iLight 11 Pro Mini Smartphone – 2.5″ Display, Kid-Friendly

As a parent of three children, I’ve gone through my fair share of kid-friendly smartphones over the years. My youngest recently turned 8 and has been begging for her own phone. I wanted to get her something affordable, durable, and safe for kids her age—something I could feel comfortable giving an 8-year-old access to. Read below about “iLight 11 Pro Mini Smartphone – 2.5″ Display, Kid-Friendly.”

After doing extensive research comparing children’s smartphones on the market, I decided to purchase the iLight 11 Pro Mini. Now that my daughter has been using it for 3 months, I wanted to provide my review as a parent and share my experiences with other parents considering this device.

Why We Chose the iLight 11 Pro Mini Smartphone—2.5″ Display, Kid-Friendly?

When researching the best smartphones for kids, there were a few key factors my husband and I focused on:

1. Size – We wanted something that would fit our daughter’s small hands but still have a display large enough for her to play games and watch video clips. At 2.5”, the iLight 11 Pro Mini hits that sweet spot.
2. Durability – Any phone in the hands of an 8-year-old needs protection from drops and dents. The compact polycarbonate body and scratch-resistant glass screen seem durable enough to withstand normal kid handling.
3. Parental controls: robust parental control features were an absolute must-have. The iLight 11 Pro Mini has excellent customizable controls through the iLight Screen Time Management parental app.
4. Price – As she’s likely to break or lose it at some point, we didn’t want to spend too much. At $100, this mini smartphone fits our budget.

Our Experiences

After using the iLight 11 Pro Mini for over three months now, I’m happy to report it has fully met our expectations and needs in a kid’s first phone. Here are some specifics on our real-life experiences:

Easy Set-Up Process

I was concerned I’d have trouble figuring out the parental controls and restrictions during set-up. I was pleasantly surprised by the intuitive step-by-step guide provided in the iLight Screen Time app. Within 15 minutes, I had the phone fully set up with restrictions on app downloads, web browsing, screen time limits per day, and contacts she’s allowed to call/text.

Kid-Friendly Size & Design

My daughter has small hands for her age, so the tiny 2.5” form factor of this phone is perfect. She has no issues holding it, carrying it in her pocket, or sticking it in the palm of her hand. Yet the display still provides enough real estate for playing games or watching videos.

The polycarbonate body and curved edges have also held up well to the occasional drop without any signs of damage. The compact size and smooth edges must make it more durable.

Robust Parental Control App

The iLight Screen Time parental control app has been fantastic. With school and extracurricular activities, it’s hard for me to always monitor phone use. I love that I can restrict app usage, block websites, set time limits, and even shut off the phone remotely if needed.

I temporarily blocked YouTube for a week after catching her watching inappropriate videos a friend had shared. I’ve also limited gaming and social media apps to 30 minutes a day on school nights. The app notifications and activity reports have made it so easy to stay on top of monitoring even with my busy schedule.

Good Call Quality

I was worried call quality might suffer on such a small device. However, my daughter says she can hear friends and family very clearly when calling or Facetiming. I’ve overheard a few conversations myself when she’s had it on speakerphone and the quality did sound decent for a mini smartphone. No complaints so far during phone calls!

Long Battery Life

Even with frequent gaming and video watching, the battery easily lasts my daughter over a day of typical use. Standby time seems excellent as well if she forgets to charge it overnight. With her usage habits, I’d estimate she charges the phone every 36 hours or so. For an 8-year-old, I find that perfectly acceptable and it means I don’t have to constantly remind her to charge it.

Room for Improvement While we’ve been very satisfied with the iLight 11 Pro Mini so far, there are a few drawbacks to note:

• Limited Internal Storage: With only 16GB of internal storage, available storage filled up faster than expected once she started saving photos and videos. I ended up having to purchase the largest capacity MicroSD card (128GB) within the first few weeks to expand the storage for all her apps and media. This added to the overall cost of ownership.
• Occasional Lag & Freezing: Though everyday performance is generally smooth, I have noticed some occasional lagging when she has too many apps open. And a couple of times, the phone completely froze up while gaming requiring a hard reboot. For an entry-level processor in a budget kids phone, a bit of lag is to be expected. But the freezing has been slightly concerning.
• No Accessories Included: With the exception of a basic charging cable, the phone comes with no other accessories in the box. It would be nice if kid-friendly accessories like a protective case and headphones were included given the target age range. I assume the accessories are sold separately to keep the retail price down. But it’s something to factor in if gifting this phone.

Conclusion

Despite a couple minor negatives I’ve observed, our experience with the iLight 11 Pro Mini has still exceeded my overall expectations. For less than $100, you simply won’t find another mini smartphone geared specifically for kids that offers these capabilities and features.

The kid-friendly size, durable build quality, excellent parental controls, and decent performance check off all the boxes my husband and I had for our 8-year-old’s first phone. I would absolutely recommend the iLight 11 Pro Mini to any parent looking for an affordable, safe way to introduce their young kids to their first smartphone device. I hope you like reading “iLight 11 Pro Mini Smartphone – 2.5″ Display Kid-Friendly”.