UK MNer with a child aged 7-11? Testers needed to try out new smartphone for kids - £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

[EllieMumsnet]

We have been asked by Monqi, to find 20 MNers with a child aged 7-11 who hasn’t owned a mobile phone before, to test out their new smart phone, specifically developed for children. All parents also need to have their own smartphone, - to manage what their child does on their phone.

Monqi is a brand new mobile phone for kids which will launch on October 1st.

Here’s what Monqi had to say: “When should I buy my child a mobile phone? How do I keep them safe online? What about the costs? And what games are appropriate? Monqi is the revolutionary new mobile for kids which addresses parental concerns while giving children a phone they want. Monqi, Stay Close.”

If selected to take part, your child will get an Android smartphone with games, messaging, internet and Apps.

You will be sent the smartphone along with an active SIM card that includes the following - valid for one month from activation: 150 mins calls, 5000 texts and 1GB data. (note: if there is any “suspect” use eg international Calls, Premium Rate Calls etc, the SIM may get barred).

If selected, you and your child will need to test out the smartphone for 2 weeks making use of all of its features. Testers will have help and support from the mobile network during this time if needed.

Once the trial is over the SIM will be cancelled, but you will be able to keep the smartphone.

Selected testers will be required to leave feedback on a thread as well as completing a short survey. All who give the required feedback will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list). This test will take place in September so please only apply if you’re around during this month and are able to give feedback then.

If you’d like to take part, please add your details here
We will be in touch with those selected.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Yes, we have had the disappointment over the lack of emojis too. I can't see why they would block those? Surely there is no safety element to that! You can use them within WhatsApp though which is where my son has no moved to, away from the inbuilt chat app as a result.

Can you guys do me a favour and see if we are glitching?
Try and download the ad free version of Cube defender. Are you asked for card details for a 15 day free trail which turns into 4.49 per month 😮 tried a few ad free games all the same pop up, no mention if this is per game or what.

As well as the emoji disappointment, we also have the disappointment of no talking phone (Siri, honor, google etc)

Theresnonamesleft - it is referring to the subscription to their jungle apps. From their website:

*The monqi jungle is a unique place. It has more than 700 apps all curated by monqi.

It is a first of it's kinds thanks to a subscription model that offers access to more than 500 apps all free to download for one monthly fee. The apps in our subscription are on GooglePlay payable premium apps or filled with adds, or in-app purchases. With monqi Jungle these are all free to download for one monthly fee. Works just like Netflix. We strongly encourage parents to try out the subscription club it completes the monqi experience and enforces no worries.

We also offer 150 free apps including social media apps, and other apps such as Spotify, netflix etc.*

So basically, to go ad free, you have to subscribe to their monthly club.

So, just to add more information...the phone we were sent is a phone you can purchase from amazon, carphone warehouse, etc. It is an android phone and costs around £89. Monqi have preinstalled their operating system to it and will be selling it for £149. So basically, you would be paying an additional £60 to have the restrictions that Monqi have set on it, including all the issues we have collectively found so far. Hmmmm.....so far I am not convinced.

Again, I really do think the concept is good. However, this was aimed at 7-11 year olds in the trail we are doing. 7 year olds probably wouldn't notice any of this. My 9 year old certainly has. And I think a 10 or 11 year old would be more disappointed at the lack of functionality that they would see on all their friend's phones.

Zombie derby 2 and Pixel heroes age 16 games.
Plus lots of 12 games.
But we cannot have emojis.

We have loaded the apps and made a start at customising the phone. I do think the phone looks great and ds was impressed it's bigger than my iphone6.

Ds is 10 and is overall delighted at having his hands on a phone... I noticed he was a bit disappointed about having no emojis and also his little sister pointed out there's no Siri too 🙄.

He has been happy taking photos and texting us so far. The problem I have found with texting is, his messages can only been seen if I go though the parent app and the notifications that there is a message don't always show. I do need to see if I can sort this out really, so will be in touch with them tomorrow.

I am found to investigate Pokémon go and other games available tonight.

Think because pictures are msm and providers usually charge outside any data allowance. Hence why a lot of people use WhatsApp.

Another thing we cannot find is how to create a play list. Yea I can download Spotify, but this again makes a farce of having a child phone as iirc there are no controls.

This concept is really odd. Cannot have emojis for unknown reasons, yet this phone is aimed at kids 11 or under. Yet we can download Facebook, Twitter, Instagram - all have a sign-up age of 13. Ok, I have to ok them, but it's bizarre that these are there when other apps and features aren't.

The more we play with the phone, the more frustrated we are getting.

Ds is getting really frustrated (and it's only 8.20am 😫).

He can't download some games he wants (like geometry dash (?) ) and also other games are asking for my debit card details and we aren't sure what to do about that ??

The other thing he has noticed is the volume is pretty low, so watching YouTube is a bit difficult. Can this be adjusted anywhere?

