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Best Android Phones for First Time Smartphone Users

We all know that in today’s world, it’s hard to imagine anyone not having, or knowing how to use, the latest and greatest technology when it comes to smartphones. It has become a necessity for most of us.

Try this:

Go sit in any public place and you’ll see people as young as toddlers playing games and teenagers mindlessly swiping through various social media applications. You can also see adults syncing their calendars, video chatting, and organizing their entire life, all at the touch of the screen on the latest smart devices.

You have to admit Android phones offer some of the newest and most innovative technology when it comes to smartphones. The capabilities of these devices could make our lives easier, more convenient, and have the world at our fingertips.

How cool is that?

Android seamlessly integrates with Google services, which is one of the most user-friendly services available on the web. It comes with many different offerings from music, maps, email, and documents to calendars, planners, and chrome and networking tools. Android also allows users to set their own level of customization including wallpaper, keyboard, and even some more complex hardware customization as users get to know their phones better.

Here’s the thing, there are tons of Android phones in the market to choose from. And we know that finding the best Android phone for yourself might be hard, especially if you are a first time user. So to make your search for the right phone easier, we made this list of the best Android phones for first-time smartphone users. Now, read on to know more.

Google Android

 

Android is also relatively less expensive in most cases than other Smartphones, with many prepaid phone options having budget friendly phones to choose from that are easier on the check book for first time smartphone users.

Of course, this shiny new technology may not seem super accessible for those not familiar with smart devices. There are, however, plenty of devices that even the most technophobic person can easily learn to use. If you have a teenager, or elderly family member or friend who is looking to get a smartphone for the very first time, or even looking to buy your own first smartphone, this guide will set you on the right track for choosing the perfect Android smart phone to fulfill your communication needs.


Samsung Galaxy S8 (2017)

This phone is easily the most incredible smartphone device that has come out to date. There is a myth surrounding high-end android phones, and the usability for novice smartphone users, which is that figuring them out is more complicated, and it’s better to get a cheap phone. This could not be falser.

High-end Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S8 offer the best interface. All you do is touch where you want to go, and the phone does the rest. This phone is much easier to see in all lighting conditions because of its curved screen.

As a novice, smartphone user becomes a bit more familiar with the Android interface, you can then unlock the brilliance that this phone has to offer, and you can then use it to its full potential. It takes a very small amount of time to understand how the phone works.

You will find that it works better than the cheap phones, it is much easier to use, it will be so much faster, take better pictures, store more content, and have better navigation instructions, which guarantees success at owning an Android smartphone.

With this phone, you can do the simplest of tasks, like text and make phone calls with certain reliability. You can also tap into the true power of this phone as you progress into an expert Android phone user. The possibilities are virtually endless.

Google Pixel

Google Pixel

The Pixel is one of the most innovative products on the market for several reasons. But, for the novice Android smart phone user, let’s not get into that, but into its features and capabilities that make this phone one of the best phones to have for anyone. It is very easy to use.

The buttons are right there for you to navigate through where you want to go. You can do the basic tasks in no time at all. You can also dive in to navigating the entire interface, yes, settings included, with minimal effort.

You can even understand what everything is in the interface menu. It is for the novice user as well as the advanced user. Companies have now integrated this simplicity into their products recently.

Before, it was a battle between the companies to show off their engineering prowess, of who can dominate the smartphone world, and become the tech champion. People have since thought that phones are still made that way, and that they cannot own a phone for that reason.

The companies now have realized that first time users were suffering, and not having the chance to enjoy a smartphone because they were difficult to get used to. Google phones are new to the market, but they adopted the idea that they need to make their phones easy to use, so that everyone can use them, without frustration.

Alongside the simplicity, the Pixel has an endless sea of applications that one could download to make the most out of their Android smartphone.

Motorola G-Series Android Smartphones

Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus
Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus

Depending on whether you want a phone that does it all, or if you want a more basic one, for texting and calling, as well as having Google Maps when necessary, or things like that, the Motorola G-Series phones are a great place to start shopping.

These phones are durable and dependable. You can go as far back in the series as you see fit, they are all good to have, and it’ll all just depend on what you want out of your phone. You can get better cameras and bigger storage with newer phones, but get a bit easier navigation and won’t get confused easily with the older models.

Again, these feature the same Android system as other brands do, but the buttons are slightly different. They are very easy to use for older folks or younger people.

LG G3 or G6

The LG brand of smartphones are one of the industry’s leading competitors. They build very good phones that are reliable and durable. To be clear though, these phones have the exact same Android Operating System as all the other new phones.

The difference is in the quality of the phone. Some are a bit easier to use since some have buttons on the front, some don’t, and some have few other features that some would like. The LG comes to the user as one of the easiest.

It has simple buttons and a larger screen, which makes it perfect for surfing the web, taking pictures and going through the gallery, or texting everyone in your family. Let’s not forget the personal assistant that google gives you.

You can ask Google to do what you want, and your phone will respond to your request. You can tell your phone to look something up as reference for you, you can set timers, set important meeting or other appointment dates, and the list goes on.

