Justifying Buying a Smartphone for an 11 Year Old

Seeing people enjoy the benefits of mobile technology is always fun and right now, smartphones and tablets are at the forefront becoming as common as cell phones were ten years ago. Smartphones, those with large touch screens, a GPS and the ability to run custom apps, have been relatively expensive and still are in most cases, but as prices drop, adoption continues to rise. Witnessing this high rate of adoption has made me wonder when my own children might start using these devices.

In the last several years, it has become more common for younger kids, under 13 or so, to have a cell phone. Of course, they go over their minutes and text allotments driving their parents crazy, thus inhibiting other parents from doing the same. Still, more parents are getting phones for their kids at younger ages for reasons of convenience and security.

While it's common for kids to have cell phones, smartphones are still pretty rare at least up through middle school and the reason is clear: cost. Another significant factor is the 2-year commitment which is what drives the pre-paid market. The problem with pre-paid carriers is they have never offered data plans to support smartphones until recently.

For me to justify getting a smartphone for my 11 year old son, it would have to be real cheap and with no contract. Boys tend to break things, lose things, forget things. Yes, girls do too, but I'm picking on boys right now. I don't want to have to think about paying $40-50/mo for the next two years (or buying out the contract) when the phone is dropped in the toilet and doesn't work any more.

About a month ago, just before the holidays, I saw an ad for a Samsung Android phone on Virgin Mobile and shared it with all my Facebook buddies. Cost of the phone was $179, about like a Nintendo DS, PSP, etc., which is more than I'd like to spend, but the monthly fee caught my attention - $25/mo for unlimited text and data, plus 300 voice minutes, which I doubt he will use. On top of this, no contract and no activation fee.

I found what I was looking for and pricing can only get better. He now has a phone, an Android device with apps, games, camera, texting, GPS (free navigation with driving/walking directions- ha), etc. He can earn the $25/mo if he wants to use it outside of wifi areas. We'll see how that goes! Otherwise, it still works for calling 911. If the monthly service is dropped, the provided phone number goes away, but that's fine, his primary phone number is a Google Voice number so voice mail is still received and so are text messages and he can receive them while on wifi or any computer.

Another low-cost option for use with an iPhone is via a $25/mo data plan 'only'. This is a little more tricky, but is a compelling option. With a used iPhone or one off contract, it's possible to set up the phone with only a data plan, no voice plan and no carrier-provided phone number. With a free Google Voice phone number and a free app called Talkatone, any ios device (iphone, ipad, ipod touch) can make and receive unlimited calls (and text messages using Google Voice) with caller ID sent both directions. Activating the data-only plan, as far as I know, can only be done from a 3G-capable iPad. Put the microSim card in the iPad, activate it for a month and put it back in the iPhone. For iPhone 3g(s) devices, you need a microSim and adapter to fit the standard sim slot. Like I said, it's tricky, but still very possible.

So if you have been holding off getting your kids a phone or they are bugging you for a smartphone, here is your chance to do it for $25 at a time with no commitment, plus the cost of the phone of course!