What smartphone is best for teenagers in 2016? Long gone are the days when you could fob off your child with a secondhand phone. It’s likely that your teenager knows more about tech than you do, and they want the best of the best.
So if you’ve decided that it’s time for your child to get a mobile, here are some tips to help you find the right phone and tariff, how to keep their bills in check and also make sure they stay safe.
Here we round up what we think are some of the best smartphones for teenagers, those that blend value with ease of use, strong build and, importantly, have security measures for your peace of mind.
What’s the best tariff for your teenager?
It's easy to rack up a big mobile bill without realising, no matter how old you are. So a contract mobile phone probably isn’t the best choice of phone for kids.
We recommend pay-as-you-go phones as the best way to help keep costs under control.
But if you are keen to get your teeanger on a contract, then make sure you pick one that caps data useage. The best ones we found currently on the market are from Teco Mobile, iD Mobile and BT Mobile. All of those networks let you put a cap on the amount of mobile data you use - starting from as little as £5 - so you'll never have the shock of a massive bill from your teenager's Snapchat obsession.
If you're after a new smartphone for yourself, though, why not check out our Best Smartphone Guide 2016?
What’s the best handset for your teenager?
1. Alcatel Pixi 3 3.5" SIM-free smartphone
The Alcatel OneTouch Pixi3 may be small – ideal for non-adult hands –but it's packed full of great features.
It has a dual-core processor, and its 4GB of internal storage space gives you a decent amount to work with. There’s a 2-megapixel rear camera and a front-facing camera, so be aware that this phone can be used for video calls and selfies.
If you’re an Android aficionado and want your children to follow suit, Alcatel’s OneTouch Pixi3 is a great starting point. You can set restrictions regarding purchases and content, and there’s a wide choice of more advanced apps available from the Play store if you want to monitor things more closely or place stricter restrictions.
2. Microsoft Lumia 550
The Microsoft Lumia 550 gives the young teen access to the Windows 10 operating system, which more than ever looks and works the way it does on a Windows 10 computer. It has a nice, small 4.7” display and comes with a 5-megapixel camera and 2-megapixel selfie camera that can also be used to make Skype calls. The virtual assistant understands natural dialogue and can answer questions, while the GPS with free maps can be used to provide on-foot navigation – if they're ever lost without you.
3. Huawei Y3
Another cheap and cheerful handset. It’s fairly compact, which suits smaller hands, but the 4” screen still gives you a decent amount of space to play on. While it looks small compared to some of the monster phones available, it’s the same-sized screen as the iPhone 5s and 5c.
With a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, this phone is a little more capable than the Alcatel when it comes to entertainment – but whether that's a good thing or not is up to you. There's no front-facing camera on this one, but you do get a more powerful 5-megapixel rear camera with dual-LED flash.
4. Sony Xperia M5
The Sony Xperia M5 gives the more mature teen professional-grade photography with a main 21.5-megapixel camera. It also has autofocus in a quarter of a second, 5x Clear Image Zoom and 4K video recording (4x the resolution of Full HD) – so you’ll have a young David Bailey in no time.
More boxes get ticked for the young adult with durability created through stainless steel corners and a 5” display that is slightly sunken, for knock protection. The Sony Xperia M5 is also IP certified for dust and water resistance.
5. LG G4C
This really is an awful lot of phone for your money with a glorious 5” HD screen, 1.5GHz quad-core processor and 8GB of internal storage.
It is very much a grown-up phone, though, in size as well as performance, so probably isn’t best suited to younger children. However, it would be a great choice for a young teenager, as it'll do everything they could possibly want from a smartphone.
Obviously, with great power comes great responsibility – and while it’s important to place a certain amount of trust in your child, there’s no harm in taking a few precautionary measures. Keeping hold of their Google account password for accessing the Play store is a sensible move.
Read our full LG G4C review here.
If none of these handsets take your fancy, then you should check out our full guide to the best budget smartphones on the market right now.