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

I have a 6S and it seems ok, not logging me out. My son hasn't used it yet as he's away at grandma's but the battery life doesn't seem brilliant even if it's not being used. Anyone else found this?

I'm on an iPhone 6 and not being logged out of the app at all.

As above

WellI continue to be logged out a couple of times a day which is not only irritating to have to re log in but also means I don't get any notifications.

Have you updated the app Wifi? It was a fox for issues. Unlike other iPhone apps though the update did log me out.

I just checked the update list on my phone and it did update today which could have caused the log out. However, it logged me out yesterday too and does not show as having updated that day.

I've been lucky enough to be selected. DD is about to turn 9 and I've always said no phone until she's in yr 6 but she does like to play out with some local friends, so a phone is good. I like that you control completely what they do with it.

Does the phone actually have a phone number or can you just add contacts. Plus I can send a message to the phone but can't seem to find how to call DD. If I try calling from the monqi phone it keeps saying no network and just won't call. And I can't work out how to call DD from the monqi app. I'd prefer a phone number to use. I suspect even though we get to keep the phone, we'll have to pay to use Monqi - not sure how much that will be.

Just released the emoji's

Can I check whether emojis would usually cost extra to send? DH had an android phone where each emoji message cost 30p

MrsArch, the sim is active so you should be able to call. I got DD's number by calling my own phone from hers. Are you perhaps out of network coverage?

30p for an emoji 😮 I kick myself when I accidentally send a text with an image and get charged 10p.

Mrsarch if you go onto car phone warehouse website and look for area coverage for their iD network to see if you are in their area.
Also when you added your number to the phone did you use the app to approve it?

Mrsarcher I asked Monqi how to find the phone number but had no response from them. Once they activated the SIM properly I called myself from the Monqi phone to find out the number.

You can also find it out in "Overview", if you touch the photo of your child, the phone number comes up then.

I hope we are not charged to use Monqi once the trial is over. I shall be sending the phone back if so!

I will put it on to PAYG or cheap monthly SIM once the trial is over, but would not be able to afford a monthly subscription to Monqi. I presumed it is all part of buying it as a PAYG phone if you were to purchase it that way.

Very efficient service though, have received a new charging lead today.

Hi all

Monqi have asked us to share the below with you to help answer your queries:

"Thank you all for all your great feedback and insight!

Just a reminder that your DS/DD has their own SIM card meaning that they have their own phone number. All the information should be on the letter you received. If you are not sure of the number, please reach out directly to the monqi's Mumsnet Testers support email.

If you are getting logged out in the parent app on your iPhone, please make sure that you are updated to the latest version (you might get logged out after the update). If you are not receiving notifications, please make sure that they are permitted for the app on your Android or iPhone, and again please make sure you have the latest version.

Mumsnet Testing Task:
We'd like to ask you to test some features on the phone, and gauge your feedback on the usefulness. Today, we'd like you to test App Time Restrictions - this feature enables you to set the amount of time your DS/DD spends playing games. To learn how to do this, visit here. Looking forward to your feedback!

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

Ds is getting on well with the phone. He has one contact who isn't family and has enjoyed texting and playing games.

On a day out today, he took his phone and sent me a text on his way home. I didn't get a notification to my usual messages and only got a notification to monqi app when I opened the phone after he'd returned home. Messages sent to my husband go to his usual messages and he gets normal notifications.

I have checked and all notification alerts are turned on:

Testing Task

I very stupidly managed to set the browser to 0 time when I set the phone up. I can confirm it works .

I have set up all the games with a limit on. Great idea. The only other thing I would like is a way of remotely turning off the phone from the parent phone at bedtime.

It is annoying that texts can only go through the Monqi app. I have sent a text through iphone text, but the reply will not come through there. I don't want to have to go to the app every time I want to text DD. Is there a setting/way around this, so texts can be texts?

Also, did I dream it or was there a message/email giving us a free trial on the app store? Can't find it anywhere

App time feedback - When in the Usage control and set the app activity to say an hour a day, you hit back and it goes back to the previous screen and you can see what you have set it to but if you then go back in to app activity, it has gone back to 00. It loses the value. It doesn’t do this in other options.

It also took me a while to notice that the time limit set on apps is separate to the overall app time limit so I was giving DS half an hour but as he could play each app for half an hour, he could actually be playing games for hours. We've now set the total limit lower much to his disgust.

"The only other thing I would like is a way of remotely turning off the phone from the parent phone at bedtime." I believe you can set restrictions on times the phone will work. Which is good or else DS would be up mega early to play!

All other feedback so far -

1. When saving a schedule without specifying a name, it says “you need to give the geofence a name” It should day “ you need to give the schedule a name”.
2. There doesn’t seem to be a way to restrict the times on wifi. You can restrict data though.
3. Monqi chat – No sound alert when messages arrive on parents phone. In fact, without logging in to the app (which takes ages!) I can’t see a message alert at all. I get a little green monqi logo if I am logged in when a messages arrives but nothing if not. Not very good in an emergency!.
4. No way to change a contact picture after it’s been set up
5. Have set the ‘Bubbles’ wallpaper repeatdely but never shows. Have tried non-moving wallpapers too but it is only ever the leaves.
6. When in the Usage control and set the app activity to say an hour a day, you hit back and it goes back to the previous screen and you can see what you ahve set it to but if you then go back in to app activity, it has gone back to 00. It loses the value. It doesn’t do this in other options.
7. In the activity timeline, there can be multiple entries for the same app within the same minute. Say for example where he’s been in Browser for 40 seconds, then come out and immediately gone back in again. This makes the list very long. It would be better for thse to be merged.
8. Parent’s app shows messages he’s sent but not those he’s recieved. This could be a problem if the child is being bullied.
9. Doesn’t seem to make a noise when ringing or when texts arrive.
10. If you try to send a picture in the text messaging app, it says “You can not send a picture througt SMS”.
11. Why does it create a folder on my phone called “MikeLau”?
12. Creating overlapping schedule intervals gives the error “You can not create a interval with start time higher or equal then last”. Should be “an interval” and “than”, and perhaps “last” should say “end time”.
13. Creating a schedule looses the Start time when you go back in to check the schedule.
14. Creating a schedule with 2 intervals gives an error saying the intervals overlap, when the 1st interval is set at 20:00 to 23:55 and the 2nd internal is 00:00 to 08:00.

I've updated the app but now it crashes whenever I try to look at messages. As the update was supposed to solve the problem of me not getting any notifications when DS messages me, this is definitely a step in the wrong direction as I can't see messages at all now!

App Time feedback - I set it to 10 minutes overall and gave the phone to DD and told her to play some games for 15 mins. She came to show me the phone after 10 mins, and the apps had stopped working and were greyed out.

This is a fab idea, and you can set the apps individually, and also overall time too.

We tested the app time restrictions which worked fine, but seems a little harsh to close down the game with no warning. Would be good to have a notification eg 'You have two minutes left on this app ' to give the child a chance to finish their level / save / etc.

We have already had an accident.
I had 2 phones in my bag. iPhone and the Monqi. Both have screen protectors, a similar back cover.
The iPhone survived when I dropped my bag. It wasn't a big drop, the bag was on my bed. The Monqi, however, has a crack. It's still usable. The phone needs decent protection because they will get dropped.

I love the app time restrictions, set them today and DS shouted "mum the phones not working", I agree with another poster about a 5 minute warning would be useful as its a bit brutal to suddenly just stop! Overall though a useful function.

Is SnapChat not allowed?