Many older adults can enjoy the same phones as anyone else, and as such, the best phone for seniors in our testing is Apple's iPhone 16, the model that tops our guide to the best phones overall.
To be sure, some older adults aren't interested in or comfortable with high-end phones with the latest tech and features. Still, they might appreciate a smartphone for sharing photos and video calling with friends and family. For those people, we recommend the Lively Jitterbug Smart4, which features a straightforward interface and customer support specialized for older adults.
And for those who prefer to stick to phone calls and want a simple mobile phone experience, the Snapfon ez4G with a candy bar design is our preferred option.
Our top picks for the best phones for seniors
Best overall: Apple iPhone 16 - See at Amazon
Best specially designed: Lively Jitterbug Smart4 - See at Amazon
Best simple phone: Snapfon ez4G - See at Amazon
Best overall
Apple's latest standard flagship phone, the iPhone 16, is our top phone for most people overall and correspondingly our recommendation for most older adults, given its intuitive interface, emergency features, potential longevity, and Apple's ecosystem of apps, accessibility features, accessories, and physical retail stores for support.
What we like
What we don't like
We recommend the iPhone 16 to older adults for the same reasons we list it as the best phone overall for most people and the top model in our best iPhone guide. It's powerful, comes with excellent cameras, the iOS operating system is intuitive, has great battery life, and includes the popular Messages and Facetime apps for seamless communication with friends and family who also own iPhones.
Some older adults may not need the performance and more advanced features offered in the iPhone 16, like Apple Intelligence. However, the iPhone 16 and the iOS operating system are equally effective as a straightforward phone for basic usage and as an advanced device, and we don't want to limit what's available just because someone is older.
Plus, plenty of performance headroom means you won't need to buy a new phone anytime soon. It'll likely run quickly and smoothly until Apple drops software support in six or more years.
The iPhone 16's iOS operating system can also be modified to display larger fonts and icons, and the home screen can be arranged so that only the most important or relevant apps to a senior's experience are visible and usable.
Apple's physical retail presence also offers a significant advantage over Android phones. It allows many older adults, especially those who aren't tech-savvy, to get support for their devices easily. Indeed, they can physically go to an Apple Store and ask for help or repairs, which we think is valuable if a tech-savvy family member or friend isn't immediately nearby. Getting physical help can also be less stressful and confusing than getting support over the phone.
By comparison, there are few official retail locations for Android phones, and much of the support relies on phone-based customer service. Authorized third-party physical locations exist for Android devices, but when making a broad recommendation, we prefer Apple's physical presence in terms of reliability and likelihood of getting a good experience.
If you need an iPhone with a larger screen for better visibility, the iPhone 16 Plus comes just as recommended as the iPhone 16. They're effectively the same phone, with the only difference being the larger screen size and extended battery life on the iPhone 16 Plus.
The iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 series, including the larger Plus models, are also available for lower price points than the iPhone 16 and offer a largely similar experience with slightly less performance longevity.
Read our full iPhone 16 review, and see our guide to the best iPhone 16 cases to protect the phone.
Best specially designed
The Jitterbug Smart4 is an ideal option for older adults who want smart features, like video calling and running apps, but would benefit from a simpler interface than what you'd find on iPhones and Android phones. A cell phone plan from Lively starting at $20/month is required.
What we like
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For older adults who are not tech-oriented and don't have access to a nearby Apple location for support (or can't easily travel to one), Lively's Jitterbug Smart4, with its included cellular and support plans, is an ideal option. To clarify, the Jitterbug Smart4 can only be bought with a phone plan from Lively, which provides cellular connectivity (on Verizon's wide-reaching network) and support. In other words, you can't buy the phone unlocked or use it on any other carrier's phone plan.
While that might seem limiting, it's the phone-based customer service tailored for older adults that makes Lively such a great option. Lively customers can easily call a support agent to get help with their phone, look up a number, or get directions. You can also get physical help with the device and service at Best Buy retail locations.
The Basic plan for $20/month includes the "Ask Lively" customer support feature outlined above and a "Lively Rides" feature in partnership with Lyft to get help scheduling a ride. You can opt for the Preferred plan for $40/month, which includes "Urgent Response" service for emergencies and "Lively Link" to alert family members about the emergency. The $50/month Premium plan adds the "Care Advocate" feature for getting help with meeting health and well-being goals and "Nurse On-Call" to get medical advice from nurses and doctors around the clock.
