Which iPhone?

[bendmeoverbackwards]

13 year old would like a new phone for Xmas, she currently has an iPhone 6 which is on its way out.

She’s campaigning for an 11 which won’t be happening!

I’m looking to buy a reconditioned phone outright rather than a phone contract.

Not exactly sure of budget yet but what model should I go for?

How does an 8 compare to the X?

TBH, I think most people who buy their kids the new phones are on a contract so don't pay for the phone outright IYSWIM?

As an example, my bill from EE comes in at £204 a month. There's only 3 of us and my X is the oldest by some way. We also have insurance included in that, and very rarely have any additional costs. While I concede this is a vast amount of money, all 3 of us are heavy phone users and they give us great pleasure.

It's a question of priorities I suppose

We got SS a reconditioned one from CEX with 2 year warranty

Upgraded my iPhone se1 to se2 and really pleased with it.

@bendmeoverbackwards

So it looks like I’ll have to spend £350+ to get a decent model?

Pretty much. Apple do 0% finance though if that’s of interest to you?

I traded DDs 6 in for £55 to Apple.

Yes I’m wondering now whether to buy new from Apple and get the warranty and a bit of cash for trade in.

I have the same dilemma, DD wants an SE 2020 but they’re €400 reconditioned and the 8 is €270. I’m not convinced the SE is worth the extra money but her reasoning is that the 8 will stop upgrading soon and she’ll need a new phone again in a couple of years, whereas with the SE it will last longer.

I have an 8 and unlike my older iPhones the battery life is still great and I’ve not noticed any slowdown after system upgrades.

What does everyone think? The extra €130 is a lot of money at the mo but DD is bizarrely upset at the idea of not getting the SE and won’t countenance the 8. Her current phone is my old 5S and it’s very much on its last legs, so a new phone is needed sooner rather than later, it won’t last until Xmas.

I have an 11. It's the only thing non essential expenditure I have for myself. And I adore it. However, DD (13) has my 8. It's over 3 years old and works perfectly. Great battery life, does everything it needs to and is a very close alternative to an 11 (except it has the home button and no Face ID)
I recommend the 8 for a teen.

Nope @Dawnlassie we are an Apple family, there’s no going back! I have a Samsung for work and I hate it!

But the phone isnt for you. You seem to imply that you dont like that they cost so much. I dont really understand why you are staying with the brand if its for your daughter. I guess thats the strength of marketing.

I bought cheaper Android phones for DD when she first started secondary, including the cheaper models of Samsung. None lasted more than a year/18 months, so for me the cost saving at purchase was not cost effective in the longer term.
DP has Samsungs, he’s changed 3 in the last 5 years for various issues. They’re not the top of the range ones, granted, but seeing as those cost like Apple phones I’m not seeing the benefit.

My son has a five year old Sony and it's still going strong.

Thank you @Dawnlassie but my dd really wants to stick with an iPhone. There's no point buying something cheaper that she doesn't want!

I've always bought reconditioned phones in the past and haven't paid more than about £280. But the newer models are obviously more expensive.

@Champagneforeveryone that's a good point. But we worked out it's cheaper to buy outright and to have a cheap SIM only contract. I'm only paying £7.50/month for dd's contract so will stick with that.

I find android phones very user-unfriendly.

If it's for Christmas, wait and see what Black Friday deals you can get on mobiles.co.uk

Most of their deals are contracts but they do also do some sales deals too.

Two years ago I managed to get my daughter the XR (latest phone at the time) with 32gb a month, unlimited calls and texts for £30 and about £100 upfront. We sold her old phone which more than covered the £100, and she pays £10 a month, so I pay £20 a month for two years and that was her Xmas present.

Definitely buy outright and sim only. That’s what I do.

@Dawnlassie There's a host of good reasons to have child phones be the same as parents - familiarity for help/security purposes if nothing else.

For the iPhones it's a long list. There's "Find My" for reciprocal location tracking, there's family group sharing of iCloud backup/photo space, sharing of purchased apps and media, Screen Time analysis, child restriction controls on web content, restriction on spending including in-app purchases (no fucking Candy Crush £79.99 gems, kiddo), remote locking plus that a stolen iPhone is worthless as it's a dead brick, various privacy control overrides to make sure the kid doesn't overshare, plus stuff like adblocking that's such a PITA on Android.

Having a phone made and OS'd by the only phone company that verifiably cares about the user's privacy is also a big win.

None of that stops them from going nude on Tiktok of course, but there's no magic wand for that.

I'm thinking now maybe a reconditioned 8 plus. The SE is out, screen is too small.

Does the 8 have a good camera? Significantly better than the 6?

Are you looking at the old SE or the 2020 model. The dimensions are pretty much the same as the iphone8?

Are they? I thought it looked small. Think we’ll go to an Apple store and have a look.

Oh sorry I meant the 8 plus, dd wants the bigger screen.

I have an 8 as I didn't want the huge screen which wouldn't fit in many/any of my pockets and I like the home button. The only thing I prefer about DH's newer model is the camera has portrait mode which he's used for some really nice photos of DC.

Only problem I've had with the 8 was the home button got chipped and was unusable. Apple don't do replacement home buttons for the 8 so I had to have a replacement (fortunately I'd taken out insurance)

DD1 also wants a phone for Christmas. She has a 6s but also wants a bigger screen. And apparently it's all about Face ID too, no one hasTouch ID