Pinwheel launches a retro-style landline phone for kids

Pinwheel, the kid-focused tech company, announced Tuesday the launch of Pinwheel Home, a modern take on the classic household phone designed to let children stay connected without the distractions of a smartphone. The company already sells kid-friendly smartphones and launched a smartwatch last year; Pinwheel is positioning the new device as an intro phone for children ages 5 to 10, before they are ready for a smartphone of their own.

Built solely for voice calls, Pinwheel Home skips texting and social media altogether. The company says the phone encourages more meaningful, one-on-one conversations while giving kids the independence to call friends and family and practice basic phone skills without borrowing a parent’s device. Though it looks like a traditional landline, Pinwheel Home operates over Wi-Fi, eliminating the need for a phone jack. It comes in two models: the Spark, starting at $68 in white, black, blue, or purple, and the Classic, at $79, which includes a retro-style handset and customizable stickers in pink, black, or white.

For safety, parents manage the device through Pinwheel’s Caregiver Portal, where they can approve contacts, block unknown callers, spam, and robocalls, and set calling schedules and time limits; speed dial and voicemail are also available. The company says future updates will add three-way calling and let Pinwheel Home integrate with its watches and smartphones, so children can use the same phone number across devices while still limiting screen time at home.

Calls between Pinwheel Home devices are free through the company’s Pinwheel Circle service. Calling standard phone numbers costs $6.99 a month for up to five approved contacts, or $9.99 a month for unlimited calling. Pinwheel Home is available now through the company’s website and is expected to launch on Amazon this fall. It joins a small field of screen-free communication devices for kids, competing directly with Tin Can, a $100 Wi-Fi-enabled landline whose friends-and-family plan also costs $9.99 a month.

The launch comes as more parents look to cut back on children’s screen time; research from the University of Georgia found that children who spend more time on social media tend to show weaker vocabulary development over time, including greater difficulty recognizing and pronouncing words. Countries including Australia have already restricted social media access for children, and the UK has announced plans for similar measures.

Why it matters

Pinwheel’s bet is that “screen-free but still connected” is becoming its own hardware category, as regulatory pressure on kids’ social media use builds in markets from Australia to the UK.