Smartphones are no longer a luxury product for the riches, but its an essential tool to communicate and learn a lot of new things. In these challenging times where everyone has been advised to stay indoors, School, colleges, even work life has changed.
Kids can’t go to school, so they have to attend online classes to continue with their academics. Every kid wanted a smartphone, and they have complained so much that eventually you just give in. Now the time has changed, and you have to give your kids a smartphone for online sessions that are conducted by schools and colleges.
However, since most mobile phones these days are smartphones, giving your child a phone will also be giving them unrestricted access to the internet and everything that goes with it. For this reason, it’s important to talk to your child about staying safe online if you’re thinking of getting them a phone.
So if you’ve decided your child is ready for their first (or next) phone, there’s plenty of affordable and kid-appropriate smartphones available in the market. Here are a few of our top picks, plus advice on what to look for in a child-friendly phone.
Things to keep in mind before buying smartphones for kids
Affordability
For most parents, the bigger priority is price: while you can spend more money on a higher-end phone for your personal use, but for your child, a higher-end phone doesn’t make sense.
A smartphone with the highest-end Snapdragon 865 processor won’t make a difference because the only purpose this smartphone would serve is to attend online classes, create documents, emails, social media, and basic photography. Even in the under 20k or even under 10k there are good value for money smartphones available. The Poco C3, Redmi 9 Prime, Samsung Galaxy 31 are some of the options available in this price segment.
Durability
Kids are Kids, they are careless and usually don’t take care of their belongings and can easily drop the smartphone and this can break the display or cause any other defects with the functioning of the smartphone.
As a smartphone is essential for the academics of your kids and buying a durable smartphone makes sense. Nowadays all the phone comes with a plastic build and the displays are protected by some sort of toughened glass mainly from Corning. Apart from all this, you know that glass can easily break so you should protect the phone by applying a tempered glass screen protector on the display. Also, you can buy a rugged case for the smartphone so it will keep the phone safe in case it accidentally falls flat on the floor.
Also Read: Keep Your Children Busy During Quarantine With These FREE iOS Apps
Battery life
The most important thing in the smartphone is battery life. And the primary purpose of buying a smartphone is to attend online classes or work on your academic projects on your smartphone, these activities consume a lot of battery juice. So, you should buy a smartphone with a bigger battery, which gives better battery life. A smartphone with a 5000mAh battery or more is suitable for the kids because it will easily last up to two days with moderate usage.
Also Read: Best 5 Educational Games For Your Kids On Android
Display
One of the most important things you should keep in mind is the smartphone display. A big display with better viewing angles would be the best choice you should consider. Also, prefer buying a smartphone that features an AMOLED display as it produces better colors and saves a lot of battery as well.
These long online sessions are not ideal for the kid’s eyes and try to buy a smartphone with TÜV Rheinland certification that makes sure that the smartphone is safe for eyes. Many smartphone displays don’t have any eye protection certificate so it will affect your child’s eye. You need to care about this point before buying a smartphone.
Also Read: Top 5 Games For Your Kids on an iPhone!
Parental Control
Last but not least is Parental Control. With smartphones running on Android OS, which has built-in control options for concerned parents. Using this you will be able to keep an eye on your kid’s app and data use. You can also restrict some apps for your child not to use and set a screen time for your kids. A smartphone with Android 10 or higher will be better for you to take control of these things. Also, you can download “Google Family Link” app for the parents to customize many more things and take control of your kid’s activities.
Also read: Smartphone reviews
Top 3 Smartphones for your Kids
1. Redmi 9 Prime
If you have a tight budget, especially under Rs. 10,000 then you should consider Redmi 9 Prime from Xiaomi. The smartphone comes with a 6.53-inch large Full HD+ display which will be suitable for your kids for watching videos and attending online classes.
The build quality is pretty good considering the budget, but you should apply a screen protector and a rugged case to protect the device from breaking. The Redmi 9 prim has a decent camera module. On the back, there is a 13MP camera, which is good enough to take some decent photos. The 8MP camera on the front is good for attending online classes and taking some occasional selfies.
Also Read: Redmi 9 Prime Review
The device has 64GB of storage which should be enough for most children’s apps, photos, and documents. It has the latest Android 10, so you can use some inbuilt parental controls to control your child’s phone usage. The device is also backed by a massive 5000mAh battery that will easily last up to two days with moderate usage. The software has some drawbacks, like it features some ads on the system apps, so you have to turn off these ads from the system.
Also Read: How To Disable MIUI 12 Ads Using A Single Toggle Switch!
2. Samsung Galaxy F41
If you want a good phone under Rs. 15000, the ideal choice would be the Samsung Galaxy F41. It has a 6.4-inch Full HD+ display. The display has a better viewing angle, and the colors are great.
The Galaxy F41 houses a decent array of cameras on the back as well as the front. The 64MP camera on the back is great for capturing photos in the daylight. On the front, there is a 32MP Selfie camera which has better detailing and is best for online classes and video calls.
The device has the latest Android 10, with their own One UI 2.0 skin. It has some built-in features that will help you to control your child’s phone remotely from your phone. The device comes with a humongous 6000mAh battery which will easily last up to two to three days without charging. The phone is quite right for the budget and is ideal for kids.
Also Read: Samsung Galaxy F41 Review
3. OnePlus Nord
OnePlus as a brand that is now well settled in the flagship smartphone segment entered into the mid-range price segment recently. The OnePlus Nord is their first mid-range smartphone with decent specifications and near stock Android experience.
The OnePlus Nord features a 6.44-inch Fluid AMOLED 90Hz display. The display is quite good and is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 which will protect from accidental drops.
Also Read: 9 Useful Tips And Tricks For Your OnePlus Nord
The device houses a 48MP camera on the rear along with an 8MP ultrawide sensor, 2MP macro lens, and a 5MP depth sensor. It captures some better shots in the daylight as well as at night. On the front, there is a 32MP selfie camera which is good for selfies.
The device has 5G support and comes with android 10 with their own Oxygen OS 11 skin on top. The best thing about OnePlus Nord is its software experience. It does not have any bloatware and feels very smooth. It has some own in-built parental control settings so you easily control these things.
The OnePlus Nord comes with a smaller 4115mAh battery and supports 30W fast charging. So if you’re looking for a phone with a Rs 25,000 or 30,000 price tag you should buy the OnePlus Nord.
Also Read: OnePlus Nord Review
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