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Finding the perfect smartwatch for your child can be difficult. After all, the market is full of wearables, offering a different number of features at a different price range.
It even becomes more challenging if you are searching for a smartwatch for a small kid. As a parent, you most likely want to buy a smartwatch with features such as GPS, phone call support, chore reminders, and good old fitness tracking.
Don't worry, though. In this buying guide, we explain which features to look for when choosing a smartwatch for your child and show which are the best smartwatches and fitness trackers for kids on the market right now.
The main reason to get a smartwatch for your child is likely to track their location and communicate with them easily. That is why it is important for your kid's smartwatch to have multiple safety features like:
GPS tracking
Call and text functionality
Geofencing—a feature that lets you set safe zones like your child's school or your home. Whenever your child leaves these zones, you will receive an alert.
SOS feature—a function that lets your child long press an SOS button to easily contact you in case of an emergency.
Contact lists with parental controls—a feature that lets you create a pre-approved list of contacts for your child to call.
Restricted internet access
A kids smartwatch with a camera would also be a good idea to get because it will let you make a video call with your child. Another added benefit of buying a smartwatch with a camera is that your kid will be able to take cool photos with their watch.
Good durability and water resistance
It's also preferable for your child's watch to have a drop-proof casing and to be water-resistant. Yes, these features will make your kid's smartwatch more expensive, but you will be calm knowing that the device will work even if your child drops it on the ground or spill Kool-Aid on it.
Good battery life
The biggest downside of smartwatches has always been their limited battery life. So you must definitely be looking at a kids smartwatch with a long battery life.
Built-in educational features
One of the good things about smartwatches for kids is that they help and motivate kids to learn new things. Some kids smartwatches, like Garmin's Vivofit Jr.3, come equipped with fun educational games. There are also kids smartwatches that offer a dedicated school mode, which disables all smartwatch functions—except the SOS feature—and lets your child concentrate better at school.
Best smartwatches for kids in 2024
Fitbit Ace LTE
The Fitbit Ace LTE was released on June 5th, 2024, and is one of the best smartwatches for kids out there. It has GPS, so you'll know where your child is every second. Furthermore, it supports phone calls, allowing them to stay in touch.
Additionally, it packs plenty of movement-based games, that help your child become more active as they need to move more in order to progress in the games. But when it's time for studying, you can use the School Time feature to limit their gameplay, so that your kid can focus.
In terms of battery, the Fitbit Ace LTE delivers up to 16 hours of usage, so it will get your kid through the day. Moreover, the watch comes with fast charging, providing 11 hours of battery life in only 30 minutes.
Another cool feature is that it sports a 5ATM water-resistance rating so that your child can wear their fancy smartwatch while swimming or showering.
But while the Fitbit Ace LTE has a lot to offer, it does so at a hefty price. With a price tag of $229.95, it's far from budget-friendly. Furthermore, you'll have to opt for a Fitbit Ace Pass LTE data plan, which costs $9.99 a month. So, yeah, it isn't cheap. But if you are willing to spend that kind of cash and a kids smartwatch, feel free to get your Fitbit Ace LTE by tapping the button below.
Key features: up to 2 days of battery life, GPS tracking, phone calls and text functionality, water resistance
The Garmin Bounce is also one of the best smartwatches for kids that you can currently buy. This kids smartwatch has great battery life and offers real-time location tracking, which lets you monitor your child's location every second. This kids smartwatch also comes with a feature called Check-in reminders, which allows your child to "check-in" at their location, which then sends a notification to the Garmin Jr. app. Garmin Bounce also supports LTE, but you need a subscription plan from Garmin to use it. The price of the plan is $9.99 per month.
The watch supports text and two-way voice messaging and lets you manage up to 20 contacts via the Garmin Jr. app. You can also use the application to assign different chores to your child and designate a reward in the form of virtual coins. Garmin Bounce is also made with active kids in mind. It comes with a step counter and can track your kid's run, walk, and bike activities thanks to its GPS.
Garmin Bounce
Kid-Friendly Smartwatch with LTE Connectivity, Bluetooth, GPS, 1.3-Inch LCD, Three Colors
The Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen) may not exactly be a kids smartwatch, however, it's perfect for a pre-teen or teen. The watch has a nice display, a good battery life, and a plethora of features. It packs fitness-tracking functionalities, SOS feature, location tracking, and can even double as a walkie-talkie. You can use Apple's Family Setup to know where your child is as well as Apple's parental control features to set up things like screen time usage.
However, the Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen) works only with iPhones and doesn't support Android phones, so this is not the watch to go for if you are an Android user.
Key features: GPS tracking, health tracking, good battery life
The Galaxy Watch 4 is also a great smartwatch to add to your shortlist. It has a budget-friendly price and it's equipped a plethora of health-tracking features. It even comes with Samsung's body composition functionality, allowing your teen/pre-teen to measure their muscle mass and body fat percentages.
