TTfone TT970

I bought the TT970 for my 11 year old son now he's started secondary school. We didn't want to give him a full smart phone but wanted him to be able to have access to WhatsApp so he can stay in touch with friendship groups. The phone turned out to be absolutely perfect in this regard. It's not a seductive or compelling screen so he doesn't spend any time on it, but it has all the functionality he needs to stay in touch with friends. With a lot of schools banning smartphones and a lot of parents trying to uphold smartphone free childhood I highly recommend this phone as an alternative. TTfone should be marketing this phone for this use as well - there are a lot of parents who would be very interested in it.

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.

This phone did not work out of the box and I encountered problems getting it to work. 1) The WhatsApp application was out of date and I had to update it, but this was the least of my problems. 2) E-mail would not work. As soon as I tried to enter an e-mail address, the text turned cryllic (Russian) and I was unable to progress further. 3) Allowing a software update caused the Apptoid Store to disappear and e-mail would still not work. 4) Performing a factory reset did not reinstate the Apptoid Store but installed something called the Aurora Store and again e-mail would still not work. It was a challenge to find an e-mail app which worked but eventually I did find that the AquaMail app allows a single e-mail address or K-9 Mail app allows multiple e-mail addresses. I now have the phone working as it should, but due to the significant challenges I faced in getting this phone to work, I am unable to recommend this phone. Certainly not worth the £120 I paid for it.

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!

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

The phone itself is fine and easy to setup. THis was purchased for an 80 year old who needs as simple a phone for predominantly Whatsapp. After setting it up, I found the digit "5" harder to press than the others however it still worked so not a biggie. The 2 star review is becuase whatsapp only ha limited function - to make a call I had to go through each contact through whatsapp message and this would then trigger the call sign at top of screen and instead of messaging could then call the contact, trying to find the contact on whatsapp through their call function always caused the app to crash and restart. I went through TTfone support who are an absolute waste of time. I was prepared to return the phone. Before this phone she had the 950 model so was familiar with the functionality and for this reason decided to keep this model plus she recieves calls only on whatsapp so for this purpose it was ok.

I think this phone could grow on me. It has some good features. Having the touchscreen and keypad is one reason I chose it and that seems fine although the screen has a bit of a lag which is annoying when you are trying to turn off the alarm without waking the whole household! It's a nice size. I was about to give in and get a smart phone but they are all enormous which would drive me mad, and this fits nicely into a small bag or pocket. The torch is bright and could come in useful. The alarm seems ok if a bit fiddly to set compared with the instant ease of my old phone. Basically I really miss my Nokia Asha 300 which was a brilliant phone, so easy yet had loads of features which this one doesn't have such as being able to edit photos, use them as wallpaper, disable start up/key tones etc, and simply access everything immediately. To be fair any phone is going to fall short of what for me was the perfect phone and a beloved old friend (damn you Three for turning off the 3G!). The main reason I might be sending this back after a couple of days of ownership is the absolutely appalling battery life. I can practically see it counting down before my eyes even though I'm not doing anything with it, and according to the manual the charge time is four hours! I'm used to only charging my phone a couple of times a week despite using it all the time, and it only taking about half an hour to do so. I'm disappointed as I thought the technology would have improved in the decade since I last bought a phone so this came as an unwelcome surprise. I'm wondering if it would be possible to buy a better battery. Other things to be aware of: the sound isn't very good. We managed to work out how to get my favourite ringtone on to it but it sounds like someone shaking a bucket of nails. I don't listen to music on my phone so it's a minor point for me but might be important to someone else. Not being able to put a wallpaper on is a first world problem but still surprised me as it's marketed as a senior phone and I'd have thought they'd want pics of their grandchildren or cats to personalise their phones! Last but not least: I thought the emergency button feature was a great idea and it was a selling point for me as I have a horse and cycle, both of which could possibly result in accidents. However, once you get the phone it informs you in the manual that if it tries a number and gets voicemail then it will take it as answered and stop trying to call anyone. If the first person on your list goes to voicemail then you are basically stuffed! This renders the feature a bit pointless to be honest. Anyway, I'll give it a few more days and see how big a problem the battery turns out to be. If that's ok I guess I'll have to suck up the other things that are really just minor annoyances because they aren't what I'm used to and I hate change (when I say minor I mean I had a sleepless night worrying myself sick I'd spent £100 on the wrong phone). It's actually not bad at all but I don't love it. I think I still prefer it to a smartphone.

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.