[Closed] Iphone 7 or 8 for an 11 year old? Where to buy?

iPhones are great for kids, well apart from the initial outlay.

Apple Screentime is a robust, easy to manage way to restrict internet access, what apps can be downloaded, screen time etc and so far, unless Windows Family it appears to be teen proof. The only exploit I've found so far has been kids asking for VPN apps to "use Whatapp on school Wifi" which also stops the internet filtering from working.

If you have an Apple device yourself you can manage it remotely.

As for buying the thing, I looked at lots of options, personally I can't trust my Kid with anything, he has zero impulse control so I decided to get a contract from ID mobile, they're CarPhoneWarehouse own brand, entirely because they were the only provider I could find that had an absolute cap on data usage, yeah I know all the others say they have a cap, but if my 14 year old gets a text saying he's out of data and to reply "spend Dads money for more" he's going to do it in the most stupid way possible, buying 500Mb a go for £3 "because it's only £3" about twice a day for a month.

The tempation with kids is to go 'Pay as you go' but it's just a more expensive way to do it, spend £30 a month for an 'old' iPhone of whatever they've got that's cheap.

Also, despite the cost to buy, iPhone screens are cheap to replace. Buy a good case, like an otterbox it will pay for itself many times over. If he loses it, you can find it via gps and even remotely lock it if someone nicks it.

See pook's thread here for buying advice. Really happy with my expoeriences of CEX

https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/ever-bought-a-refurbed-phone/

I was up in the night the other erm, night and put the telly on - Ideal World TV were advertising iPhone 7s I think (I was a bit bleary). £299 ... Couple of weird sales fellas frightened me back into my bed, but their website might be worth a look for iPhones.

The new iPhone SE (new chipset in an iPhone 8 case) is now £399 sim free direct from Apple. £16.50 ish per month interest free credit.

Then buy a sim only pack from Plusnet, Smartie, 3, etc. Plusnet is £6 month for 4gb data, unlimited calls and texts ATM.

Or a second hand phone from CEX or similar. Plus the sim only pack as above.

I agree the new iPhone SE is a very good price, however I would say it is still a bit rich for an 11 yr old (IMO).

We did similar for our girls at the beginning of the year (just before they turned 11, in readiness for going to secondary school). We simply trawled Ebay listings for two good condition ones and paid £164 & £145 for two iPhone 7 (the more expensive one has larger storage). We just looked for sellers with good feedback and phones with good battery health (>85% capacity). We have been pretty pleased with them.

One word of caution though - one daughter recently updated to iOS14 (the other hasn't done it yet) and she is now getting some random battery drain / shutdown issues which has apparently been reported a bit by people with older devices.

Ohh, and in answer to your question - yes, all current apps work on the iPhone 7 (as it can run the latest iOS)

I bought an 8 for my Dad recently £200 grade B from LaptopsDirect, had some very faint marks otherwise perfect.

As far as I know (and you sound like my level) I administrate and watch over my 11yr olds iphone with MY iPhone.
I don't think you can do this the same from a non apple device.

I'm sure andriod has some similar stuff... so it might be easier to get an android phone?

and she is now getting some random battery drain / shutdown issues which has apparently been reported a bit by people with older devices.

That is what is happening on my old iPhone SE. Battery when down by 30% in minutes the other morning. The sad thing about this thread is that an 11 year old will have a newer phone than a 52 year old.

Something to watch out for it kids have small hands and small pockets so smaller phones work better, my 2 have iphone SE's for this reason.

No damn way I’d give a kid an iphone 7 or 8
I use a 7 and it is far too smart to let a child near it.

Dangerous things smartphones.

How bout an old heavily safeguarded SE Iphone for circa £60

Sign up at UK hot deals. Set alerts for I phone. There’s loads of good deals now the iphone 12 is out

No damn way I’d give a kid an iphone 7 or 8

The problem is, though, that most of the OPs 11 yr old kid's friends will have them (our 11 year olds do too). So what do you do? Tell them they can't have one and have them feel left out of emerging friendship groups at secondary school or let them have one but carefully monitor use with a strict confiscation policy if they are mis-used in any way? When we bought our girls' phones, we made it abundantly clear that they are OUR phones and we are allowing them to use them as they are growing up and we want them to prove to us that they can manage the responsibility. That way, we can take them away and they can't even try the 'it belongs to me' line (we made sure we didn't give them at Christmas / wrap them up or anything - just gave them the phones over dinner one night).

Music magpie on eBay have a 10% off sale at the moment and there’s a discount voucher doing the rounds on eBay that gets an extra 5% off but it expires today and is only on certain items.

Might be worth taking a look anyway.

The problem is, though, that most of the OPs 11 yr old kid’s friends will have them (our 11 year olds do too). So what do you do?

Manage the expectations of an 11-year old?

I'd question why it has to be an iPhone. I can't think of anything that a child could do with an iPhone that they couldn't do with an Android device at a fifth of the price. There's plenty of compelling reasons to choose an Apple handset over an Android one but I'm struggling to think of any that would be applicable to a pre-pubescent.

Precisely

You can get a belting Xiaomi android phone for under £100 that'll match a an ancient iPhone with ease. You'll also have budget spare to replace it should it get stolen or broken. It could also have fingerprint/face unlock which will keep his mates off it should they swipe it from his bag.

Funny how suddenly they've stopped being status symbols, isn't it.

1990: "look at that flash prick with their DynaTAC mobile phone the size of a Nori brick."
2000: "look at that flash prick with their 'Matrix phone' Nokia 7110."
2010: "look at that flash prick with their iPhone."
2020: "what iPhone for an 11-year old?"

