The Jitterbug5 (yes, it’s spelled as one word) is the latest in the line of easy to use flip phones from Greatcall. It features a new dedicated 5Star (one word again) button on the keypad and an upgraded Phonebook capacity, while retaining everything else that makes this phone a compelling choice for many people.
5Star is a safety service that gives you quick access to agents who are certified by the NAED (National Academies of Emergency Dispatch). Once you press the 5Star button to call them they are trained to get you the help you need. This service is also available on all their other phones and also on their Jitterbug Splash and Jitterbug 5Star emergency devices.
Greatcall must have noted the popularity of those devices and decided to manufacture a new phone with a dedicated button programmed to call that service. The 5Star service can also be neatly integrated with the Urgent Care health service which features live nursing advice from real nurses trained in telephone triage.
Okay, this is a simple one. One of my own complaints about previous Greatcall flip phones like the Plus and the J has been that the phonebook could store only 50 phone numbers. I felt this was too low. Well, that has finally changed. The phonebook on the Jitterbug5 can now store up to 200 phone numbers. That’s still not as much as other phones, but it’s probably good enough for a lot of people and a whole lot better than what it was previously.
The method of browsing through the phonebook is still a little tedious as you have to go through the contacts one-by-one. One way of solving this problem is to install and use the (free) voice-dialing feature. You can have the voice-dialing feature set up to activate when you open the phone so you don’t have to bother going through the menu. Then when you flip open the phone, you just say who you want to call.
Yes, you can text on a Jitterbug phone. You can send regular text messages, and it also comes with a set of pre-written messages for convenience.
Most of the other features are consistent with the previous version of this phone, the Jitterbug Plus. It has a 1.3 megapixel camera, and you can share the photos you take on Facebook if you want.
It has the same easy-to-use interface.
It is designed to have a long battery life – up to 25 days on standby. This is especially useful for those who don’t use their cell phone a lot.
The speaker is designed to be loud so you can hear it ring, however you can also turn the volume down to low or even just set it to vibrate.
For those looking to for mental activity to stay sharp, there are a couple of memory games – Make a Pair and Quick Match – to jog your brain.Among the features I consider missing from this phone are a calculator and an alarm. A basic calculator would be useful for those on a budget especially when going shopping. A wake-up alarm would not only be useful but also put the loud speaker on this phone to good use!
Still, these are minor quibbles.
You can find the Jitterbug5 manual here, though you probably won't need to refer to it much as the phone is, as noted earlier, "easy to use".
If you want a reliable and easy-to-use phone with a dedicated button to contact safety services, the Jitterbug5 would be a good choice. The handset is available in three colors – red, white or blue.