Mobile For Son

[tiggerblue10]

Little Tigs is going to be 11 this month and I've decided on getting him a mobile. I want one which is fairly basic and under £200 for pay-as-you-go. Would like some recommendations please.

[TonyV]

£200 pounds is too much to pay IMO. Have a look at Argos.

[ummmm]

I would have a nose at Tesco.

[tiggerblue10]

I meant under £200.

Just seen a Samsung a12 on tesco which looks good.

[Buenchico]

I bought a new mobile a few weeks ago. My pseudo-scientific method for choosing one was to go to the Argos website, place all of their SIM-free phones into ascending order of price and then to seek out independent reviews for each one online (as well as reading the reviews on the Argos site), looking for the first one I came to that had got really good reviews. All of the reviews I found were pretty mediocre as the prices gradually increased until I suddenly stumbled across one phone that was rated far, far better than anything I'd looked at up until then. I paid £169.99 for it, which is well within your budget, but it's come down by £20 since then, to just £149.99. I've been using it now for a few weeks and I'm absolutely delighted with it. So that's the phone that I'm going to recommend to you now:
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8886635

As it's SIM-free, you can opt to use any PAYG provider. I use Asda Mobile, where I get a whopping 10 GB of data each month, plus unlimited calls and texts to UK numbers, for just £10. See here:
https://mobile.asda.com/bundles
(Click on 'Standard Bundles' to view the full range of cheaper options. Note that those are PAYG 'bundles', not contract deals, so there's no contract involved).

If you do decide to go with my recommendation, buy a sturdy case to go with it. 11-year-olds can be pretty rough on phones! Here's what I bought, which is an excellent product and fantastic value too:
Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation

[Buenchico]

Crossed posts!

. . . and a remarkable coincidence too ;-)

[ummmm]

Isn't that the same phone tiggs posted?

[tiggerblue10]

Yes, Chris, that one appears to be 139 in tesco.

[tiggerblue10]

https://www.tescomobile.com/shop/pay-as-you-go/samsung/galaxy-a12

[bednobs]

tesco do capped contracts

[tiggerblue10]

Case looks good too.

[Buenchico]

The Tesco one is a tenner cheaper but it's locked to Tesco Mobile, so you have to pay their PAYG prices.

The Argos one is SIM-free, meaning that you can use it with Asda Mobile, GiffGaff or any other provider.

[tiggerblue10]

I'll need to check what capped contracts are as I'm not familiar. I've always been on monthly contracts.

[bednobs]

it basically means he cant go over a certain amount

[tiggerblue10]

Ah, ok, will check Argos then. As you can tell I'm not good with non contract phones!

[tiggerblue10]

Is that on a monthly payment though?

[bednobs]

yes. I had a £5pm contract with tesco, and a £2.50 cap meanin i knew my bill would never be over £7.50

[tiggerblue10]

Will need to think what's best for him depending on what he's using it for. If he's making calls and messaging on WhatsApp it'll be free. I'll check what the data bundles are.

[bednobs]

whats app will cost if hes away from home

[tiggerblue10]

Oh, I didn't know that. So when he goes to stay at his dad's in Essex, it will cost him?

[ParsleyDumpling]

tigger, WhatsApp is free if little tigs is connected to his dad's WiFi.