Bought this phone for my blind elderly mother. Important note: This phone has a 20 DAY warranty. Programming and set-up requires a sighted person. Multiple menus can make programming difficult. Phone buttons are very small and are not suggested for people with peripheral neuropathy. Intermittent connection issues were a problem. Return of phone was not possible due to 20 DAY warranty. Would not recommend this phone. Purchased a big-button land line and installed using a VOIP system. This worked perfectly for my mother.
Thank you for this! We just got this phone for my sister who is completely blind, she is 33, and this is her first cell phone. This helped me to set it up for her!
From me and my dearest friend who recently got a mini vision, thank you. After watching this video, I understand a little better what he’s talking about when he talks about a three -month free plan. Thank you for explaining that it was set up with mint mobile. Does this mean he will have to set it up in the long run at AT&T or something?
Minivision2 thank you for hard work for the blind but the price is really high for device. Needs more functions and for being over 300 it was made pretty cheaply. Compared to other devices like cheaper smartphones less than 100 dollar with talk back. Would appreciate better quality for the price.
Right away, I can tell that the screenwriter is more human sounding. Kind of like those on iPhones… At least Alex. Thank you for the video, and I’ll keep watching. 8:11
Imagine the GPS thinks the battery like Apple juice, no, ha ha ha. Overall, pretty good Tom. Remember there used to be Oden mobile as well for a fully accessible phone. 21:54
I thought that phone would have the Be My Eyes and Aira features on it? It as well would be nice if the camera had a flash and a selfy camera? Since the phone is designed for the blind and visually impaired I thought it would have a feature that would allow you to talk to you letting you know that you are named at a person's face or an entire person? It could tell you to move the phone up or down or left or right? I love the wireless charging feature. It would be nice if the phone could do video calling and Skype, Zoom, etc type of calls using both the back and front-facing cameras? It would be nice if there was a feature where you could connect your phone to a smartphone and you could use features on both phones as if they both were the same phone? This would mean that you could use the physical buttons and the same number on your smartphone and or answer a call on either phone?
Interesting about the phone supporting 2G and 3G because I was told here in Central Florida that they are canceling or discontinuing those services at the end of this year or the beginning of next year.
I’ve been trying to set this up for my mom who is 95 and pretty much blind and also technically challenged doing a long hold on the center button as instructed does not bring up the digital assistant unless I’m adding contacts I just want to use it to say, call so-and-so you know anything about why this might have changed? Off
Thanks for posting. My Mom is blind and wants/needs a phone that she can call out and receive calls. No bells or whistles. Does this phone or any phone have a program push one number to call? Example: The number 1 will call the first son. The number 2 will call the second son. The number 3 will call the Church. etc That's really all she needs.
Bought this phone for my blind elderly mother. Important note: This phone has a 20 DAY warranty. Programming and set-up requires a sighted person. Multiple menus can make programming difficult. Phone buttons are very small and are not suggested for people with peripheral neuropathy. Intermittent connection issues were a problem. Return of phone was not possible due to 20 DAY warranty. Would not recommend this phone. Purchased a big-button land line and installed using a VOIP system. This worked perfectly for my mother.
Hi, please suggest a smart phone with physical keypad for the blind ? I have been using iphone 5s with slider keyboard, but now a days, slider keyboard for latest iphone is not available.
This is an extremely difficult phone to use for people who are not already skilled in using phones. There are no basic instructions provided. For some reason everything needs to be confirmed with different buttons instead of just one. All this confused my father to no end. Had to send it back and found out there is a $75 restocking fee. So be careful if the person you are buying for does not understand basic toggling and phone usage.
Great video! This would be a great phone for my parents. My mom and dad really don’t do well with apps, but, they really do well with this phone. The ability to raise the volume so high and to have certain menu items read. Also the color blind and color indicator kind of mechanism is great. My parents would also benefit from the sleek, simple design. Modern smart phones are really not great for them. Thank you so much for the video!
Yes, you can change the ringtone and set custom ringtones for phone numbers. Change the ringtone in the sound settings and choose a custom ringtone when creating a new contact
Thank you for the review. I just bought one for my 93-year-old mom who has macular degeneration. She is used to using an old Verizon flip phone that had speed dial for all her numbers that worked by pressing the number key. Is that feature available on this phone and how do you do it, I cant seem to find it.
