Back to Basics with the Doro HandlePlus Big Button Cell Phone

Whilst it would be easy to apply a liberal dose of humour and sarcasm concerning Doro’s HandlePlus ‘Back to Basics’ cell phone that would be missing the point somewhat as, for older people or even those who are partially sighted, a phone such as this could prove extremely practical and, in mind of that, we shall, on this occasion, hold back from any off the cuff jibes – well, at least, that’s our intention.

A 324GSM device, the Doro HandlePlus does away with the often bewildering array of fancy frills and ancillary functions squeezed into the vast majority of new cell phones these days in order to offer a wholly demystified device that will dial any of five preset numbers at the press of a single button – and, apart from ‘on’ and ‘off’ buttons that’s just about it.

Whilst it is easy to dismiss this device as being somewhat of a joke, the fact is that, in terms of usability and accessibility, the HandlePlus is nothing short of a masterstroke of design elegance that, we suspect, even Aunt Phyllis – who is known to shy away from anything that features so much as a single LED – would feel most at ease using.

The only criticism we have – and we have to have at least one – is the unit’s price as, considering the simplicity of the device, $207 is, by anyone’s standards, verging on daylight robbery. And, in a sense, this only serves to sour our opinion as to the sentiment that we assumed was behind this device.

Sometimes, despite the adage, less is not more, less is just less - and, considering what we readily assume to be the device’s target market (the old, the disabled), we wonder how the manufacture can justify the premium without the majority of us walking away with a bitter taste in our mouths.

[Source | Wired]