For Children, Dumbed-Down Phones May Be Smartest Option

Megalith

Megalith

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But what will my friends think of me if I don’t have an iPhone 6S or Note 5?

When children put a smartphone at the top of their wish list, remind them that they don’t need any such thing. Talking and texting may be necessary, but roving Internet access is not. So a dumbphone it is, with voice service and unlimited texting — just to show you care and are no Scrooge. Throw in a nice Qwerty keyboard as a sign of parental generosity, but no, repeat, no data plan at all.
 
Good luck finding a carrier with a dumbphone on offer or a calling plan that doesn't force data on you.
 
Dwango said:
Good luck finding a carrier with a dumbphone on offer or a calling plan that doesn't force data on you.
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prepaid plans exist (and are cheaper than most post pay plans). Feature phones are still available from most (if not all) carriers and the article mentions several options.
 
Get a low priced Android phone and go with something like T-Mobile or one of the prepaid plans that give you a limited amount of data, and then slow you down if you go over. No worry about extra charges as long as you make sure all chargeable roaming is tuned off. Also set it up for WiFi at home.

This way you kid can learn how to how to ration the bandwidth they use each month, and learn to use WiFi when possible. Even if they use too much data, your only problem will be listening to them complain about how slow it is :)
 
I am now looking for a phone for my son who is almost 14. He is moving off his Lg cosmos 3 txt phone. I am looking at a iPhone 6 64gig for his 1st smart phone. We are a android family but he wants a ipod touch for all his apps. So instead of the 200+ dollar ipod touch we are going iPhone 6 route. when he learns the limitations next time he will get android.
 
ps ...data will be turned off on phone he has wifi at school and home.
 
nilepez said:
prepaid plans exist (and are cheaper than most post pay plans).
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Been using my Note 5 on Verizon Prepaid since October. They said I couldn't do it but I have not had any issues. Paying $45 for unlimited talk/text and 2gb of data.
 
p05ta1 said:
I am now looking for a phone for my son who is almost 14. He is moving off his Lg cosmos 3 txt phone. I am looking at a iPhone 6 64gig for his 1st smart phone. We are a android family but he wants a ipod touch for all his apps. So instead of the 200+ dollar ipod touch we are going iPhone 6 route. when he learns the limitations next time he will get android.
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What apps does he need? As an iPod replacement the Black Friday $10 prepaid Moto E 2015 with micro SD card would've been perfect plus he can cast audio to beefy speakers and movies to TV using $35 or less Chromecast dongles.
 
p05ta1 said:
ps ...data will be turned off on phone he has wifi at school and home.
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Another reason for going with Android since he can sign up for a free Google Voice 10-digit # and get free inbound/outbound calls and SMS within North America for free over any WIFI. No need to pay for a monthly mobile plan.
 
He has had a ipod touch since gen2. So he has lots of cash tied into apps. We where going to get a ipod touch now and a smart phone in spring but if we get phone iPhone 6 now it will be for both Christmas and birthday.
 
mi7chy said:
Another reason for going with Android since he can sign up for a free Google Voice 10-digit # and get free inbound/outbound calls and SMS within North America for free over any WIFI. No need to pay for a monthly mobile plan.
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What smart phone can't do that?
 
If I had kids (I don't), I wouldn't give them a smartphone. I may give them the money to pay for a dumbphone ($50-$100) and have them earn the money towards a smartphone. I can see how needing a phone with text is necessary in today's world. But, in my narrow world view, having a smartphone is a want.
 
I for one am tired of non-evidence-based parenting advice. I remember hearing grave warnings about how letting your kid play with computers and tablets would turn their brain to mush and it was vital to limit their screen time to an hour a day or whatever. No evidence presented at all.

Maybe it's because I grew up deep in the butt crack of the bible belt where everything fun was the work of Satan, but I get the impression that a lot of those dorks are just bitter about something and/or have control issues. They get interviews because anything that scares parents = more viewers.

Granted, I wouldn't spend a load of money on an iPhone or whatever for a kid and I'd tie it to good behavior, but there are lots of good options at lower prices more suitable for that demographic.
 
mi7chy said:
iPhones cost a lot more than $10 and they're dumb phones since you can't set Hangouts as the default dialer and SMS client.
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So the big difference is that you have to open the Hangout app on non-android smart phones, as opposed to opening up the phone app/messaging app (which they won't use at all, since they don't have phone service)?

That's a non-issue if ever there was one.
 
nilepez said:
So the big difference is that you have to open the Hangout app on non-android smart phones, as opposed to opening up the phone app/messaging app (which they won't use at all, since they don't have phone service)?

That's a non-issue if ever there was one.
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Don't know why you're trying so hard to dumb down a deficiency. Anytime you click on, for example, a number link like from an email, restaurant search, etc. it'll open up in the wrong dialer so you have to the copy number, click on home button, open up the right dialer and paste.
 
mi7chy said:
Don't know why you're trying so hard to dumb down a deficiency. Anytime you click on, for example, a number link like from an email, restaurant search, etc. it'll open up in the wrong dialer so you have to the copy number, click on home button, open up the right dialer and paste.
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First of all, you've put a ridiculous constraint that someone is buying a smart phone but doesn't have a voice plan. No parent is going to do that, if you have a voice plan, you can default to WiFi calling on the iPhone (and I suspect most android devices too and perhaps WinMo) and you just use the messaging and regular dialer and it goes out over WiFi.

But let's say you're a parent who can't pay for a voice plan but you have an iPhone to spare (unlikely as that is) it's not that hard to copy a number and paste it into Google Voice (if that's your dialer). Maybe you make calls to unknown numbers regularly. i do not and I'd hope that my kid does it even less than I do.

So yes, you have a use case where Android can do something better than the iPhone. The problem is it's not a very common use case (i.e. a smart phone with not data/voice plan).
 
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