I have a decent condition black iPhone 7 I was planning to sell. I think it's a 64GB model - I can check if you're interested. Overall good condition - original glass and no scratches. A few marks on the corners where it's been in a case, but not noticeable if you put in another case!

Feel free to pm me if interested.

Cheers
Nick

So what do you do? Tell them they can’t have one and

....explain that other things exist that are just the same really, and if people are snotty and look down on you because you have/are something different, they are the ****s not you!

Life lessons. That's what parents teach.

Android mobiles and Google family works for us.

+1 for Android and they'll manage the social stigma... They'll be social stigma for all sorts of reasons, ones you understand and can afford, ones you understand and can't afford and ones you just don't understand at all.

Obvs your choice but I try to take the 'this is good enough' POV as often as possible (although get it wrong often!).

Not meant as a pop, just that I get how challenging it is to navigate the world of child/teenage wants. My fall back is "you're getting this one as it's £XX cheaper which means we'll be able to go on holiday somewhere nice"

I’d question why it has to be an iPhone. I can’t think of anything that a child could do with an iPhone that they couldn’t do with an Android device at a fifth of the price. There’s plenty of compelling reasons to choose an Apple handset over an Android one but I’m struggling to think of any that would be applicable to a pre-pubescent.

Being able to effectively and easily control the use of the phone, get alerts, approve downloads, have family sharing, location alerts etc. etc. etc. (assuming, as is the case for us, both parents are iPhone users).

And being pedantic, why do you think an 11 yr old would be pre-pubescent?

Being able to effectively and easily control the use of the phone, get alerts, approve downloads, have family sharing, location alerts etc. etc. etc.

And that's why the child is asking for an iPhone, is it? Call me Mister Sceptical but that sounds somewhat unlikely to me.

(assuming, as is the case for us, both parents are iPhone users).

You read the OP before replying, yes?

And being pedantic, why do you think an 11 yr old would be pre-pubescent?

My mistake, he's probably got a beard down to his knees by now.

Cross out the 'pre-' bit if it makes your inner pedant happy, it doesn't impact anything else I was saying.

And that’s why the child is asking for an iPhone, is it? Call me Mister Sceptical but that sounds somewhat unlikely to me.

You make a good point in regards to the OP as they are an Android user. I was responding from my point of view and explaining why the choice suits us.

But at the end of the day, kids want to fit in (as I mentioned above) so what do you do as a parent? Understand their need to fit in as best you can afford to allow it (some of our girls friends have much newer iPhones but we will not go so far) or do you tell them they can make do with a cheaper phone to teach them a life lesson? And (from my direct experience having two yr 7 kids) almost every child has iPhones (and therefore access to all the games in the Apple Store too) so why make an effort to be the parent that wants to make your kid stand out for the wrong reasons?

Good god. So what if the kid wants an iPhone? My lad (now 19) rode the BBM wave before switching to Apple, my daughter (year 7) has an iPhone 7. Why make life harder for them?

(Unless of course you want to fall over yourselves to be peak STW. Perhaps we should give them 10p for the phone box and **** what they think eh?)

You make a good point in regards to the OP as they are an Android user. I was responding from my point of view and explaining why the choice suits us.

As I said in the post you replied to, there's plenty of reasons to choose Apple over Android (and vice versa also). However, I cannot think of a single justification an 11-year old would have for wanting an iPhone over an Android device other than bragging rights. And to my mind that's a tenuous reason to be sending a child of that age out to school with a £400 smartphone in his pocket. When I was that age your lunch money wasn't safe.

(And to preempt the next "why are you assuming..." question, if he's not taking it to school then a tablet or cheap laptop might be a better choice.)

almost every child has iPhones (and therefore access to all the games in the Apple Store too)

The Google Play store has "all the games" too. This is my point. It's not like when I was at school and all the cool kids had Commodore 64s or ZX Spectrums and you pitied / mocked the one poor sod whose parents had bought him an Oric 1. These things are functionally near-identical these days.

If it's My First Phone, get them something cheap and see how they behave. If they look after it for [period of time] and can stay off PornHub long enough for the burns to heal, then get them something posher.

Being able to effectively and easily control the use of the phone, get alerts, approve downloads, have family sharing, location alerts etc. etc. etc.

You've just described Google family....

You’ve just described Google family….

I know, but as I said in my post, I was responding from my point of view...

You make a good point in regards to the OP as they are an Android user. I was responding from my point of view and explaining why the choice suits us.

other than bragging rights.

It isn't about bragging rights, it's about fitting in - no kid is going to be bragging about having a three year old iPhone 7. You even make the point yourself...

This is my point. It’s not like when I was at school and all the cool kids had Commodore 64s or ZX Spectrums and you pitied / mocked the one poor sod whose parents had bought him an Oric 1.

And to my mind that’s a tenuous reason to be sending a child of that age out to school with a £400 smartphone in his pocket.

We paid £165 and £145 for ours in January (they now sell for around £115 – £130 on Ebay)

Whatever you decide get some form of insurance.

My two kids break a screen every few months. They have low level android phones for this reason with a £30 insurance policy with Carphone warehouse. This means they get a replacement phone for any damage loss or fault. as many times a year as you want.

We paid £165 and £145 for ours in January (they now sell for around £115 – £130 on Ebay)

Fair, I was just going off the prices other posters were throwing around.

Fair, I was just going off the prices other posters were throwing around.

That was for the brand new iPhone 12 SE wasn't it (£399)? That's the sort of phone a kid wants for the bragging rights in school and I can see your point in not agreeing with that – I wouldn't allow it either.