MobileTechTalk Doro are a Swedish brand known for one thing, catering devices to the older generation. To that end, it would be quite useless for me to review the Doro 8030, so I roped in someone I thought would benefit from this, and would be more appropriate to review it… My nan.
Disclosure: Doro were gracious enough to send us a review unit of the Doro 8030, but had no editorial control over the outcome of this review. It was used on the Three Network in the southeast of the UK.
My Nan (Wendy) Is a 75 year young woman who has had phones, and even had a smartphone before, but has never really accepted them as something she owned and could use. But When I had the opportunity to get a Doro 8030 to review, I jumped at the chance, because I could get my Nan to review it, and not only that, I could get her using a smartphone for more of the smartphone-y things they’re for. This could be fun.
For the Last month or so, my Nan has had the Doro 8030 in place of her Moto E 2014 to use as her daily device. Her SIM card has been in this, and I made sure she took notes about using it, so I could write this with her help.
Speeds and Feeds (specs)
- 4.5” WVGA (800×480) Screen
- 1.1Ghz Quad-Core Snapdragon 210
- Adreno 304 400Mhz
- 1GB Ram
- 8GB internal storage (5gb free)
- MicroSD capable of storing up to 32GB
- Android 5.1.1
- 2000mAh removable battery
For a more complete Specification list, contact Doro.
Hardware
In her daily routine, the Doro 8030 comfortably fit into my nans routine. The soft touch plastic finish was lovely to hold, it wasn’t too grippy, and just felt right. My nan was able to get on with her day and use the device without fear of dropping it. The non-slip coating meant that no matter where she put it, she could feel safe that it would stay there whether it be her bag, her bedside table, the coffee table or kitchen countertop. Doro really know their target audience here, and the material they’ve used here speaks to that audience well.
The Front of the Doro 8030 has the 4.5” WVGA display, it seems to be an IPS display, as the colours pop and the viewing angles are more than adequate. Viewing from the side is simple and there is no discernible colour shift. The Display cover glass is set forward from the display itself, Usually, this would be annoying, but in her use, my nan never said that it bothered her. She just appreciated the high peak brightness, the vibrant colours, and the seemingly smudge resistant glass.
On top of the display, we have the ambient light and proximity sensors as well as the VGA front facing video camera. The Proximity sensor, as its name suggests sense the proximity of the person’s face to the screen, when they get close enough, the screen shuts off, preventing your cheek from making any unwanted inputs. The Ambient light sensor is there so that the screen can automatically adjust brightness depending on the ambient light of your surrounding, pretty neat.
In her testing, My nan noted that the Doro 8030 got plenty bright, even when she was using it out in the sun. [pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“It was never a struggle, I never had to cup my hand over the screen in order to see it”[/pullquote]
“It was never a struggle, I never had to cup my hand over the screen in order to see it” . Low reflectivity and high brightness mean that even with her vision problems, the 4.5” panel was great for her use. Whilst a 4.5” screen for mainstream smartphones is laughably small, the user base for these phones will have likely been using candybar phones with sub 2” screens, so the 4.5” WVGA panel is big enough and higher resolution. Funnily enough, my nan is coming from a Moto E 2014, a device using a 4.3” qHD (960×540) screen, and even from that, she said that the increase in size is noticeable, but the drop in resolution isn’t really, but it does seem brighter and less reflective.
Below the screen we have the 3 large physical navigation buttons, and whilst I am not personally a fan of these on my personal devices, my nan loved them, they are very big, don’t rattle and need very little actuation force. She doesn’t dislike onscreen buttons, she actually likes that they make her other phone look clean, but the fact they didn’t look like what they did oftentimes confused her. Doro has very clearly made sure that a house was used for the Home button, and a back arrow or back. Little usability tweaks such as the two little nubbins either side of the home button to locate the centre, these are things that people that have no vision problems or mobility problems don’t think of, but when they’re catered for, make a big difference.
Lastly on the front we have the Microphone. The microphone is situated under the home button in the middle. It has high gain, I was easily able to hear her on calls, It was crisp and clear, and it works in tandem with the great earpiece up top to make the telephone aspect of this smartphone, much more pleasant and easy to use for those who still make calls, even if they are just “Hello? Where are you” calls in the supermarket.
