How we research and verify every device

Every one of the 14 devices in the guide is checked against the manufacturer's or carrier's own official pages: whether it has a camera or an open web browser, which carriers it works on, whether it needs a parent iPhone, and how setup works. Each device page links to the official source it was checked against.

Review sites, forums, and marketing roundups are not used as sources. If a maker doesn't state something, we say “Not stated” rather than guess, and a matching filter never treats an unknown as safe.

One exception: a brand-new device that is still on pre-order. Its maker may not have published every detail yet, so we may cite a named news report for those facts, and we mark each one “per <outlet>” instead of “per <maker>”. A pre-order device is clearly labeled, is left out of our “best” guides, and is never one of your top options until it ships and families can actually use it.

Prices on kids' devices and plans change constantly with promotions and plan updates. So we give approximate, rounded pricing and always show the month it was last checked. Confirm the current price with the retailer before you buy.

Our by-age guides suggest which devices fit each age group, based on what each device does and doesn't allow, and our matching weighs your child's age the same way. It is guidance, not a manufacturer rating or a rule. You know your child best.

We ask 6 questions: your child's age, your top one or two priorities, your family setup (your phone and carrier), any dealbreakers and whether you want a camera, how hands-on you want to be, and your budget.

A fixed scoring formula then rates every device against those answers. Devices that cannot work for your family, like an Apple Watch that needs a parent iPhone when you use Android, are removed. Most dealbreakers remove devices too (for example, ruling out an open browser removes devices that have one, and devices whose maker doesn't say whether they do), and so does asking for no camera. Wanting a camera adds to the score of devices that have one and removes none. If your dealbreakers together would rule out every device, we relax them and tell you so on your results. You see your top two options, and sometimes a third, never more. If you use an iPhone and a device built around a parent's iPhone meets your dealbreakers and your child's age group, it's your third option whatever it scored, and its card says that's why it's shown and carries no commission link; it never changes a score. It takes that spot ahead of a device that scores the same as your second option, and it isn't added when your dealbreakers had to be relaxed. Otherwise a third option shows when it scores the same as the second. When devices score the same, the one with the lower estimated first-year cost is listed first. Your results page lists every device and the reasons behind its place. The same answers always produce the same result, and the whole thing runs in your browser. Your answers are never sent to us.

Statistics about kids and technology on our research page come from the organizations that published them, such as the U.S. Surgeon General, Pew Research Center, and Common Sense Media, and each one links to the original report.

If you spot something wrong or out of date, email hello@kidsdevicematch.com. We check every report against the maker's or publisher's own page and correct errors.

Kids Device Match is independent: it isn’t owned, endorsed, or sponsored by any manufacturer, carrier, retailer, or app maker named on this site. We’re in some of their affiliate programs, which may pay us a commission when you buy or sign up through a paid link on this site. No company pays to be included, ranked, or described a certain way. Product names and trademarks belong to their owners.

The site is free. Some price and “Visit” links are paid (affiliate) links: if you buy or sign up through one, we may earn a commission. It doesn't add to your price. Pages with paid links say so near the top, before the first paid link, and paid links are marked for search engines as sponsored. The main price button always goes to the maker's own site; it earns a commission only if we're in that maker's program. Some pages also have a smaller “View … on Amazon” link under it. Prices on this site are each maker's, not Amazon's. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Commissions never affect matches or rankings. The matching formula reads only device specs and your answers; it has no access to which links pay or how much, and an automated check fails the site's build if that ever changes.