What age is best to give your child a smartphone?

Many parents struggle with the question “what age should I give my child a smartphone?” Let's explore some factors to consider when deciding.

In a world that seems to be oversaturated by smartphones and digital technology, it can be difficult to find the right time to introduce your children or teens to these devices. Smartphones can provide valuable tools for learning, staying in touch and developing essential digital skills. However, they also come with a range of concerns including managing screen time, ensuring online safety, navigating social media pressure and avoiding exposure to harmful content. Every child is different, and understanding the potential risks and benefits can help you make a choice that suits your child.

Boiling it down, five important points to keep in mind

Are you looking to skip straight to the point? Deciding when to give your child or teen their first smartphone is a big step and one that comes with a lot to consider. While smartphones can help children stay connected and build important digital skills, they also introduce a range of risks, especially for younger users. From mental health impacts to online safety and peer pressure, here are some key points to keep in mind when making your decision:

- Social media usage through smartphones can negatively impact young people’s mental health, increasing anxiety, unhealthy comparisons, and eating disorders.
- Attention spans are shrinking, with research showing excessive screen time before age 10 can harm brain development, particularly executive function.
- Digital education & literacy is crucial for safely navigating the online world. As children grow up, they need critical skills like how to navigate online spaces, search for and find reliable information, privacy and protecting personal data, and how to social media responsibly. - Smartphones expose children to risks online, including harmful content, scams, identity/data theft, and unsupervised contact with anonymous adults.
- Parents face pressure to give their child a smartphone to avoid social exclusion, but the decision should be based on individual needs and readiness.

Does social media have negative effects on young people?

Something to consider before giving your child/teen a smartphone is the online pressures that having a smartphone opens up. Owning a smartphone does not automatically mean you have social media, but it does lead to external pressures to signing up to these applications and a much easier pathway to do so. Through our global survey of nearly 25,000 parents and children, we found that 52% of children fear they are addicted to their phones.¹

Social media can be a breeding ground for negative comparisons and having this sort of comparison present in young, formative minds can be detrimental. We spoke to Emma Lembke, the co-founder of the LOG OFF Movement, she gave insight into her real and lived Gen Z experience of having social media since she was 12 years old, “I felt as though my mental health was really suffering. I was comparing myself constantly. I was connected 24/7. I was scrolling mindlessly for five to six hours every single day on my device, not really knowing what to do as a young person…and what was worse is I felt completely alone and helpless…and I was sucked into my device just to be there alone experiencing these negative effects.”

We also spoke with Dr Becky Foljambe, an NHS GP and found of Health Professionals for Safer Screens, she said “With regards to social media (apps) being the cause (of mental health issues), well, I'm highly suspicious it is, there's lots of evidence now pointing towards the fact that it is. We know that the majority of our children who are presenting initially to the mental health services provided by the National Health Service, it is because of reasons of anxiety or crisis.”

“We're seeing a dramatic increase in young girls in particular, in that middle dangerous age of 11 to 16 presenting with eating disorders. We've seen a 47% increase in children needing contact with the health service for eating disorders. And I don't think that comes as any surprise to those of us who know the extent of time these children are viewing these images online.”

Smartphones, children navigating technology made for adults

Smartphones—and the operating systems and software that run on them—were originally designed from the ground up for adult users. Their core features, default settings, and user experiences assume a certain level of maturity, autonomy, and digital literacy. As a result, children are stepping into an ecosystem that wasn’t built for them—one that may expose them to pressures, content, and interactions they’re not yet ready to manage. Giving a child a smartphone isn’t just about handing over a device—it’s about introducing them to a digital world designed for older users.

We spoke to a global group of nearly 25,000 children and adults ¹ and found some alarming results for what children get up on their devices. Here are some of the results found:

• 51% of children have been contacted online by strangers.
• One in three has been encouraged to take conversations to private chat rooms or messaging apps.
• 56% of kids report being insulted or made to feel small online.
• 40% have been sent sexual or violent content.
• 52% of children feel addicted to their screens.

These numbers demonstrate the real risks children can knowingly or unknowingly encounter when using a smartphone without supervision or guidance. From exposure to inappropriate content and online strangers to the pressure of social validation and the constant pull of notifications, smartphones can open doors children aren’t ready to walk through alone.

