Best first mobile phone

[hannahbanana2007]

Sorry if this has already been posted, can't see how to search! My son is going to be 11 in December so for Christmas I'm finally giving in and getting him a mobile before he starts secondary school next year. However I'm stumped by all the options - contract vs PAYG vs SIM only etc. I don't want to spend a fortune as it will inevitably get lost/broken. Thinking more towards PAYG so it's not taken for granted. However, I'm an iPhone user (and no way I'm paying that much!) so not used to android - any recommendations for a cheap smartphone? Have been looking at Moto e20 and Alcatel 1 on Tesco mobile but no idea how easy to use they are or any potential pros/cons?

DS has the Redmi Note 10 and I’m really impressed not least as it only cost about £110 and does everything

My daughter has a redmi 9at. It costs £10 a month and she loves it. I have it as an added contract to my account. It has a cap of £10 a month so she can't spend over, she gets 4 g of data and the best thing is I get a notification and have to approve any apps she wants to install. I'm with three mobile.

I bought phones outright for mine, think ds1 had an Alcatel for a couple of years and dd has had a redmi for many 3 years now which still works fine.

I use Google family link such is really flexible, you can set limits for individual apps as well as overall screen time and so that you have to approve apps etc.

Me and DH are in giffgaff so we did the same with the dc, they have the cheapest deal at £6 a month, which includes plenty of calls and enough data for when they are not on WiFi.

Ah thanks I haven't heard of the redmi so will
look into that now. The idea of the spending cap is useful to know as well!

Op Iook at a sim only deal and pay the phone outright.

I currently pay £22 for 3 sims a month on a family deal. I looked at PAYG and they all seemed to want to you to pay monthly for data so it seemed like a contract with a spend cap was just as easy.

We are all on Android and use family link. I'm not sure how well that works with you being on Apple. I'm sure Apple have similar software but you might be better sticking with Apple second hand or SE version.

I can answer that Family link Apple to android works fine.