Suggested Easy to Setup and Easy to Use Mobile Phone?

Off-topic Chatter
1

Can anyone suggest/recommend easy to setup and easy to use mobile phones?

I tried a smart phone years ago (don’t recall the brand or model, but it was a basic model), but I just couldn’t get it setup at all! Found it difficult to understand and navigate. In the end I sold it.

Recently purchased a Samsung (Galaxy) A16 G5 phone. This model is supposed to be one of the easiest to use according to a review. But, once again I found it difficult to setup, and it required (mandatory) connection to Wi Fi. You couldn’t skip this step, unfortunately. Had difficulty in finding password for the router/Wi Fi but managed to in the end.

Trouble started with this phone shutting down into lock mode and switching the display off after only five to ten seconds or so after being powered on. Then it asked for password to unlock it. I entered the password but phone claimed it was the incorrect password. Tried several times, but the password was continually rejected. I know my password was correct and was entered correctly.

Found a process in the internet (via my computer, not the phone) where you hold down the phone power button and the volume down button simultaneously when wanting to power the phone off. This seemed to reset the phone and ultimately it finally accepted my password! But this was only short lived!

Problem was the phone after powering down again (after 5~10 seconds) to lock mode it once again failed to accept my password!? Additionally, I couldn’t find the settings icon to change when the phone powers down, (and preferably to disable the continued demand for password after powering down to enable the phone to power up again).

Seemed to be going around in circles here with the continued demand for password and continued rejection of correct password!?

So much for an easy to setup and easy to use phone.

So, can anyone suggest a basic easy to setup and easy to use basic smartphone?

Preferably a phone that does not require mandatory connection to Wi Fi during setup, and has all the basic required icons (especially for settings) displayed on the home screen. And preferably a phone that does not continually ask for password when phone powers (screen) down (to save power) and you’re wanting to power phone back up.

EDIT: I no longer have this Galaxy phone.

2

It sounds like the screen timeout is happening too fast. If you don’t touch the screen within 5-10 seconds it auto locks. To change that setting go into Settings, then Display, then scroll down until you see Screen timeout. Then you can select how long the screen can be left untouched before it auto locks. It’s a security thing. You might also have the option to keep screen on when viewing in the same page.

3

Thanks for your comment and suggestion.

I have edited my first post in that I no longer have this Galaxy phone.

In any event I could not find the “Settings” in the Galaxy phone. What I thought might have been settings, there were hardly any options, which didn’t include the display option.

So I am definitely looking for another phone as I no longer have a smartphone.

4

Do you specifically want a smartphone or would a simpler phone with select apps work? There are plenty of KaiOS devices that tend to be easier to use, though since they’re not technically smartphones, won’t have all the apps and features you might want. What do you want out of your phone?

5

I need a smartphone that does phone calls, texts, and the ability to download and use apps. Don’t really need internet (browsing), games, nor anything else really.

6

Even the most basic of smart phones will require the use of Wi-Fi or a Data plan in order to download apps.

Assuming you’re looking for another Android product, you’ll most likely download those apps from the Google Play Store and the Samsung App Store. So there’s that.

Now as for the issues you had with the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G, I’m curious if you purchased that phone from a retailer such as Best Buy or Amazon in an “unlocked” configuration, or was it “pre-configured/locked” to a network such as Verizon or Sprint through a reseller such as Boost Mobile, Tracfone, etc.?

The latter could explain why it was apparently already setup with a lockscreen password.

I have a Samsung Galaxy A15 5G, which is nearly identical to the A16 5G. However, since I bought it “unlocked”, it wasn’t nearly as pre-configured as a phone that’s purchased “locked” from a cellular “discount reseller”.

In other words, depending on the type of smartphone you buy, and where you buy it, you could end up repeating those same frustrations.

7

Thank you for your detailed reply.

As a sort of an aside, I already have a mobile phone but it is a basic non-smartphone (which can’t download and use apps). Now there is a requirement for me to purchase a basic (easy to setup and easy to use) smartphone that can download and apply apps where and when necessary.

The A16 G5 I purchased was unlocked. The phone password had to be created by myself upon prompting by the phone.

So, I still would like suggestions/recommendations for a basic smartphone please (for the beginner user)?

8

You don’t need a new phone, you just need a simpler Launcher for your current one.

Fot example the Simple Launcher

9

There are those super simplified phones for children…

10

If apps are necessary, perhaps a Jitterbug Smart4 might work? It’s made for individuals that aren’t the most technologically savvy, but offers all the benefits associated with Android.

11

Assuming you don’t want an iPhone. I know nothing about iPhones.
There are multiple ways you can set up an Android phone and you’re doing it the hardest way. That is how I almostI always do it. I don’t want to put my SIM card in until I have set it up on Wi-Fi and got my Google password in there and gone through the Play store and put all my apps in and gone thru all of the settings in all of the apps and all of the settings on the phone and restricted a whole lot of permissions and notifications and learned where most everything is on the phone. Yeah it’s a whole lot to do and it takes some time. No matter what phone you get you’re going to need your Wi-Fi password and your Google password ready and another device ready to be able to have Google confirm that it is you. They make you jump through an extra hoop anytime you sign in on a new device. And until you get through that confirmation you’re going have to use a secure way to get past the lock screen which means a password or a series of numbers or a fingerprint or something other than a simple swipe to get out of the lock screen and into the device. That should not be a Google password. And you’ll have to do it multiple times. Once Google confirms it’s you then you can go into the settings on the phone and change that to a simple swipe. And yes I do believe you have to get the Google password on there before you can get into “settings”. Unless you set it up with the SIM card through your carrier.

That all assumes you want to use the Google Play store.
So if you’re not inserting a SIM card and you are not transferring from one smart device to another it is a little more complicated but you can’t get around that.

12

Thanks for the additional comments.

The “Launcher” is only good for use with phones that already have the apps installed in the phone. But as mentioned earlier I can’t download and install apps into my non-smartphone. Also the existing apps in my non-smartphone are of no use at all.

So this launcher is not for my non-smartphone.

Actually I am qualified in the electrical engineering field, but how (some) of the smartphones work is not (entirely) logical.

What makes things worse in my case here, I strongly suspect the A16 G5 may have been buggy/faulty because of the repeated rejection of my password when I created the password just moments ago. Also, when selecting the ‘skip’ option when wanting to miss connecting to Wi Fi, the phone popped up a blank white page with no text on it apart from the close ‘text’ at the bottom of the white page. I suspect that the white page was supposed to contain a message/text to the effect that ‘you can’t skip connecting to Wi Fi’(?)

Still looking for the ideal smartphone.