Digital education & literacy, building skills for a connected world

Giving a child a smartphone isn’t just about enabling communication—in most cases it’s a big part of how children learn to interact with digital technology. Digital literacy; the ability to use technology and the internet safely and effectively; including knowing how to find information online, use social media, send emails, and protect personal data, is incredibly important for growth and even employment into early adult years. Digital skills and literacy are now essential life skills, just like reading or math. But learning how to use technology safely, responsibly, and effectively takes time, guidance, and practice.

Children need support to develop critical skills like evaluating online information, understanding privacy settings, navigating social interactions, and recognizing potential risks. These aren’t intuitive skills—they’re learned. By approaching smartphone use as part of a broader digital learning journey, parents and caregivers can help children become confident, thoughtful digital citizens rather than passive users of complex tech built for someone else.

Digital literacy is important because it helps people of all ages navigate online spaces safely and effectively. It allows you to find reliable information, communicate privately and professionally through emails and social media, protect your personal data from theft and scams – all of which are critical skills to be able to use technology for work, study, and everyday life as an adult.

The right time for a smartphone is only part of the answer. Children need trusted adults to help them build healthy digital habits, understand boundaries, and develop the critical thinking skills required to navigate the digital world.

Can smartphones affect attention span and growing minds?

Last year we spoke to Professor Gloria Mark as part of the HMD Better Phone Project. Professor Mark is Chancellor’s Professor of Informatics at the University of California and has spent two decades dedicating her time to research human attention spans and how it has been affected by technology. Here’s what Professor Mark said on our session about how attention spans have developed:

In our discussion, Professor Mark also highlighted that the brain’s executive function, which is crucial for decision-making and self-control, doesn’t develop more fully until around the age of 10. This suggests that excessive screen time before this age can negatively impact this aspect of growth. Protecting young children’s attention spans is essential, as it influences their entire life, particularly during key educational years and as they enter the workforce.

So, at what age should you get your child a smartphone?

Every child is different and on their own path to adulthood. You know your child and their needs better than anyone else. At the end of the day, the choice to get your child a smartphone is yours. It’s about balancing the risks and benefits of giving your child a smartphone, providing healthy boundaries and clear guidelines, and helping your child as they learn how to develop healthy habits, effective strategies to use digital tools, and navigate spaces online safely.

The goal isn’t just to decide when to give a child a smartphone—but to make sure they’re ready for what comes with it, and that we’re ready to guide them as they learn. We spoke to Joe Ryrie, the co-founder of Smartphone Free Childhood and he had this to say:

Encouraging balance between real life and device life is important for both children and adults. Finding that balance and maintaining it is imperative for the development of in-person connections and social skills as well as the all-important digital skills.

Picking a phone that grows with your child?

We recently announced the HMD Fusion X1, a smartphone designed to be a great option for parents to give to teen’s as a first smartphone. It’s packed with features that parents told us are most important to them like location tracking and the ability to control access to specific apps. Parents told us that their kids don’t need the full power (or pressure) of an adult smartphone right away. What they do need is a phone that offers age-appropriate access and safety features that give them room to grow.

Most importantly, the HMD Fusion X1 is designed to be a phone that teens will want to use. It’s customizable with Smart Outfits that connect to the phone to add a new look and extend its functionality.² For example, the HMD Flashy Outfit adds a foldable and LED light ring with 16 million color options and brightness controls to enhance your selfies and low light shots. The HMD Gaming Outfit extends your HMD Fusion X1 with a game controller to level up your on-the-go gaming experience. Sound interesting? You can find more about the HMD Fusion X1 on hmd.com here.

If you feel that a smartphone isn’t quite the right fit for your child just yet, we’ve got you covered with a range of alternative options. Our collection of HMD feature phones offer a simple and reliable way to stay connected without the distractions of social media or excessive screen time. Designed to focus on the essentials — calling and texting — they’re ideal for users who need a first phone with fewer digital pressures. Some of our favourites include the HMD Barbie™ Phone, complete with Malibu Snake and other fun Barbie™ surprises, the stylish HMD 2660 Flip, and the soon-to-be-released HMD Barça 3210.

For the parents who aren’t looking to buy the perfect phone for their younger children just yet, we are excited to be producing something big and revolutionary in the Summer. A device designed by parents and children, for parents and children, brought to life by us, HMD. Stay tuned!