So, we bought a Tin Can phone to see what all the fuss was about.<\/p>\n
Latest Videos From \n (Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n The Tin Can phone is only available through the company\u2019s web site<\/a>. The device itself, which looks like a child\u2019s version of an old-school phone you\u2019d hang on your wall, costs $100, and comes in one of four colors: blue\/green, white\/blue, yellow, and pink\/orange.<\/p>\n Because of its popularity, there\u2019s about a month or so delay in getting the actual device; I ordered mine in May, and it didn\u2019t arrive until mid-June.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n Apart from the device, you can also sign up for a $10\/month subscription, which lets you use the Tin Can to dial and receive calls from real phone numbers, rather than just from other Tin Can phones. Tin Can gives you a free month trial, which is a welcome feature, as you’ll see.<\/p>\n At its core, the Tin Can uses VoIP (Voice over IP) technology to make phone calls. Those of a certain age may remember a company called MagicJack<\/a>, which sold a little dongle you plugged into your computer, which worked the same way.<\/p>\n Setup<\/p>\n To add a contact, you can connect the app to your contacts list, or type in a Tin Can number into the app. With the latter, a notification is sent to that person, who must approve you before you can call them. I recommend you make your name as clear as possible; I received a contact request with just a kid\u2019s first name, and I had no idea who they were. Fortunately, you can edit a person\u2019s contact info to something recognizable.<\/p>\n The app also lets you set quiet times, when the phone is operable. I like that you can set a different schedule for each day, so you can set specific hours for weekends versus weekdays. And, you can create a voicemail message, so your child\u2019s friends can leave messages if you\u2019re not around. Annoyingly, you can only listen to voicemails on the phone itself, and not the app.<\/p>\n How it worked<\/p>\n \n (Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n It\u2019s amusing to see children brought up in an age of smartphones use a type of phone that\u2019s much, much older. When my kid first used the Tin Can, she held it in front of her face, like she was expecting a FaceTime call. I told her she\u2019d hear her grandma better if she held the phone to her ear.<\/p>\n What to read next<\/p>\n Kids aren\u2019t used to the lack of visual cues, either, which leads to a lot of awkward pauses as they wait to hear each other speak.<\/p>\n Call quality was good, but not great. For the most part, calls were clear, both when holding the phone to her head and in speakerphone mode. However, several voicemails left for my kid were crackly, which made them hard to understand.<\/p>\n \n (Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n It also proved to be a good incentive for her to get her chores done \u2014 I told her she needed to practice piano before she could make any calls, and whaddya know, she ran right over to the ivories and tore through her lesson.<\/p>\n I also asked the parents of my kid\u2019s friends what they thought about the phone, and the reactions were largely positive.<\/p>\n \u201cDespite the cords, it\u2019s really nice to have a way to get in touch with the kids when I\u2019m at work. It\u2019s also cute to see them initiating calls to my family,\u201d one parent said.<\/p>\n \u201cI can already see how it\u2019s building [my child\u2019s] conversation skills,\u201d said another. \u201cIt encourages them to think about questions they might want to ask, or talk about things that they will do together later in a way that in-person play doesn\u2019t necessitate.\u201d<\/p>\n I can already see how it\u2019s building conversation skills<\/p>\n A third parent also noted the generational divide. \u201cI love how little my child understands phone etiquette when there\u2019s no screen involved to see the other person. Lots of awkward pauses.\u201d<\/p>\n Finally \u201c[our kid] told me this morning that he \u2018feels so grown up not that he can talk to his friends whenever he wants.\u201d<\/p>\n However, there were a few critiques. \u201cThe cords are waaaaay too easy to unplug,\u201d said one parent. \u201cJust ask my 2.5-year-old who does it every time we get a call.\u201d<\/p>\n Another parent suggested that the phone\u2019s ringer could be louder, or there be an option for it to ring the parent\u2019s phone when there\u2019s a call.<\/p>\n The competition<\/p>\n Tin Can is far from the only company to offer child-focused phones.<\/p>\n The Ring Ring<\/a>, for example, works much the same way; it sells five handsets for $69 each, and also sells a bridge for $49 that lets you connect any old phone and use it. It also has a cheaper monthly plan ($8.95\/month) if you want to use it as a real phone, as well as e911 services.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also Pinwheel<\/a>, which sells two types of phones (the Spark for $59 and the Classic for $79). It offers two plans: a $6.99\/month plan lets you call up to five external contacts, while the $9.99\/month plan lets you call unlimited numbers.<\/p>\n Swipe to scroll horizontallyRow 0 – Cell 0 <\/p>\n Tin Can<\/p>\n Ring Ring<\/p>\n Pinwheel<\/p>\n Starting price<\/p>\n $100<\/p>\n $69<\/p>\n $59<\/p>\n Model colors<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n 5<\/p>\n 7<\/p>\n Monthly plan<\/p>\n $9.99<\/p>\n $8.95<\/p>\n $6.99\/$9.99<\/p>\n External calls<\/p>\n Unlimited<\/p>\n Unlimited<\/p>\n Up to 5\/Unlimited<\/p>\n E911 calling<\/p>\n Free<\/p>\n Plan req\u2019d<\/p>\n Free<\/p>\n Parental controls<\/p>\n Free<\/p>\n Plan req\u2019d<\/p>\n Free<\/p>\n Voicemail<\/p>\n Free<\/p>\n Plan req\u2019d<\/p>\n Free<\/p>\n Of the three, the Tin Can phones are definitely the most colorful, but they are the most expensive. Ring Ring offers the least expensive unlimited plan, but I don\u2019t like the fact that you don\u2019t get features such as 911 calling and parental controls if you don\u2019t sign up for a plan.<\/p>\n One month later…<\/p>\n \n (Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n Like many of my kid\u2019s toys, the novelty of the Tin Can wore off pretty quickly. After a few weeks, she had only made a couple of calls to her grandparents, and barely any to her friends, so I cancelled the monthly plan. I also noticed that she also stopped receiving calls from her friends after the initial flurry of activity, so it seems like interest in general has died down.<\/p>\n When we first got the phone, I signed up for a monthly plan, but after seeing her lack of interest, I cancelled it. Fortunately, we were still on the free trial, so it didn\u2019t end up costing me anything.<\/p>\n It would be great if kids who have, say, a Tin Can could call someone who has a Pinwheel or Ring Ring phone. Otherwise, you\u2019re locked into buying a phone on the particular service that\u2019s most popular among your child\u2019s parents. It\u2019s like a more exclusive version of the blue bubble.<\/p>\n Ultimately \u2014 and this is a good thing \u2014 is that there are far more interesting things to my 7-year-old than a phone. Maybe it\u2019s because it\u2019s the middle of the summer and no one\u2019s around, but even when I suggested she call one of her friends, she sort of just shrugs. Then she ran off to play outside.<\/p>\n Have you picked up one of these phones for your kids? What’s the right age to get a kid a phone? Let me know in the comments.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n <\/a><\/p>\n Follow Tom’s Guide on Google News<\/a> and add us as a preferred source<\/a> to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/flexiimages\/yjolrksv791774885936.svg\")
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