DumbPhone recommendation for child?

[frozentundra1]

I am looking to buy my 11 year old a dumb phone, strictly for family and emergency communication. The smaller the better. Battery and durability are additional priorities.

I had bought her a smartphone with unlimited talk and data, but she didn't like the fact that the phone was keeping track of her useage via analytics and location data. She said it was "creeping her out" LOL. She is probably way smarter than I am.

It was also too big to carry.

Tips on go-anywhere prepaid service would be helpful too. I've been thinking Tracfone.

It's hard to research dumb phones online in 2017. The internet just thinks you're interested in 2012 articles, or that you really meant to say "smartphone".

Thanks

 

[underway99]

LG still makes a flip phone that seems to be pretty good. The replaceable battery is decent, it'll take a microSD card, and the thing is built like a tank. Look for the LG EXALT II. My father uses it on Verizon.

For prepaid, any of the big carriers have decent prepaid plans, but some of the MVNO companies beat them for price while using the networks that the big carriers built. They recycled a comparison here on AC not long ago.

Having said that, prepaid may not be the lowest cost. Check with your carrier to find the cost of adding her feature phone (that's what Verizon calls a dumb phone now) to your family account. I was able to add my father's feature phone to my old family plan for just $10. It's just $20 to add a feature phone to their new plans. That'll probably cost less than any prepaid plan.

 

[Kayza]

Look at adding a line to whatever carrier you use. Tracfone is cheap IF you only want a small amount of minutes for emergencies. If you want unlimited talk and text, they are not a very good buy. Some of the MVNO do have pretty decent plans for unlimited talk and text.

Once you know what carrier / plan you are using find out what's out there. Check your carrier, and check the chain stores - and not just the tech focused ones like BestBuy. I just got a basic flip phone for AT&T at Walmart...