Doro 7030 Unlocked Dual SIM 4G Easy-to-Use Clamshell Mobile Phone for Seniors with WhatsApp, Facebook, GPS Location and Cradle Included (Black) [UK and Irish Version]

Had a few issues setting it up. But once done it is perfect for my dad

So the only reason we bought this phone for a xmas present was so my dad could get whatsapp. He has a previous doro phone which he's happy with but which doesn't have whatsapp on it. This one is pretty much exactly the same but with whatsapp. So should be ideal. Spent literally hours on christmas day and boxing day trying to get whatsapp installed on this blinking phone (which seems very good apart from the whatsapp). Eventually called the help line and what I can only describe as a person masquerading as an American robot answered. He gave me the impression that he was totally bored in his job, didn't give a flying flip about the customers and had done this so many times that his brain was about to breathe its last if he spoke to one more customer. Anyway, what I managed to extract, slowly and painfully, from this robot-human was that there is a bug on the 7030 which means that you can't access whatsapp at all at the moment. They have a fix but in their wisdom decided to release it to more important countries than the UK over "the holiday" period. The UK will have to wait for a few weeks for the release. He couldn't give me a date for the release, he could only say that it should be before the end of January. Great. Thanks Doro.Other than the totally shoddy customer service surrounding whatsapp, this seems like a really decent phone for an old duffer who doesn't want to use the internet. If you want to use the internet then I'd steer clear. Giving it a 1 star because of the absolutely lousy whatsapp service and because I missed out on a lot of xmas day trying to configure an app which they know doesn't work.Might update this when the bug is finally fixed.

Eventually, when you work through the manual, it becomes easier to use. Particularly like the green flashing light for incoming and un-opened e-mails; the max volume level, large keyboard and ability to use whatsapp, go online send e-mails. Remember this is a simple basic phone with some smartphone features. Other attributes are Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity. There's also a USB port but I haven't manage to use it for more than battery re-charging (phone comes with a holster re-charger anyway) from a laptop. Main negative is battery life. Really needs a heavier duty battery. Doro should source a longer-life battery.

Phone arrived quickly and safely. It’s a nice simple design and I like the fact that it’s a flip phone that can actually receive calls through WiFi. I didn’t want to spend as much as £90 on such a basic phone but it was the only flip phone I could find with decent reviews that had the facility to receive calls through WiFi if signal is an issue in the house.It’s early days so will update the review, once have had time to see how it performs.The only slight issue I have at the moment is that when answering a call the persons voice at the other end sounds different to their usual voice through the previous phone I had. This must be something to do with how the speaker transmits sound or the sound quality. There was also a slight echo when speaking but I’m hoping that this will resolve -The phone itself was easy to set up and connect to the modem WiFi.The cable in the charger is very short which is a drawback so you will need to keep it near a plug socket.The phone itself is a nice design and I like the fact that the flip design stops buttons being pressed by accident.The £90 is definitely in my opinion far too expensive for such a basic phone when one can by a smart phone for the same price!

I bought this phone for my 85 yr old husband. He had an old 2G phone but wanted to be able to send Whatsapp messages, something he could not do with his old phone. He is able to send short emails using my laptop and has sent Whatsapp messages using my phone and now wants to get a 4G phone. I thought the Doro 7030 would be suitable with bigger buttons and the fact that It came pre-installed with Whatsapp and was internet enabled was good. He particularly wanted to send Whatsapp messages to family and friends. The phone arrived very quickly and he was happy with the look of the phone, he liked the fact that it was a flip phone that fits easily in his hand. I read that this phone is quite easy to set up, this was not the case, it took me ages. I suppose when you are used to touch screen phones, using this type of phone can be quite tedious. Having to press each button and having to OK every action that is taken, was quite annoying. My husband was not too bothered by this so much, his main problem with this phone was having to scroll up just to read a line of text messages at a time, not being able to clearly see the whole message to read. No matter what we tried, we couldn’t access the messages clearly. He would say, with his old phone he was always able to see messages clearly. He looked forward to using Whatsapp but that was simply awful, he was not able to use it as the print was so small with the tiniest arrow to move around, you would need a magnifying glass to use Whatsapp. He became very disappointed with the phone and in the end, wasn’t interested in using it at all. I felt awful because I had suggested buying it and really thought the Doro 7030 would be the most suitable phone for him. I have now decided to return the phone because my husband has no interest in using it. I will have to get him a touch screen phone that doesn’t cost the earth. Judging from what I’ve seen and experienced, I don’t think this phone is suitable for any elderly person who likes to send/receive text or Whatsapp messages, but would be OK for making calls.