Whilst she isn’t going to be taking many selfies, the fact that the front facing camera is there is something useful. Despite only being VGA quality, it means she can video call my sister and her daughter, my nan’s great-granddaughter, If she isn’t able to leave the house or hasn’t seen her for a little while. Whilst VGA quality is on the low side, even for someone with vision problems, it’s the difference of if she needed it, she’d be able to use it for video calls and things, things she wouldn’t be able to do if they had decided to not include it, for whatever reason, Something, again, Motorola omitted from the girst gen Moto E she was using before the Doro 8030.
The Bottom houses absolutely nothing, a nice and clear part of the design, somewhere you get to see the dark grey painted rim meet with the darker grey/black soft touch plastic back. As we do a 180 we see the top of phone with the 3.5mm audio jack at the left (if looking from the front). This being at the top has no significance to my nan, compared to my preferred placement which is the bottom. As her phone usually goes in her handbag, the orientation matters less than it does to me, someone who puts their phone in their pocket.
Right-hand rail has the power button and the volume rocker. When asked, she said that the side buttons had the same amount of “press resistance” (actuation force) as the buttons on the front, which she liked, it means that when her arthritis is playing up which it often does, she isn’t as restricted, she can still turn her phone screen on and off (pressing the buttons on the front of the device also wake up the device). The Power button is slightly smaller than she would have liked, but is honestly not much of a problem, it is in a comfortable place, is easy to push and is easy to locate, even when she is not looking at it.
Left-hand side houses the MicroUSB charging and data transfer port, as well as the 2 stage camera button. Whilst I
personally am not a fan of side-mounted USB ports, on the Doro 8030 there is a reason, The included bedside dock. The Doro 8030 comes with a dock that you put on your bedside table and that you slide the phone into to charge it, and this is probably her favourite thing about the device, just how simple it is to charge it, no having to worry about whether the cable is the right way, whether she’ll drop her phone, she slides the phone down into the dock, and as it only goes in one way, bobs your teapot, everyone is happy. The single stage camera button is a similar affair, once prompted as to what it was, she just knew how to use it. “It’s just like using a proper camera when you hold it sideways, the button is in the same place”. One criticism of the camera button is that the actuation force is a little too much and can often times introduce judder into the frame, whilst the half step to focus is enough, the extra step to capture often requires a tad too much.
Lastly we have the back of the device, with its 5mp rear camera, noise cancelling microphone just underneath it and assistance button just underneath that. Right at the bottom we have the Mono speaker, sadly rear facing, and the Doro logo. In the bottom left hand corner of the back there is a tin cutout where you can place your fingernail or
a pry tool to remove the back cover. This gains you access to the removable 2000mAh Lithium Ion battery, The MicroSD card slot capable of supporting up to 32gb expandable storage cards, and the MicroSIM card slot. One thing that is often glossed over is installation, and Doro helpfully etch diagrams of which way to put the MicroSIM and the MicroSD card into the device with graphics on the plastic showing the correct orientation. With the rear cover off we also still see the camera module and its silver cover, the assistance button and lastly in the bottom right corner the loudspeaker.
Software
Software is where things start to get interesting, The Doro 8030 is an Android smartphone, a relatively low-end one by 2016 standards, but certainly more than capable for the audience this is geared towards. Will this play modern combat 5? Probably, will it run it well? I can almost assuredly guarantee you not. But this does not change the fact that Doro ship the 8030 with a relatively heavy skin on Android, geared towards making it incredibly easy for the user to do what they need/want to do.
Starting with the simplest and most obvious change, the lock screen. Doro has added a large translucent white circle with a “landing strip” of arrows that indicate for you to put your finger on the white circle and drag up, this is accompanied by text telling you to do the same thing. There is also a Clock with the date underneath as well as a little alarm clock if you have any active alarms.
Once you’re actually into the device, you can see that things are a little different than usual. There is still the google search bar present, right at the top waiting for you to tap and type, or jab the mic and say “How old is Robbie Williams?” and it’ll happily speak the answer to you. In asking my nan what she thinks of having the prompts, she said that having them there are a nice reminder “just in case”, she knows how to use her phone, but on the odd occasion she doesn’t, it’s there to back her up, and that’s the running theme with the software on the Doro 8030.
