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?

[ateapotandacake]

I've a friend who is a builder and he uses a special type of cover on his iphone that is pretty much everything proof. Would recommend getting one of those, it is called a Tuff Case or something. You can literally run it over with a bulldozer and drop it in concrete.
And could he be made responsible for the insurance- most phone insurance covers dropping and dunking he just needs to learn the consequence of carelessness (i.e. Paying the excess!).

[witsender]

Why does it have to be an iPhone? They're fragile and expensive.

[Mozfan1]

I've dropped my iPhone 5s down the toilet 3 times and it still works 😳

Fucking trooper!

[shovetheholly]

I can tell you what NOT to buy and that is the OnePlus line of phones.

They are great phones, but they break and then the customer service is awful. They literally expected me to take 7 HOURS out of my own time to do a factory reset, and then to plug the phone into the computer and have them take over control of it! I am not exaggerating - it took forever.

When neither worked, it then had to be mailed to Germany - with a 14 day wait for it to be returned. I've had phones go wrong before, and it's been a question of bunging them in an envelope and getting them back in about 5-7 days. Awful.

[laylabelle]

If prone to dropping maybe avoid Sony. Have found from experience they are fragile! Tiny crack and the whole thing goes.

[nosyupnorth]

as a chronic phone breaker I sympathise with your DS - they should really make the things more sturdy

that said, if he never has to worry about the consequences of breaking it he's not gonna get more careful. I'd say offer him the equivalent of a basic replacement, something affordable and sturdy and if he wants a flimsy but trendy iPhone he can pay the difference himself

[SoupDragon]

I have a SG 5 at the moment in a shockproof case with a tempered glass screen protector and I bloody love it. I'm constantly dropping it and it shows no sign of wear at all.

Do you not think that is down to the shockproof case and screen protector?

[JacquesHammer]

I seriously dont understand why anyone has a smart phone, even an adult

Really? You don't understand that?

I work from home. Having a smartphone means I don't have to BE at home to work from home. Pretty easy to understand I would have thought

And you know what? I like having a smartphone. Doesn't take the greatest imagination to "understand" that other people like different things I would have thought!

[CuddlesAndCupcakes]

Yes I'd get him another one and make him aware that he has to look after the new one or he won't get another one.

[trappedinsuburbia]

I bought a second hand iphone 4 from ebay for about £50 off ebay and have a £12 a month sim only deal for my similarly clumsy son.
You'll probably be able to get an iphone 5 for a similar price now the 7 is out.

[IcedVanillaLatte]

You pretty much need a smartphone. I don't understand the idea that someone might not need one. Not having a smartphone now is like not having a home computer was ten years ago; makes life unnecessarily hard. Not because we needed them in the 1950s or whatever but because society is now built around the assumption that you have one.

I'm a student and mine helps me study. I have it out in lessons/lectures to look things up online while I'm working, I use it at home as a second screen when I'm writing essays so I don't have to constantly tab away from Word to find the info I need, I use it to snap photos of timetables tacked up on walls, I listen to podcasts and lectures related to my field of study, I have a WhatsApp study group with others on my course, I use it for writing notes related to my work for things that occur to me when I'm out somewhere, which sync with all my other devices, in extremis I write essays on there, I use it to rewatch PowerPoints from lectures, I have all my essays, resources and work saved to the cloud so I can access them everywhere from all my devices, I reserve and renew library books on there, I email lecturers, I photograph pages of textbooks so I don't have to trek over to the scanners and monopolise one while I copy six pages of info, and sometimes I play candy crush.

[Farmmummy]

I have fibromyalgia and have problems with my hands and wrists and drop things a lot, that makes me clumsy however I do try really hard not to be a brat! Anyhow OP would he be getting a new phone with his contract being up in January? If so maybe look on some of the Groupon type deals or go second hand cheapie handset til then if the rice doesn't do the trick?

[Peanutandphoenix]

If he really wants an IPhone then shop around look on places like eBay you can get older iPhones on there for cheap that's where I got my IPhone from but to try and teach him to be more careful maybe he could go halfs with you on the insurance and get a really good case for it. I have a good case for mine because I know how clumsy I can be when it comes to phones.

[user1471471282]

There are refurbed iPhones on groupon at the moment of all different models. May be worth looking on there as they're reasonably priced.