Philips unveils feature phone targeting senior citizens for Rs 3,800

Philips Mobile today launched a new feature phone for senior citizens featuring a large font size, long battery life and SOS function, priced at Rs 3,800.

Senior citizens are often inconvenienced by the standard phones available in the market due to their small font size, short battery life and fragility, Philips said in a statement.

According to Pew Research Internet Group, elderly citizens face several difficulties while adopting new technologies.

Two in five elderly citizens indicated that they have a "physical or health condition that makes reading difficult or challenging" or a "disability, handicap, or chronic disease that prevents them from fully participating in many common daily activities", it added.

The phone makes use of large font sizes on a 2.4-inch screen to enable easy reading and the keypad also makes use of larger keys for comfortable viewing.

It comes with a 1630mAh Li-ion battery capacity and Xenium power saving technology that offers users up to 1,128 hours standby time and up to 24 hours talking time.

The handset also comes with SOS function that allows users to set three 'emergency' or SOS numbers.

In case of an emergency, users can press the SOS button hidden under the flashlight to dial out the pre-set SOS numbers. The phone will automatically connect to these numbers until the call gets answered by any one of the parties. It also has a flashlight that can be used even when the phone power is switched off.

"With changing lifestyles in metros in India and increasing incident of elderly abuse, senior citizens are often left to support themselves by choice or otherwise. We specially designed this phone to make technology more accessible to and user-friendly for the elderly with minimum intervention from others," Sangfei Mobility Country Manager SAARC S S Bassi said.

Sang Fei is a subsidiary of China Electronics Corporation (CEC) that owns the exclusive global licence to market and sell mobile phones under the 'Philips' brand.