DS 13 which first smartphone?

[Spocksmum]

Been reading these threads and the Moto G looks promising for him but as I don't have a smartphone myself and am not sure what to look for, would welcome advice please.

He needs something reliable and sturdy with either v good battery life or a replaceable battery. PAYG or he could get a Virgin Sim only contract - so then would need a phone without a SIM.

We live in a 3G area but he'd probably want a phone that is 4G enabled, so could be used in 4G areas.

Any ideas? What else do we need to consider?

[Rainbow]

No good with phones but my 13yo has a Samsung galaxy 4 mini (with a bump cover) Vodafone contract £15 a month. Done him OK for the last 10 months or so.

[LumpySpacedPrincess]

The Nexus is a great phone, either the 5 or the new 6. It's the best vehicle for android and isn't bloated like the Samsung phones can be.

[NetworkGuy]

On the other hand I suspect any Nexus will cost 2 to 4 times the cost of a Moto G phone. One of the problems for a parent is consideration of how much to replace (if stolen, lost, or broken)...

As for battery life, there are easily carryable charge-holders such as this one from Anker (paid 10 pounds on Amazon for it. They do a range of different capacities and this was one close to a fully charged mobile {some can store as much as 4-5 times capacity of phone battery}.

Photo also shows a few bits of junk (and some dust) on my desk. USB sticks will show this Anker unit is like a big lipstick... Weighs a lot more than a lipstick!

[NetworkGuy]

Here's the end view.

The white 'disc' is actually a button with LED indicator inside.

If pressed with nothing plugged in, it shows solid green if the a charge level is "good".

It is yellow when the pack is being charged and glows green when discharging into a mobile phone.