- Pinwheel Home is aimed at children aged 5-10 years
- It only makes phone calls to approved contacts
- There is an optional subscription to call real numbers
The question of how much time young people should be spending on their smartphones and social media has dominated the headlines in recent months, and a new retro-styled phone from Pinwheel is the latest device looking to give parents easier choice.
When we say retro style, we don’t mean a classic Nokia or a BlackBerry – we mean a landline phone. Pinwheel Home (via TechCrunch) just makes calls and that’s it, so there’s no chance your kid will get sucked into Snapchat, Roblox, or YouTube.
It works over Wi-Fi, has full parental controls built in – so all contacts are pre-approved and the device can only be used at certain times – and there are absolutely no screens to act as a distraction.
“Pinwheel Home gives kids the freedom to call their friends, make plans and stay connected, all without borrowing your phone or picking up a screen,” the official blurb explains. “You’d be surprised what they come up with together.”
Just the basics
Pinwheel Home is for kids ages 5-10, so while they might be disappointed they can’t start Instagramming, it might be enough to delay the need for a smartphone until they’re a little bit older.
Being able to chat with friends, grandparents and other trusted contacts in a safe place is likely to appeal to many children and their parents, and may even encourage real-world meetings and activities to get young people outdoors.
Pre-orders are open in the US right now, with shipping expected later this year: Pinwheel Home starts at $68 in a choice of two designs and four colors, with subscriptions starting at $6.99 per month (international pricing has yet to be announced). You can use the devices without a subscription, but only to call other Pinwheel Homes, not mobiles or landlines.
Pinwheel has been around since 2019 and has previously sold Android phones with childproof software running on them. With increasing restrictions on what kids can do online anyway, the Pinwheel Home could be the ideal first phone for younger kids.
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