How much does the Wisephone II cost?

The phone is $399 plus a one-time $39 activation fee. A subscription is required: WiseOS on its own is $14.99 a month (or $164.88 a year) with your own carrier, or Techless's own service with WiseOS included is $24.99, $44.99 or $69.99 a month depending on data.

What happens if you stop paying for WiseOS?

From October 1, 2026, a Wisephone without a subscription goes into a setup-only mode where only emergency calls and texts work. After 90 days without a subscription, the phone is removed from WiseOS, factory-reset and returned to plain Android.

Can a parent turn on a browser or email on the Wisephone II?

No. WiseOS does not support web browsing, email or full app stores, and there is no setting that adds them.

Can a parent control who a Wisephone II calls and texts?

Not from the Wisephone Portal. The portal manages the Tool Drawer apps, Google apps, the hotspot and factory reset, but it has no approved-contacts list, message monitoring or location tracking.

Is the Wisephone II made of aluminum?

No. Techless first planned a custom aluminum phone, then dropped custom hardware in 2024. Wisephone IIs ship on Samsung Galaxy A-series phones, now the Galaxy A17 5G, which has a plastic frame.

Wisephone II – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Wisephone II

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

Product2024dumbphone, kid-phone

82%

WISE Score

A Samsung Galaxy with the browser, email, social media and app store removed for good, for $399 plus a required $14.99-a-month subscription.

Wisephone II

Product

2024, dumbphone, kid-phone

82%

WISE Score

A Samsung Galaxy with the browser, email, social media and app store removed for good, for $399 plus a required $14.99-a-month subscription.

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Where to Buy

Visit official site

Screenwise Verdict

The Wisephone II solves the problem that sinks a lot of first phones: kids will not carry something that looks like a toy. It is a Samsung Galaxy A17 with WiseOS on top, so it looks like any other phone, but there is no browser, no email, no social media, no games and no app store, and nobody can switch them back on.

What a kid gets is calls, texts with photos and group chats, a good camera, maps and music. A parent can add a short list of vetted apps, like WhatsApp, Spotify or Waze, from a web portal.

Two things to know before buying. The subscription is required and enforced: $14.99 a month with your own carrier, and a phone without one is limited to emergency calls after October 1, 2026 and reset after 90 days. And there are no contact controls or message monitoring, so it fits a teen more than a 10-year-old.

Age Fit

Techless sells it as a whole-family phone and sets no minimum age, and most of its users are adults. For kids it fits 12 and up: a teen who needs group texts, maps and a real camera, and who you trust to handle contacts on their own. A younger kid is better served by a phone with an approved-contacts list, like Gabb, Pinwheel or Troomi.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

A normal-looking phone with the pull removed: no browser, no email, no feeds, no games and no app store, and no switch that turns them back on. What is left is useful and quiet.

Imaginative

A good camera, music and notes leave room to make things, and without a feed there is time and boredom left over for it. It is a tool, not a creative device.

Safe

The dangerous parts of a smartphone are missing by design rather than filtered, and apps come only from a short list Techless vets. It does not restrict who a kid can call or text, and it has no message monitoring or location tracking built in, so it suits a kid you already trust with contacts.

Enriching

Maps, calendar, notes and messaging make it a capable everyday phone, and learning to run a phone without the distraction machine is a skill in itself.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Looks and works like a normal Samsung phone, so kids carry it.
No browser, email, social media, games or app store, and none can be switched on.
Texts work fully, including group chats and photos, so a kid is not cut out of the class thread.
A parent adds vetted apps, like WhatsApp, Signal, Spotify or Waze, from the Wisephone Portal.
Works with most carriers, including AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon postpaid, or with Techless's own plans.

⚠

What to Watch For

The subscription is required: $14.99 a month with your own carrier, or $24.99 to $69.99 a month with Techless service. Without it, the phone is limited to emergency calls and texts, and after 90 days it is reset to plain Android.
Budget $399 for the phone plus a one-time $39 activation fee.
No contact controls, message monitoring or location tracking. Anyone can call or text it.
Techless decides which apps reach the Tool Drawer, so an app your kid's friends use may never be there.
The return window is 14 days.

Conversation Starters

"Which apps do you need, and which do you want?"
"Who is in your group chats, and what happens there?"
"What would you do if someone you do not know texted you?"
"What would make you feel left out without social media, and what could we do about it?"

Deep Dive

A Samsung phone with the internet taken out

The Wisephone II started as a custom aluminum phone that Techless took preorders for in 2023. In June 2024 the company gave up on its own hardware, and since then every Wisephone II has been a Samsung Galaxy A-series phone running WiseOS. Today that is the Galaxy A17 5G: a 6.7-inch screen, a 50 MP main camera and 128 GB of storage, in black.

A black Samsung Galaxy A17 from the back with a triple camera, and from the front, showing the WiseOS home screen: a plain list reading Phone, Messages, Camera, Clock, Maps, Settings, and a Search tools bar The WiseOS home screen is a list of words, not a grid of icons.

What is on it, and what never will be

WiseOS removes the web browser, email, social media, games and the Play Store, and none of them can be switched back on. Built in are calls, texts, camera, photos, maps, music, clock, calculator, notes, calendar and a two-factor code app. Texting is complete, with group chats and photos, so a kid stays in the class thread.

The Tool Drawer adds a short list of apps Techless has vetted: WhatsApp, Signal, Spotify, Waze, Uber, Venmo, Google Calendar and a few more. Some are trimmed, like Spotify without video podcasts. Techless decides what is on the list, and it leaves out shopping, video streaming, search engines and AI chatbots.

A hand holding a black Wisephone II over a pair of jeans, the screen showing the WiseOS list of Phone, Messages, Camera, Clock, Maps and Settings It passes for any other Android phone until the screen turns on.

What a parent controls

A parent, or any "device manager", runs the phone from the Wisephone Portal on the web:

Turn the Tool Drawer on or off, or manage it only from the portal.
Install and remove apps one at a time.
Allow or block Google apps (Maps, Photos, Meet), the hotspot and factory reset.

The Wisephone Portal on a phone screen, showing switches for Tool Drawer, Google Apps, Allow Hotspot and Allow Factory Reset The portal's Features tab, from Techless's own product page.

The portal has no approved-contacts list, no message monitoring and no location tracking. The phone limits what a kid can open, not who they can talk to. For a younger kid who needs both, Gabb or Pinwheel fits better.

The subscription is not optional

The phone is $399 plus a one-time $39 activation fee. On top of that, WiseOS costs $14.99 a month with your own carrier, and most carriers work, including AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon postpaid. Techless's own plans on AT&T's network bundle WiseOS in for $24.99 (1 GB), $44.99 (5 GB) or $69.99 (unlimited) a month.

Techless now enforces it. Since October 1, 2026, a Wisephone without a subscription goes into a setup-only mode with emergency calls and texts only, and after 90 days it is reset to plain Android. Owners who bought early, when no subscription was required, got notice in September.

For every other kind of phone, from home landlines to kid watches, see the guide to every new kid phone.

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