DS15 has ruined his mobile phone - IPHONE 5

[user1473872482]

My son has completely ruined his mobile phone. Dropped on pavement lots of times and dropped in the sink full of water as well. At the moment it is in a bowl of rice to see if it absorbs the water. His contract runs out in January and it is his birthday in a couple of weeks. Would it be worth getting him a new phone for his birthday?

[DefinitelyNotAJourno]

A 15yo doesn't need an iPhone, and he certainly doesn't need a contract. You can get perfectly good Android based smartphones from £50.

Just get him a handset and tariff appropriate to his age.

[TotallyOblivious]

He couldn't even look after the one he had (from what I gathered this was on-going careless attitude on hi part!) personally I would get him a second hand phone (NOT a new one and certainly not a new model!) & tell him he can't have a better one until he learns to look after things.

[Bluecarrot]

Difficult one. you can get iPhone 5s relatively cheap because they will become pretty obsolete soon, but it's a delicate phone for someone who seems a bit clumsy.

My dd tends to get my hand me down iphones. She had to buy a suitable shockproof case ( not a cheap crappy one) out of her own money for the last one though, before phone was handed over.

[TondelayaDellaVentamiglia]

well he's going to enjoy spending his birthday money on a replacement handset isn't he??

[Bluecarrot]

Also buying outright abd getting a sim only deal usually works out cheaper than contracts including a phone.

[Whenwillwe3meetagain]

Why will an iPhone 5 become obsolete soon?

[RJnomore1]

I'd get it on the proviso he buys s pretty indestructible case for it. I presume he's been using the broken one until now and also that he's been clumsy as oppose to deliberately destructive though.

[RJnomore1]

Because after so long you can't update the software as its not compatible. An iphone5 is sbout 4 years old so probably the next update won't work with it.

[TotallyOblivious]

^ I'm currently using a 5 whilst mine is fixed & it's already not giving me the latest iOS updates ...

[MillionToOneChances]

My old iPhone 5 slowed down considerably when I updated it to iOS9. My DC now has it but won't be risking updating to iOS10.

If you replace broken phones without it being a birthday or Christmas gift, he'll never learn to take care of things. As others have said, sim only is usually much better value for money for iPhones. For android phones you can usually get a cheaper handset including service for the same cost as a sim only contract. This might be your best bet if he can't take better care of his phone - that way he can have other birthday gifts too.

[katemess12]

No. At 15 he's old enough to start saving his own money and putting it towards a phone. It may make him appreciate and take better care of it than if you just replace the old one.

[katemess12]

I'd get him an old Nokia or something that only provides text/call options. It'll do the job until he can buy his own, better phone.

[GabsAlot]

yes why not buy him a brand new phone as a [resent because he cant take care of his old one

no wonder some kids are brats

[memyselfandaye]

Just because he's clumsy does'nt make him a brat.

What a thoroughly shitty unhelpful thing to say.

[IMissGrannyW]

I think you need to ask yourself - who does the phone mean more to?

Is it you, so you and he can communicate? Or is it him and all he uses the phone for (his social life, etc).

Base your replacement on that priority. At 15, he could be contributing towards, if you felt it to be appropriate.

FWIW, we insure DD's phone (neither of ours) so if it's lost, stolen or broken she gets a new one no questions asked (because we didn't want her to be in a situation where [god forbid] she was mugged or something and felt she had to hold onto her phone because we'd be upset if it was stolen. (as if!)

Also, kids are rubbish. I say this as someone who is also rubbish, but because I KNOW I'm rubbish, I only have a crap phone. I can ONLY call and text. Because I break them. If DD was as bad as I am, she'd have a crap phone too.

[OlennasWimple]

What do you mean by "Is it worth getting him a phone?" Because when the contract expires you would look for a new one anyway on a new contract, so only "need" one for a couple of months?

[melibu84]

If you can, see if you can buy outright. It might save you loads of money in the long term. The iPhone 7 just came out, so if you wanted to get him a more recent phone, the 6 and 6s' will have dropped in price. And you might want to get him insurance which covers accidental damage as he seems a little careless / clumsy :)

[GabsAlot]

im not saying hes a brat yet this is how it starts

the whole im entitled to crap

[Pardonwhat]

GabsAlot - what a load of shit.
My iPhone is in fucking terrible condition and I'm not some teenage brat. I'm just clumsy as hell. What a pointless statement

[memyselfandaye]

Where does the OP say their son is entitled? Or ask if they should get him a crappy phone?

They want advice on contracts and phones, instead they get smart arse responses dressed up as parenting advice, that was'nt asked for.

[dybil]

I'm clumsy so always look at 'drop tests' before choosing a phone, to see which will survive the most falls. Pretty much rules out iPhones!

[IamtheDevilsAvocado]

I phones are notoriously delicate!

Would seriously consider an android...

I'm very clumsy so have a reasonably waterproof Samsung s5mini with a super bouncy case and so far it's survived!

[LouisvilleLlama]

I always think I'm lucky with my iPhone I've had it bounce down too flights of stairs, loads of dropping, standing on my dogs etc, dropped on pavements, dropped drink over it and it's survived, a few knocks but nothing major

[LouisvilleLlama]

Two*

[mysteryfairy]

I think the things to consider are:-
Do you have a handset you can pass down? DH and I both get phones on one year contracts and pass down to DC, so, for example, my 14 year old DD has my last years iPhone 6 Plus at moment. Her SIM is a bolt on to my contract and costs £8 per month for 8gb data, unlimited calls and texts. If the current handset can't be rescued you can get a sim from the current provider to pop in any phone you have lying about til contract ends.

Do you want another contract with a handset for your DS - if so it's likely to be worth waiting until you can renew the current one, usually a few weeks before the end of the contract

Would your son actually want a new phone as his birthday present or is there something else he wants?

This won't help with the water incident (fingers crossed it recovers!) but order an otterbox case. There are various sorts on Amazon but get one of the robust varieties (about £20) - we've had no damage from dropping phones across three teen DC since I made them compulsory accessories