Kid friendly cell phones?

[NorthernZel]

Yes, it's another "please recommend a phone" thread! But not for me, for Li'l Zel.

Now, Li'l Zel is 7 (almost 8) years old, so it might seem a little early for that, but we feel that he gets more out playing and/or visiting friends, so it'd be nice if a) he can call us and tell us where he is, and b) we can check up on him if needed, for instance if my commute is delayed so I won't make it home before he arrives home from school.

So I and Mr Zel agreed that we might buy him a cellphone for his birthday in a couple of months, but which one to choose...

Our criteria are as follows:

• Must be at a reasonable price
• Preferrably a smartphone, but not TOO smart - room for a couple of apps would be OK but no need for multiple GBs
• Droid operated as our other phones + a tablet are Droids, that makes it easier to synchronize and share data
• Sturdy (remember, the device is to be handled by a young boy)

I was thinking of a Samsung Discovery, whereas Mr Zel thought of a Samsung Galaxy Trend (which I think is a wee bit over the edge), but I would really like more suggestions before making a final decision.

[fma_fanatic]

This was something I saw on Mashable last year. I do know that Sprint has a phone for kids.

I get why you want a smartphone, but I'd strongly caution about making sure that the parental controls are enabled for games. I'm sure you don't need a huge bill because Lil'Zel decided to buy all the perks for games. I don't know what the android market policies are for accidental downloads for in game purchases, but I know Apple is starting to crack down on that.

[mathnerd]

I'm going to second the recommendation for making sure the parental controls are set the way you want them. I can't help with a phone recommendation, as we're an iDevice family, but I will say it takes a while to go through all the settings and make sure that the little one can't do anything that will cause you a gigantic phone bill!

[NorthernZel]

Re: parental controlling, I'm way ahead of you. I've set Google Play on his tablet (formerly known as Android Market) to 1) ask for a password that only I know before any in-game purchases, and 2) enable settings that only age appropriate games are displayed and/or able to be downloaded. A new Droid phone would get the same settings.

Also, our wireless carrier has a special plan for kids where there's a monthly limit on minutes and data roaming.

EDIT: Oh, and fma_fanatic, thank you very much for the link, but unfortunately none of the suggestions apart from the Nokia Lumia (which is not a Droid) are avaiable over here.

EDIT-EDIT: I just checked our carrier's site, and it seems like they at the moment have the Galaxy Trend at a fair price + they offer a family contract with unlimited minutes + 1GB data/month + blocking Lil'Zel's phone for text payments at a VERY fair price. So I think we'll go with that for the moment being - but we are still open for other suggestions! We can always opt to buy an unlocked phone from elsewhere and then upgrade our contract with the carrier.

[Slayer]

I don't have any phone suggestions but just wanted to say to make sure your kid's school will let him bring one. A lot of elementary schools here will confiscate them on sight. A smartphone is all the more tempting to show friends at school.

Edited to add: Also, kids steal. They're young and jealousy gets the better of them sometimes. Backpacks are often left unattended at school and I doubt the teacher will let him carry at all times. My mom's a teacher and there's always something going missing with kids around. It wouldn't take much for a kid to steal it (and they're smart enough to turn it off and hide it). At least with a cheap phone, if it goes missing, it won't be a hit to your wallet.

[otakuneko]

I'm going to recommend against a smartphone. A basic flip or bar phone is all he needs.

[EricKei]

otakuneko has a point ^_^

As for parental controls -- they're quite useful, but not infallible. Check with the stores AND with the manufacturer to make sure that apps that aren't Parentally-rated (they've gotta be out there somewhere) are treated as the highest-possible-age rating/blocked no matter what. Also, do something I figure yer already planning to do -- train Lil' Z on what areas are allowable when using the SHINEY NEW TOY!...er, ahem, valuable phone. Oh, and get an OtterBox or similar tough "shell" for it. Kids don't always have as good a grip as they think they do

[RayvenQ]

Hell, if you can, get a second hand, old, basic nokia's and get a Pay as you go SIM card for it. Because 1. 8 year old kid, that phone is going to take a bit of a beating, the old Nokias are tough enough to survive it. 2. Pay as you go, means that it wont accidentally be gone over budget, although this does require observation and keeping track of how much credit there is, but, that can also be used to teach Zel about keeping track of the money on the phone (keepgn track of money is always a good skill). 3. A old, basic Nokia still allows you to do what you want it to do, calls and texts to and from, not really much more you need and finally 4. With it being an old, basic phone, it lessens the chances of it being stolen, since it's not a shiny new smartphone or even a smartphone.

[fma_fanatic]

Dang it, sorry. I forget you're not in the US. But I was impressed with the selection available here. I'm glad that your cell carrier and Google Play have safeguards in place. I just wonder why Apple had to have several huge news blurbs before they bothered to do anything.

[NorthernZel]

Hi folks, thanks for the recommendations.

As it is now: Mr Zel will be getting a Galaxy Trend, and Lil'Zel will then get Mr Zel's hand-me down basic cellphone (which doesn't even have a camera - you can send/recieve calls and texts, and that's it!), and I've asked the phone company to put child-proof settings on the SIM card (no calls abroad, and no texts where you get charged). Now, if Lil'Zel shows some responsability with his "new" phone and handles it well for half a year, we'll consider to upgrade to a touch-screen phone (but still as basic as possible).

Oh, and EDIT: Regarding school, if - and that's a big IF - he is allowed to bring his phone to school, it will remain in his backpack all day with the sound off. We'll also set a rule that he is ONLY to accept calls from people on his contact list (which will consist of parents, grandparents and eventually one or two friends of his) - if somebody else calls, he has to ignore the call but tell us, so that we can look up the caller ID on Google or another "who called me" site.