Yes, you can assign speed dial numbers. If I remember correctly, just press and hold one of the numbers and you’ll get an option to assign a phone number.
Any chance this is available on a my Amazon ? My wife uses the blind shell after seeing it in your channel BIG THANKS as the alto was the only tactile speaking phone with screen reader n she was lost when it broke as they stopped making them .
The links in the description of the video are the only ones I have for the phone, sorry about that. You can reach out to the website to see if it’s available on Amazon.
Hi Sam great videos. I have tried apple iOS and android. Is there one better than the other for blind and vision impaired people. Also, I'm watching you from Australia.
Hello Australia! I’ve made several videos on this topic and was even on a live stream recently with Live accessible and some other RUclipsrs talking about this. To answer your question no, there isn’t one that’s better than others for the VIP. There are a lot of factors that go into deciding which one to get but, whether you go with Apple or android, you will have great accessibility to work with.
I am concerned about your comment that the voice feature won’t work if it is not connected to internet. So if I have a voice/text plan with no data, will I not be able to use the feature that I can press the center button and speak who I want to call?
hello Sam! I have finally found the perfect phone for me! But how do you turn on the Voice on the phone? Does it already come with the phone talking or is there a certain way to turn it on and off?
Thank you for this video 😃 Could you, please suggest to me the best phone between BlindShell and the new Mini Vision 2 Cell Phone? I would like to buy a new mobile for my mum who is blind. Thank you in advance!
I'm curious about this too. Following. It looks about the same but maybe better features(?) than the Blind Shell? Also, are the numbers raised lower than the Blind Shell phone? You said kind of 'flat'. Thanks.
Thanks for this! My dad is has recently lost most of his vision and came across your vid. Already subscribed! Are you able to connect this phone to Bluetooth headphones?
Thank you so much Sam. This was very useful in setting up this phone for my dad who is visually impaired. Can you, or anyone reading this help with this issue please? The feature to long press the ok button to give voice command to call a contact worked fine initially. His phone is prepaid so we add credit to make calls. Recently we noticed all his credit was used up in minutes without making a call. I checked and realized the data feature was on. I turned it off, but now, the voice command to call a contact does NOT work. It says "no data or wifi connection." Does it really need data or wifi for this feature to work? That would be such a shame as it is crazy expensive to keep this on 24/7. THANK YOU
Sam......my mom is 91 and recently declared legally blind and very hard of hearing. Is there any other phone other than the MiniVision2 that you would recommend, particularly with the easy feature of voice command to call any contacts in her phone. Most all the other features are of no value to her. Thanks in advance for your help.
Check out the blind shell phone. I believe they have two versions available right now, one of which is a simplified version. I’ve done a couple videos on them.
@@theblindlife Thanks......I will............I don't think that one has ear plugs, which would be helpful as she is hard of hearing.............is the volume pretty substantial on the Blind Shell Phone?
When my second Blindshell quit working when T Mobile shut down 3g, I have been using a Minivision 2. It is a great phone that is very simple to use. Insome ways, such as a much more seeable button secrin, and a lot better volume, I like it a bit more than I liked the Blinndshelln phone. Especially when I discovered that Blindshells support was a nothing. No reliesn to problem inquiries such as why the phone kept telling me the time and date instead of going to the next step.
I just found your channel, well my little brother sent me your link. His names Austin he’s 21 blind and autistic. I want to buy him something cool for Christmas, any fun suggestions for someone fully blind? He already has an iPhone that he likes to use but any suggestions?
That’s hard to say. You can check out my Amazon shop and see if anything looks good in there, link in the video description. There’s also the shirts and hoodies I sell, link also down in the description.
The only other feature that my dad wants is Alexa so that he can ask for a phone number of a place he wants to call that is not setup in the contacts. I assume it’s not available on this phone.
I’m assuming this is a touchtone phone, so your text messages have to be entered with a keypad and multiple presses of wonky or another? Gag, as that is just like the victory stream first one second generations from Humanware. 10:10
I just envy western countries have for visually impaired. I've been researching for phones for visually impaired because my mother is totally blind. But nothing is available here in my country 😔
😢😢 I am legally blind, and with the money I get every month there is no way I could purchase any of the item in the videos. How do people who are on disability afford these?😢😢
Bought this phone for my blind elderly mother.
