Which mobile for new y7 boy?

[MrsRichards]

He's not had a mobile before and I said I'd get him one when he starts year 7, this September as he'll be travelling alone.

Where do I start? PAYG or pay monthly? Blackberry or other? (NB he's not having an iPhone!)

Any useful advice welcome, thanks!

I am impressed that he doesn't have own firm views. Might be better to wait until he does.
DD is starting yr7, she wants a Samsung Galaxy. Nokia might be okay. Must be touchscreen or have a tiny fully keyboard (stupid design).

I'm looking at getting my Y7 DD a Galaxy S3 Mini. £15 a month for a two-year contract on TalkMobile.

lljkk - he does, he wants an iPhone! He has no experience of mobiles to know what's available. I have iPhone and DH has blackberry so that's all he knows.

My DS2 has just finished year 7, and he's got a basic Nokia brick on PAYG.

He says most of his friends have smartphones, but not everyone (contrast to a couple of years ago when most had basic phones and only a few had smartphones). He was nagging for an upgrade, but we've fended it off (in return for better laptop that lives at home!)

I suggest that if it's his first phone, you start with a brick, but dangle prospect of upgrade once he's kept it safe and used it sensibly for an agreed period. Then choose the smartphone that is covetable amongst his peer group. And install a device-based filter (like the excellent free K9) as this is the time when preteens start egging each other on to look up all sorts of stuff if they have Internet connectivity.

Snorbs - that's useful, thanks

Is Talk the provider? We have v poor network coverage here. O2 and Orange are fine but people tell us other network providers have no signal

I'm hopeless at this . I need to be better prepared before I go into car phone warehouse!

Maybe start with a cheap payg and see how he gets on. Be annoying if he lost an expensive contract one?

Fab advice med - please tell me more !

PS which kind of brick btw? Like my favourite Nokia 3310 I used to have?

TalkMobile is Carphone Warehouse's "own brand" mobile network. It piggy-backs on Vodafone's network.

DS1 would say anything that's not a Blackberry or an iPhone. Either or those just have too high a resale value so regularly go missing at his school.

He had a brick for the first term and a half, managed not to lose it, so we upgraded him to a three year old touchscreen. He managed not to lose or break that either, so mid-way through Y8 we bought him half a Lumia for his 13th birthday (he paid the other half).

We have been paying for texts and calls but not internet access (his phone can use our Wi-fi at home). We have decided to fund 3G for him for the duration of the summer holidays, as a reward for consistently sensible online behaviour.

This is K9 for when you crack and get a smartphone!

I don't know offhand which brick handset he has - it was whichever one was the cheapo basic this time last year. I can check tomorrow.

He's on O2 because I am - it's a deal that if you top up a certain amount monthly, you get free calls/texts to other O2 phones, our thinking being that even if he uses up all his credit he can still get hold of me. I should imagine other networks do similar.

DD1 has just finished Yr 7 and is on her 3rd mobile! One got left on the bus and never returned, the other was taken out of her PE bag. She's only had the very basic £9 Nokia phone from Tesco, I pay £7.50 a month for a capped 100 minutes and 5 thousand text messages on a rolling 30 day contract. They use O2 and I've had nothing but good experiences with their customer services.

As compensation, she has a tablet which means she can Skype and do the usual teenage girl things in the house without having a high value item in her school bag. If you believe her, every other friend has an iphone or a touch screen of some sort. I don't believe her. I have promised her an upgrade if she can keep her phone safe for a specific period.

I would recommend a Samsung Ch@t 222, it's not a smartphone but it looks like a blackberry, it costs about 20 quid and I use it as a spare phone eg when I go camping where I know that it is quite resilient. It looks enough like a blackberry to be cool but enough like a cheap Samsung that it is unlikely to be nicked.

My DS2 has just finished Y11 with the same phone he got when he started Y7! It was the cheapest in the shop at around £10 or £15. It's always been on PAYG to keep him aware of his usage, and he pays for top ups from his pocket money. No one wants to steal it! Amongst his friends, it has gone through 'naff' and has now reached cool iconic status! I think for so many reasons you can't go wrong with a really cheap phone? Good luck with whatever you decide.

Can second the Tesco SIM onky rolling month contract. both my DDs on it. 10 yr old on the £7.50 a month with the Samsung Chat. Think phone was £40 last year.
15 yr old £10 per month, more minutes + data. Recently got Huawei smartphone, after great reviews and me refusing her an iPhone. Loves it. paid around £80 at CPW,. Well worth considering if you want to stretch to a smartphone.

With Tesco monthly,wWhen more than one family member in same account, they can each get a chosen freebie. So DD2 gets 250mb data, DD1 gets extra 150 mins.

The Tesco £7.50 package is the one that DS1 has. We have been happy with it.

A very basic PAYG. I would never get into a contract-they have to wait until they can afford their own.

OK - if you were a basic Nokia phone, kindly lent by owner to his mother as hers needed charging, and were now hiding, where would you be?

Yup, I've lost his phone. It's in the house somewhere, but goes straight to voicemail. It's not in the bags I was carrying, nor in the pockets of the trousers I was wearing. Nor it is by the places I normally empty pockets. Aargh.

He's been giving me Very Pitying looks, and is positively relishing telling me off for being careless.

Ds1 got a phone last year when he started yr7. Samsung Galaxy Ace, on contract with insurance from car phone warehouse. I pay £17 a month but that counts as some of his pocket money. He dropped it last week, took it to carphone warehouse last night and brand new one arrived first thing this morning. Very impressed! I think the actual tariff is about £11 or £12 but they have lots of reasonable options. Would def get the insurance tho!!

Tesco fab tariffs but not great coverage where we live - do check first!

cheap and cheerful is best for Y7 - nothing too flash or desirable..... nothing linked to a credit card or uncapped usage - main reason for them in Y7 is parents peace of mind.

Our school suggested plain ordinary text/calls only phone for Y7, and I'm pleased to say that (apart from the usual suspects) most have stuck to this..

I'd agree with Meditrina, Mummy1973, 3B1G, Mindgone, Exotic Fruits and MadeOf.....
Mine older two started Yr7 with a £9.50 PAYG from Tescos - neither have been ostracised for being uncool.
My dd2 (starting Yr7 this year) will get the same.

All have PAYG to begin with - up to them once they start earning their own money.

Virgin Mobile have v cheap tariffs for sim only montly rolling contracts. They start at £7.50 but for £10 a month my DS has 250 mins, unlimited texts and 1GB data.

Virgin Mobile uses the Orange/T-Mobile network.

DD1 has just finished year 7 and has basic small brick Nokia. They don't need smart phones, the phone is there for emergencies only.

It helps that I don't have a smart phone either though, we get no nagging that way.

I've told DD1 that subject to continued family economic prosperity she will be getting a 3DS for Christmas and some sort of tablet the Christmas after - she's happy with that.

plain ordinary text/calls only

You mean a phone that doesn't even have a camera? that the kids all go along with that.

where to buy the Samsung Chat 222 for less than £60?

I can't find Samsung Galaxy Ace for less than £109... Mini S3 is like £160?? I refuse to spend more than £20 including delivery.

DD is looking at phones that cost £59ish, will be a joint Bday-Xmas prez from grandparents. I will probably put her on Giffgaff.