Wingio Avis 34

I bought 2 of these phones for a 16 and 14 year old. Until discovering Wingio I was adamant that I didn't want my children to have a smart phone until 16 (due to social media and the addictive nature of phones) Plus I am a member of 'Smartphone Free Childhood'. However I have been struggling with a very difficult 16 year old who is 'off the rails' and has managed to access social media through other technology (and he is using it a very dangerous way) and my 14 year old daughter was desperate to fit in with her peers by having a phone. This brilliantly clever Wingio system has meant that I can give them both a phone that doesn't compromise on the aspects of technology I want to protect them from. My 16 year old still finds 'Work arounds' on other protections at home , but he can't find any way to misuse this phone and this is a huge help in preventing him making further bad decisions when he leaves the house. My 14 old daughter is beyond ecstatic with her phone and she is actually pleased about some of the restrictions as she understands that this is helping teach her useful healthy technology habits. She can easily see how much of her screen time she has used and then plans when she is going to use her phone.

However, without a doubt what has been a wonderful surprise, is the incredibly personal and supportive customer service. I have had so many dealings with the very talented and patient Rajiv (who I believe is one of the co founders of this system). I can contact him through WhatsApp and he has been incredibly helpful, but also amazingly open to suggestions of what I need this technology to do. I told him, I would love to see a feature that allows the children to contact a specific person/people even when the phone is 'restricted mode'. I thought about my daughter liking this feature to use on a sleepover, if she is feeling anxious or unwell and literally within days of me suggesting this, it had been added as a new feature. And he has listened to many more of my suggestions to and assured me he will add those features very soon. He is a man of his word.

But please know, even without some very minor suggestions I am making, this phone and app is packed with so many truly clever features , I wouldn't even think of, but have realised are incredibly useful. Some of my favourite are...

1) Even if your child runs out of Data you can text the phone with a special # message, that Wingio gives you and it will give you the location of the phone (your child) but they will not see you have done this on their phone. I LOVE THIS. This is essential for dealing with a teenager who is determined to be secretive and put themselves at risk.

2) Even when the phone is in silent mode, there is a feature from the parent app that allows a notification noise to come from the phone, so it can be easily located if the child has misplaced it ... This works even if every other volume setting has been set to silent. This is really useful. If your child has forgotten to turn back on their phone volume, you can use this feature to play a sound and let them know you are trying to get hold of them.

3) The levels of control are very impressive. It is very easy to limit individual apps, set screen lime limits even allow access to approved web pages and those pages only.

There is an incredible amount of thought and care that has gone into this system. You can tell it is a labour of love for the company founders. They are very dedicated to providing an excellent product and excellent service. Thank you Rajiv and the rest of the team.

The product is genuinely useful and thoughtfully designed. As a parent, it provides a sense of reassurance by addressing several high-risk exposures that are often difficult to manage. Its features are practical and relevant, making it easier to stay aware and proactive about potential risks. Overall, it stands out as a valuable tool for families looking to enhance safety and oversight in a straightforward and effective way

It is keeping my daughter safe from unwanted calls and text. I was impressed by the function to get location via SMS even when data is switched off. Highly recommend their customer service

Child’s phone stopped calling out after returning from Turkey. I contacted Customer Service and they tried their best to see what the problem was and offered to replace the phone with a new one. It arrived the next day ready to use!

We wanted to give our children smartphones, but we wanted to ensure that we were in control of what they could do and see on these devices. To date, this software is by far the best parental control software for childrens' phones. The support from the company is first rate and I would highly recommend them to all parents.

We had used Apple parental control, which is naff, then we moved onto software based proxies/vpn such as Qustodio, but had found that our eldest child had easily got around the proxy filtering as there are lots of info youtube on how to break the software. Which is not great, when you want to ensure the safety of your child. I want to give my children a phone, so that they can contact us immediately if anything should happen, but I dont want to give my child unlimited access to the www and all its unforgivening access to some terrible content.

Phone arrived promptly and was super easy to set up. This is a great first phone and allows us full control over the content that our son is exposed to. A parents user guide on how to navigate the various settings would be a helpful addition but through a little trial and error we are getting there.

very good at fixing any issues as soon as they arise

After a lot of research regarding a safe option for my daughter’s first phone, we decided to go for Wingio.

The phone is great, it’s a proper smartphone, so there’s no issues with standing out/ruining her street cred. However, the system allows you to control everything that goes on the phone easily from your own device. Wingio even pre-install your chosen apps so that saves you time.

We have been very impressed with the customer service too, it has felt very caring and personable from a small UK company. Even the brown paper packaging was nice, with a personalised sticker we requested that said ‘welcome to your first phone’. It was a lovely touch and made the whole thing a great memorable experience.

I would 100% recommend Wingio and already have to my friends!

Would recommend the phone to any one who is concerned about internet safety first class. Also the help from the team is amazing all round excellent experience

Before Wingio, we tried buying a phone and using a separate app service to control our child’s access to the internet and social media. But it did not work, as it was a proxy service that could be hacked.

After much research we decided to try Wingio as the software is installed by the company directly, it cannot be hacked and the child does not have access to the settings. So far, we are delighted.
Our child who managed to bypass both paid and parental controls on their previous phone, has tried, along with his friends to hack this phone, but cannot bypass the settings. The phone is secure!

They can call, text, access predecided, basic apps of our choosing such Duolingo and the weather etc. We have set a schedule when the phone cannot be accessed overnight and during the school day.

Therefore, in our opinion the phone and monthly subscription is well worth the money, so we have signed all of our children up to the Wingio phone and ongoing subscription.

Did a lot of research into lots of ways to provide a safe experience and this one stood out. You get a real phone that cannot be 'jailbroken' and you are in control of what the youngster can do and being able restrict phone numbers and apps is spot on.

Excellent aftercare and a fantastic way to keep our kids safe while using technology.

It seems a good app so far

really quick reaction the phone is now available to my grandson thank you.

Bought a phone from Wingio, their customer service is really good. Product is nice and fit for purpose. Highly recommend for those who are looking at controlled access to mobile phones.

Great and simple solution. Excellent customer service too

Fanastic user experience. Awesome! Must buy for teens.

The phone arrived very quick and was set up and ready to go out the box. The parent app is pretty easy to get to grips with and I am much more confident that there are no loopholes for my son to find as he did with family link. So far he has not been able to do anything we haven't allowed him to which is a first as before he would always find ways to cheat the system somehow.
The team are very responsive if I have a question or need additional support.
Definitely recommend, I plan to use them again for my 10 year old daughter when she is ready for her first phone.

So far my experience has been very positive.
Support is very quick to assist.

Very good customer service. I had a problem with the phone and this was quickly resolved by the company