To ask for mobile phone recommendations for a 10 year old

[KeepYaHeadUp]

He’ll be walking to school on his own from next term, and given a bit more independence generally.

im after the following:

Smart phone look (so he places some value on it and doesn’t leave it at home etc),
Cheap to replace,
GPS tracking so I can check in on him,
SMS / calling and internet connectivity,
Parental controls to allow me to switch apps / Internet access on or off - 90% of the time I want it to be dumb, but I would like the option of web browsing / YouTube for supervised and restricted periods.

my research has thrown up a Motorola Moto E22 or a Samsung A16.

I only know iPhones so I’d appreciate any comments / experience. I know from his school Chromebook I can use Google Family Link to control settings on Android - is this generally sufficient?

I gave my daughter my old Samsung A52 at nearly 11 years old. I think family link is really good.

I have set up time limits on certain apps and an overall daily time limit. You can track their location and filter google/you tube so they dont access things they shouldnt. I haven't had any issues so far and have been using it nearly 2 years now although my daughter has no social media so I'm not sure how well it would work on those apps.

I would just get a Nokia dumbphone

Yes, you can get a nokia dumb phone for 20£ or so, new. Asda mobile does a five pound a month no contract plan giving endless calls. I use this myself, I don't do googling outside the house and I feel safe outside

How far is he walking?

I would stick with an iPhone and maybe just get a second hand model. Intuitive to use and easier for you as you’re familiar with it. Find My great for tracking .

I would go with the Samsung A16 - my older son had it and it was a nice little phone. It also looks the part, without being too expensive.

My younger son has an my old iPhone (I use iPhone) and I have FAR more control over DS1’s Samsung with Google family link than I do over DS2 iPhone.

Google Family Link doesn’t work on iPhone, (by that I mean the parent app works fine on the parents iPhone but you can’t control another iPhone with it, you can only control an android phone) and the Apple parental controls are frustrating, clunky and not intuitive. There’s a lot of ‘all or nothing’ options whereas GFL is much more flexible and customisable.

By choice I’d go android everytime for a phone you need control over for that reason alone.

Nokia dumbphone.

My son walked to school without a phone at primary and foesnt always have his phone now he's older
Why does he need one?
If he doesn't arrive at school then school will contact you.

I’d get an iPhone from CEX it’s just easier to have the same