Android 5.1.1 is powering the Doro 8030 (With the February Security patch) and it runs like a dream with nary a hitch in day to day use for my nan. I’ve noticed a stutter here or there when I’ve been flicking through things, but these aren’t things she would do, and I would rather than 99% of the target audience wouldn’t either. That’s why getting my nan to review this phone was a good choice.
The Home screen for the Doro 8030 has 3 big thumb sized buttons, “Call” “View” and “Send”, below that is an Arrow that you can either tap on or swipe up from, that gives you access to a few more options, “Search”, “Add”, “Snap”, “discover”, “Listen”, and “Set”. Tapping the home button brings you to the main screen with 4 shortcuts, the clock and Call,View and Send.
Swiping from right to left brings you into the app launcher, it’s a 3×3 grid, the more apps you download the more pages there are and will be. In the top right, there is a button that says “I Want to”, you’ll find these types of buttons all over the Doro UI and they are really what sets this phone apart from other devices. Taping that buttons brings up a context sensitive menu, for instance when in the “My app” app launcher, hitting the “I Want to” button brings up a menu that says:
- Add new Application(s)
- Create a folder
- Uninstall applications
- Open the App. menu settings
This kind of hand-holding makes some of the hidden parts of the Android UI, far easier to grasp. As an advanced user, I just forget that some things are harder for people to do and some things aren’t natural user interfaces. Long presses and double taps are two of the worst UX paradigms in existence, but they are implemented almost everywhere, So Doro has tried to eliminate them wherever they can, And in my nan’s view, it has worked. She found she “played around with it all a little more” and that she felt comfortable playing around with it.
Doro’s Simplified interface starts right from the bootup, asking you about font scaling and a bit of DPI scaling, but in the most user-friendly way possible it puts a message on-screen and says is it big enough? With 2 buttons, one saying it’s fine, the other saying a little bigger. Things like this made her feel much more in control, but also, more attached to it, because she’s able to do more on it, she feels more attached to it.
Whilst for some more advanced or season smartphone users, the prospect of having a big button that says “Send” and then a submenu whose options are :
- A Message
- An Email
- A Picture or Video
- A Contact Card
- A Note
- My Location
- A Music File
- A Recorded sound
Might sound strange and almost torturous, for my nan, that’s exactly what she wants. If she thinks “Ooh, I want to send Dom a Message” that’s the thought process in her head, so having it play out like that on the screen is simple and effective. It is literally :
- Click “Send” button
- Click “A Message” button
- Decide whether you want to type the number or find a contact
- Type message
That User Interface and User Experience flows to other parts of the phone as well, In the expanded menu, clicking the “Snap” button gives you options for “A Photo” or “A Video” as well as Selfies and a sound recorder. Having a User interface that is very text based, but in the way that it follows the thought process of a person is so simple, it’s genius. I Think a lot of the Time we as technology enthusiasts just think people will adapt and move on, but sometimes that isn’t the case, and having things designed for a specific user base have their place. Are Doro going to sell 100 million 8030’s? Of course not, but maybe the 100,000 they do sell are to people who may not have had great experiences with smartphones before and who are wary of trying again. Those people are going to be able to use this and slowly learn things that they can then transition to newer potentially more complex devices once they learn the skills, Or they have a brand loyalty towards Doro because for once, they have had a company cater to them and make them feel comfortable using a device.
Camera
The Doro 8030 has a pair of Cameras, a 5mp Autofocus unit on the back, and a VGA unit on the front. I’m not going to beat around the bush here, Neither Camera is particularly great. They are servicable, they capture the moment, will it be the best representation of that moment? probably not, but you caught a part of it.
The Main problem is that the ISP in the Snapdragon 210 isn’t great, which is then compounded by slow focus speeds in the app. I can’t comment on the quality of the sensor or the lenses used as I don’t know the details, but the camera module on the back at least looks as if the coating won’t scratch too easily. As I said earlier, the most positive thing I can say about both Cameras on the 8030 is that they exist, but It doesn’t take particularly high fidelity images, they look very smudget,despite the subject not moving, as if someone smeared a very thin layer of vaseline on the lens.
My Nan had similar views, though she doesn’t use the camera all that much, so it doesn’t really bother her. When I told her that she could video call Felicia (My sister) to see Aria (my Niece, my nan’s Great-Granddaughter) she got more excited, “And they can see me?” she said to me, nothing that something she couldn’t do on her other phone, she didn’t know she could, but she said that even though it’s not great quality, it’s nice to have it, because the times where she would use it, a low-quality camera that still gets across what you were trying to get across is better than not having that camera at all.
