The best phone for a 13 year old in the UK.
Short answer. Three honest routes, depending on where you are. Nokia 3210 (2024) at around £79 for families who never started a smartphone. Light Phone III at £399 for families stepping back from one. Refurbished iPhone SE (3rd gen) at £169 with Apple Screen Time properly configured if a smartphone is genuinely required.
Route one: continue with the Nokia 3210
If your Year 9 has been on a Nokia 3210 since Year 7 and the conversation about upgrading has not yet arrived, do nothing. The 3210 is Knock's first pick, and it works for older teenagers too, with the proviso that 13 is the age at which a child can begin to legitimately argue for a step up. The argument is worth listening to. The first move is rarely a smartphone.
Route two: step back to the Light Phone III
For 13 year olds who got a smartphone at 10 or 11 and the family wants out, the Light Phone III at £399 is the design-led step back. E-ink screen, tools (maps, music, podcasts, calls, texts, a small messaging app), no app store, no browser, no algorithm. Ships from the US with a six-week wait and customs handling. The Light III is the rare basic phone that feels like an upgrade rather than a downgrade, which named UK press coverage of the Smartphone Free Childhood community reports as decisive when persuading a teenager.
The cheaper step-back route is the Nokia 3210 at £75 with a clean reset and the conversation script at /switching-kit. Honestly an alternative.
Route three: a smartphone with strict Apple Screen Time
If the school genuinely requires a smartphone, or the family has decided that a smartphone with proper rails is right, the refurbished iPhone SE (3rd gen) at £169 from Back Market UK is the considered version of that decision. Set up Apple Family Sharing, Communication Limits, Screen Time, App Store Restrictions and Content & Privacy Restrictions on the child account before the first use. Apple's family guide is the best instruction set. The single most useful rule is to keep the phone out of the bedroom at night.
What we do not recommend at 13
An iPhone or Android without Apple Screen Time properly configured. In named UK press coverage, the route that most often ends with a step-back is "we just gave them the phone and trusted them"; the route that most often does not is the one with the rails set up before the phone arrives.
The pair we suggest
Any of the three phones with Smarty at £6 a month for most families, or ParentShield at £9 a month if you still want SIM-level whitelist controls. Full SIM comparison.
Three quick questions, three short answers.
What is the best phone for a 13 year old in the UK?
It splits. For Year 9 families who started with the Nokia 3210, the 3210 still works. For families stepping back from a smartphone the child already has, the Light Phone III at £399 is the design-led pick. For families where the school genuinely requires a smartphone-shaped device, the refurbished iPhone SE at £169 with Apple Screen Time is the considered fallback.
Should my 13 year old have a smartphone?
Possibly. 13 is the age at which the public polling, the named UK press coverage and the research signal start to soften. If they do get a smartphone, it should be on rails: Apple Screen Time set up before the first use, Communication Limits set to Contacts Only, App Store Restrictions on, and a household rule that the phone does not live in the bedroom.
How do I take a smartphone off a 13 year old?
Carefully and with a script. The longest version of the script is at /switching-kit, with eighteen specific objection replies. The short version: 'We made a decision a year ago and we got it wrong. We are correcting it.' Children handle 'we got it wrong' better than parents expect. The full long-form note on stepping back is at /notes/05-stepping-back-from-smartphone.
Read next
- How to take a phone off a teenager, the calmer playbook
- Stepping back from a smartphone, the long-form UK guide
- What the research says, calmly, the Anxious Generation summary
- The conversation, in seven moments, the kitchen-table script with eighteen objection replies
- The full ranked list of seven simple phones for kids in the UK
- The 14 year old guide, when the Light Phone III takes the front position
Notes from Knock, when there is something worth saying.
Short notes on simple phones, the parent conversation and the school side. Sent when there is a piece worth sending, never on a marketing schedule. Unsubscribe with one click.
