[Swiftly Does It]

My 12 year old daughter has £150 quid to buy a PAYG phone to which I am going to get her a gif gaf sim and put on £10 a month for her.

So far she has a liking to the HTC wildfire S and the Samsung Galaxy Ace.

So the question is which is better or is there a phone (prefferably 5MP Camera, 3G, WiFi, Android) that we are not seeing.

Any help greatly recvd.

PS. I have been told that the Samsung Galaxy Ace has very little memory compared to the Wildfire S.

PSS. She keeps mentioning Blackberrys but I am inclined to talk her out of these.

PSSS. She also likes the Cha Cha but it seems too pricey.

Many Thanks

[Bagsbunny]

If anything, the HTC phones have the memory shortage-and I own a Cha Cha and like it! The Samsung overall will get the best performance. The nearest-priced Blackberries, the 8520 and 9300,in terms of hardware are comparatively poor performers, the cameras being 2.megapixel and having no flash. Reliability is not good, either.

BUT! If your daughter has loads of friends using BB Messenger,then only a BB will do the trick. The Android phones can get "Whatsapp" for free, which will let you communicate with BBM users, but I believe it does not update so quickly.

If you take BBM out of the equation then, the Ace is a clear winner,possibly followed by the ChaCha.

[grumpyoldbat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swiftly Does It

My 12 year old daughter has £150 quid to buy a PAYG phone to which I am going to get her a gif gaf sim and put on £10 a month for her.

So far she has a liking to the HTC wildfire S and the Samsung Galaxy Ace.

So the question is which is better or is there a phone (prefferably 5MP Camera, 3G, WiFi, Android) that we are not seeing.

Any help greatly recvd.

PS. I have been told that the Samsung Galaxy Ace has very little memory compared to the Wildfire S.

PSS. She keeps mentioning Blackberrys but I am inclined to talk her out of these.

PSSS. She also likes the Cha Cha but it seems too pricey.

Many Thanks

I posted a link in another thread yesterday. Carphone Warehouse have the ChaCha on their website SIM free for £119.95, so well within her price range, and it's already unlocked.

http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/mob...HA-CHA/HANDSET

[Gormond]

You can get an HTC Desire for a little over £150 from Ebay and the likes which seems like a far better buy to me.

[alanwarwic]

To help choose use the spec sheets at GSMARENA.

[toyotacity]

The HTC Cha Cha is £120 sim free at Carphone Warehouse at the moment

Wildfire S can be picked up for around £120

[cavemanjames]

If you don't mind messing about with the phone before you hand it over to her... Would you consider the Orange Monte Carlo? It's got a 4.3" touch screen, Android, 5MP camera, 3G, Wifi, and can pretty much run any app on the market. £119.99 from Orange.

[kate36]

agree, dont go near blackberry, i had one for 18 months and wouldnt go near them again..
i've got a sony ericsson mini pro which i love - but i think they're out of your price range

good luck, hope she gets a phone she likes

[cabby22]

All school kids now have a Blackberry.

[lea27]

Ive had trouble 9 months into getting my Desire, it randomly shuts down/restarts and its quite a common problem as I have found on other forums. Its off to be repaired on Monday because its become so annoying.

[Gormond]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lea27

Ive had trouble 9 months into getting my Desire, it randomly shuts down/restarts and its quite a common problem as I have found on other forums. Its off to be repaired on Monday because its become so annoying.

I Know a handful of people with desires and they have no issues so it's not that common, chances are you will get no issues at all.

[BT@home]

14 month old desire here and never had any issues.

[swordman]

Acer Liquid Metal here new sim free £122 plus top up

http://www.expansys.com/acer-liquid-...cluded-225413/

Better than widfire or Galaxy ace.

However wjilst I don't get the whole BB thing kids do and it may be her mates are on BBM. My kids have BBs and although they hate the phones htey have to have them for BBM they say go figure.

[tawe]

My 12 yr old granddaughter has a blackberry and apparently kids these days get picked on and bullied if they don't have these type of phones. Years ago it used to be kids had to wear the designer trainers and clothes, but now you have to have the latest phones to keep in with the crowd

[Gormond]

Not sure I get the point of BBM if you have unlimited text messages.

Also I don't think BBM works with GiffGaff.