Important note: This phone has a 20 DAY warranty.
Programming and set-up requires a sighted person.
Multiple menus can make programming difficult.
Phone buttons are very small and are not suggested for people with peripheral neuropathy.
Intermittent connection issues were a problem.
Return of phone was not possible due to 20 DAY warranty.
Would not recommend this phone.
Purchased a big-button land line and installed using a VOIP system. This worked perfectly for my mother.
Enjoyed the video. Will order this now from my blind mother
First off, Thank you. My mom needs a new cell phone because she is legally blind and your review answered just about all of our questions.
My pleasure
Thank you for this! We just got this phone for my sister who is completely blind, she is 33, and this is her first cell phone. This helped me to set it up for her!
Love the shirts! I'll be buying some.
From me and my dearest friend who recently got a mini vision, thank you. After watching this video, I understand a little better what he’s talking about when he talks about a three -month free plan. Thank you for explaining that it was set up with mint mobile. Does this mean he will have to set it up in the long run at AT&T or something?
I work with lots of older people and I love that there is an accessible phone that isn’t a smart phone. Very cool.
Thanks always Sam for your dedication of assisting our community!
Fortunately I’m still able to use my Apple iPhones.
Great review.
Peter
Minivision2 thank you for hard work for the blind but the price is really high for device. Needs more functions and for being over 300 it was made pretty cheaply. Compared to other devices like cheaper smartphones less than 100 dollar with talk back. Would appreciate better quality for the price.
Did I miss it? Is there a magnifier?
Could you compare minivison2 with the blindshell2?
This is great Sam! Adam with Palmer vision
Right away, I can tell that the screenwriter is more human sounding. Kind of like those on iPhones… At least Alex. Thank you for the video, and I’ll keep watching. 8:11
Thanks Sam for the review.please how or where can I get the cell phone
Really great review. You describe items so we'll. Funny thing is I've found that many visually impaired people describe better than sighted lol.
Imagine the GPS thinks the battery like Apple juice, no, ha ha ha. Overall, pretty good Tom. Remember there used to be Oden mobile as well for a fully accessible phone. 21:54
I thought that phone would have the Be My Eyes and Aira features on it? It as well would be nice if the camera had a flash and a selfy camera? Since the phone is designed for the blind and visually impaired I thought it would have a feature that would allow you to talk to you letting you know that you are named at a person's face or an entire person? It could tell you to move the phone up or down or left or right? I love the wireless charging feature. It would be nice if the phone could do video calling and Skype, Zoom, etc type of calls using both the back and front-facing cameras? It would be nice if there was a feature where you could connect your phone to a smartphone and you could use features on both phones as if they both were the same phone? This would mean that you could use the physical buttons and the same number on your smartphone and or answer a call on either phone?
You know, I believe the cell phones were not made for that type of stuff. They might get there, though.
Great video Sam can you do a review of the fm radio on the phone?
Interesting about the phone supporting 2G and 3G because I was told here in Central Florida that they are canceling or discontinuing those services at the end of this year or the beginning of next year.
Yes, the phone supports it even though it won’t be used soon.
I’ve been trying to set this up for my mom who is 95 and pretty much blind and also technically challenged doing a long hold on the center button as instructed does not bring up the digital assistant unless I’m adding contacts I just want to use it to say, call so-and-so you know anything about why this might have changed? Off
Can set this up to our Alexa?
How can I change Fahrenheit to Celsius degrees? Thank you!
Thanks for posting. My Mom is blind and wants/needs a phone that she can call out and receive calls. No bells or whistles. Does this phone or any phone have a program push one number to call? Example: The number 1 will call the first son. The number 2 will call the second son. The number 3 will call the Church. etc That's really all she needs.
Bought this phone for my blind elderly mother.
Important note: This phone has a 20 DAY warranty.
Programming and set-up requires a sighted person.
Multiple menus can make programming difficult.
Phone buttons are very small and are not suggested for people with peripheral neuropathy.
Intermittent connection issues were a problem.
Return of phone was not possible due to 20 DAY warranty.
Would not recommend this phone.
Purchased a big-button land line and installed using a VOIP system. This worked perfectly for my mother.
