Choosing mobile for child for Xmas. Problem for me is that there are too many choices on both the handsets and tariffs, so I was wondering anyone in here would be able to help me choose?

Essentials:

Has to be BlackBerry

Needs front facing camera

Have to be able to have a low spending limit on the account, which child cannot override.


Desirable:

Insurance against accidental damage
Free playbook
Short contract


This search has been driving me wacko, can anybody help? To give you an idea of what I'm looking for, I would have bought phone below if it only had the double camera thing.

Offer http://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/yourdeal/?_cid=68490693

Based on a brief search on the net, none of the current BB models have a front facing camera. It was a featured which was mentioned for BB10 phones. They're not due to start appearing until the new year, so you either compromise on the feature set, or wait for the new phones and buy something else for Christmas.

Have a look at VirginMedia if you already a customer of those, you get free insurance and decent tariffs too. Not sure if you switch to VM for your landline, if you can immediately get the extra's on their mobile service though.

If not, my daughter has a Curve 9300 (3G). Not a bad phone, seems to be quite robust as its had a few drops etc. I think the new curve models will be faster and can run BB7.

If you can afford the Bold 9790 (the one with the Touch Screen) then i would consider that, having the touch screen makes it far easier to navigate the device.

Also, take a look at the Mobiflock app and web interface for monitoring calls/texts.