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How to pick
I am not going to name a specific handset here, because the model that is right changes every year and anything I wrote would be out of date in months. What does not change is how to choose. First, stay in the family you are already in. If your photos, contacts and messages live on an iPhone, moving to Android costs you a weekend and some grief, and the same the other way round. Compatibility with the people around you matters too, since group messages between iPhone and Android are still awkward. Second, buy last year's flagship rather than this year's mid range, because you get better cameras and more years of updates for similar money. Third, the thing that decides how long a phone stays usable is not speed, it is how long the maker keeps sending security updates. Apple supports a phone for around five to six years and Google's Pixels now do similar. Plenty of cheap Android phones stop after two, and that is a phone you have to replace long before it feels slow. Check that before anything else. On storage, 128GB is the sensible floor and you cannot add to it later on an iPhone. For a tablet, an iPad is the easy answer for most people, and a bigger screen is often kinder than a phone for anyone struggling to read one.
What I recommend
Screen protector and case
The cheapest insurance there is. A tempered glass protector and a case with a raised lip around the screen turn most drops into a shrug. Get them at the same time as the phone rather than after the first accident, which is when most people buy them.
- Protector
- Tempered glass, not plastic film
- Case
- Raised lip around the screen
- Buy when
- Same time as the phone
- Why
- Turns most drops into a shrug
Phone grip or ring stand
A grip on the back means you are not pinching a large slab of glass, which matters if your hands are not what they were. Most double as a little stand for watching something. A few dollars and it prevents the drop rather than surviving it.
- Helps with
- Holding a large slab of glass
- Doubles as
- A little stand
- Types
- Ring, collapsible grip, or strap
- Cost
- A few dollars
Phone mount for the car
If you use the phone for directions, get it off your lap and onto the windscreen or a vent. Safer, legal, and you can actually see it. The magnetic ones are easiest to use one handed; the clamp ones hold heavier phones better.
- Magnetic
- Easiest one handed
- Clamp
- Holds heavier phones better
- Mount to
- Windscreen, vent or dash
- Why
- Safer, legal, and you can see it
Apple iPad
For most people, and especially for anyone who finds a phone screen too small, an iPad is the straightforward choice. The base model does everything a normal person needs, it stays supported for years, and there is far more patient help available for it than for any Android tablet. Get 128GB rather than the smallest one.
- Model
- The base iPad does everything most need
- Storage
- 128GB, not the smallest
- Supported
- Years of updates
- Good for
- Anyone finding a phone too small
Google Pixel or Apple iPhone
Rather than name a model that will be old news shortly, the rule: buy from a maker that commits to long software support, and buy last year's better phone over this year's cheaper one. Apple and Google's Pixels both now support handsets for around five to six years, which is what actually decides when you need to replace it. Check the storage before you order, because on an iPhone you cannot add to it later.
- Decides longevity
- Years of security updates, not speed
- Apple and Pixel
- Around 5 to 6 years
- Buy
- Last year's better phone
- Storage
- 128GB floor, cannot add later on iPhone
Related reading
New phone still in the box?
Getting everything moved across, photos, contacts, apps and passwords, is the part people dread. I do it regularly and nothing gets lost.