He has been trying to be press the little settings icon that pops up at the bottom, but nothing is happening.

Just a note....my 16 year old is a programmer and into cyber security (just did a course with GCHQ) which is why he is so interested in all this.....

So, two worrying things...ds1 has said that the phone is constantly sending its location to the parent app - a good thing so we can see where our child is. However, there is no information on whether this data is encrypted. So, for instance, if your child is out and about and you are sitting in a cafe on public wifi checking on them, if it is not encrypted then anyone else can see where your child is too. DS1 has emailed the help desk to ask about encryption, but they have not responded.

Second security issue - there seems to be no anti virus software/app on the phone. Android phones do not come with it pre-installed but you can download them from the play store. Except you can't on Monqi and there doesn't appear to be one built into their system.

Lots of the things we have mentioned up to this point are frustrations with functionality rather than worrying issues. I have to say though that the two above issues are really worrying to me. Now, maybe Monqi will come on here and say they have fixes to both of the above that we have not seen......

Update - I just had a long conversation with Frederik from Monqi who is the founder of the company. He was really helpful and I got the impression that he really listened to the (very very long!) list of feedback I had and questions.

Most importantly!! Emojis! They are there - here is how to access them. Press and hold the green return button on the keyboard then realise and all the emojis then show up.

He also confirmed that the location data is encrypted which is excellent. He took on board the need to include an anti virus app in the jungle store.

The limited functionality with some of the apps, and the choice of apps, with the issue of not being able to access google play store - he said this is a choice the parents make when buying the phone. He did take on board the need to be upfront and enable prospective phone purchasers to see the full list of apps they will or won't have access to.

He also explained that they are taking on board the feedback over things like the lock screen, being able to move things round on the home screen etc and will update the software in future.

Overall, he was very receptive so I want to say thanks again to him and Monqi.

The location thing, what we noticed yesterday it only updated when ds used the phone for something.
Today we are going to see what happens when he goes out of the a preset zone.

Update from a long email I sent
Update for a phone lock which can be overridden from the parent app, and a search function for the contacts will be released before September 25th.

Phone isn't locked to one network.

The upstroke where you see settings and nothing happens - it has been disabled so children cannot access this.

My 7 year old is impressed with the phone but to be honest he's just using it as a tablet to play games and watch YouTube.
It took a while to set up but he is able to use it independently. However my older DS is not fussed with it.

Hi all, please find a message from Monqi below answering your questions:

"So far thank you for all the comments - very insightful and helpful. We have been following on the sidelines and have talked with a couple of you in person. In summary:

1. Emojis: They are there ;-) . Just long press the return key on the keyboard (lower right corner of the keyboard)

2. Lock on child phone: We fully agree this is an important feature so thank you for pointing it out. For now only the parent can lock the phone. We are in the process of creating a child activated lock-screen for the childphone with the ability for the parent to override it.

3. Contacts: We will ensure that these can be sorted, and a search function implemented. We will also make sure that the child can edit contact picture without parental approval

4. Feedback on monqi jungle:
App glitches: We are sorry to hear that some of the apps - like pokemon - go is not working. We will investigate and ensure that individual app glitches are not happening.

Available apps in the store: It is always a tradeoff when deciding what to put in the store. Some users want their children to have access to Whatsapp, Facebook etc other's don't. In the end however it is always up to you as parents to decide what is right and you can do so through your monqi app. If there are apps that you want to be included in the store please send us the names and if rights permit we will include them. If we permitted access to Google Play as an example there would be no filter what so ever on the content.

Subscription cost and fees: The price of 4.49 is for one month of downloads and there is a 2 week free trial. Not for one app. We will on our web-site create a full overview of what apps are available for free and which ones are part of the subscription club. I urge all of you to try the subscription club as there is really great content there.

If you have any questions please reach us at [email protected] or check out our support site at: monqi.zendesk.com"

Another bug - when typing a message on my iPhone, the keyboard covers the part of the screen where the message appears, so I can't see what I'm typing!

NC to separate this from other posts.

I have a very excited DD! Her phone arrived today and she is really happy.

We were out when it was delivered so DH set it up ready for when we got back. Like other posters he commented on the flimsy back, he thinks it's similar to a previous Samsung model. He also suggested that it would be helpful to include a diagram about how to install the SIM / which slot to use.

It's great that it comes with a case and pre-fitted screen protector.

Phone has arrived, but I can't find an app in the iPhone store and the link on the website isn't working. Has anyone else found the app?

Also, some of you have mentioned a case and screen protector, did that come with the phone, as this one doesn't have that?

Also, no phone number for any help provided in the paperwork.

I use an iPhone. I just typed Monqi into the search box and it came up right away.

The screen protector is pre-installed on the phone. The case is a clear one that was just in the box.

Ok, ignore previous, found it now on iPhone, was trying to do via iPad too!