What is nice about these phones is that they are relatively inexpensive. The G3 being “last year’s model”, it has a friendly price tag, but doesn’t compromise in the usability and reliability departments. These are great phones for novice Android smart phone users because of their simplicity in new technology.

Huawei Honor Series Phones

Huawei Honor 7
Huawei Honor 7

These phones go into the same category of the Motorola G-Series phones. The Huawei phones have been one of the best and easiest phones to have for a few years now.

They are classy, they are easy to use, and they are simple. They also have a few features that are specific to this phone. A beginning user could pick this phone up with the most basic of knowledge and begin to navigate it effortlessly.

All you need to know is that you touch the screen to “push the button”, instead of having physical buttons. If you have that knowledge, you will be able to navigate any Android smartphone with ease, without getting the frustration that some Apple iPhone users can get at the beginning.


Phones for Teens or Younger

Teens using smart phones

Any of these phones will be great for the younger folks who love their social media and games. Young kids love playing the thousands of smartphone games that you can get on your device.

When downloading and playing games though, you will need a phone that has the storage capacity to store the game, as well as the hardware to process the game as it’s playing, and this requires a faster type of phone.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is obviously the leader in both categories right now. However, any one of these phones listed here would be a great purchase for this reason. They will also do so much more, if you get time with your phone, and the kids give it back at some point. For young kids, having control over the content they choose to interact with is important.

Any of these phones have fully customizable parental controls, which will limit the amount of time they get with the phone, as well as keeping them off of bad websites.

Android Parental Controls
Android Parental Controls

With the newer phones, you can even control who can send and receive text messages, or phone calls, so your kids cannot talk to strangers or people you don’t want them talking to without your permission.

The best part is, this is all so easy to enact, as the menu is a simple list form page, that describes to you what the feature is, and you simply check the box in order to enable the feature or setting. Enabling a good set of parental controls should take no more than just a few minutes. That is how easy it is.

You can also control whether they can access Google Play, which is the store that you purchase and download applications from. Within Google Play, you can also limit the apps that they are able to download, allowing you the freedom to let them download whatever new Angry Birds game they want to play, while simultaneously preventing them from downloading apps with inappropriate content.

Google Play Parental Controls
Google Play Parental Controls

Phones for Adults

Even for beginner users, when we think about smart phones, we think, “what do we get out of them, why are they so expensive, and what can I do with it?” If you are just texting and calling, a smartphone isn’t what you need.

You can get a simple flip phone for that. But if you want a touchscreen you can interact with picture and video recordings, use social media, interact with the world wide web, or play games and use other fun features, then any one of these phones will be perfect for you.

Google Now Personal Assistant
Google Now Personal Assistant

Adults typically love the personal assistant feature. All you have to say is, “Hey Google”, and your phone will respond back to you with a request for you to ask it what you want it to do. You can have your phone look something up for you on the internet without touching the phone.

You can have it call and text people, all by simply talking to it. It is easy and simple to use this feature, and it keeps getting smarter as time goes on.

Phones for Seniors

Seniors Using Smartphones

Phones have been a problem for the older generations because they simply did not grow up with this kind of technology, so they have to learn everything about them, and that can be difficult for some.

Luckily, the companies that make these phones have taken the older folks into consideration, and have enabled some features that make them much easier to use. There are features like ‘easy mode’, that take the simplest features, and put them on the home screen, as well as some of your other consistently used applications, so you can just touch-and-go.

Android Easy Mode

This is the simplest form of these phones. You will not get everything out of your phone when using it in easy mode, but it is great to help people with learning how these phones work, and when you get the hang of it, you can take it out of easy mode, and start learning how to navigate the wonderful Android interface to the fullest.


Frequently Asked Questions

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Are there tutorials for first time Android users?

Yes. There are various tutorials available on the web for first time owners of smartphones. Also, once you get your new smartphone, it will teach you how you can use it.

What are the best apps for first-time smartphone owners?

There are a few popular apps you can install on your smartphones once you get one. Most of these are composed of social media applications. Here are some of them: Facebook, YouTube, Messenger, Google, and Gmail.
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Now tell us about your experiences! What was your very first smartphone? How hard was it for you to learn how to use it? Do you have any recommendations for helping new users with the learning curve? Let us know in the comments below!

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4 Comments

  1. Do you think I-phone is best for first time user? If so then why? Many people prefare that I-Phone is the best for first time user but some people finds I-phone is much tough to operate as a first time smartphone user.

  2. I’d be interested to know if others agree with your recommendation of the Moto G4. My experience for the past 2 years has been terrible. Now granted, when it comes to high tech, I have a slow learning curve. But although Motorola’s tech support has been friendly when I contact them, for the life of me I still have no idea why the thing goes into airplane mode for no apparent reason, why it turns off access to cellular data, why it shuts down when I still have 40% power on the battery, and why swiping to answer calls still fails almost half the time. And no thank you, I do not want to restore factory settings and lose all my contacts. Yes, they say that if I have them backed up, it should be easy to restore them, but they also said all the contacts could be uploaded form my previous phone. I freely admit, it may well be that I am not smart enough for any smartphone, but comments I have seen on other sites suggests that these problems are not unique to me.

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