When we first reviewed the Snapfon ez ONE (3.5 stars), we thought it was a great simple cell phone, held back by a few issues. Now, with the Snapfon ez ONE-c, some of those issues have been addressed, along with a number of other improvements and a lower price. Sure, the earpiece volume could be higher and it would be nice if the time and date set automatically, but this is still as simple as cell phones get. It's so easy to use that it's our new Editors' Choice for simple phones.
Pricing and Design
Snapfon offers the ez ONE-c direct from its Web site with several decent no-contract service plans through PureTalk USA, which uses AT&T's physical network. Plans start at $10/month. The phone costs $29.99 when purchased with a plan or $59.99 without. Because it is a GSM phone, it will also work with any AT&T or T-Mobile plan.
Setting up your Snapfon is simple right out of the box. There's a fold-out user manual, filled with straightforward, easy to understand directions in a very large font.
The ez ONE-c is made almost entirely of dark grey, shiny plastic with a red SOS button on the back. It measures 4 by 2 by .5 inches (HWD) and weighs just 2.7 ounces. It looks a lot like a calculator, and it should fit into your pocket without a problem. The screen is a 1.6-inch amber LCD with 128x48 resolution, and shows the battery life, date, signal strength, and time.
The keys are extremely large?each one is about the size of a dime. They're made of matte plastic and are easy to press without making a mistake. They're also easy to read, though you can also set the phone to say them out loud as you press them. At the top of the keypad, in between the?Send?and?End?buttons, is a single function key used to navigate the phone's uncomplicated menu. Battery life was excellent at 11 hours 27 minutes of talk time.
Performance and Conclusions
The ez ONE-c is a quad-band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) GSM world phone, which means you can take it with you on trips abroad. There is no Bluetooth, camera, Internet, or any of the other features that often come standard in most phones. But this is a simple phone, so that's understandable. The only downside is the lack of Bluetooth, since many states have laws requiring hands-free use while driving.
I tested the Snapfon on T-Mobile's network. Reception was good, and call quality was decent overall. Voices sound clear in the earpiece, but extremely thin?there's no depth at all. Although the earpiece sounds a bit louder this time around, I still wish it had a louder maximum volume. Pressed firmly against my ear the volume level was good, but holding the phone like I regularly do caused it to drop off a bit. It would've been nice to see a higher maximum volume for users that are hard of hearing. The speakerphone, on the other hand, gets very loud. On the other end, calls made with the phone sound clear enough, although noise cancellation is lacking. The vibrate function is decent, but like the earpiece, it could stand to be a bit stronger.
There is a button on the left side of the phone for volume control, and another one for an FM radio. The FM radio has good reception, but it sounds tinny over the phone's speaker. It's much better over a standard pair of 3.5mm wired headphones.
There is a button on the right side of the phone for a LED flashlight, which Snapfon claims can produce a beam of light for up to 20 feet. There is also a lock button on the right side to prevent the phone from pocket dialing.
Text messaging was simple due to the large size of the phone's keys, but there is no predictive text, so you're going to need to triple tap out all your messages. The phone can only hold up to 100 messages and 200 contacts at once due to a lack of any significant internal memory. Unfortunately, it still doesn't set the time and date automatically, which is a needless hassle.
A big, red SOS button is located on the back of the phone, which is a great feature to have in case of an emergency. By pressing and holding the button down for 5 seconds, the phone will sound a high-pitched alert and proceed to automatically call 4 programmable numbers until a call connects. It will even send a text message to these numbers that says, "Emergency, please help!" Upon initial activation of the phone, the SOS button is programmed to dial the user's nearest emergency response center until 4 SOS numbers are entered.
There are other good simple phones out there, such as GreatCall's?Samsung Jitterbug J SPH-A310?($99, 4 stars) and the Just5 J509?($89.99, 4 stars). While the Snapfon lacks Jitterbug's live operator, on-call nurse, and personal security service, it still manages to provide a sense of security with the SOS feature, and it's even easier to use and less expensive than the Jitterbug. The J509, meanwhile, lacks a standard headphone jack and isn't a world phone. That leaves the ez ONE-c as the easiest choice, and our Editors' Choice, for a simple phone.
Benchmarks
Continuous talk time: 11 hours 27 minutes
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