What if your child bought you the slowest smartphone on the market, because you're 'too old to understand'?

Regardless of where you live, in late spring you probably celebrate Mother's Day, Father's Day, Children's Day, or all of the above. In Central and Eastern Europe (as well as many other countries around the globe) International Children's Day celebrations on the 1st of June are just around the corner. In those days many parents probably ask themselves:

• What do I do to protect the future of my children?
• What is my most important role as a parent?
• Do I understand the feelings of my children?

In this article, I'll be answering none of these questions.

However, I will try to convince you to avoid doing one thing - buying the cheapest (and in most cases also the slowest) electronics for your children.

Yes, a 6-year old probably cannot fully comprehend the value of objects, his reaction time probably isn't as good as the reaction time of a teenager, he probably doesn't understand what 4K resolution is, and he won't be running complex 3D simulations on his tablet.
But even the child will notice that his tablet is painfully slow, something is clearly wrong with the pictures, and Minecraft is crashing every now and then.

But it doesn't mean that the only valid tablet choice is 2000€ iPad Pro, and anything less than last year's Samsung Galaxy S10 for a smartphone should result in termination of parental rights. I'm just asking you to buy devices that are fit for their purpose.

Even if you think that you don't have any specific requirements and that smartphone is just for calling - sure, no problem. Just remember that there are smartphones out there, that will experience stuttering and occasional freezing even with tasks as basic as video-calling on WhatsApp. And system requirements of applications (such as Skype or WhatsApp) only keep getting higher. So even if you buy that Skype-phone, which at the time of purchase will just about nail it, in 2 years time it will become completely useless. Because Skype (and any other application) will require more and more system resources with every new update.

Unfortunately, many electronic stores and telecommunications services providers are trying to sell (especially these days in late spring) the worst and the most outdated products as 'fantastic value options for children'. The problem is that they are neither fantastic nor value options. In most cases, if you shop online, you will find much better products at the same prices (or equally bad products at much lower prices, but please don't buy them). Unless you are shopping for electronic gadgets that are meant exclusively for children, the best deals that you can find are 'normal' deals. Don't look for deals for 'the best value laptop for children' - just look for 'the best value laptop'.

And finally, if you want to be a good parent, do not take parenting advice from strangers on the internet.

But you can take other recommendations from strangers, for example what to buy:

The 'don't go any lower' smartphone:
70€ - any Xiaomi smartphone not older than 2 years, with more than 3GB RAM - for example Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite
https://www.ebay.de/p/7024224745?iid=373059221621

The 'don't go any lower' tablet:
45€ - any Amazon Kindle Fire / Amazon Fire Tablet (because the software optimized by Amazon makes the whole difference on those entry-level devices) - for example Amazon Fire 7 (16 GB)
https://www.amazon.de/Fire-7-Tablet---Black---16-GB/dp/B07JQRWLXM/ref=sr_1_2?__mk_pl_PL=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&dchild=1&keywords=fire+7&qid=1590077515&sr=8-2

The 'don't go any lower' laptop:
170€ - basically any laptop with at least 4 GB RAM and at least 120 GB SSD, for example Toshiba Protege Z830-10E
https://www.ebay.de/itm/PORTATIL-TOSHIBA-PORTEGE-Z830-10E/283787280418?hash=item42130a4022:g:a2UAAOSwAUBeS-or