HMD · from £79
Nokia 3210 (2024)
Our first recommendation for almost every family. It looks like the phone your child's friends will think is cool, which matters more than parents often admit.
no. 01 Phone reviews
Every phone, written up properly.
Short answer. Ansa-Phone's first pick is the Nokia 3210 (2024) at around £79. The other reviews are below. If you'd rather the picker route, the five-question picker takes ninety seconds.
We're not phone reviewers. One review per phone, pulled from Wired, The Verge, GSMArena, TechRadar, Tech Advisor, Trusted Reviews, Stuff and Engadget, plus the public framing of UK parent campaigns like Smartphone Free Childhood and Wait Until 8th. Sources cited at the foot of each review.
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HMD · from £35
Nokia 8210 4G
The cheaper sibling to the 3210. The same idea, a phone a child is happy to be seen with, on a bigger screen and at a lower price. The trade is a plainer build and a weaker camera.
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HMD · from £40
Nokia 235 4G
The starter pick for under-tens, and the no-fuss phone for anyone who genuinely does not want anything beyond calls and texts.
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HMD · from £55
Nokia 2660 Flip
The one for a younger child, or anyone who likes the satisfaction of closing a phone to end a call. The flip protects the screen at the bottom of a school bag, and there is nothing on it to fall down.
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HMD · from £45
Nokia 225 4G
The middle of the cheap-Nokia pack. A little more phone than the 105 or the 110, a little less than the 3210. The 2024 version adds USB-C charging, which the older basics lack.
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HMD · from £25
Nokia 110 4G
The cheapest phone we list that still has a camera. A pound or two more than the 105 4G, and you get a basic camera, Bluetooth and an MP3 player. The floor of the market, with a little extra.
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HMD · from £24
Nokia 105 4G
The rock-bottom option, and a genuine one. If the brief is a phone that makes calls and sends texts and does nothing else at all, this is it, for the price of a couple of school lunches.
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HMD · from £99
HMD Barbie Phone
Half novelty, half genuine simple phone. It says 'Hi Barbie' when it boots and the buttons glow in the dark, but underneath it is a proper 4G flip with no app store, no browser and no social media. For a child who would carry a fun phone but not a plain one.
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Pinwheel · from £279
Pinwheel Plus
For families who need a smartphone-shaped device but want a hard boundary on what runs on it. The portal lets you whitelist apps from a curated list. There's a monthly subscription for the Caregiver Portal.
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Punkt · from £259
Punkt MP02
The keypad alternative to the Light Phone III. A beautifully made minimalist phone for an adult or older teenager stepping back from a smartphone, with Signal-based messaging and 4G tethering, but no app store and no camera.
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Light · from £399
Light Phone III
Quiet, minimal, slow on purpose. The Light Phone III ships from the US, which means import VAT and a longer wait. For the family who is sure this is right and is willing to pay for it.
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Apple, refurbished · from £169
Refurbished iPhone SE (3rd gen)
The fallback for parents who have decided a smartphone is the answer (often because of a specific school or medical reason) and want the cheapest, longest-supported route in.
Amazon Renewed UK from £89 (opens in a new tab, affiliate link)
