A Review of Kajeet Cell Phones for Kids

Cell phone companies are in an all-out war for your business. Although many offer very good rates and affordable packages, family plans can still be expensive. With families busier now than ever, we want to be able to connect with family members any time we need to. This can be challenging when you have a younger child or a tween.

I'm very leery of giving my younger children a cell phone that allows them to access the web, IM, and all the other things a cell phone for adults can do. If I'm going to give my child a cell phone to use to keep in touch with me, and for emergencies, I want to have total control over who that child calls or text messages. I want to the ability to control when they use a cell phone, who they call and who calls them. I also want to know where my child is. After months of looking for a cell phone for my child that meets my expectations, I finally found one - the Kajeet cell phone for kids.

Kajeet is a Sprint-based, pay-as-you-go MVNO (Mobile Voice Network Operator) that first launched sales in March 2007 to the public through their website. Since then, Kajeet phones and refill cards have become available at numerous stores, including Target and Best Buy.

Kajeet features "Dudes," characters kids can identify with that bear names such as Skratch, Zeo, and Lottie, to name a few. Each of the characters has their own ringtones, graphics and wallpapers kids can choose from. The characters make up "Dudeworld."

Currently, Kajeet offers five different cell phones parents can choose from:

The Sanyo Katana and Sanyo Katana II are slim, sleek digital zoom camera phones that feature Bluetooth capabilities and a speakerphone.

The Samsung m300 is also a 4x zoom camera with feature effects and has Bluetooth capabilities and a speakerphone.

LG LX150 is also a camera phone and can store up to 500 phone numbers. Features speakerphone and voice dialing.

The Nokia 6165i not only take pictures, it captures video as well. Comes preloaded with games, ringtones, wallpapers and screensavers.

All Kajeet phones GPS-capable.

Several features led me to choose Kajeet for my daughter. One was the cost - just 35 cents per day plus the cost of calls, text and picture messages. Another appealing feature is the parental controls called the Configurator, which is phenomenal. Features within the Configurator, which is accessible online, include:

Wallet Manager: There are two "wallets" in your Kajeet account; one belongs to you and the other belongs to your child. You can fill either wallet online via credit card or by purchasing a refill card at stores. Then, you can choose which wallet pays for calls. This comes in handy when you're teaching your child to set limits for themselves because you can choose the option that states their wallet pays for calls. Kajeet gives you the option online to transfer money back and forth from your wallet to theirs. You can log on any time to see what the balances are for the wallets. When the balance is getting low, Kajeet sends a free text message to the cell phone.

Time Manager: This feature allows me to choose the times of day or night I want my child to be able to make calls. The Time Manager is controlled online by you. This is great when your child takes their cell phone to school, but you don't want them to make or receive calls during class. (Under Contact Manager, we'll discuss a feature that allows you to call or be called at any time, despite what you've chosen under Time Manager.)

Contact Manager: You control who your child calls and who calls your child through the Contact Manager. You also control when these people call, even if they are allowed to text your child's phone. Simply list your child's contacts, then you select if they can call only during the allowed time you've established in the Time Manager, or if they can call any time. Only people listed in the Contact Manager can call your child's phone or receive calls from your child. 9-1-1 calls are always allowed to be called from your child's phone regardless of your contact list and regardless of what your settings are in the Time Manager. Calls to Kajeet's customer care are always allowed as well, and are always free. Always blocked from Kajeet cell phones are 900 numbers.

Feature Manager: The Feature Manager lets you decide if your child can access the Web from their phone, download ringtones, play games, receive live feeds, and download applications.

Other features Kajeet offers are:

Text Paks: Text messaging packages that can be purchased - a very good deal if you and child text back and forth a lot during the month.

GPS Phone Locator: One of the latest features Kajeet has offered is the GPS Phone Locator. From the Internet, you can locate your child's phone within a matter of yards at any time. You can even schedule automatic locates to occur when you want, and have those results emailed to you.

Until Sept. 27, 2008, Kajeet is offering the GPS service free for three months. After that, it's $9.99 monthly, and is certainly money well-spent.

You can go online and set up locations such as your child's school, their friends house, the after-school club, wherever your child frequents. If, for example, at 3:30 p.m. your child is supposed to be at the after-school club, you can schedule a locate for that time of day to ensure your child has arrived safely at their destination. You can set up to five scheduled locates to take place, and can change them any time you want. This feature comes in extremely handy if your child loses their phone as well!

The GPS system works off a satellite, and sometimes, off of an assisted global positioning unit if the phone is in an area of low coverage or can't "see" the satellite. Even then, if can find your child's phone within a few hundred yards. You can view the location of the phone on a map at the Kajeet website when you take advantage of the GPS system they offer. There is no limit on how many times you use the system to locate the phone.

Besides all the great features for parents, kids will have fun with the phone, too. They can take pictures and choose to set it as their wallpaper, they can choose how the number keys sound when the push them, and set cool ringtones that come with the phone.

I absolutely love the control Kajeet allows me to have over my child's cell phone. It ensures me that they will be able to call whom they need to, when I say they need to, without having to worry about a large phone bill. Most importantly, my child and I are always in touch and I always know where she is. Talk about peace of mind.

Find out all about these awesome phones for kids by visiting www.kajeet.com.