I have no interest in the things, and would rather poke out my eye with a biro than talk or think about them. A couple of my kids on the other hand, insist that they need one.

That being the case, the twelve year old is always wanting to buy his friends’ used ones, and then ends up unhappy with the handsets because, well, they’re old, they’re used, and they never worked that well in the first place.

So, what would you suggest? If we allowed him to get a not-very-expensive-but-still-respectable smart phone, which one should he look at? And is used ever worth it?

Any help appreciated.

Elephone P8000
Xiaomi Redmi 3

Both £100-120 on eBay

(Although check LTE band compatibility with your mobile network)

^^^ I bought one of them Chinese Xiomi things. Hateful and full of bloatware I couldn’t understand, in Chinese.

Moto G 3rd gen is excellent and not that pricey.

not unlikely, true – but it means you do need to check on the build it comes with.

Wiley Fox Spark+ 5 inch screen decent spec and great operating system. Can buy off Amazon and I think you get screen insurance too.
£99

I have an Elephone P9000, bought from Gearbest. It’s big (at 5.5inch screen it’s a ‘phablet’ i.e. phone/tablet) but I have big hands so no problem. For a kid? might need to check out some 5.5″ phones first.

But it’s excellent, came with Android 6.0, 16 Gb of internal storage plus room for a micro SD card, seems to handle everything it needs to do. Not a single bit of random Chinese bloatware on it, it was a very ‘clean’ OS straight out of the box. Very happy with the cameras so far too (although I’ve only used it for holiday snaps thus far).

Moto G4 play – £110 at Argos.
Moto G 3rd gen – £100 at John Lewis.

Ive got a blackberry PRIV he can have for 100 quid, id rather let it go to someone here than try and sell it to one of the f***tard scammers on ebay

That Moto G for £100 is a great buy, we tried to get one in France for the FIL (88 years old) but they are much more expensive here. We paid £85 for a very “cheap and cheerful” Archos Colbalt (Android 5.1) which has a good screen and does the basic apps (v small memory and although Android you can’t extend app memory with an sd card).

Alternatively £200-ish on a decent used iPhone

OP not having a smart phone these days would make you stand out in a negative way amongst your mates at School. Have a close look at data contract, the kids will use lots of facebook etc. Which is image / data heavy.

I volunteer at a youth club, and it’s unbelievably sad how the kids (11-18) use phones as a status symbol.

Personally, I’d opt for a secondhand iPhone 5 with large storage & a good case. 7/10 kids have smashed screens. Benefit of the iPhone is that it’s tried and tested and that they can all download the same apps. Good secondhand quality falls into budget of the phones listed above.

I’d avoid the none mainstream and stick with the ‘cool’ brands, just to prevent any social friction. Kids that age have enough to think about, without having to justify why their XYZ is better, or the same as, and iPhone. iPhone means they fit in straight away. For the minimal additional cost, I’d say it’s well worth it.

It’s very very sad, and we’re well aware of this, but it appears to be ingrained in our society now.

Mickmcd, i’d might b interested in that Priv if OP isn’t. Email in profile, cheers

I got an Alcatel pop from Tesco for £7.50 a month for my son. He doesn’t take it to school so don’t know what that crowd would make of it but he doesn’t have a problem using it around his friends from the mostly middle class diving club he’s in. I think some of them are impressed he got a new phone rather than a hand me down like most kids seem to get. He’s a good kid though and doesn’t demand much as he appreciates we spend a lot on his diving.

My mum likes her new Alcatel idol.

My wife recently got a Moto G4, £160 sim free. It’s great and not full of preloaded rubbish. Massive as well so great for surfing t’interwebz.

Bought my son a used iPhone 5S, it’s almost current runs the latest OS – put a tough looking cover on it and a tempered glass cover for the screen. He’s lording it around School now.

I choose the Apple because of the way it allows me outsight and control in regards to content, spending apps etc – his account is an extension of mine and he has to ask permission to download anything.

+1 for a Wileyfox. I’ve got a Swift (about £120 off Ebay I think or Amazon link below) and its great.

I got a Blu Life Mark 4G for £80 from Amazon recently. 5″ screen, decent camera, dual-sim, 1.3Ghz quad core processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage (plus it takes a 64GB card). Impressed with it so far.

There’s a new Wileyfox just about to arrive AIUI. Might be worth checking out.

I recently got an Oukitel k600 pro.

It’s absolutely incredible for the money £130 off amazon.

The battery lasts 2 days with heavy use and it’s a 5.5 screen.