Anyone like to suggest a first phone for 11 year old?

[nothingcomestonothing]

I've said DD can have a phone for her birthday in September, but could do with some advice. I'm a very light phone user, got a basic Samsung which cost about £100 to buy outright on PAYG on Three, I probably only top it up about £30 a year! Any suggestions on something Android, not too pricey, which does all the stuff pre teens do (which I think is Zoom, WhatsApp, roblox and looking at YouTube but I might be behind on that), plus suggestions for the best contract or PAYG? I was just going to go for Three PAYG the same as I use, but I'm thinking DDs phone usage will be different to mine so that might not be the best choice. Any advice gratefully received!

The Nokia 5.3 gets good reviews for a budget first phone. I think it has Gorilla Glass. It shouldn't cost more than £150.

DD will probably want data and PAYG data gets expensive very fast.

My youngest has the £5 per month Lebara deal, which gets her 2GB data. As long as she learns to only stream video (YouTube, Tiktok, etc) when she's on wifi and to turn her data off when she isn't using teh network that should be pleanty.

Monki

Monqi *

Samsung A20 is good (I think dh has that one from work) or any of the Samsung A range. They are 160 new. I might get a used one reconditioned/refurb onethat has a 12 Month guaranteed on it if that is too expensive E.g Have a look at CEX but not sure if they do guarantees

Get one that is fairly newly released so it will last a few years.

I would get a data plan with free calls and texts and how ever much data you can afford. So she can all ways call or text you if she needs you. As a guide pay £15 a month for 15gb. I use about 1gb a month as mainly use WiFi unless I'm abroad. Have a look at your Internet provider and see if they can cut you a deal eg I know someone on sky who added a sim only deal for 5ish a month and I think that is about the right price.

And ...Make sure it is unlocked so can be used in any network

Thanks all, off to research those options while DD is out later. Thank you for giving me a place to start, I'm clueless!

Just had a quick look and mobiles. Co. Uk have a Samsung A21s for £12 /month and no upfront cost for a 24 month contract. More cost effective than buying outright. Get a case and screen protector.

I looked at Monqi, good in principle, but when I looked I got the impression that it was only available on phones that were about 3 years out of date, if you could get it at all.

Tesco do a Monqi specially tailored to first usage kids

www.tescomobile.com/monqi

Sony xperia. About £100 and pretty sturdy. Micro sd cards are cheap as chips. Rolling contract so it can used as leverage.

I wanted to get monqi - only trouble is I can't actually find them for sale anywhere. Does anyone know of UK supplier please? (tesco seems to have stopped do them).

Look at the Moto phones & get a cheap SIM deal, lots of places do them. We were with giffgaff but have recently switched as o2 had a better deal.

My kids are on Voxi. It used to be only available for under 25s but they’ve extended it now.

£10 a month for 6GB or £12 for 12GB plus unlimited social media & video streaming.