How do you add contacts
Hi, please suggest a smart phone with physical keypad for the blind ? I have been using iphone 5s with slider keyboard, but now a days, slider keyboard for latest iphone is not available.
Thanks. Very interesting video. question can it connect with Alexa?
This is an extremely difficult phone to use for people who are not already skilled in using phones. There are no basic instructions provided. For some reason everything needs to be confirmed with different buttons instead of just one. All this confused my father to no end. Had to send it back and found out there is a $75 restocking fee. So be careful if the person you are buying for does not understand basic toggling and phone usage.
Great video! This would be a great phone for my parents. My mom and dad really don’t do well with apps, but, they really do well with this phone. The ability to raise the volume so high and to have certain menu items read. Also the color blind and color indicator kind of mechanism is great. My parents would also benefit from the sleek, simple design. Modern smart phones are really not great for them. Thank you so much for the video!
Are you able to tell me if you can change the ringtone and if so how? thank you
Yes, you can change the ringtone and set custom ringtones for phone numbers. Change the ringtone in the sound settings and choose a custom ringtone when creating a new contact
@@theblindlife thank you!!!
I really love the way u did it
Thank you for the review. I just bought one for my 93-year-old mom who has macular degeneration. She is used to using an old Verizon flip phone that had speed dial for all her numbers that worked by pressing the number key. Is that feature available on this phone and how do you do it, I cant seem to find it.
Yes, you can assign speed dial numbers. If I remember correctly, just press and hold one of the numbers and you’ll get an option to assign a phone number.
Does this phone have speed Dial
Don't tell me all those nokia phones are yours, Sam! hahahaha. Great video as always! Interesting product...
I miss my old Nokia!
I have question, Can I buy this for India for my MOM.
Hi. When you receive an in-coming call, will it verbally read out the name or the number who's calling you? Thanks for this review.
My Dads contact list just disappeared. Is there any way to restore his contacts?
@The Blind Life Is there a way to buy it from India?
How do you add contact
Where is the menu button?
Does this require a monthly data plan
Yes
Can the mini vision read mail
Very very nice. Is this available in South Africa perhaps?
Please advice, thanks.
I’m not sure, you will need to contact the company to find out.
This is great if they make a smartphone for us too this is a great video though.
i would be interested in this as a smartphone
Is it support Indian languages in voice... Pls rply
Any chance this is available on a my Amazon ? My wife uses the blind shell after seeing it in your channel BIG THANKS as the alto was the only tactile speaking phone with screen reader n she was lost when it broke as they stopped making them .
The links in the description of the video are the only ones I have for the phone, sorry about that. You can reach out to the website to see if it’s available on Amazon.
Hi Sam great videos. I have tried apple iOS and android. Is there one better than the other for blind and vision impaired people. Also, I'm watching you from Australia.
Hello Australia! I’ve made several videos on this topic and was even on a live stream recently with Live accessible and some other RUclipsrs talking about this. To answer your question no, there isn’t one that’s better than others for the VIP. There are a lot of factors that go into deciding which one to get but, whether you go with Apple or android, you will have great accessibility to work with.
How can I purchase in pakistan
How much is it?
Price ....
I am concerned about your comment that the voice feature won’t work if it is not connected to internet. So if I have a voice/text plan with no data, will I not be able to use the feature that I can press the center button and speak who I want to call?
Correct, this feature only works with mobile data or Wi-Fi.
Hi
I love the accessibility on that phone! Great review!
Abby
Thanks Abby!
Hi Great review video. I use Android phone.
hello Sam! I have finally found the perfect phone for me! But how do you turn on the Voice on the phone? Does it already come with the phone talking or is there a certain way to turn it on and off?
The Voice comes already turned on, and can be turned off in the settings if not needed.
Thank you for this video 😃 Could you, please suggest to me the best phone between BlindShell and the new Mini Vision 2 Cell Phone? I would like to buy a new mobile for my mum who is blind. Thank you in advance!
Did you ever buy either phone? I’m trying to see which would work better for my grandma who’s legally blind 😢
cool video sam, how do you like compared to the blind shell phone?
I'm curious about this too. Following. It looks about the same but maybe better features(?) than the Blind Shell? Also, are the numbers raised lower than the Blind Shell phone? You said kind of 'flat'. Thanks.
My blind dh uses his iphone for audible books from bard and it must connect wirelessly to his hearing aids.