The Jitterbug Smart4 phone has a large 6.7-inch display for high visibility, and its operating system is less cluttered than the mainstream versions of Android or even Apple's iOS. It runs on a version of Android customized for older adults for clear visibility and ease of use, and it can run any app available in the Google Play Store.
The smaller Jitterbug Flip2 flip phone from Lively has the same support features as the Jitterbug Smart4. It's an excellent option for those who prefer to use phones for basic calling and texting. However, if you think the motion of flipping a flip phone closed or open could cause problems, you may want to consider the Snapfon ez4G below.
Best simple phone (non-smartphone)
The Snapfon ez4G offers a simple, basic phone that's best for making phone calls and messaging, and it's an excellent option for older adults who don't need (or want) to use smartphone apps. A Snapfon plan starting at $15/month is required to use the ez4G phone.
What we like
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For those who use phones primarily or exclusively for calling, we recommend phones with the simple candy bar design, which features tactile buttons and a screen on the front of a relatively compact, rectangular phone. Flip phone designs are fine, but flipping open the phone could be an unnecessary obstacle for some older adults.
The Snapfon ez4G is as user-friendly as it gets with its large tactile buttons and a decently sized 2.3-inch display relative to its candy bar design. Unlike the candy bar phones from the early 2000s, the Snapfon ez4G isn't trying to be as small as possible, but it's also not huge at 5.6 inches in height. It's smaller overall than the iPhone 16 and easy to handle.
One of the best things about candy bar phones is their battery life. The Snapfon ez4G touts four and a half days of standby battery life and five hours of talk time for calls. It's charged with a USB-C cable, and a charging dock is optionally available.
Like Lively, a Snapfon phone plan is required to use the Snapfon ez4G. For phone calls and messaging, you'll only need the base $15/month Talk and Text plus 1GB plan, which comes with unlimited talk and text. Snapfon plans use T-Mobile's network for coverage.
We like the Snapfon ez4G over numerous other candy bar phones designed for seniors due to its red One-Touch SOS Button on the rear. Pressing it activates the optional One-Touch SOS service, which lets you quickly contact emergency services and emergency contacts and get answers to medical questions. That said, $40/month for the service is steep compared to Lively's offering, but at least it's an option that most candy bar phones don't include.
Customer support is also trained specifically for seniors and based in the US. However, Snapfon doesn't have physical locations.
How we test phones for seniors
We've exhaustively tested every iPhone and nearly every Android phone available in the US for general day-to-day use and through standardized assessments.
Our phone testing procedure includes assessing overall performance, battery life, and camera quality, making phone and video calls, sending messages, and using various apps. For older adults, we've added extra consideration for ease of use of the phone itself and its operating system, the number and quality of apps available, and the potential to obtain support.
For phones we haven't tested in-house, we've extensively researched available phones and picked the best options based on experience with brands, software, and ecosystems broadly, while also considering user reviews and assessments from reputable publishers at scale.
For both tested and untested phones, we also take into account more than 20 years of experience with how the older adults in our own lives interact with their mobile devices to communicate.
What to look for in phones for seniors
When considering phones for seniors, the first aspect to assess is an older adult's degree of comfort with modern technology — namely touchscreens and apps (especially apps that aren't directly related to functions like making calls). For almost any tech comfort level, the iPhone 16 is a great option thanks to its intuitive interface and versatility.
You should also gauge whether you or the older adult you are thinking of would benefit from extra help with their device, with customer support specially tailored for older adults who aren't necessarily familiar with tech.
Some phones, like the Lively Jitterbug Smart4 and Snapfon ez4G, are bundled with this specialized customer support and often include medical and emergency support. However, both phones strictly require cellular plans hosted by their respective companies, which prevents you from value-forward shopping among the best cell phone plans for seniors from other carriers.
Physical retail locations are another important consideration, as in-person support can be necessary or more convenient than remote customer service. iPhones allow you to take advantage of Apple stores and their Genius Bar support, and you can get in-person support for Lively phones at Best Buy locations.
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Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at reviews@jkmperu.com.
