Moving to 'big' school is a massive transition, and you need all the help you can get as your child moves towards independence in both their learning and their social life. Choosing a mobile phone for my son is a key thing to get right. Here are some of the things we love about Hawk from EE.
Kids like Hawk!
As a parent this may not be your biggest consideration, but it's important. Children need to be happy with their phones. I let both my kids (aged 10 and 13) play with the phone for a couple of days before asking them what they thought. These were the first statements:
• It looks cool - it's like there's a hologram on the back!
• It has a big screen.
• The download time is really fast.
It's true, the Hawk is very sleek, and the light reflection on the back is really rather mesmerising! Apparently that’s down to the Gorilla® Glass construction which, as well as being cool, makes the phone super resistant to the knocks and scrapes that kids will inevitably put it through. Phew! The screen is larger than other smartphones we've used, so navigation is easy, and they're right, downloading apps is superfast, especially on 4GEE.
Hawk feels reliable
One of my priorities in giving my kids some independence is knowing that they'll be able to contact me if they ever need to. We tried out Hawk in various settings, and found it really reliable, thanks to 4GEE and WiFi calling. We also found that Hawk has around 10 hours of battery life in full use, and longer when idle, so I know that they can get through a full day at school, as well as their after-school adventures, and still have battery for keeping in touch with me.
Hawk has a fab audio-visual spec
The other thing my son particularly liked about Hawk was the volume of things he could do with the camera. Seriously, this phone has so much going on in the camera app, it might as well be a DSLR! As well as a host of fun filters and editing options, there are a lot of the behind the scenes camera settings you'd expect to find on a standalone camera. What I particularly liked was the free pair of high-performance JBL headphones that comes with every Hawk from EE. The JBL signature sound is so clear that my teenagers can listen to totally immersive audio, without immersing me in their music choices!
Hawk is great for homework
These days more and more secondary schools are asking kids to complete a proportion of their work online. It's logical - our children are growing up in an online world, and they need to be adept at using the latest technology.
In fact, when I asked why the large screen was important, it was my year 8 daughter who told me that she does quite a lot of her homework on her smartphone, and the larger the screen, the easier it is to read all the detail. I delved a bit deeper into Hawk at this point, and discovered that the pre-installed WPS Office app allows kids to download documents, spreadsheets and presentations they've been sent by teachers. What's more, they can edit and share their work with others, making group homework tasks simple to work on.
Hawk feels safe
Ask me what's in my top 5 worries about my youngest son starting secondary school next year, and losing important stuff will definitely make it onto the list. It's a massive transition, and it's inevitable that some things will go astray as your child learns to take care of all his own kit. As well as a sensible price point, what you need in a phone is lots of safety nets. Hawk has a fair few:
• Emergency information from the lock screen means that anyone who finds the phone will be able to call me and reunite us.
• Secure login settings: it's also important to know that should a phone fall into the wrong hands, the information stored in there is safe. Hawk allows for 2-factor identification, including a fingerprint login, to make it as secure as possible.
• Lookout - an extra safety blanket: the Lookout app on the Hawk will regularly scan for malware and viruses, and also allows you to lock and wipe the phone if you know it's been stolen.
• Content moderation: I absolutely don't want my child to see something online before he's ready. Luckily, if you download and register with the My EE app, you can set restrictions to moderate the kind of content the phone is able to access online, including explicit music and video.
Need to know
• Hawk from EE is priced at just £149.99 on EE pay as you go (with a £10 top-up), and from £14.99 on a 24 month pay monthly plan with no upfront cost.
What's important to you when you choose a smartphone for your child at secondary school? Do you have Hawk? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
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