The Zigee dock: user reviews & tests

Elderly user feedback

Our tester is an 84 year old widow and has been using the Zigee for four months now. She reports

"At first I missed being able to press just one button to dial my daughters (her landline had a quick dial feature). I've got used to manually typing in phone numbers again now. I have arthritis in my fingers but I don't have any trouble pressing the Zigee's number pad to dial people. I usually use the phone on speakerphone. I like just having to press one button to answer the phone and I can talk while I'm working in the kitchen. It's very easy to hear my daughters when they call me as the phone is louder than my landline."

Family carer feedback

Putting credit on the phone is straightforward - I buy prepaid credit at the supermarket for Mum's phone at the same time as I buy my own credit. I use the Optus app to put credit on Mum's phone. Mum usually hears the Zigee ringing, except when she has the television up loud. Mum reports the call clarity is better than her old phone.

The thing I personally like most about the Zigee is it won't become obsolete as quickly as other seniors phones currently on the market. Mum won't have to change handsets in 5 years when 3G is shut down. I might have to buy a new 5G phone for the Zigee dock in the future, or even buy a new USB Type C cradle, but either way, Mum will still be able to use the same handset she's got used to. It's hard on old people when they are forced to upgrade because the technology they are using has become obsolete. Old people are frugal, and don't like replacing things they consider aren't broken.

PROS and CONS

A big plus for the Zigee is that it's a dock not a phone and because of this it can be upgraded as technology changes.

Telstra have announced their intention to discontinue 3G some time after 2020 when they start rolling out their 5G network. Optus and Vodafone will eventually discontinue their 3G services too. Most classic seniors phones currently sold in Australia and desktops like the Essence all use the 3G network. This means they'll be obsolete when the 3G network shuts down in a few years.

A phone dock like the Zigee doesn't change however - even if the phone connected to it needs to be upgraded. USB Type-C is predicted to be around for at least 10 years, so a 4G device with a USB Type C charging port is a good "future-proof" combination. When 5G phones are the only type of devices available, some of them are likely to still have USB Type C charging ports.

Back to the present - according to the manufacturer's website, the Zigee docking station works with these iPhones, and all these Android phones.

We tried the Zigee docking station with three brands of readily obtainable mobile phones, all with usb charging ports. The phones we tried with the Zigee were the:

Nokia Lumia 530 (running Windows 8)

Nokia Lumia 630 (running Windows 8)

Oppo F1s (Android 5.1)

Oppo A73 (Android 7.1.1)

Oppo R9 (Android 5.1)

Alcatel OneTouch Seniors phone

Bluetooth and Pairing tests

The Zigee paired faultlessly with the Windows phones we tried it with.

We found it readily paired with the Oppo models we tested.

We couldn't get it to pair with the Alcatel seniors phone, even though the phone had bluetooth capabilities.

Charging tests

The Zigee charged the Windows phone models we tried it with faultlessly.

We discovered Oppo phones couldn’t be charged with the Zigee, even though they had a micro usb port. This was because the charging ports on the Oppo are inverted, so the only way you can charge the Oppo in the Zigee cradle is to put the Oppo phone into the cradle face down.

The Oppo only fits into the Zigee cradle if the phone is placed face down

The Zigee also could not charge the Alcatel One touch seniors phone we tested it with. This was because the charging port is on the side of the Alcatel, and if you put the Alcatel onto the Zigee to charge it, it prevents you hanging up the receiver.

Power glitch test

We discovered the Zigee was fiddly to pair again after a power interruption - something we felt might happen if there was a power outage or if a senior accidentally switched off the power to the docking station.

We simulated the power interruption by switching off the power point, removing the plug and replugging the Zigee into another power point in another room. The Zigee didn’t like being relocated and refused to pair again with any of the phones even though they were next to it. We tried a factory reset following the instructions in the manual and online but the Zigee still wouldn’t pair up again.

The solution

Eventually hubby pulled the usb plug out of the transformer (the bit that plugs into the power point). He left it out for a minute then re-plugged the usb end back into the transformer. The Zigee paired faultlessly.

Features we didn't test

The Zigee potentially has voice dial using applications like Siri, Google Now and Cortana. In our experience, this feature was hard to access (we couldn’t get it to work on the three phones we tested.) Nevertheless, it’s worth knowing this is a feature which a tech savvy grandchild might be able to set up for you if you really required voice dialing.