best first phone for an 11 year old?

jimbob_3

Hi,

i wonder if anybody can recommend a good first phone & network for an 11 year old -

(he has managed to eventually persuade us that he need one as he will be traveling 45 mins each way to get to secondary school in September!! :rolleyes:)

we dont want to spend loads but would like one that has:

* a reasonable camera & video recorder
* Bluetooth
* MP3 player

and possibly a sound recorder too :rolleyes:

Also most of his friends are on virgin - if that makes a difference

cheers

skylight

He is 11. Get him the cheapest one on Virgin that you can (as the running costs will be cheaper to his mates!) or the cheapest on the same provider as you. Stuff the components at the moment, its needs to make calls and texts.

Its highly likely that he going to lose/break it. If he doesn't then its great - he will have shown responsibility and reliability over it and then you can get a better one in a years time or so.

DigitalJedi

I agree, give him a cheapo one that costs like a fiver first. If he really needs a phone he'll accept it. If its a fashion accessory he should earn it.

Personally I think its damaging to your own wallet to start an 11 year old on a good phone and at that age I also think he should earn things.

jamespir

i dont think that any child needs a phone i would wait till hes 16 then buy him one let him do well in his exams and the get it as a reward

jimbob_3

Thank you for all the replies so far .....

although i was really looking for some guidance as to what the best phone would be .......rather than the comments on whether or not he should have one -

but thanks for responding anyway

horsepills

jamespir wrote: »

i dont think that any child needs a phone i would wait till hes 16 then buy him one let him do well in his exams and the get it as a reward

The OP didn't ask for your opinion as to whether or not he should buy his child a mobile, but as usual there's always someone who knows better than the parents themselves. :rolleyes:

jamespir

horsepills wrote: »

The OP didn't ask for your opinion as to whether or not he should buy his child a mobile, but as usual there's always someone who knows better than the parents themselves. :rolleyes:

i was giving a honets opinion if you didnt like it tuff mate :rotfl:

horsepills

jamespir wrote: »

i was giving a honets opinion

he didn't ask for your opinion though, did he supernanny? :rotfl:

stokefan

jamespir wrote: »

i dont think that any child needs a phone i would wait till hes 16 then buy him one let him do well in his exams and the get it as a reward

i think you will find th op gave there reasons why the child will be having a mobile, but i will buy him a do well in his phone

where can you get them from???

could you please pass me one down whilst you up on that high horse of yours???

cheers

Fork86

What's your budget? And are you looking at giving him a pay monthly phone or pay as you go? (You will be able to limit his spend with the latter).

His friends being on virgin makes no difference as it is a flat rate to call all networks and landlines (20p/min on virgin and vodafone) and not cheaper to call the same network.

I had to choose a phone for my 14 year old sister in law on a pay as you go basis and ended up with a Samsung J700 (black) for around 27 quid on vodafone (£37 with £10 credit).

She has no issues with the phone and it doesn't look half bad for the price. It seemed the best out of the bunch in that price range, and ticks all the boxes for your criteria.

It also has a micro sd card slot for expandable memory, which should be useful adjunct to the MP3 player. Not sure how good the sound quality is as I have not personally listened to any music on it. The 1.3MP camera might seem a bit dated by todays standards, but you can do a lot worse.

You should be able to pick it up on dialaphone and possibly find a free delivery code on the net.

If you trust him to be responsible on the pay monthly and not stray over the call and text allowances, there are some decent phones you can pick up for free from £8.50 a month over a 12 month contract on virgin (LG cookie, 3MP camera and touch screen).

Sorry about the long post! Hope it helped.

iwanttosave_2

I'd get a very cheap one, less chance of him getting attacked for it.