Doro could have most certainly spent more money on the optics of the 8030, but they spent enough so that the basics where covered, but let me not decieve you, they have only covered the basics.
Battery
A 2000mAh Lithium-Ion Battery, Quad-Core Snapdragon 210 processor and a 4.5” WVGA screen, you’d expect the Doro 8030 to have pretty great battery life, And you’d be correct. In her use (Remember, this has been her only phone for the last couple of weeks) My Nan has continuously been able to eek 2 and sometimes 3 days of use out of the 8030. This includes firing up Google’s speech to text service to ask what other programmes Actors have been in, Searching YouTube for more Adam Lambert, and for Calling my mum to find out where in the supermarket she is.
She never worried about the longevity of the Doro 8030, she didn’t not take it out because it’s nearly dead. Each part of this phone just sips power. If somehow she had managed to irreparably damage the battery in the last few weeks of testing, she wouldn’t be too bad off, because the 8030 comes with a removable 2000mAh battery, and buying a replacement from the people over at Doro shouldn’t be too difficult.
The Charging solution is one thing of note that I want to praise. In my Initial conversations, I specifically asked for the Dock to be included, thinking that it is an added extra, but no, every 8030by default ships with a charging dock. The Charging dock is not only one of my favourite parts of the phone, but my nan’s too. The Dock Plugs in via MicroUSB on the back, and the Doro cable is nice and thick gauge wire and the Micro-B plug is nice and easy to grip, but once the dock is plugged into the wall, all you need to do to charge it is turn it 90 degrees to the right, and vertically lower it into the dock. Once in the dock it opens up the dock UI, making it into a bedside mode. This feels very well designed, I Love it, and so does my nan, saying that it makes it easy to set her alarms, or call people, to play some peaceful music or go into Do not disturb mode. The Doro 8030 Charging Dock is something that I thought was extra, but I’m so glad to be proved wrong and I’m so glad they’re included by default.
Really nice simple branding for the Doro Charging Dock
Connectivity
WiFi, Bluetooth and 4G, those are the 3 important connectivity features you need to know about the Doro 8030. Just because it is a designed for the older generation doesn’t mean it needs to get stuck with the older generation of communication protocols. Cat4 LTE is supported by the X5 LTE modem in the Snapdragon 210, meaning if your carrier supports it you can get 150mbps downlink and 50mbps on the uplink, not too shabby.
WiFi is limited to 802.11n 2.4Ghz, meaning the most crowded space, but the most common WiFi standard. If you have WiFi at home, it’s more than likely you’ll have a 2.4Ghz SSID, meaning your Doro 8030 will be able to connect to it. The only reason I connected my nans one up was the SSID was unfamiliar to her (It’s Pretty Fly for some WiFi… kids ask your parents) and the password is long and hard to remember. Using the ever so popular Speedtest.net app from Ookla a few feet from the router our 8030 was able to pull in 31mbps on the downlink (out of a possible 45) and 18mbps on the uplink (out of a possible 20). Very respectable radio performance.
On The Three network in the Southeast of the UK, the Doro 8030 on HSPA+ speeds were very different (I Sadly wasn’t able to get any LTE testing done), depending on the time of say, we could get 1mbps, and I could move 5ft to the right and that would jump up to 10mbps. The radio is obviously dependent on your carrier’s service where you live. Whilst I would not say the mobile radio is quite as good as her outgoing Moto E 2014, the WiFi antenna seems vastly improved.
Doro 8030 Conclusions
There was more I could write on the Doro 8030 and this could easily be double or even triple length If I wanted to go full in depth on every nook and cranny, but here is the conclusion for this review. Would I as a 21 year old male buy this phone? No, but I’m not the target audience, neither is my older sister, but my grandmother, she is the target audience for this phone, and I practically had to pry it from her hands to take photos for this review.
