TTfone TT970

I really don't need a full-scale smartphone. In fact, having owned a number of iPhones and Android phones in the past, I suspect most people don't. When it came to the time to upgrade, I realised I don't play computer games, I don't watch movies or TV shows on my phone. I listen to music on my iPod... and smartphones are getting stupidly large! As an avid book reader, I had already realised that smart devices really mess with my concentration. I resented having to pay hundreds of pounds essentially to make calls and send WhatsApp messages! Looking for something simpler, I started out with a Nokia 2720 Flip in 2020, which runs with the Kai OS operating system. After two years of shaky functionality and increasingly erratic operation, I got fed up with it. If a name brand like Nokia couldn't be trusted, I'd look elsewhere. My search for a replacement led me to the TTfone TT970, which, with 4G, looked promising. TTfone markets its products on their simplicity and they aim a lot of marketing at the elderly. The phones include emergency buttons and health information. I'm not old and I love gadgets, but I hate unnecessary complexity. I've had the phone for three days now. First off, it has a charging cradle, which is great, as it stops the side USB socket getting damaged. The phone is plastic, but solidly built. The operating system is Simplified Android - basically Android without all of Google's intrusive bloatware. I haven't had to sign into any accounts to use the phone: I merely put my number into WhatsApp. Transferring numbers via my old phone's SD card was easy. Photos also imported automatically from the card. The operating system is far better than Kai OS was on my Nokia 2720 Flip. TTfone's Simplified Android OS variant is very simple and the menu not very customisable - quite why emails are stored in a folder called 'Social Media', rather than on the main menu, I can't say, and it's a shame I can't move it on to the main menu, but it's not the end of the world! WhatsApp works fine. Messages arrive when people send them (unlike the 2720, where I didn't receive messages until I opened the WhatsApp app) and WhatsApp phone calls work. The ear speaker is LOUD. Even on a low volume, I pulled it away from my ear at one point while talking to a client. The alarm works fine. I also downloaded Telegram and have had no problems there. The combination of keypad and touchscreen is great. Sadly, the phone lacks the ability old Nokias had of triggering a capital letter mid-sentence by tapping the hash button once - the 2720 didn't do that either - but being able to tap the touchscreen to complete keypad tasks is a bonus. Basically, it's down to what you're looking for. Smartphone lovers will hate this phone. But they're missing the point: the TT970 is a phone. It's sufficiently smart to send web app messages, pictures and videos over 4G and wifi, and it lets you check and send emails. Once it's set up, it's easy to use - older people who aren't confident will likely someone younger to set it up, particularly email - and it's blessedly small. I'm very happy with this phone: until I bought it, I had feared I'd end up having to go back to full-fledged smartphones. I work from home and, if I work away, I have my laptop with me. I've happily opted out of the smart revolution. This phone is smart enough not to do too much, but what it does do, it does well. After my colossal disappointment with the Nokia 2720 phone, this is much more what I was looking for. Recommended for smartphone 'detoxers' and people who simply want to make calls, check emails and send messages. Big thumbs up from me!

I’d knock of half a star if I could, but sadly I can’t do 3.5/5. Summary: it works (usually) Before we get into the review, I feel it prudent to note I am in my mid-20s with a decent bit of tech ability, I decided to buy the same phone as my grandfather and get off social media for the sake of my mental health a number of years and phones ago, so I am judging this phone from the perspective of a mental health slash live in the moment tool. This is not representative of the mileage an elder or someone without a decent understanding of stripped back android OS would get. The good: -nice and loud -Bluetooth audio works with wireless earbuds (not always the case in my experience with dumb phones) -has a 3.5mm headphone jack -very simple UI (can be good or bad depending on your personal tastes but I like it) -comes with a working web browser (very much necessary given two items in ‘the bad’) -makes calls and texts -has a dedicated WhatsApp button -proper T9 keyboard, none of that ‘predictive text’ or ‘autocorrect’ -no AI tools The bad: -pre-installed App Store doesn’t work, had to download F-Droid and Aurora Store APKs through the web browser -WhatsApp doesn’t work by default, you have to download an updated APK from either the internet or Aurora Store -default email app doesn’t work with gmail and the gmail app is incompatible, couldn’t get emails to work outside of my browser. -comes with a bit of what I consider bloat (SOS, photo contacts, etc.) (not a con for everyone just a con for me) and disabling the bloat in the android system menu has a knock on effect, for example removing photo contacts from the Home Screen means your contacts will not display in the standard contacts app. If you want the stuff you use to work you’re stuck with the stuff you don’t use. -built in speaker sounds quite bad for music, not that you can play music as standard you have to download VLC from Aurora for that -doesn’t have Snake -feels very flimsy The surprising: -you can use this thing as a GPS if you download Sygic from Aurora Store. The maps work well, too - I used this thing as my main GPS for a 1700km road trip this last week and it seems better suited to the intricacies of Ireland’s road network than Google maps, which often brings me to towns of the right name in the wrong county or drops me off three or four houses down from my actual destination even when I use the eircode. As a test I had google maps running on my android head unit in my car and google was often giving wrong instructions in regards to things like ‘follow the road to the right’ (correct) vs ‘turn right’ (incorrect) or ‘straight at the intersection’ (correct) vs ‘turn left then immediately right’ (incorrect). It was also far less inclined than Google to take me down single track roads, which I for one see as a big deal as I live in a very rural area with a lot of single track roads where Google often sends inexperienced urban drivers who have no business on a road without a second lane. ‘Google Maps is Wrong, turn in village’ signs are popping up all over the place these days. -has a hotspot which works quite well but drains battery quickly -battery drains surprisingly quickly. I had a Cat S22 flip for a few years before this and it could last 2-3 days on one charge, this thing needs charged nightly. Overall, now that the Cat S22 is off the market this is the best dumb phone I have used, however were the S22 still available I would choose that over this any day.

