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knock. The phone we recommend

Pinwheel · from £279

Pinwheel Plus

For families who need a smartphone-shaped device but want a hard boundary on what runs on it. The portal lets you whitelist apps from a curated list. There's a monthly subscription for the Caregiver Portal.

Where to buy

Pinwheel UK from £279

Who this phone is for

Families where the school timetable, homework, or a medical app genuinely needs a smartphone, and you want safer rails than parental controls on an iPhone provide.

The honest verdict

We list Pinwheel because we are asked about it constantly. We do not lead with it. If your child genuinely needs a smartphone for a school or health reason, this is the safest version of one. If they don't need a smartphone at all, the Nokia 3210 is a better answer.

What it does well

  • A genuine whitelist, not just usage limits
  • Locked-down browser and locked-down app store, by default
  • Tracks location, contacts, screen time inside one portal

Where it falls down

  • It is still a smartphone shape, which sends the social signal we are usually trying to avoid
  • The £13.99 monthly subscription is the real cost
  • The whitelist is curated, so not every school app is available straight away

The specs that matter

Battery
A day and a half. Standard smartphone.
Weight
189 g
Network
Unlocked 4G/5G
Camera
50 MP rear, 8 MP front
Storage
128 GB
What stands out
Caregiver Portal whitelists every app and contact.

Where to buy

Pinwheel UK from £279

Buying through these buttons earns us a small commission at no cost to you. The order is not influenced by which programme pays better, but you can read the full disclosure.