The Doro 8030 has gotten her to do things I didn’t think she’d do on a smartphone. She’s signed up for whatsapp, she takes photos of my niece (her great granddaughter) speaks to Google and goes on maps to find directions for things, and then goes on youtube to watch music videos and relax. What’s more is that she has learnt to adapt the skills she has learnt from this and apply it to her Amazon Fire Tablet, she’s downloaded apps, gone on the web, searched IMDB for exactly what films Pierce Brosnan has been in. And in asking her If she would buy it, she said yes before I could even finish the Question, and she’d also recommend it to friends.
Doro Know who their target audience is, and they’ve obviously put a lot of effort into making their product usable and useful for those people. I started out on this as an experiment, could I get my nan to review a phone, the answer is yes, and in a fantastic turn of events I’ve gotten her asking questions I’m glad to answer because it means she is using her devices, the fact she’s inquisitive is so encouraging, because it means she wants to know more, and to that, I thank Doro entirely.
Doro 8030
£180
Pros
- Bright screen
- Loud speaker
- Easy buttons
- Software was extraordinarily great
- Battery was nothing short of extraordinary
Cons
- Camera exists, but thats about as positive as I can be about it
- Screen could be bigger
Nice review! I think I may now suggest the phone to my mom! =D
I found this review really helpful. Planning to buy one.
i have bought an 8030 as this is the first smartphone I have found that has a loop AND is Hearing aid compatible
very useful review – target audience could also be for technophobes wanting a simple phone, as well as the elderly!!
Extensive review but it would be helpful to read more about the size/type of SIM card required for this 8030, one thing an older customer wants,is to put their current sim (I.e. a standard sim) straight into the 8030, as I have had the same phone for many many years I just want to buy an 8030 and install my current sim (standard size sim) in it and job done; is this possible with the 8030?
Thanks regards Michael Faulkner.
07881 581973
Hey Michael,
That was an oversight on my part, I do apologise. The 8030 only accepts MicroSIMs, so not the current fingernail sized SIMs, but also not the SIMs used for the prior 20 years or so, the one in between that was used for about 2-3 years.
-Dom
I have a 2011 Doro PhoneEasy 409s gms. I understand the Doro 8030 uses a different SIM. Is there any way I can transfer the existing telephone number from old Doro 409s to a new Doro 8030?
Thanks!
There is, but you’ll have to go to your Carriers store (so, EE, O2,Vodafone etc) and ask them if they can give you a new SIM with the same number, they should be able to help you with that.
-Dom
Thanks!
Tesco’s fixed me up!
My old Doro is suffering battery fatigue. It was never good using Bluetooth in the car.
Has this new model an improved version of Bluetooth?
Dom, I would appreciate your response. Incidentally, I am 75
Many thanks, Martin
Hey Martin,
The technical version of Bluetooth is better than what has been used in previous models, but the newer versions of Bluetooth tend to focus on either range or on battery consumption and it depends on the peripheral as much as the device to be able to know the battery implications. Is it better than your current device? that I do not know and I haven’t used your phone, but battery degradation is not a pleasant thing, and if your model has a user replaceable battery, buying another from Doro to extend the lifespan of the device might be worth your while.
Hope I was able to help.
-Dom
I am 80 totally deaf with a cochlear implant which cannot decipher speech on a phone and had a very old blue Motorola and used it only for texting over 15 years then a Samsung which I could text rapidly using a pen or pencil tip, I then decided to go up market and got a Sony Experia but found it too quiet to hear the text alert and complicated to use, the text size on all displays was rather small and thin so I returned it and was advised to try a Doro 8030 since then I have never looked back Very LOUD text alert (although it does not repeat like the Samsung, a pity!) large clear text and large well spaced screen key board its also very straightforward to use by far the best mobile I have ever had
I have read your comments but am severely hard of hearing, cannot see any reference to an Amplifer etc I have your Doro 612 at the moment but would prefer a keyboard for texting . Your comments please Edith Gray
Very informative and well written review, was in two minds about buying this for my mother but the review swung it for me. Would recommend this phone to anyone who struggles with standard smart phones.
The only downside was having to order a protective case (20 quid) direct from the Doro site.
You can buy one from any phone cover stand that you find in most shopping centres. I got one which fits into a rubber bumper and then folds over with a button fastening that looks similar to a ladies purse. It was £8. Only drawback was the colour choice – black or pink glitter! I went for black but found this difficult to see easily in my handbag. I decided to treat myself to a Doro cover and bought the bright red one. I love it! Easy to find and because you have to remove the back of the phone to fit into the magnetic cover, it weighs a bit less in my handbag too!