[grumpyoldbat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tawe

My 12 yr old granddaughter has a blackberry and apparently kids these days get picked on and bullied if they don't have these type of phones. Years ago it used to be kids had to wear the designer trainers and clothes, but now you have to have the latest phones to keep in with the crowd

Android IS the latest thing. It's definitely newer and more cutting edge than a BlackBerry, which is distinctly last decade! BlackBerry Messenger was the killer feature but with cross platform messaging apps out there like Whatsapp, BBM's no longer the be-all and end-all.

[kate36]

my android phone is amazing, there are free messenger apps on the android market if your daughter wants to message her friends, the camera is fab and takes great pics, loads of games and apps and lots more, wish i'd had an android phone from the first!
i had lots of problems with my blackberry, tiny screen, no decent wallpapers or radio and internet coverage was patchy, though to be fair that was probably more due to signal availability plus 'white screen of death' a few times, meant i had to have two replacement phones AND a new sim card AND a lot of their apps you have to pay for!
i would never touch bb again if you paid me!
battery life is rubbish too

as for android though, love love LOVE IT!!

[alan1302]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grumpyoldbat

Android IS the latest thing. It's definitely newer and more cutting edge than a BlackBerry, which is distinctly last decade! BlackBerry Messenger was the killer feature but with cross platform messaging apps out there like Whatsapp, BBM's no longer the be-all and end-all.

Yeah, but is that what 12 year olds think?

[duffman25]

she woild love android all the games apps facebook twiter and all the other bits you just need find reight phone for her on android as there is loads

[duffman25]

if you can go up to £230 the nexus s is the phone to get its pure android made by andorid it will always be updated and looks very good http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Samsung-Go...item3370e879f3 carphone are doling it for £199 but its sold out online you could check in store.

[*Joe*]

Despite the spec, I would suggest a BlackBerry curve 9300. She is 12 right? BBM is still a killer app in that age range (all my younger family members have BBs for this reason). Unless you have unlimited txts then BBM can help keep your bills down too. Also with BBM the kids can send unlimited picture messages etc... to each other.

In addition the Curve is a sold phone. It has a long battery life and no breakable parts. No fragile glass touchscreen to get scratched or dropped and broken.

To the poster that suggested the Nexus. I think it's obscene to suggest that any 12 year old should have a £230 phone. Not least because it will be a real target for theft.

Why not take her to Carphone warehouse and try out a few of the phones on display. After all she will be the one that has to live with it? If you do go for an Android, please take into account durability, kids + expensive phones that are designed for careful adults - disaster waiting to happen.

[The Alpha Gamer]

I've seen and used both and wouldn't recommend either. Save a bit extra or shop around and get a Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

[*Joe*]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Alpha Gamer

I've seen and used both and wouldn't recommend either. Save a bit extra or shop around and get a Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

For a 15 year old boy, maybe. But a 12 year old girl? No not a good choice.

[The Alpha Gamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Joe*

For a 15 year old boy, maybe. But a 12 year old girl? No not a good choice.

1. How do you know she's not a big gamer?
2. Ignoring the gamepad, it's the best you're going for that kind of price

[tawe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Joe*

Despite the spec, I would suggest a BlackBerry curve 9300. She is 12 right? BBM is still a killer app in that age range (all my younger family members have BBs for this reason). Unless you have unlimited txts then BBM can help keep your bills down too. Also with BBM the kids can send unlimited picture messages etc... to each other.

In addition the Curve is a sold phone. It has a long battery life and no breakable parts. No fragile glass touchscreen to get scratched or dropped and broken.

To the poster that suggested the Nexus. I think it's obscene to suggest that any 12 year old should have a £230 phone. Not least because it will be a real target for theft.

Why not take her to Carphone warehouse and try out a few of the phones on display. After all she will be the one that has to live with it? If you do go for an Android, please take into account durability, kids + expensive phones that are designed for careful adults - disaster waiting to happen.

Good post and I agree with you . my other grandaughter is 11 next month and has picked the blackberry 9300 in carphone warehouse which she wants for her birthday , she has picked the one with pink outer trim but they also got it in violet which is any girls dream.. Kids are all keeping in touch through BBM and if she`s already mentioned a blackberry that the hint that she wants one. Dont disapouint her on her birthday