Emporia, best known for its chunky handsets for older customers, has announced a device aimed at senior gardeners – the SOLID. While at first glance this might seem a bizarrely niche segment for a product, it is worth noting the obsessive enthusiasm for gardening among retired people in the UK.

It is a national past-time, with most small towns served by multiple garden centre stores and local Horitcultural Societies.

The SOLID is designed specifically for this market, with water- and dirt-resistance, a robust case and Emporia’s trademark enlarged buttons, easy-to-read display and an address book which can be updated remotely by carers or relatives.

It is also an example of how the changing economics of the handset business are allowing manufacturers to design for ever more specific segments.


Emporia’s other launch at MWC is the ELEGANCE – a smart looking device aimed at overcoming the patronising design aesthetics which have traditionally afflicted products for the senior market. It is a product for those who want something usable when ageing has started to affect eyesight and dexterity, but don’t want their mobile to shout “Look at me, I’m old!” when they put it on the table.