Hi All,
I've a 15 year old and they are not yet on social media and I want to keep it that way.
They do need a phone though. Does anyone have a recommendation for:
4g mobile, no camera, data or internet
sms capable
small
long charge time
music player/headphone jack optional.
Also I need a cheap mobile plan that can take advantage of this limited phone.
Thank you for your advice.
Any cheap supermarket prepaid phone will do the trick
AND
Kogan Mobile (Vodafone) is the current King of cheap (365 day) mobile plans
OP can also check out Onepass (Optus) Mobile (formerly Catch Connect)
Nokia 225
Amaysim has an annual plan for $60, unlimited calls and texts, no data.
You can only sign up to this plan as an existing customer, so sign up to a basic one month plan then login to your account and switch to the annual plan.
Sign up with AYG credit instead of a one month plan. You can put that credit towards the $60 annual plan.
Use Colesworth $40 starter kit that is often discounted to $15. Don't Activate as a monthly plan… Activate as $40 AYG credit. Just need to pay extra $20 credit making total cost for firat year $35.
Any cheap Nokia (https://www.jbhifi.com.au/search?query=Nokia&Price%5Bmax%5D=…). They all have cameras, but photo quality is abysmal. Personal experience was with the 3310 when first released. It held charge for a week. My wife's survived two falls from a 2nd story balcony onto pavers. The battery is replaceable, but 4G will probably end before the original battery does.
from a 2nd story balcony onto pavers.
Did it break the pavers?
Nah! It only bounced and separated itself into pieces. Putting it back together was easy. You can't be sure the newer model is as robust.
Thanks so much everyone - that's sorted then. Some cheap 4g Nokia it is, with the amaysim annual plan. Perfect and much appreciated.
Well just be sure that phone can't possibly use any data at all. With Amaysim PAYG data charged at 5c/1MB or $51.40/1GB.
That is good to know - thank you.
I may be wrong. I assumed the Amaysim $15 PAYG plan was the same as the Amaysim $60 plan.
The annual plan is billed upfront and they can't (to the best of my knowledge) incur any further charges.
Yes, I think I made a mistake.
Look at the brand Opel Mobile. They have smart phones almost exactly as you want.
How about you speak to your kid about what not to do on the Internet and maybe give them a bit of trust instead of giving them a can and some string to call you?
I decided to not take your advice. Thank you though for the suggestion.
Head in the sand must work wonders for OP
How about letting people parent how they see fit?
This is short-sighted - your 15-year-old will be an adult before you know it.
Start easing them into the real world now, while you still have the opportunity to guide and support them.
Neglecting this responsibility and sending them out unprepared would be a serious failure in parenting.
Nah - I feel I am seeing reflexive off topic replies without any understanding or even curiosity about our situation. I can tell from the lack of questions.
If you’d like to start a thread on the topic of
teens, social media and the real world, please
do and I may contribute.
You've already started a thread on the topic.
No - my topic is “Suggestions for Basic Feature Phone for Teens - No Internet, Camera etc”
You can use any smartphone and control which app they can use. I use google's family link and they can only make phone call/sms message.
Thanks - I'll consider that if the smart phone is cheaper than the Nokias. The battery life of the Nokias is a great feature though.
no camera
lol good luck
:) I should have said I didn't care about a camera. If even a Nokia 3210 has one, that's how it is.
Thanks - I'll look at this.
Surely there's an OzBargainer who jumped on a free Nokia 110 last year - but never used it - who can give it to you for a few dollars
How have you prevented a 15yo from using any social media?
We control social media but don’t want to entirely block it, nor could we. So they have access to email and sms on their laptops. Tiktok & facebook are blocked, they don’t use snapchat.
They use group chat for close friends, but not other classmates (unlike the rest of the class).
Just get her any android phone but lock out the apps you don't want with Google family. My kids have some apps that are unlimited, but all Ai apps are blocked including all the Google stock apps, messenger kids yes all other social media no. They have chrome but only sites I allow work, not even Google search. You can limit apps to a time limit, permission limits eg block messenger from camera access or block any app entirely. They can't install new apps without approval. Then at least they can appear to have a proper phone to their friends rather than a prison phone.
My kids got the hmd(Nokia) pulse. $150
The number of people that seem to instantly forget what they were like when young the second they have children is mind boggling to me.
The good old Nokia 3310.