather small, text on it appears in large, easy to read fonts, white on a black background.

The earpiece is loud and call quality is good, but not great. A general static noise in the background makes the conversation partner seem quite distant — noise cancellation is not supported. There’s a speakerphone option that’s loud enough to use indoors, but you may have trouble understanding it when outside on a busy street.

Controls on the side of the phone include a volume rocker and a camera shutter button on the left, and two sliders on the right. One of the sliders controls the inbuilt flashlight (which by the way is a bit dim), and the other serves to lock the keys to prevent accidentally pocket-dialing someone. Of course, you need to remember to use the “lock” slider in the first place — flip and slide phones are more intuitive in this regard. Nevertheless, this being a candy bar shaped phone, it’s a good thing to have the option to lock the keypad.

The Snapfon ezTwo doesn’t have a web browser, in fact it doesn’t support internet connectivity at all. There are no games, either. A basic VGA (640×480, or 0.3MP) camera is included and you can attach the pictures to text messages, however at a resolution this low, any photos taken turn out quite grainy. Video recording is not supported.

This phone is M3/T3 hearing aid compatible. At 5 days standby time and 5 hours talk time, battery life is acceptable but not great for a dumb phone. Speed dialing is supported, and easy to set up: Just choose a number slot and assign a contact. To call, hold down the number key for a short while.

While the ezTWO phone is generally quite basic and easy to use, its menu structure isn’t always intuitive. Menus are white on black, with the selected entry inverted (i.e. black on white) — so when there are only two choices, it isn’t always obvious which of the two selections is highlighted and which one isn’t. While this won’t be problematic for everyone, it could be an issue for users that aren’t too tech savvy.

While not a rugged phone, the Snapfon ezTWO has a sturdy feel to it, and its hard plastic casing isn’t likely to take a lot of damage if accidentally dropped.

Although the phone is technically unlocked, so you can use it with any GSM carrier you want, a OneCall plan is necessary for the emergency button to work. Service plans start at about $15 per month, similar to the GreatCall service plans for seniors (for use with the Samsung Jitterbug 5). However OneCall gives you more free minutes and data allowance for the same price, so in total their service plan turns out to be cheaper than GreatCall’s.

In summary, the Snapfon ezTWO is a popular, very reliable, and cheaper alternative to the Samsung Jitterbug 5 which we’ve reviewed earlier. It offers all the basic functionality such as an SOS button, simple usage, and hearing aid compatibility. However the Jitterbug 5 is superior in most regards, including battery life and call quality. Therefore, it’s keeping the title as our best dumb phone for seniors, with the Snapfon being a runner-up.

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Snapfon ezTWO Technical Specs:

Battery	1000mAh
Bluetooth	Yes
Browser	No
Camera	VGA (640x480px)
Carrier	Unlocked
Color	Black
Dimensions	4.6" x 2.2" x 0.6"
Display	1.8" x 1.6", 320x240px
Email client	No
Flashlight	Yes
Form factor	Bar
Games	No
GPS	No
Headset jack	3.5mm
Hearing aid	M3/T3
Languages	English, Spanish
Memory (RAM)	1.26MB
MP3 Player	No
MP3 ringtones	No
Push-to-talk	No
Rugged	No
SD card slot	Yes
SIM card slot	Yes
Speakerphone	Yes
Speed dial	Yes
Standby time	5 days
Talk time	5h
USB	Charge only
Vibration	Yes
Waterproof	No
Weight	2.3oz