Best First Mobile Phone For 11 Year Old Kids -2022
The best first mobile phone for 11 year old kids come in all shapes and sizes, from one-button touch-to-call safety devices to battle-tested Samsung phones with drop protection, to the cheapest iPhone if you wish them on your iCloud family storage plan.
It is still a tough pick once buying the littlest person in your life. I am here to help you find a phone for your kid, pre-teen, or teenage any age, really. We are experts on selecting phones for kids, even as very much like we will aptly choose the best first mobile phone for 11 year old kids in the US and the best phones in the UK for kids.
I have factored in important aspects, like parental controls, durability, function restrictions, GPS tracking, and cost.
The best phones for kids are going to be very easy devices primarily meant to open a line of communication with parents. For teens, we went ahead and aimed for low-cost simple phones that enable calling and texting while not too many features for your kids to urge caught up in.
For high-school students, we included reasonable smartphones that provide a good balance of value and function while retaining solid parental controls through Android and iOS.
9 Best first mobile phone for 11 year old kids
Best Overall: Check LG K30 at Amazon, “If the phone will break, its wallet-friendly price tag makes it easy to replace.”
Runner-Up, Best Overall: Check Nokia 3.1 Android One at Amazon, “The value-to-feature ratio makes it an exceptional purchase.”
Best for Teens: Check Apple iPhone 8 at Amazon, “It combines all those fun, advanced smartphone features with a more cost-effective tag.”
Best Starter Smartphone: Check Unihertz Jelly Pro Phone at Amazon. “Slightly larger than a pack of bubblegum, it’s surprisingly full-featured and the best first mobile phone for 11 year old kids.”
Best Value: Check Nokia 3310 at Amazon, “With 3G network speeds, this mobile phone is not the ‘brick’ phone from the prior generation.”
Best for Parental Controls: Check Apple iPhone SE at Amazon. “A shockingly fast device that is perfect for kids (with a much friendlier price tag than the latest iPhones).”
Best Durability: Check CAT S41 at Amazon. “A phone that is made to survive bumps and drops.”
Best for Gaming: Check Honor 7X at Amazon. “With its high resolution, colors look bright and sharp particularly impressive for a budget-priced phone.”
Best Battery: Check Motorola Moto E5 Plus at Amazon, “With average use, this mobile phone will hold a charge for 36 hours.”
1. Best Overall: LG K30
The best first mobile phone for 11 year old kids is the LG K30. Available unlocked for use on AT& T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, its reduced price tag makes it an easy selection. However, a low price does not mean poor performance.
A Snapdragon 425 quad-core processor matched with 2GB of RAM makes opening and closing applications a breeze. Together with 16GB of internal storage for music and apps, there’s expandable microSD storage of up to 2TB.
For the kids, there is an 8MP rear camera that is excellent for capturing moments with friends. The identical goes for selfies with a front-facing 5MP camera. Parents won’t need to worry about battery life thanks to all-day life with a 3000mAh battery. With average use, it’s not out of the question to get two days of use before recharging.
A 5.3-inch display is ideally sized for social media and watching videos on YouTube. The display even adds a curved glass edge for a more comfortable grip (and less chance of accidental drops). But, if the phone will break, its wallet-friendly price tag makes it simple to replace.
2. Runner-Up, Best Overall: Nokia 3.1 Android One
Nokia’s new ultra-affordable lineup has already well-tried to be a runaway hit. That includes a friendly price tag, the value-to-feature ratio on the Nokia 3.1 Android One makes it an exceptional purchase.
It also has a clean design that matches comfortably in the hand. A 5.2-inch display with 1440 x 720 HD+ resolution is sharp, with crisp colors and overall nice video quality. The Gorilla Glass display helps protect against scratches as kids tend to be a touch more careless with their phones.
As an Android One device, there is the most up-to-date Android software available. That gives youngsters immediate access to the Google Play Store and apps, games, music, movies, and a lot of.
With 16GB of built-in storage, there is lots of room for downloads. A 13-megapixel camera is featured on the back and photos are over good enough for social media or sharing with friends. The identical goes for the 8-megapixel front camera.
3. Best for Teens: Apple iPhone 8
For the teenager in your life, the iPhone 8 is a solid choice. It combines all those fun, advanced smartphone features with a price tag that is not quite as bank-breaking because of the newest models.
Like all Apple phones, the iPhone 8 includes access to the Apple App Store with over a million downloadable games, social media apps, and much a lot of. Small by today’s smartphone standards, the 4.7-inch retina HD display still looks nice.
There is lots of room for web browsing, Facebooking, and Snapchatting. Within the device, Apple’s A11 chip is fast, nearly 70% faster than its predecessor.
With photos ruling social media these days, the rear 12-megapixel camera is among the most effective smartphone camera out there. Capturing 4K video at 30 or 60fps provides incredible Instagram-ready results.
