Best Smartphones for Kids in 2024

We adults are obsessed with our smartphones, so it only makes sense that our kids want one, too. But with social media and open browsers comes a lot of inappropriate content and wider access to the world (which includes friendly and malicious users alike). 

Our favorite phones for kids strike a balance between features they love with age-appropriate guardrails set by parents. For elementary school aged kids, we recommend checking out our lineup of smartwatches for kids.

Of all the phones we looked at, Bark, Gabb and Pinwheel came out on top. But we found a wide selection of phones for kids as young as preschool. 

Bark approaches smartphones for kids differently than other brands. It gives your kids a long enough leash to explore technology and communication safely and privately. 

Parents still get a lot of say, but Bark doesn't let you snoop and control everything your child does. For example, you won't be able to view their browsing history or see their location without their knowledge. 

All of this makes Bark a great fit for older kids between middle and high school. They get to explore and use their cool new phone within a digital safe space with limited screen time and parent-approved apps. 

Have a text-happy kid? Worried about cyber bullying? Did you agree to let your kid join Instagram and then instantly regret it? Bark's got your back. It's the best (and often the only) platform for monitoring messages of all kinds — whether it's texts, emails, or social media DMs.

Because this is such a rare feature among other parental controls — even those associated with kids smartphones — we can overlook Bark's high price.

Of those apps, social media is absent. So, if you have kids who are too young or not quite mature enough for Instagram, TikTok, or Snapchat, for example, Gabb completely eliminates the risk. 

Parents won't be able to add Gabb to their family plan, though. Gabb phones and watches all run on their own network, but it's easy to set limits and check your kiddo's activity through the MyGabb app. Parents can set safe zones and limit contacts and apps that kids have access to. 

We also like that Pinwheel makes it super easy to adjust the parental controls depending on your child's age. 

Let's say you have a 9-year-old, 11-year-old, and 14-year-old — you could get them each a Pinwheel phone and fully customize their settings for the right mix of guidance and independence.

For example, there are three ways to handle contact management: do it for your child, approve your child's additions, or give your child full control. Similar stages of control are available for apps, call and text monitoring, screen time schedules, and group or photo messages.

While other kids phones offer customizations, Pinwheel impressed us the most in this category. With so many adjustments at your fingertips, you don't have to worry about getting a totally new phone for your kid if you need more or fewer restrictions in the future.

Pinwheel phones are compatible with the Bark parental control app. This is excellent news since Bark's message monitoring is the best in the biz. That said, you can read the full content of your child's text messages in the Pinwheel parent portal. Bark gives extra protection for messages that may be sent on other platforms. 

It costs about $5/month to add Bark monitoring to each Pinwheel phone. Just select that option at checkout. We hope this partnership continues even though Bark just launched its own phone. 

While phones for kids aren't especially common, the few models that exist are all high quality. We like the Bark Phone best thanks to its laundry list of parental controls and message monitoring, but it's admittedly expensive — especially for more than one kid.

Thankfully, budget-friendly options like Pinwheel and Gabb also shield children from the uglier side of the internet while teaching them responsible device usage.

We also compared the phones’ technical specifications, such as storage capacity, camera quality, battery life, and mobile carrier options. 

Next, we looked at costs and policies. We preferred phones with no-contract options, no activation fees, and lengthy warranties. More affordable phones earned bonus points, as did those with a discount for multiple lines.  

Finally, we tested the Bark Phone, Pinwheel Phone, Gabb Phone, and Terracube Thrive for ourselves. We considered ease of setup, possible workarounds, and dashboard reports. We also tried to trigger the parental control alerts to make sure they work as expected.

To learn more about how we rank and review products, visit the SafeWise methodology page.