Don't buy a £15 basic phone this Christmas: here's the £4.99 alternative

You want to give your child a smartphone this Christmas, but you're still looking for the right one? Look in your drawer first.

If there's an old smartphone in there (an iPhone 8 or iPhone X or newer, or an Android phone running Android 8 or later), Brickify does the same job on it for £4.99 once. You get profiles that switch on a schedule, a PIN plus a second factor to override them, and no subscription. Check your phone works.

What to budget

If there's one in your drawer: £4.99 for Brickify, once. Budget for a SIM, and maybe a new battery if the phone's been sitting there a while. That's it.

If there isn't one in your drawer

Kids' smartphones are a real category, and some are good: you add apps as they're earned. That's the same idea as Brickify. They cost around £189 plus a monthly subscription (Sayph and Pinwheel Slim 7 UK list prices, October 2026), so if you don't have a spare phone, they're worth a look.

Or a more basic option might do. See where a watch, a basic phone, Brickify and a full smartphone each sit on the first-phone ladder.