The Best First Smartphone for Your Child
There's no more modern rite of passage than the first smartphone. How else for kids to text their friends all of whom, rest assured, "already have one!", swap Instagram and Snapchat photos, and stream the latest Iggy Azalea music video?, Of course, if they're clever, they'll argue the practical side You'll always know where they are. They can text you when soccer practice ends early. Apps will help them keep tabs on homework assignments. Minecraft teaches spatial skills!, Pretty good points. So let's take a look at some kid-friendly smartphones, along with service-plan options that won't obliterate an allowance  yours or theirs. First things first Your kid wants an iPhone. He'll settle for something else, but based on what I've heard from my own offspring and their friends, iPhones are the cool phones. Feel free to leverage this teachable moment "The phone you use doesn't make you cool or uncool", but there's no escaping this truth Your kid wants an iPhone. Should you decide to oblige, don't feel like you have to spring for one of the new models. In fact, there are deals to be had on last year's iPhones, both from carriers and individual sellers. The recent introduction of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus has produced a glut of used previous-gen models on eBay and Craigslist, and a glut market means a bargain market. Another perk to going this route You don't have to get locked into a two-year contract. Rather, depending on whether the used phone is a CDMA or GSM model, you can take it to ATT, Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile, or shop around to smaller and regional carriers offering a bit more bang for the buck. Walmart's Straight Talk, for example, lets you bring nearly any GSM phone, and charges a competitive 45 per month for unlimited everything. If you're more comfortable buying new which adds the assurance of a warranty, consider a no-contract carrier like Virgin Mobile. An iPhone 5s 32GB would cost you 412.49 up front, but then just 30 monthly if you set up auto-pay. Total cost over two years a little over 1,100. I priced the same basic arrangement at T-Mobile, and it amortized out to nearly double about 2,050. Finally, the path of least resistance  if not lowest cost  might be adding a new line of service to your existing plan. Check with your carrier to see what options they offer, as you can sometimes get a lower per-device rate as you add more lines. Too many options? Fear not Here are my picks for the three best smartphones for teens and preteens. iPhone 5 Ting, Whether you bring your own phone Ting allows for most Sprint models or buy a refurbished one a used iPhone 5 runs about 250, Ting boasts an average monthly rate of 21 per subscriber. Why so low? The company relies on floating text, voice, and data rates, and charges you only for what you use every month. In other words, if your kid texts constantly but rarely makes a call, you'll pay accordingly, rather than shelling out for an inflated flat rate that aims to cover everything. Why can't the cable companies work this way?, , Moto G Any GSM carrier, Motorola's entry-level phone sort of redefines the entry-level phone, packing everything plus the kitchen sink for a price that would make Apple blush. The newly updated a.k.a. 2nd-gen Moto G has everything a kid wants, starting with a roomy 5-inch screen, a processor fast enough for Clash of Clans, decent cameras front and rear, and an all-day battery. At 179.99, he or she can probably afford to buy it him or herself. That price, remarkably, buys the phone unlocked, without ties to any contract or carrier. Just take it to any GSM-friendly provider and sign up for the plan that suits you best. The only hitch The Moto tops out at 3G for cellular data, there's no blazing-fast LTE speed here. Fortunately, most kids probably won't mind  or even notice. Samsung Galaxy S4 TextNow, Sprint-powered TextNow reverse-engineers its phones to rely primarily on Wi-Fi, switching to cell towers only when necessary. Smart, and prescient Apple's latest iPhones will soon be able to do likewise. That's how it can offer service plans starting at 18.99, a price that includes unlimited texting, which, let's face it, is all kids want anyway. The company sells a handful of handsets and lets you bring nearly any Sprint-compatible model, but the best deal by far is the refurbished Galaxy S4 for 250. Lest we forget, it was the hot smartphone of 2013, and it's still plenty powerful for a kid.