Parents can get a little peace of mind as a result of the iPhone 8 being splash and dust resistant. (To keep it safe from drops, a case is still recommended.) As an added bonus, the iPhone 8 is ar (augmented reality)-capable with lots of AR-ready apps in the App Store waiting for download.
4. Best Starter Smartphone: Unihertz Jelly Pro
Billed as the smallest 4G-enabled smartphone in the world, the Unihertz Jelly Pro phone is a good beginner device. Slightly larger than a pack of bubblegum, the Jelly pro continues to be surprisingly full-featured and a good first phone. And once you look past its diminutive size, there are lots to love.
Built-in GPS and a pedometer provide an easy thanks to tracking steps or time. It is especially good for listening to music.
Bluetooth support is hardly stunning, but Unihertz specifically draws attention to its little size as a perfectly portable MP3 player. With 16GB of onboard memory, there is storage for lots of songs. Bluetooth support additionally means it will connect to the many wireless headphones that are available.
Android 7.0 Nougat controls the operating system providing complete access to the Google Play Store. That is going to come in handy with the 4G speeds making app downloads fly by. Network speeds are compatible with each AT& T and T-Mobile LTE network.
5. Best Value: Nokia 3310 -Best first mobile phone for 11 year old kids
There’s a good chance the predecessor to this device was a parent’s first phone back within the early 2000s. Now, nearly twenty years later, Nokia has revamped its 3310 phones.
With 3G network speeds, this phone is not the “brick” phone of the previous generation. Sure, it still makes calls, plays music, and might send texts, but currently, it will be a whole lot more.
The rear 2MP camera won’t capture professional photos, however, it’s good enough to have fun with friends. There is also no front-facing camera, but that is par for the course with a phone in this price bracket.
The 3310 will, however, be available in four fun colors for a little personalization. It additionally adds a 1200mAh battery for up to 22 hours of talk time, which is far more than what most of today’s flagship smartphones offer.
The easy-to-navigate menu relies on a four-way directional pad to move around and a middle key that doubles as a “select” button. A MicroSD slot adds up to 32GB of additional storage which may be used for photos and music.
6. Best for Parental Controls: Apple iPhone SE
As far as iPhones go, you will be hard-pressed to search out better value than the iPhone SE. Apple took the insides of its popular iPhone 6S and stuck it into an iPhone 5S frame, and also the result was a shockingly fast device that is good for kids (with a much friendlier price tag than the latest iPhones).
If you are doing take the leap, parents can find a reliable device equipped with deep parental controls. With iOS 12, parents will limit smartphone use any way they’d like.
Features like “downtime” afford parents to remotely schedule a block of time in which a device can not be used. That is good for evenings/overnight as well as homework time.
“App limits” allow parents to set a specific quantity of your time that any app can be used. Simply 30 minutes on Facebook a day? No problem. “Activity reports” allow parents to observe what their kids are doing.
You can see exactly how much time is spent on every app, as well as games. Also, with iOS 12, parents will prevent kids from independently buying new apps or music.
7. Best Durability: CAT S41
Parents know that children are pretty much guaranteed to drop their phones at some point. Enter the Cat S41, a phone created to survive bumps and drops. Manufactured to handle a six-foot drop onto concrete, it is tough.
Dust and water-resistant with an IP68 rating, it additionally adds a scratch-resistant Full HD 5-inch screen. Alongside its sturdy design, CAT added a MediaTek processor and 3GB of RAM.
It is not the most powerful device, however, applications load quickly, and navigating menus offer no stutters. The phone is compatible with GSM carriers as well as AT& T and T-Mobile. Connectivity includes the usual suspects like Bluetooth and NFC, however also 4G LTE data speeds for fast browsing.
The 5000mAh battery offers lots of peace of mind for parents knowing their kids can have battery life for days.
A rear 13-megapixel camera captures photos and videos perfect for social media. The front-facing 8-megapixel camera is good for capturing selfies or video chatting with friends.
8. Best for Gaming: Honor 7X
Equipped with a stunning 5.93-inch edge-to-edge display at 2160 x 1080 resolution, the Honor 7X has lots of room for gaming. That is just 3/10 of an inch shy of the Nintendo Switch display and is sizeable enough for movies and YouTube videos. With its high resolution, colors look bright and sharp (which is particularly impressive for a budget-priced phone).
It is powered by Huawei’s Kirin 659 processor and 4GB of RAM thus there is lots in the tank for the latest Android games. It won’t compete against flagship devices, however, it does not have to. Apps open instantly and even with multiple applications running within the background, it shouldn’t slow down.
Once taking a break from gaming, there are dual 12MP and 5MP cameras on the back. The front camera is devoted to selfies at 8MP. All of this is powered by a 3340mAh battery that should last all day.