Thanks for the very useful review but having purchased the 8030 I find no hard cover seems to exist. I would also like to be able to carry it round on a lanyard as most female clothes do not have convenient pockets, fumbling around in a handbag is not an option and I am highly likely to forget where it is if just put down at home. Any ideas?
Hi Gill,
You can pick up a wallet case, which has a button clasp here:
https://techsilver.co.uk/product/official-wallet-case-doro-liberto-8030/
or a flip cover, which is slim and hard here:
https://techsilver.co.uk/product/official-flip-cover-doro-liberto-8030/
In terms of something to wear it around your neck, unfortunately there is no little part in the corner to attach a lanyard, so a regular case is probably the best bet.
Hope that helps.
As a severely deaf person with a mixed hearing loss I found the Doro 8030 suitable, but only grudge is that the text message alerts were far too short and not loud enough, I explained this to my Hi-Tech son, he then downloaded a suitable CD, the phone now gives a continuous text message signal of the full CD tune downloaded, can only be stopped by answering the text message, however, perhaps it was not a good idea to choose a bagpipe band playing ‘Scotland the Brave’!. But yes’ I can now hear this as it is a continuous alert.
LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!
Why has nobody thought of something like this AGES ago!
Have had a Galaxy for years…..but bit is still in its box!
Never could understand all the fiddly bits!
Heard of your phone and tried out my friend’s one…..hooked immediately!
Now I have my own……..and have never looked back. There’s a whole new world at my fingertips now!
THANK YOU DORO,
Sue. ☺☺☺☺☺😊😊😊😊😊
Can the 8030 be used on a pay as you go basis and not a lng contract??
Brian Hannah.
I found Carphone Warehouse do the Door 8030 on a £10 bundle with Vodafone which you can then change to Pay as you go putting credit on when that runs out.
I have a Doro 8030 which I bought recently and I suddenly have started having problems with the sensor. It either cuts my calls off mid conversation or puts me into aeroplane mode (even though that’s turned off) or turns on the Wifi (even though that’s turned off!) I prefer to view the internet on my computer at home rather than on a phone. It also brings up the alarm screen. Do you think it’s a fault or can the sensor be turned off?
I think it sounds like it might be an issue with your phone unfortunately, It’d be best to take it back to where you purchased it to see what they can do for you.
Sorry I cannot be of more help.
-Dom
Thanks – will do!
have had my doro8030 for a couple of weeks, and I have been able to suss out a couple of things .But have difficulty in finding out how much I have in credit. All I keep getting is for a pound,( taken out of my credit) free texts and calls for a certain time. I do not need this as I am 80years old and would not use , the phone like a younger person would.I just want to know my credit. Can you help please.Cynthia
I need to know how to find out the balance I have on my PAYG phone
Hey Muriel,
That depends on your mobile phone provider but the numbers for the main ones to call are:
EE – Call 150
Three – Call 444
O2 – Call 4444
Vodafone – Call 2345
Hope this helps.
-Dom
Can you tell me what its M and T ratings are?
Please can someone tell me how to get rid of Aerophone mode off my doro
How can I remove Aeroplane Mode from my new doro phone please
Unfortunately, you cannot remove the function of Aeroplane mode as it is a staple feature, but you can deactivate it.
If you swipe down from the top of the screen to enter the notifications and once more for the toggles, there should be one for aeroplane mode, touching that should disable it for you.
All the best,
Dom
This is the best phone ever, I am so very pleased with it, everything is real easy to operate and finding how to do things is so simple, I wish I had bought this phone sooner.
I am very disappointed with my Doro 8030 purchased in March as it will not send or receive pictures. My supplier was unable to rectify the problem and actually replaced my phone, but this one has exactly the same problem which is extremely frustrating. I emailed Doro Support for help but, to date, have had no reply. Where do I go from here?
Hey Gill,
That sounds like an issue with your provider and your account not being set up for MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service). My advice would be to go to your carrier store (I.e Three,O2,EE etc) and ask them to set up MMS on your account, that should allow you to both send and receive picture messages
Hi Gill I have been having numerous problems with the phone and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone so my advice would be is to search for a different phone you can rely on.