Will it work in india ?? Plz tell asap
Is this phone also have hindi language?????
Thanks for this! My dad is has recently lost most of his vision and came across your vid. Already subscribed!
Are you able to connect this phone to Bluetooth headphones?
Yes, it supports Bluetooth connection
Hello sam what is mobile phone cost !?
I say the price in the video.
So awesome mobile. I want to learn one thing, is this phone able to internet browsing?
By the way , love your videos from Agartala, India.
Thank you! No, the phone does not have a mobile browser.
@@theblindlife too bad ...
Thank you so much Sam. This was very useful in setting up this phone for my dad who is visually impaired. Can you, or anyone reading this help with this issue please? The feature to long press the ok button to give voice command to call a contact worked fine initially. His phone is prepaid so we add credit to make calls. Recently we noticed all his credit was used up in minutes without making a call. I checked and realized the data feature was on. I turned it off, but now, the voice command to call a contact does NOT work. It says "no data or wifi connection." Does it really need data or wifi for this feature to work? That would be such a shame as it is crazy expensive to keep this on 24/7. THANK YOU
oh boy! I am now at 22 minutes into your video and see the answer. This is such a shame. Great feature
Very sorry to hear that
Very interesting. So what’s the cost for this phone and can Ii use WhatsApp??
Sam......my mom is 91 and recently declared legally blind and very hard of hearing. Is there any other phone other than the MiniVision2 that you would recommend, particularly with the easy feature of voice command to call any contacts in her phone. Most all the other features are of no value to her. Thanks in advance for your help.
Check out the blind shell phone. I believe they have two versions available right now, one of which is a simplified version. I’ve done a couple videos on them.
@@theblindlife Thanks......I will............I don't think that one has ear plugs, which would be helpful as she is hard of hearing.............is the volume pretty substantial on the Blind Shell Phone?
Which model available in Pakistan
The contact information is in the description of the video
Stick with the iPhone, certified by the blind. Just go to settings turn on voiceover reads texts, emails, apps, anything you want on the page simple
doesn’t read your voicemail to you
@@brendareed5050 yes it does, go to the Voicemail page and it is written out as a text and it reads it to you just fine
When my second Blindshell quit working when T Mobile shut down 3g, I have been using a Minivision 2.
It is a great phone that is very simple to use. Insome ways, such as a much more seeable button secrin, and a lot better volume, I like it a bit more than I liked the Blinndshelln phone.
Especially when I discovered that Blindshells support was a nothing. No reliesn to problem inquiries such as why the phone kept telling me the time and date instead of going to the next step.
Can you go on websites with it?
No, it’s a simplified phone so doesn’t have a web browser at this time.
I just found your channel, well my little brother sent me your link. His names Austin he’s 21 blind and autistic. I want to buy him something cool for Christmas, any fun suggestions for someone fully blind? He already has an iPhone that he likes to use but any suggestions?
That’s hard to say. You can check out my Amazon shop and see if anything looks good in there, link in the video description. There’s also the shirts and hoodies I sell, link also down in the description.
Does this phone have voice mail
Yes, but you may need to set it up yourself depending on which phone carrier you go with.
The only other feature that my dad wants is Alexa so that he can ask for a phone number of a place he wants to call that is not setup in the contacts. I assume it’s not available on this phone.
No, this is a very basic phone.
I’m assuming this is a touchtone phone, so your text messages have to be entered with a keypad and multiple presses of wonky or another? Gag, as that is just like the victory stream first one second generations from Humanware. 10:10
Why is there Flashlight
Why are these always so expensive???
The only thing I don't like here is the case/should be better, but that's okay!
Wow!!!**
SOUNDS LIKE THE BLIND SHELL
Is there a phone for the blind that supports 5G?
Not 80 phones design specifically for the blind. They are all still 4G. However, any of the modern smart phones that are 5G can be used by the blind.
I just envy western countries have for visually impaired. I've been researching for phones for visually impaired because my mother is totally blind. But nothing is available here in my country 😔
😢😢 I am legally blind, and with the money I get every month there is no way I could purchase any of the item in the videos. How do people who are on disability afford these?😢😢
I made a video titled "Why is assistive technology so expensive?" In that video I talk about how people with limited income can afford to buy them.