Help with child first phone/ school

Posted 7th May 2023

My daughter starts secondary school in September what phone should i get her nothing to expensive or flashy ?
Also what phones are your secondary school kids using any advice appreciated thanks

10 Comments

sorted by

ANDYwwww987
8th May
Xiaomi for my kids (ones gone off too uni now) whatever is on offer around £150 area and a SIM only contract. Apps like Snapchat and WhatsApp can be used across Apple and Android as that's what my kids use to communicate with their friends.
Willy_Wonka
7th May
[deleted]
theworkingdead
7th May
Whats the point of this reply exactly, it's not advice, just a rant.
theworkingdead
7th May
First thing I'd do is get a Nationwide FlexPlus account.
£13 a month and it covers 4 phones in your household insurance wise, so yours, your partners (assuming you have one) and your daughters. Plus other benefits too but it's a good way of insuring phones.
Then you have the unenviable battle of balancing what they want to what you're willing to pay. Back in my day it was what I had for a PE Kit or what make my backpack was, now, unfortunately, it's probably phones.
Willy_Wonka
7th May
OP wants to know what phone/s to buy.
M4tt31
7th May
I've got 4 kids in high school/college. Just upgraded them to iPhone 13 pro's this Christmas, before that Iphone Xs (They had them since 2019) never heard of any issues as their Xs got older for them being outdated, they where just happy to have a phone. The youngest just started high school this year and before that she just used hand me downs as she didn't really need one upto that point.

All bought via this website on various offers, some where bought as refurbished and we got brand new ones with full warranty. We've not had any major damage issues and anything else was covered under warranty and repaired/replaced.

Main issue I seem to find is constantly replacing charging cables rather than them not taking care on their phones. They tend to look after the phones quite well. I think most of the Iphones/Android phones would be a safe bet don't think it needs to be the latest.

Just ensure it's still within the period to get updates (as you never know what the schools apps will require) I would go for a mid range refurb and see how they get on with it. (edited)
Gingerdan
7th May
What phone do you use?

if your child has used that before it may be worth getting a similar model for them.

We’ve iPhones in the family and as daughter has used ours thought that’s the best way to go in getting something their already used to.
Somersett
7th May
Sorry- but your question seems to make little sense. If a child wants Apple, and her friends have Apple, and kids get mocked for not having Apple, then the entire issue becomes one of fashion, child parent politics, and the cheapest place to purchase the oldest acceptable model.

If the child wants to game, then the phone has to run that game, and the issue becomes one of what is the cheapest decent phone to have sufficient gaming power.

If the child is reasonable and sensible, go to the main section and look at the various second hand Google Pixel deals- fantastic camera/display/performance and build quality- only the battery isn't the best.

New, cheap and well specced usually means Xiaomi, but I bet the kids hate this brand.

New phones well below 100 are usually very compromised. Not an issue for informed adults, but I can't see kids in the know liking them.

Anyway are they to be used like tablets as well? Running calculator apps, accessing Wikipedia, processing images and video for school work? It would seem like a good idea to talk to someone at your daughter's future school for advice on this front.
jameshothothot
8th May
My son got a black Friday special redmi phone. Good display and speakers and battery life were the priorities. Anything on offer in the 100 to 120 range usually good. The 60 80 side usually a bit more compromised.