How we research and verify every device

Every one of the 10 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 quiz filter never treats an unknown as safe.

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.

The age range shown for each device is our suggested fit, based on what the device does and doesn't allow. It is guidance, not a manufacturer rating or a rule. You know your child best.

The quiz asks 6 questions: your child's age, your main goal, your family setup (your phone and carrier), any dealbreakers, 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). If your dealbreakers together would rule out every device, we relax them and tell you so on your results. 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If you spot something wrong or out of date, email hello@kidsdevicematch.com.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 Guide isn't affiliated with or endorsed by any manufacturer, carrier, or app maker named on this site, and no company pays to be included or to be described a certain way. Product names and trademarks belong to their owners.

Buy links currently go to each device's official product page. If we add affiliate links in the future, they will never affect scoring: the matching formula reads only device specs and your answers.