What mobile phone for 13 yo?

[GeorgeEliot]

What to get ds a new phone for birthday coming up. He has had a cheapo £20 pay-as-you-go phone which I bought him last year when he started secondary school, as he had to get the bus there and back and we needed to be able to contact each other if one of us was late for the pickup.

However he won't use it at all, because obviously it is not cool - some of his friends have iPhones. He wants something with games on which will keep him entertained on his long bus journey - and I want to be able to contact him.

There is no way we can afford an iPhone, but dh thinks an Android would be OK (i.e. cool enough)- will spend up to £100 for birthday present.

Can anyone who has been in a similar situation recommend something which has worked for them?

Thanks!

Blackberries seem to be the thing for that age around here. We got the phone free with a £15/month contract at Tesco.

But that is £180 a year! I think that is way too much money - he doesn't need mobile email, will only use phone for a bit of texting, and for games, and maybe internet.

Blackberry is the phone to have round here - I think it is to do with BBM.

You could consider a second hand iphone from ebay - that would have apps to keep him occupied.

The problem with an expensive phone is that it makes him a target sadly.

DS (12) has a Samsung Mini last year it was about £100. It's on pay as you go and he seems v happy with it. DH says they are cheaper than that now. But sadly all his friends got a Blackberry for Christmas.

Watching with interest.

Have posted previously about DD's mobile phone sagas, which are still unresolved.

I am currently thinking of a SIM only deal - but it's what happens when they lose/break the phone that's a pain in the backside.

I now have DS to consider, too.

Watching with interest too, as I have a DS in Y7 with a cheap phone. Me and DH have cheap phones. I really hope I don't end up giving in to his demands and buying him a Blackberry or similar. We don't have a lot of money, it will probably get lost or stolen, and, in anything, he needs to spend less time staring at screens, not more. I really, really resent having to buy expensive and pointless stuff like that. The question is, can he survive the peer pressure?

My DD's phone was once crushed by a big lass at her school who sat on it at lunchtime.

Well as DD3 (20) has managed to lose the phone she got for Christmas it was a Samsung galaxy mini. I don't think I would buy a 13 year old an expensive phone. DD3 might be able to redeem herself as she left it in a room at college and a friend told her his friend had found a phone and handed it in. DD3 has some learning difficulties which make her more like a 15 year old. Your 13 year old could be more sensible with her things then she is.

Ds1 (16) has a Blackberry curve on contract from virgin media @£10.99 a month. It was a Christmas pressie a year ago and cheaper than he was with a payg.