Designed for the elderly but of little use. Functions are very limited. The menu is difficult to use and not very adaptable. The phone is constructed from plastic and is very flimsy. Even on just opening and closing the flip, the top part of the keypad section has cracked. The touchscreen is not of much use due to the phones limited functionality. It was bought for the ability to use WhatsApp but the phone set up negates this so it's of virtually no benefit. Not a cheap phone and was a waste of money. Avoid and buy a cheap Chinese phone instead.

Great phone to slowly introduce the older generation to smart phones let's them have both options of touch screen and buttons. A few apps included not too much to overwhelm them. Only problem I'm finding is the phone doesn't ring very long! I'm having to ring my mum several times for her to be able to answer before it stops ringing but if I ring her on WhatsApp it rings as long as I am willing to wait. Manual doesn't give any option to show how to lengthen the caller incoming call. On the whole it's a fab little phone and my mums 84 and took no time to get used to it. She's never used an app or had Internet but she's loving it and loving the video calling on WhatsApp. Because the phone looks like her previous old phone It's gave her confidence to use the phone using both buttons and touchscreen and not feel worried to make a mistake.

The music player does not work. Comes up with a system error then crashes out.

It's brilliant, small to pop in a pocket,AND WhatsApp, not easy to type messages when you're used to using a keyboard, but with WhatsApp it makes all the difference, And a £5 Lebara sim card,perfect. ☆☆☆☆☆

Good sturdy phone and easy to dial. A lot of features which we will not use so expensive for us.

Super eenvoudig in gebruik!

L'appareil semblait correspondre à ce que j'en attendais : pouvoir consulter mes emails et utiliser la messagerie WhatsApp. Malheureusement, Google refuse l'application utilisée dans ce téléphone pour la consultation des emails (My.com) et malgré la disponibilité et les conseils du service après-vente, pourtant très soucieux de m'aider, l'opération s'est avérée impossible. L'appareil semblait aussi très gourmand en énergie. J'ai donc dû me résigner à le renvoyer.

das gleiche Model bei Fysc gekauft, zu kleiner Speicher Ram u.Rom so kein Updat für Whatsapp möglich aber dass von tt-fone hat genug speicher 4 Gb , 8Gb genug also alles läuft rund.. kann ich nur empfehlen das einzige Model wo dass bietet..

Bought for my 90yo mother who has limited use of her hands, based on being able to answer calls from the front screen. However this is not possible and phone must be flipped open to answer. Second issue that the phone only intermittently charges in the dock and most often has to be plugged directly into usb lead to charge. Again not ideal for elderly hands.

أحببت في الهاتف ظهور صورة المتصل مع وجود قائمة من 8 جهات اتصال مفضلة تعرض الصورة للمتصل ،وأيضا امكانية نطق اسم المتصل بدل الرنة ، اضافة إلى صوت الرنين المرتفع وتضخيم الصوت الداخلي ، وسهولة استخدامه مع وجود شاشة اللمس . وجود الميزات الذكية كالواتساب . لكن تم تعطيله لأني أخذته للوالدة وهي كبيرة في السن وسمعها ضعيف . في الحقيقة الهاتف عجيب وهو ما كنت أبحث عنه . وسعره مناسب جدا لمميزاته الرهيبة .