Buying Your Kids a Smartphone? Here Are a Few Things To Consider
These days, almost every child has some kind of smartphone that they use to talk with their friends, play games and potentially even get some work done. Unfortunately, smartphones can be fairly expensive and there are lots of things to consider when it comes to picking the right one for your kids. So in this post, we’re going to look at a couple of considerations to keep in mind when buying your kids a smartphone.
What smartphones or devices does the family already have?
One of the easiest ways to pick what kind of smartphone to get your kids is to consider what you currently own. More specifically, if you’re a part of the Apple ecosystem or if you use Android. If you own a Mac computer, an iPhone or even an iPad, you can get the most out of Apple’s ecosystem if you get your kids an iPhone.
While this might sound really expensive, there are cheaper iPhone models now and you can often buy them refurbished or second-hand for a relatively low price.
The point of matching devices is so you can take advantage of family sharing on things like photos, and you can also share subscription plans for things like Apple Music. However, if you’re not a part of the Apple ecosystem, you can safely open up your options to Android smartphones without feeling like you’re missing out.
Consider your options with different phone plans
Phone companies don’t really separate phone plans by kids and adults. If you want to look for kids phone plans, you’ll want to try and pick something fairly affordable with limited minutes and messages. However, you will want to try and get a plan with more data caps because most children make heavy use of instant messaging and social media.
However, it’s never a bad idea to set limits with parental controls to ensure your kids aren’t using their phones a bit too much!
Smartphones can last a long time if you take care of them
One major concern that parents have is how long their smartphone will last. People tend to think that smartphones won’t last very long and they’re expected to replace them every year. This simply isn’t true. If you want to make a smartphone last longer, it’s vital that you protect it physically and with the right apps as well.
For example, you want to remove any kind of apps that you don’t use, you want to occasionally clean out the memory so you have more space for media, and you want to buy a case to protect it. You’ll also want to consider adding a screen protector to help prevent scratches and cracks.
Hopefully, this article has given you a couple of things to think about before you decide to buy a smartphone for your kids. It’s quite the investment these days and you typically want to get something that will last a long time, hence why it’s a good idea to keep these considerations in mind now.
