A small thing

The Phone-dex.

Six phones, one card each. A pixel sprite of the handset, what kind of phone it is, four honest stats, and where to find one. It's the catalogue page from the Argos book, kept short. If you'd like the full write-up, the link inside each card takes you to the proper review.

Stats are on a 0-to-100 scale, our judgement after holding them, recommending them to forty-odd families, and reading every review that matters. Battery is real-world battery. Style is how it feels in the pocket and how a Year Six classroom reads it. Distraction-resistance is how hard the phone tries to keep you off it. Pocketability is weight, edge, and whether it slides into a school trouser pocket without sticking out.

  1. KP-001 from £75

    Nokia 3210 (2024)

    HMD

    • Hardware-led
    • Iconic

    The 2024 reissue, kept honest. Calls, texts, Snake, FM radio, three days of battery. The cool-factor matters in week one. The lack of apps matters in year one.

    Battery
    92
    Style
    82
    Distraction-resistance
    95
    Pocketability
    88

    Found in

    • Argos
    • Amazon UK
    • HMD direct
    • Mobiles.co.uk SIM-only bundle
  2. KP-002 from £295

    Punkt MP02

    Punkt

    • Design-led
    • Teen + adult

    Swiss-made, Jasper Morrison drawn. Signal Messenger built in, 4G hotspot for the laptop, twelve days on standby. The grown-up pick, and the one we buy our parents.

    Battery
    95
    Style
    98
    Distraction-resistance
    90
    Pocketability
    92

    Found in

    • John Lewis
    • Punkt direct
    • Amazon UK
  3. KP-003 from £40

    Nokia 235 4G

    HMD

    • Hardware-led
    • Budget

    Forty pounds and three weeks of standby battery. Calls, texts, almost nothing else. Lose it on a school trip and the world does not end.

    Battery
    98
    Style
    55
    Distraction-resistance
    96
    Pocketability
    90

    Found in

    • Argos
    • Amazon UK
    • HMD direct
  4. KP-004 from £279

    Pinwheel Plus

    Pinwheel

    • Whitelist
    • Subscription

    Smartphone shape, parent-controlled launcher, app whitelist not blocklist. The honest middle path when school or a medical app genuinely needs a smartphone.

    Battery
    50
    Style
    65
    Distraction-resistance
    75
    Pocketability
    70

    Found in

    • Pinwheel UK
  5. KP-005 from £399

    Light Phone III

    Light

    • E-ink
    • Design-led

    An E-ink slab. Maps, calls, texts, music, podcasts. Tools, not apps. Ships from the US with the customs wait that implies. Quiet on purpose.

    Battery
    70
    Style
    95
    Distraction-resistance
    92
    Pocketability
    80

    Found in

    • Light direct
  6. KP-006 from £169

    Refurbished iPhone SE (3rd gen)

    Apple, refurbished

    • Refurb
    • Smartphone

    If a smartphone is the answer, this is the smartphone. Refurbished from £169, with Apple Screen Time and the longest support tail on the market.

    Battery
    55
    Style
    70
    Distraction-resistance
    40
    Pocketability
    78

    Found in

    • Back Market UK
    • John Lewis refurbished

Six is the whole list. We don't keep a longer one in a drawer. If a phone isn't here, we either haven't held it for long enough, or we held it and felt we couldn't recommend it. The criteria are on our principles page.

All six phones, ranked →