Deals for non-smart mobile phones?

[1sttodie]

Perhaps an unusual question but I'm hoping someone can advise me. A situation has just arisen which means that I need to get my Y6 son his first mobile phone this weekend. As the high school he will start in September does not allow smart phones on its premises, I'm planning to get him a non-smart mobile. (He's thrilled, haha!). I have an old one that still seems to work so will probably opt for a SIM-only contract. Any idea what providers offer decent deals where internet is not needed? Thank you.

Just look for sim-only contracts with minutes and texts but no/low data. U-switch is a good resource. Should be cheap, I pay £6 a month for unlimited calls and texts and a decent amount of data.

Or you could look at pay as you go if he's not making many outgoing calls or texts.

Thanks, @dew141 I had a look online but struggled to find no data deals. Comparison sites are definitely helpful though. I thought Pay As You Go no longer existed: I will check that out then as it would be perfect until September. You're getting a fantastic deal with £6 a month incl. data!

Having a quick look, Asda and Smarty look the cheapest at £5 a month for unlimited calls and texts and a little bit of data.

The other thought I had was the piggybank type contracts. My kids were both on Sky mobile and I think any unused data went into a piggy bank that either could draw on in future months. So perhaps you could benefit from your son's unused data.

Having had a quick look, some of the pay as you go options seem more like a sim-only monthly contract in disguise. Having checked with my husband who works in this sector, apparently the old pay as you go setups are more rare (although still offered by a few providers) and they're more of a monthly pack setup now.

We use Lebara - it is £4.95 a month but was cheaper for first few months. It was a deal through Uswitch.

ASDA PAYG.

Do they really 'not allow' or is it more 'off, out of sight, in bag'?

I think I paid around £20 for the Nokia phone and £36 for a year of unlimited texts and calls with Penny Mobile. There's no point in getting data for a dumb phone.

Are you sure it's not allowed at all. The school my DS is going to they're not allowed to use them during school time ( including break) but they recognise that most children are travelling alone so say they have to be turned off and in lockers or bags out of sight.

It's unlikely that high school students won't have smart phones. They just have to keep them turned off in bags surely? Plus your DS may want to use a phone outside school hours.

Thank you, all. You've been very helpful. Comes September, I will start one of the mentioned contracts for around £5 a month. Great that there are several providers offering this. Or the £36 yearly option sounds great! For the temporary need that we have next week, I have now bought from a corner shop a £1 SIM card and £5 voucher valid for 30 days. As it's Easter weekend, and the phone will be needed from Tuesday morning, I wanted to go to a physical shop. They fitted the new SIM for me (which took a little while as the phone is so old!) and checked that all is working well.

@dew141 Yes, the type of PAYG I had in mind was where the credit doesn't expire - which is what I used many moons ago when my credit rating was too poor for a contract. Now that PAYG credits only last 30 days, your husband is right that there isn't much difference with a monthly contract. Such a shame really as this means that users with very low usage, or only wanting a mobile for emergencies, are forced to pay far more than they should - or have to go without.

As to how rigid the school rules are, here is what their Code of Conduct (which we've had to sign) says:

"Year 7 and 8 pupils must not bring into school mobile phones or watches with internet access or a camera. Any pupils found with such devices will have them confiscated and their parents will have to collect them."

I assume this means Y9+ students are allowed to bring in a smart phone. However, any electronics must be kept out of sight:
"If a teacher sees a mobile phone or another piece of electrical equipment, it will be confiscated [...] "

Whether the rules are strongly enforced is another matter! But to be honest, I'm quite happy for my son to follow the rules. Although of course, as you can imagine, he is desperate to get a smartphone. Most of his friends already have one - or so he says!

Whichever phone you buy your son, please make sure that it definitely supports calls made over a 4G network.
All the major UK networks (apart from O2) are closing their 3G networks in the next year (Vodafone have already started).
This means that any phones which don't support 4G for voice calls will end up using the 2G network which could get congested and cause calls to fail.
Note - this doesn't apply to "3" as they've never had a 2G network so if you're on "3" and don't have a phone that supports 4G calls, you'll find you won't be able to make calls once they've switched off their 3G network.

I'm guessing that it's probably mostly children and elderly/less tech savvy people who will have phones that don't support 4G voice.

You can find more info here:
"3" https://www.three.co.uk/support/network-and-coverage/our-plans-to-switch-off-3g
Vodafone https://www.vodafone.co.uk/help-and-information/3g-switch-off
EE (also applies to BT) https://ee.co.uk/3g-switch-off
Plusnet don't support 4G calls so your calls will go to 2G

Also, if you're not with one of the major networks, you can check which major network your mobile supplier uses here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mobiles/piggybacking/