Can I use pay as you go , and can I send photos I take to others. For doro 8030 will it come with pay as you go card to top up??
Hi,
I currently have a Samsung Mini GT. It’s fine but I’m sick to death of all it’s built in apps which keep updating and hog the battery life. Apart from ‘Camera’. Gallery, Play Store, Phone, Contacts, messaging and Chrome from the pre installed Apps I use nothing else. How many pre installed apps does this phone have?
Regards
What an excellent review, this phone looks to cover the exact issues that led to my Mothers last smartphone ending up in a drawer and her going back to the old trusty clam with tiny screen.
Thank you to you and your nan for taking the time to review this with such depth.
Glad you Enjoyed it, was nice to have someone else’s perspective on this one, and someone who would actually use some of the device’s headline features.
-Dom
Hi Gill I have been having numerous problems with this phone and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, not even older generation which I fit the bill. I only had my phone for just over a year and it is unusuable. My advice would be to search for a different phone entirely.
Can I connect my DORO8030 using Bluetooth in my car? If so, can anyone please help? Thank you.
Hey Hilary,
You should be able to connect to your cars Bluetooth by ging into the Bluetooth settings and making sure your phone is visible, then searching for your car. if you get prompted for a code, it is usually 1234 or 0000.
Hope this Helps,
Dom
Can you help please – some weeks ago my husband purchased his Doro 8030 from Tesco Mobile – he is very please with. At the end of June/early July we saw an advert for a free cover for the phone in the Daily Express and sent off for it, enclosing the proof of purchase as requested in the advert. On the 11th July I wrote to 8030 Express Offer in Chalfont St Peter, but to date have heard absolutely nothing! No case for the phone – no letter of acknowledgement and more worringly no return of the proof of purchase. Could you look into this for us – I would be very grateful.
Nicola Butland.
As above.
Could someone please reply to my message dated Jul 30,2017. Many thanks.
Hi Nicola,
This sounds very fishy indeed but is not something that we would be able to do as we have no ties to you or Doro. This does, however, sound like something you should take up with the Citizens Advice Bureau or speak to Tesco Directly.
Sorry I am not able to be of more help, and I am sorry for the delayed response.
In many ways my 8030 is very convenient. However every time it goes in and out of a wifi area it rings. On a short train journey for example it could ring dozens of times. All the helpline suggests is turn off the sound. Not too much use as I won’t hear the phone calls. As its impossible to use like that I wil have to get rid of it and get another make, so wasting rather a lot of money. Not too happy with that.
Hi, Is the 8030 better than my present phone which is a Doro 820 mini. This ones memory is too full and I cannot down load any aps. if the 8030 is the same itrs a waste of time changing, and I’m due a change.
Hi Stuart,
The 8030 has 8gb of internal storage, double that of the 820 mini (4bg) though Doro do not state whether all of that is available for the user to install their own applications, though I would assume it is.
-Dom
wHAT SIZE IS THE TSXT ON A dORO 3080
Can I use pay as you go , and can I send photos I take to others. For doro 8030 will it come with pay as you go card to top up??
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Hi
Just got the Doro 8030 for my mum
Downloaded WhatsApp so we can send her photos but she can’t view them in the phone gallery only in WhatsApp
Is there a setting for this to send them automatically to the gallery
IS IT POSSIBLE FOR TEXT MESSAGES TO BE OFFERED, ACCEPTED, LISTENED TOO, REPLY RESPOND ETC VIA MY BLUETOOTH EARPIECE AS IT DID IN MY LAST SMART/ ANDROID NOKIA 630.
MIKE, AT 1711hrs ON APR 10th. LEFT A MESSAGE
Love my Doro 8030 buthe now have a problem sending emails. They go straight into the Outbox and stay there. Not been able to move them from there since 21st August ! Help me please!
Thank you, Dom. You’ve been a great help with your clear and extensive explanation. Much appreciated.
My 84 year old mum has a Doro 8030. She gets confused by it and shoves it at me “to sort”. It’s the most confusing, un-intuitive (is that a word?) piece of tech. I’ve spent the whole afternoon trying to get it to find and download Google Home so she can use her new Google Nest. It won’t do it. It really is a completely rubbish phone, so am fascinated by the other reviews saying it’s good. It’s not. It really is rubbish.
That’s very interesting considering the general consensus. What does it fail at?