Kids are people too, and often those little people are clamoring for the best smartphone tech money can buy, complete with the latest talk, text, games, apps, photos, and video conferencing features their parents are willing to buy for them. The good news is that you don't have to mortgage your home to purchase a decent smartphone for your kid. With their (sometimes) smaller hands and more limited needs — and the reality that kids tend to lose or destroy delicate things more frequently than adults — there are plenty of choices for powerful handsets that are ideal for kids.
Whether they're in the next room studying, yakking with or texting friends, walking the dog at the park, or gearing up to go back to school, their smartphone helps you to monitor their activities and keep them out of trouble. Double down on this by pairing their new phone with one of the best parental control apps or, for Android devices, Google's Family Link. Here are our top picks for the best phones for kids ranging in age from about elementary school to teen.
The iPhone SE (2022) is a small, neat phone with a tiny 4.7-inch Liquid Retina display and a 60Hz refresh rate. This may be old hat for adults, but it's perfect for your adolescent or teen. There's a lot going on with the new iPhone SE including Apple's latest A15 Bionic chip, 4GB of RAM, 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB of storage, decent battery life, and a single 12MP rear sensor and 7MP selfie camera. Add 5G connectivity, iOS 15, and several years of OS updates, and it's easy to see why the iPhone SE (2022) is a great smartphone investment for responsible children.
When you're buying a smartphone for the discerning youngster in your family and don't want to scrimp on features, check out Motorola, an affordable smartphone brand. While many high-end features are absent and the body is plastic, the newest Moto G Power is ideal for everyday web browsing, emails, calls, and social media. This is for kids who prefer — and can handle — a larger phone. The Moto G Power has a huge 6.5-inch 90Hz display, 4GB of RAM, a MediaTek Helio G37 chip, 64GB or 128GB of storage, and a massive 5,000mAh battery that can last for days. That's in addition to a decent camera setup of 50MP main, 2MP macro, 2MP depth sensor, and 8MP selfie camera.
The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G, with a plastic exterior, sports a two-day battery life, a capable camera, a gorgeous AMOLED display, and a great looking design. The IP67 rating for water resistance means extra durability for whatever mischief your kid gets into. It's on the large side — so this is for a teen — and it's got many advanced features. You have the option of 6GB or 8GB of RAM, and 128GB or 256GB of storage — and there's a microSD card slot. The camera setup features a solid quad-lens on the back and a 64MP main lens, a 12MP wide-angle, and a pair of 5MP lenses for macro and depth. Up front, there's a 32MP selfie lens. The battery can manage two days of moderate use — without gaming.
This is an excellent, up-to-date, stylish, moderately priced phone for young people who seek performance. Google's Tensor chip is the same silicon as in the company's flagship Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro and it's great for gaming. Although 6GB of RAM is less memory than found in more expensive handsets, it works to keep apps open in the background for school kid multitasking. This is a one-day smartphone for most kids, who can easily charge it up at bedtime.
The Nokia G50 is a very large phone with a massive 6.82-inch screen, a body that is nearly 9mm thick and 174mm tall, and weighs 220 grams. It’s not a rugged phone, but it's naturally tough and able to withstand the rough and tumble of school kid activities. The Snapdragon 480 chip is a decent performer for school work and games, with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage space, and a microSD card slot. Call quality is good, accompanied by a 5,000mAh battery offering two to three days without a recharge. The software, battery life, and build quality, decent-but-basic camera, and 5G make this a good choice for a young family member.
With a 5.5-inch HD display and an 18:9 aspect ratio, your kid gets a large, clear, responsive touchscreen. The phone features a Qualcomm Snapdragon Octa-Core processor running Android 9 and lets you add up to 256GB of photos, songs, and movies with a dedicated MicroSD card slot. The water repellent body keeps the Moto E6 protected from splashes and spills. A smart camera with Google Lens features text recognition while the built-in camera shoots 13MP photos. You can use your phone on any carrier.
Who wants to play Snake? It’s likely that if your child is of a certain young age, they will readily take to Snake and several other games that the Nokia offers in its updated, retro-styled Nokia 3310. The updated version of the phone is plastic, comes in four friendly colors, and features a fresh custom interface with a 2.4-inch polarized, curved screen that’s clear and bright at all angles and even in sunlight. Light and compact, it will stand up to the rough and tumble of child play and keep on trucking with battery standby for up to a month.
For kids with bigger hands who are into sports or gaming, you can get a larger phone at a good price. The Moto G7 Play, a grown-up style phone for an older child or teen, features an advanced Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 processor and a 5.7-inch display with a 19:9 aspect ratio, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage, up to 512 GB with a MicroSD card. Because it’s water-repellent, with a P2i nano-coating and scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 3, it can withstand considerable punishment while your kid gets a stable grip. It’s easily unlocked via the fingerprint sensor and facial recognition. It comes unlocked, but is compatible with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Amazon Alexa, Music, Audible, and Shopping come preinstalled.
Jackie is an obsessive, insomniac tech writer and editor in northern California. A wildlife advocate, cat fan, and photo app fanatic, her specialties include cross-platform hardware and software, art, design, photography, video, and a wide range of creative and productivity apps and systems. Formerly senior editor at Macworld and creativity editor at The Next Web, Jackie now writes for a variety of consumer tech publications.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS, has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22, and Tab S8.
The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.
Apple's next cheaper iPhone could get a brand-new processor while keeping its most stubborn display compromise. Digital Chat Station tips the iPhone 18e for a 2027 release with a 2nm A20 chip and a 6.12-inch OLED screen still limited to 60Hz.
The rumored camera setup includes a single 48MP rear camera and a possible 24MP selfie camera. There's new hardware to consider, but buyers hoping Apple would extend that upgrade generosity to smoother scrolling could be disappointed.