A phone for a teenager

mr_skinflint

Hi everyone
I'd like to get my 13 year old girl a new phone for christmas but have no idea what phone or contract to get. I'm not sucked into the whole iphone thing as I was wanting to stay below £25 per month, so was thinking of going for a Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 which have great reviews. I'm prepared to buy the handset up front if that works out more cost effective and maybe even go for a sim only contract. The other improtant variables are, how much data is a typical requirement for someone who uses the phone mainly for texts and social networking?

all advice would be gratefully received.

regards
MS

Emy1501

mr_skinflint wrote: »

Hi everyone
I'd like to get my 13 year old girl a new phone for christmas but have no idea what phone or contract to get. I'm not sucked into the whole iphone thing as I was wanting to stay below £25 per month, so was thinking of going for a Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 which have great reviews. I'm prepared to buy the handset up front if that works out more cost effective and maybe even go for a sim only contract. The other improtant variables are, how much data is a typical requirement for someone who uses the phone mainly for texts and social networking?

all advice would be gratefully received.

regards
MS

Ace 2 gets good reviews and is probably one of the better phones for about £150. The G300 at £100 is probably the best value but isn't going to be seen as cool.

As long as your daughter isn't going to watch videos etc then something like Virgin's 1200 mins 5k text and 1gb data should be enough at £12.

If you want cap the bills then tesco's do decent deals.

I would avoid providers who do not a least cap their daily data charges as you can potentially end up with a very large bill

I would also avoid where possible tie contracts stick to monthly contracts. You can then cancel if there are any problems unlike 2 year tie ins

Herongull

Based on my experience and various posts on this forum, there are two golden rules relating to phones for children or young teens.

1/ If you buy a teen or child an expensive phone, you make them a target for muggers. Responsible parents get their children cheap but very nice phones. There are several great android phones for around £50 or so if you look round.

2/ Never let a child have unsupervised access to a contract phone (and don't even think of giving them one). Children and contract phones don't mix.

Children (with "help" from their "friends") can inadvertently use contract phones to sign up to expensive products and services (by clicking on a website ad or responding to a junk text) which the contract owner (=you) will be billed for.

If a child's contract phone is lost or stolen and it is not reported immediately, the contract owner (=you) can be billed for hundreds or even thousands of £ worth of expensive calls, texts and data.

And if the child takes a contract phone on holiday phone abroad (especially if outside the EU), be prepared for a bill of hundreds if not thousands of £ for their holiday use.

There are several PAYG operators with cheap/great value bundles, so you don't need to put your child and your finances at risk in this way.

And if the child has to budget their usage or choose between texts and free instant messaging using the home WiFi, then surely it is good for them to have a little responsibility and to acquire wise spending habits.

competitionhound

Hi

Carphone Warehouse has a page on its website that might just have the information you are looking for, it's a user-friendly advice section. (Not too sure if I can post links, but I'll try anyway.)

http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/dm/our-big-promises-to-you?intcmp=HP_APR_bnr_promises

Malky

First off, deciding on what contract is a no brainer, none. Secondly, the Huawei G300 from Tesco should be plenty good for a 13 year old. Pop in a PAYG sim and get it capped at a suitable and affordable amount per month. When the credit has gone, it's gone. This will teach your daughter some responsibility about how money works and how she can't make endless calls and texts without having to think about how it's being paid for.

albionrovers

My 14yo and 12yo have contracts and never go over their 15/month tariffs. It can be done you know ..... unlikely I know

sweetme

My 15 and 16 year olds also both have contracts. Tesco do capped ones. Theirs are £15 a month and if they use their minutes/texts/internet before the end of the month their service stops. It then re-starts the next month. They can top it up if they wish though.

Blackberry's are all the rage with teenagers here.

shazza39

I've just got new phone for my daughter....blackberry bold 9900 in white, no charge for handset (worth about £300) £21.50 per month with 02, unlimited texts, 500mb blackberry data, unlimited wifi, 200mins per month, 200 free calls to any other phone on 02 network. I got it through dial-a-phone, ordered on the Wednesday and arrived on the Friday. I ordered it through Topcashback and got £51 cash back.

My advice would be to look at Dial a phone for any contract, prices can't be beaten if you go through the providers.

Rebecca01

albionrovers wrote: »

My 14yo and 12yo have contracts and never go over their 15/month tariffs. It can be done you know ..... unlikely I know

Same with my step daughter. Well not in the last two years anyway. ( touch wood)

She has had the lecture on using it in public to.

Guess everythings a risk though.

robbies_gal

lol love it go and get a free phone for your daughter on contract dont wory about how much it will end up costing you

wotever u do get a capped contract at least or just payg sorry to all others who think its ok too get a 12 year old a contract but i dont

forgotmyname

Got my daughter a Galaxy S2. Its an amaziing phone, Better than an Iphone to me.

On contract for just over £20 a month with the latest price increase. Never gone over her limits in the past 3 years of having a contract phone.

Make sure you install software to monitor usage. And make THEM aware that anything over they pay for.

Ours are not insured. If anything happens to them its down to the shop for the cheapest phone you can get until the next upgrade.