“Which smartphone should you buy your child?” This question has been bouncing around in my head for a while now. My eldest child is 10 years old, and he’ll be starting secondary school soon. We tested the Garmin Bounce 2 smartwatch to see if it could be an alternative to buying a smartphone, but found it lacked sufficient LTE coverage in rural areas.
As a result, I’ve spent countless hours researching smartphone options because there’s a lot at stake when you put a phone into the hand of a child. The Australian government has realized this and put in place a social media ban for under-16-year-olds. There is a similar concern in the US; a landmark court ruling found that Meta and YouTube had knowingly designed addictive social media products.
The numbers are bleak. Bertie Aspinall, co-founder of SafetyMode, has revealed that “every day, on average, a child is exposed to two pieces of inappropriate or harmful content.” No parent wants their child to see or experience anything harmful, but at the same time, we’re not sure how they could function in the modern world without a phone.
So, to help you — and me — make an informed choice, I’ve collated several different options and categorized them into ‘dumbphones’, ‘hybrid phones’, and ‘smartphones’. I’ve also outlined the pros and cons of each, and shared some advice on how to narrow down your search.
Dumbphones
Maybe your first thought is to keep your child as far away from anything ‘smart’ or internet-based as possible. You’ve read the articles, experienced the negative impacts of social media yourself, and don’t want your child to have access to anything that might expose them to something potentially harmful.
If that’s you, buying your child a so-called dumbphone is a great option. Your child might not agree, but I’m not getting into parenting advice here! Dumbphones offer limited functionality and instead focus on essential tools such as calling, texting, and alarms. Most of them lack browsers, and if they are present, they are super basic and therefore discourage doomscrolling.
These types of phones are also fantastic for parents who are not particularly tech-savvy. You don’t have to worry about apps, filters, or tracking. If you want to know where your child is, you pick up the phone and call them or drop them a text. Dumbphones are simple to set up and simple to use.
As a boy, I loved my Nokia 3210, and I think my son would love it too. With a robust design, physical buttons, and the Snake game, I think there’s just about enough here to keep your child connected without having to worry about social media access. This phone is still available on Amazon, but if you want to buy direct, HMD currently only offers the Barça 3210 limited-edition version.
The Mudita Kompact is a super simple e-ink dumbphone which features calling, texting, alarms, offline maps, and an 8MP camera. The lack of a color screen will not only limit a child’s interest in using the device, but will also be kind to their eyes. The Kompact also features a dedicated Offline+ mode, which cuts off the microphones and the GSM modem.
Hybrid phones
If a dumbphone is a little too limiting and you’re not ready to go all out on a smartphone, then a locked-down hybrid phone is an ideal middle ground. These devices offer a number of the benefits found in smartphones but with a lot more parental controls that significantly restrict a child’s access to apps and features.
I first discovered this type of phone when a fellow parent recommended the Balance Phone. Rather than a traditional app drawer and access to an app store, this device boasts a minimalist interface with text links to parent-approved features, such as calling, the camera, and photos. You can even allow WhatsApp access if that’s the only way your child’s friends communicate online.
The hybrid phone type has predominantly emerged out of a need to provide a safer mobile experience for our children. As a result, they often, although not always, include an AI feature that “watches” over your child’s phone use and restricts harmful content before it’s seen. The HMD Fuse, for instance, features HarmBlock+ software that prevents nudity from being shown, shot, and stored on the phone. This is an ideal feature that can help bring protection in the realms of pornography and sexting.
The HMD Fuse aims to put the online safety of your child first. The primary way it does this is by blocking nudity from being shown, shot, and stored. Parental controls are extensive, with functionality for adding and removing apps when kids are ready (or not) to use them. The Fuse also includes location tracking and a contact whitelist; it essentially provides access to smartphone features in a seriously locked-down interface.
If the HMD Fuse isn’t available in your region, the almost identically-specced HMD Fusion X1 is worth considering as an alternative. Like the Fuse, it sports a teen-friendly design and a host of safety and parental controls, which are available through the associated Xplora subscription. The latter grants access to app, screen time, and location setting management, so you can keep tabs on how your child is spending their time — and how much time they’re spending — on their phone.
Smartphones
If your child is a little older or you’d like them to have greater freedom, then you could go for a budget smartphone. This type of phone provides access to all types of apps for learning, news, sports, games, and more. Your child will also be able to access their favorite social media apps.
It’s worth noting, though, that all-out smartphones are much harder to lock down, and if a child really wants to find a way around your parental controls, they’ll probably be able to do so if they’re tech-savvy enough. If that’s an issue for you, then a hybrid alternative might be your best bet.
The very best phones are overkill for children (no matter how hard your youngster tries to convince you otherwise), but the best cheap phones from the likes of Apple, Google, and Samsung still provide the full smartphone experience.
It’s worth noting, too, that Apple recently announced a slew of new child account upgrades coming to iPhones in iOS 27, so any iOS 27-compatible iPhone will become easier to manage as a parent later this year.
The big draw of the iPhone 17e is that it’s an iPhone, and if your child is an Apple fan, then they’re probably hoping that this is the option you land on. Not only does 17e come in at a lower price point than most other iPhones, but it also includes essential safety features — which, as mentioned above, are only due to get better — 256GB of base storage for apps and photos, a 6.1-inch display with improved scratch resistance, and a long battery life.
The Google Pixel 10a has robust parental controls, so you can limit your child’s access to settings, features, and apps. It also includes a high-quality camera, which will be ideal for any child who’s taking creative-focused classes at school. Beyond that, the Pixel 10a is extremely durable, with IP68 water resistance and Gorilla Glass 7i protection.
How to choose
One of the first places to start is to decide how restricted a phone experience you want for your child. You could call this your ideal position. Begin exploring the options within this category and weigh up the pros and cons. If you find a perfect fit, then you’re good to go. If not, give some thought to the other categories, each of which has pros and cons that will helpfully feed into your decision-making.
The use of social media by children is a hot topic, and so it’s worth keeping an eye on the latest news as it relates to the law and what smartphone brands are offering in terms of dedicated child-friendly handsets. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, for instance, recently took the stage at London Tech Week to give major tech firms, including Apple and Google, a three-month ultimatum “to prevent children from sending and receiving sexually explicit images.”
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paulo.n.hatton@gmail.com (Paul Hatton)
