Reduced sensory and perceptual abilities such as loss of sight is very common in older people . When you are affected by this visual handicap, being in contact with those around you is very important to reduce your vulnerability. It is with this in mind that many solutions such as talking cell phones have been specially designed to allow blind and partially sighted people to stay in touch with the outside world and their loved ones. So what are the best phones most suitable for the visually impaired and blind? Here’s our pick of the best phones suitable for visually impaired people.
1- SmartVision 2
Here is for you the most complete telephone for the visually impaired and blind at the moment. Designed by Kapsys, the SmartVision 2 has a touch screen, a physical keyboard and voice commands. So you can see why this phone is at the top of our list of the best phones most suitable for the visually impaired and blind. This phone tablet is very powerful in addition to being compatible with 4G. It has a very large 4-inch screen that offers three modes of use: by simple gestures with the fingers, by voice command or by keyboard (ergonomic and intuitive).
The SmartVision 2 allows you to configure certain functions of the smartphone such as the level of contrast, the size of the characters and the scrolling speed of the menus. It allows you to define some keyboard shortcuts to launch certain calls fairly quickly. An SOS button is judiciously placed for sending a geolocated emergency SMS to a pre-recorded contact.
This smartphone is available in 2 versions: a Standard version and a Premium version. This latest version is accompanied by many advanced features: vocalized GPS navigation very suitable for pedestrians, a multi-format audiobook reader and optical character recognition (OCR).
2- Blindshell Classic 2
It is the main competitor of the SmartVision 2. Unlike the SmartVision 2, this smartphone for the visually impaired and blind only has the function of voice commands and a physical keyboard with large spaced buttons. Whether to open an application, call a contact, send a message or obtain its geolocated position, it is necessary to use the voice. To send an SMS or an email, the user can also use his backlit keyboard.
The Blindshell Classic 2 works like a classic smartphone. With this phone, the visually impaired can easily stay in touch with loved ones on Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, Skype, or others. Unlike the MinVision 2, the Blindshell Classic 2 does not have access to the Play Store. On the other hand, it offers its own application store. It also has an SOS button on the back of the device that allows you to make an emergency call.
3- Minivision 2
This is the best phone for visually impaired and blind people who are not very tech-savvy. Indeed, the MiniVision 2 is a talking smartphone with large, well-spaced keys. It is well suited to anyone whose only concern is to have a telephone enabling them to make or receive a call and to send or receive messages.
However, despite being a fairly minimalist phone, the MiniVision 2 provides access to FM radio, color detector, weather, GPS locator, alarm clock and more. Like most telephones for the visually impaired and blind, the MiniVision 2 has an SOS button on the back of the device which allows you to reach a preconfigured contact in an emergency. It has a very intuitive interface with a menu in the form of a drop-down list. Its settings are customizable. The user can therefore modify the contrast, the scrolling speed and the size of the characters.
4- Voxi One
The Voxi One is a smartphone that operates entirely by voice command. It is one of the most complete smartphones for visually impaired or blind people on the market. It embeds all the features dedicated to these types of people. In addition to functions for sending and receiving calls, emails or SMS, the Voxi One has a reading machine, a barcode reader, an electronic magnifying glass with character recognition, a tag recorder to identify objects, a multimedia player, a 48 megapixel camera and a color and light sensor.
The Voxi One performs very well. It is designed with a large 6.4 inch screen. It has a Bluetooth connection, a large capacity battery (about 3700 mAh), and a very powerful Qualcomm processor (64 GB of Rom and 8 GB of RAM).
5-S-Tel
The S-TEL is a flip phone with touch screen marketed by CECIAA. It is equipped with the basic functionalities of a telephone such as receiving and sending telephone calls. Similarly, there are raised keys on this device that make handling the phone easier for people with vision problems.
And if the user cannot use these keys, he can always refer to the voice command to make a call, create or delete a contact, send a message, launch an application or to customize the basic settings of the phone. . Thanks to S-TEL, the visually impaired or the blind can easily exchange with their loved ones on social networks such as WhatsApp, Messenger, Skype, to name a few. Other features are also available on the S-TEL like FM radio or internet radio, locator, etc.
6-LiNote
LiNote is the best landline phone available on the market for visually impaired and blind seniors. As a landline phone, it always stays plugged in and placed on a table, sideboard or piece of furniture. It allows the visually impaired to easily initiate a call with a simple tap on the screen. No need to search for a contact in the contact book before calling. No need to dial a number before calling. The visually impaired person just needs to press the large tactile button with the photo linked to the telephone number for the call to be launched. With LiNote, the user can save up to eight photo contacts on their screen.
7- Doro PhoneEasy 331
Like the LiNote, the Doro PhoneEasy 331 is a landline phone specially designed for people with visual impairments. It has a really wide keypad with large concave, reflective, contrasting keys for dialing numbers. Likewise, this smartphone offers the possibility of pre-registering three different contacts with their photo on the screen. Thus, the visually impaired can easily reach their loved ones in case of emergency. All he has to do is press the photo to start the call.