Samsung's Galaxy Watch 4 also packs functionalities such as smart notifications, the ability to make and take phone calls, and NFC. True, this is not exactly a kids smartwatch, as it lacks parental control features; however it's a great alternative to the Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen) for teens preferring the little green robot instead of the the bitten apple.
We should note that the Galaxy Watch 4 works only with Android devices and doesn't support Apple's iPhones, so this is not the watch to go for if your teen rocks an iPhone.
The Amazfit Bip 3 is a stylish smartwatch that can easily pass for an Apple Watch, at least at first glance. The smartwatch offers fitness tracking features like heart rate, SpO2, and stress monitoring. It also has GPS, a sleep quality tracking feature, and 60+ built-in sports modes. In addition to that, the Amazfit Bip 3 has an IP68 water resistance rating and can last up to 14 days on a single charge.
The Amazfit Bip 3 also supports push notifications for calls, texts, and apps. However, it cannot be used for making phone calls. We should also mention that the smartwatch is extremely budget-friendly and is definitely worth considering if you don't want to spend a lot of money on a new smartwatch.
The Spacetalk Adventurer is definitely one of the best smartwatches for kids on the market. True, this is not exactly a budget smartwatch; however, it's full of useful features that make it a total bargain. The Spacetalk Adventurer is durable. It comes with an IP67 water resistance rating and a Gorilla Glass touchscreen.
Furthermore, the smartwatch has GPS and Safe Zones support, which means it will alert you if your kid wanders outside the designated safe areas, like your home, for example. The smartwatch also has LTE, which, however, doesn't work with Verizon, Sprint, or Speedtalk.
With LTE, your child can make and receive video calls, voice calls, and texts. And don't worry, these features work only with safe contacts defined by you. Despite having LTE functionality, the watch doesn't have open internet access.
Additionally, the Spacetalk Adventurer supports rewards and reminders, enabling you to reward your kid when they do something amazing and also remind them for a task they have to do.
Key features: Activity tracking, chore reminders, water resistance, and up to 1 year of battery life (no recharging needed).
This is a great device to consider if you are looking for a fitness tracker for your kid. The Garmin Vivofit Jr.3 is water-resistant and built to last. The interface has fun features that encourage kids to stay active and even rewards them by unlocking games and adventures. If you have more than one kid, this tracker is a good choice for both, as the Vivofit Jr.3 can sync with other Vivofit Jr.3 and Jr.2 trackers, which allows the kids to enter step competitions.
Parents can control the Garmin Vivofit Jr.3 by downloading an app on their phones. They can assign chores, schedule alarms, and set alerts. An important feature of this fitness tracker is the emergency info widget, which is easily accessible and displays all the important information about your kid. It also comes with a replaceable battery that Garmin claims can last up to a year without any charging.
However, you don't get things like GPS tracking and phone and text functionality with the Garmin Vivofit Jr.3.
When it comes to finding the best smartwatch for your child, there are a few important considerations you need to make:
Does the watch have features appropriate for your child's age: you should choose a kids smartwatch designed specifically for your child's age group. If you have a small kid, you would probably want the watch to have features like real-time location tracking, geofencing, SOS calling, parental controls, and even a few games. However, if you have a pre-teen or teen, you won't need a watch with Geofencing, parental controls, and built-in games. Instead, it would be desirable for the watch you purchase to have features like fitness tracking, internet access, and voice calling.
Is the watch durable enough, and does it have good water resistance: Most likely, you want your child to use their kids smartwatch for as long as possible. That is why it is important to choose a smartwatch with a durable, water-resistant design that can withstand many hits.
Does the watch have good battery life: You should buy a watch that can last at least 24 hours on a single charge. It is important for kids smartwatches to have good battery life because your kid's smartwatch becomes useless if it dies while your child is outside.
What is the cost of the smartwatch: There are both expensive and cheap smartwatches for kids. So you can easily choose a kids smartwatch that fits your budget. However, cheap kids smartwatches may not have features like GPS tracking and parental controls and most likely won't be durable or water-resistant. Best kids smartwatches, on the other hand, will have advanced features like parental controls and geofencing but will cost more.
Does the watch have good parental controls: If you are looking for a smartwatch for a small child, you would definitely want to buy a watch with good parental controls. Get a smartwatch that allows you to do things like setting screen time limits and restricting access to certain contacts or applications.
Do you want the watch to have educational features: Some smartwatches come with educational apps and games. If the smartwatch is for a small kid, these built-in games will help them learn new things while having fun. However, if your child is a pre-teen or teen, they probably won't play such games, and there is no point in buying a smartwatch with such educational features.
Preslav Mladenov is a News and Affiliate Content Writer at PhoneArena who started on his tech journalism journey in December 2021. With persistent knack for finding the best deals out there, he swiftly became a pivotal Affiliate Content Writer, guiding readers towards significant savings on a plethora of gadgets, including smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, Bluetooth speakers, and headphones. Mladenov's deep-seated knowledge of mobile tech, paired with a rich background in sales, empowers him to unearth the finest deals on the web.
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