reasonable phone for a teenager??

[Vik555]

I've said I'll get my son a phone for Christmas. He's only ever had second-hand phones passed down from his dad. But he's in year 10 now so I thought it could be a good age to get his own phone. I'm not a techy person, seems like a huge waste of money to me, but I appreciate that these things are more important to other people. I don't want to get top of the range, obviously, but neither do I want him to be the one who always has the worst phone amongst his friend. I've asked him to ask his friends (I don't really know their parents myself) - so have come to mum's net to see the range of opinions. P.S it will probably be an iphone. Any feedback appreciated...

I’ve just bought my DS an iPhone 11 for his 14th birthday. There are some good deals now the 12 has come out. Or the iPhone SE has good reviews but has a smaller screen. My DS likes to watch YouTube etc so I went for the slightly bigger screen.

We all have Samsung phones. Think kids still have S7's and dh and I have S10's. They have no desire to have iPhones

I have an SE, DH has an 11 but my Dcs would not want an iPhone.

DD1 is nearly 16 and recently bought herself the new iPhone SE. She's very happy with it and likes that it does all the things the more expensive iPhones do but didn't take her forever to save for. It's admired by friends too which is a winner in her eyes.

It really depends what your budget is.

We are an apple house, we have iPhones/iPads etc. I have dh's old 5SE, dh has ds's old iPhone 7, ds got an iPhone 11 last year and if it lasts 3 years, which it should, he'll be over 18 and it is hopefully the last phone we will buy him.

Just buy whatever the highest / latest iPhone you can afford/get hold of.

Look at refurbished phones too. My DC have only ever had hand me downs from me or a refurbished phone.

Both mine have Nokia's on a Tesco £7.50 a month contract, they get 5000 minutes, same for texts and 500mb data which suits them fine.
I'm loathe to get them a fancier model because they are forever leaving them in places they shouldn't

@DebraTheSuperMum

I absolutely insist on you NOT getting your child one of those monsters!! My oldest son (the best most intelligent boy in the world if I may say so myself) has gone 17 years without any technology whatsoever. Giving your child such a nasty entering into adultery, drugs and violence at that age is so irresponsible!! SHAME!!

😂😂😂

@DebraTheSuperMum 🤣🤣 totally super mum status for you!

I’d go for an iPhone 11, pretty reasonable at the moment since the new 12 came out. You can get some good contracts.

Make sure you buy a shatterproof screen, saves the screen when it is dropped constantly! And a decent cover for it too

Ask him. Unless he is totally immune to trends he will know what he wants. The SEs are good if he likes smaller screens. Refurbished offers great deals.

Dd1 year 11 has an iPhone SE. She is very happy with it as it’s a recently released model, and I’m happy with it as doesn’t cost the earth.

Dd2 Year 8 has an iPhone 6s. It’s starting to die and she really doesn’t look after her phones In the way dd1 has always done (Cracked screens, dropped in water etc!). I was going to get her an SE like her sister, but I might just give her my iPhone 7 and have the newer one myself!

I'm surprised he doesn't have a very strong opinion of his own.
Which might need negotiating down in light of your budget of course.

Thanks for all the feedback. Yes he has his own ideas - the iphone 12 that's coming out, albeit the cheaper one in the range. He did come up with a convincing argument about future proofing it. But based on conversations here, I'll probably go for the 11 - still future-proofed but a lot cheaper. I don't think at his age he should have the latest state-of-the-art phone. Though I'll probably give him the option of paying the difference himself if he really does want the 12 - he has a lot of saved up money that he never spends. Yes that's what I'll do. Thanks to all!

Can recommend the OPPO A9 2020. Make sure you get insurance and use a screen protector and a good case

Go to somewhere like CEX and get the best / most recent iPhone you can- cex offer secondhand phones but they have 2 year warranties on them. Then get a SIM only plan from o2 or giffgaff. That’s what we’ve done with dd aged 17.

I have an iPhone SE and am happy with it. It only costs £26 a month with unlimited calls, texts and around 30GB data. Might be cheaper now as I got it just as it was released.

Have you got a good hone yourself. I added another phone to my contract for my DD she's got an IPhone XR

dementedpixie

How did you get children who don't want phones?

DS is in year 10 and has one of the around £120 Samsung phones. He's happy with it, it does everything he needs it for.

Sky have some fab Black Friday deals on iphones at the mo

Affordable mobiles have some really good deals on phones. Or look at one of the comparison sites. I wouldn't go to a network direct although that said there may be some good offers on Black Friday.

I just bought my daughter a new iPhone 11 outright for Xmas for £499. That was with a cash back deal with very but I think that offer has ended.

My 12 year old has an iPhone XS. I got a very good deal on it. Most of her friends have similar. A few have top of the range. It's still current enough to have a few years before not being updated.