Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[surfer_chicken]

It was my brother's birthday back in May (he's 15 now) and for his birthday he was after a new phone. He has a very basic samsung phone at the moment (it just does calls and texts and cost about £10), however he's embarrassed by it and doesn't take it out with him, making it pointless.

 

Now he's not been on his best behaviour in the last few months, getting into trouble at school and at home, so Mum's not willing to spend a huge amount on it. However we seem to be turning a corner and it would be good if he could go out with his friends so Mum can have some free time and not worry about him as she can actually contact him! However he also needs to think it's "cool" enough. We're planning on getting a SIM free phone and getting a giffgaff SIM.

 

I've suggested we ask him to produce a list of 5 or 6 phones he approves of, with a set price limit, and then we can research them and buy one off that list. The only problem, what's a sensible price limit for him to be able to find a few phones he's happy with but not blowing the bank (some I've looked at have been near £500 ). Looking around it seems £200 would be ok, but pushing the limit really, but is £150 limit too low to get anything 'cool' enough?

 

All my friends had cheap-y phones from tesco as we were always dropping them or losing them on the bus so I'm not really sure what most 15 year olds are carrying around! Most of his friends seem to be online on FB during the school day though, so I'm guessing they all have mobile internet and apps etc. at least.

[Lavenders_Blue]

No idea about what's cool or not, but I just bought a new smartphone for myself. Cinnamon helpfully suggested looking at the Gadget Show website which helped me choose what to buy for myself. I looked at their 'best budget phones' list and chose the Nokia Lumia 520. This cost me £120 sim free which I thought was pretty good for a smart phone. It will do everything I need it to, although that might be different to what a teen is looking for in a phone!

 

I'd definitely recommend looking at the Gadget Show site and then making a short list from there.

[freddie]

Look on facebook Items for sale in (nearest town). Lots of people sell on phones, and as long as you're a0careful who you buy from b) are slightly knowledgeable, you can get a bargain

[The Dogmother]

I recently went halves with Rosie (she doesn't treat phones well, so her half ensured that she looked after it) on a Samsung mobile (can't remember what model) from CEX, our local electronic 2nd hand store. It's brilliant and does what she needs. Her account has internet access blocked, so she can only log on via wifi and not incur massive bills.

 

It works very well and cost just under £100.

[chickric]

If you are looking to get a contract, then I can recommend Tesco Mobile. Both of ours have phones from there, the beautify of it is that the tariff is capped and they can't go over, so no nasty surprises when the bills come in.

 

For £10 a month they get a free HTC Desire C (now £7.50 a month), 500mins, 5000 texts and 500MB data, and because we have two contracts in the house they get a family perk of 250MB extra data free.

[The Dogmother]

I'm on Vodafone, and Rosie's usage is also capped, although she hardly uses it for calls. Premium rate numbers are also barred.

[chickencam]

I have an HTC which was pretty cheap but works well as a smart phone only around £100 I think but that was a couple of years ago. I find phones 4 u have good deals on certain phones that are way cheaper than any where else.

[surfer_chicken]

No idea about what's cool or not, but I just bought a new smartphone for myself. Cinnamon helpfully suggested looking at the Gadget Show website which helped me choose what to buy for myself. I looked at their 'best budget phones' list and chose the Nokia Lumia 520. This cost me £120 sim free which I thought was pretty good for a smart phone. It will do everything I need it to, although that might be different to what a teen is looking for in a phone!

 

I'd definitely recommend looking at the Gadget Show site and then making a short list from there.

 

Thank you for the suggestion! He seems to really like this phone and it's on Which's best buy list too, so I think we'll be going for the Nokia Lumia 520.

 

Big thank you to everyone else's suggestions too x

[Lavenders_Blue]

Good luck! I'm posting this from my phone so I've worked out how to access the forum on it which is essential!

 

Everything seems to work well on it, I've found it an easy phone to use and it's easy to personalise too which will probably appeal to teens.

 

The camera is okay, but not brilliant, but fine for snaps. I'm sure he'll get on fine with this phone.