The 5 Best Smartwatches for Kids Who Don’t Need a Smartphone Just Yet
The perfect gift for your techie tot or teen. ⌚
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Smartwatches have become popular wearable pieces of tech that make our day-to-day lives substantially easier. And now, even your child can a hand (and a wrist) in on these fun accessories. Smartwatches for kids are specifically designed with younger age groups in mind and are less powerful and more affordable than regular smartwatches. They're packed full of apps and games to keep your little ones active and occupied, and some even have built-in cameras for snapping selfies. Others are full-fledged communication gadgets that support phone calls, texts, and GPS tracking.
Best Smartwatches for Kids
What to Consider
Getting a smartwatch can be a big step for a child, or it can just be for fun. It's up to the parents to determine how they want the smartwatch to be utilized and for what purpose. Is it just for fun, or is it a watch that you want your child to use with you or others? There are four main things to consider when you're looking to buy: age, features or functions, durability, and connectivity.
Age
This is arguably the most important metric to consider when it comes to smartwatches for kids. Younger kids need different things and are better fit for simple watches. But tweens and teens? They won't settle for anything less than what you or I would wear, so it's up to us to guide them to what is appropriate.
Features/Functions
Some of our favorite kids' smartwatches are fairly basic — and that's the beauty of them. They let you get the time, maybe play a few games, have a timer for chores or potty, and usually have a camera just for fun. The next step up includes features like connecting to your phone or wifi. A step up from that are fully-functional smartwatches.
Durability
Our parenting editor, Cat Bowen, will sing the praises of gear insurance for kids, especially teens. Since kids tend to scratch up and break things rather quickly, we recommend adding a protection plan or insurance policy to your purchase. Aside from that, you should also look for smartwatches that are waterproof or splashproof, with sturdy, scratch-resistant surfaces, and bands that can take a beating.
Connectivity
Most smartwatches for kids don't rely on a data connection, but for teens, we've listed a handful of smartwatches in this guide that do sync with smartphones or have an independent data connection so that your child can send messages with their loved ones.
A smartwatch for kids is also an excellent middle ground for little ones who are constantly begging for a smartphone. Our picks don't offer unrestrained access to the internet like a phone would and most aren't susceptible to data charges. Plus, they're much cheaper than smartphones. All of our recommended models will serve as an excellent transition for giving your child more independence with tech. Shop the best smartwatches for kids below to get your kids excited about getting active.
VTech Kidizoom Smartwatch DX2 is one of the highest-rated kids' smartwatches on Amazon — and for good reason. It's packed with multiple activities, games, and intuitive challenges that'll keep your little one busy all day long.
Your child can play with its built-in voice changer and snap hundreds of photos and videos using its camera. Other features include an alarm, a timer, a stopwatch, a calendar, a calculator, and a pedometer.
It's durable, easy to use, and loads of fun. It also comes in blue and purple and offers several different watch faces to pick from. The watch is splashproof and very scratch-resistant, making this an all-around good pick.
More: Shoes & Gear
They may not be old enough to get an Apple Watch just yet, but this age-appropriate smartwatch is an educational gift for kids disguised as a toy.
It'll help them learn how to tell time, and it also features plenty of games to keep them entertained: a calendar, stopwatch, timer, reminder list, alarm clock, and two built-in cameras for taking funny photos and videos with friends.
Apple Watch SE with GPS
If you want to make your son or daughter's year and don't mind spending the money, the Apple Watch is one of the All About 75 Hard. It may be too powerful for most kids, but iPhone-wielding teens will be able to figure it out in no time. It's pretty decently waterproof and hard to scratch, but we still recommend investing in an insurance policy.
The Apple Watch SE is Apple's most inexpensive smartwatch. It does a fine job of tracking your teen's fitness to get them involved in their own health and wellness. With phone-call and text-message capabilities, your teen can't say that they missed your barrage of messages, either! We'd recommend getting the smaller and more affordable 40-millimeter watch for a teen (over the 44-millimeter model).
The Apple Watch comes in several different color and band combinations that vary in price. Just note that it doesn't work with Android smartphones — it requires an iPhone. It also comes with a new Shoes & Gear for kids.
Vivofit jr. 2, Kids Fitness/Activity Tracker
The vívofit jr. 3 from Garmin is a waterproof fitness tracker that helps get your little one up and moving. It tracks steps and sleep quality, and it records their active minutes to help them form positive habits. Parents can set daily activity goals, customize an “in case of emergency” screen with their contact information, and participate in fitness challenges using fitness trackers of their own.
The watch even gives you the option to send customizable alerts and chores lists to the device, and you can reward your child with virtual coins for completing goals — fitness or otherwise! As a bonus, the vívofit jr. 3’s built-in battery lasts for a whole year.
This Android-based watch is another great option for helping kids keep in close contact with their parents. That's because it has a built-in nano-SIM card slot, so you can activate it with your mobile carrier for texting and receiving phone calls. The watch even has Google Maps integration and safe-zone settings, so you can track your child's location and be alerted if they leave a specific boundary.
The glass is tough, and the whole thing is wonderfully splashproof. The band is also durable and stretchy.
You'll love that this watch is waterproof and features a step counter. Your son or daughter will appreciate its built-in camera and emoji support, too!
Brandon Carte is a writer and editor with over a decade of experience covering technology, gadgets and appliances. His reporting has been featured on Best Products, Top Ten Revies, Good Housekeeping and USA Today. When he's not researching washing machines or testing robot vacuums, you can find him at concerts, swimming laps, or at the movies. He thinks smartphones are too big, prefers MP3s to Spotify and misses his iPhone’s headphone jack.
Cat Bowen has been covering parenting and home for over a decade. At Best Products, she has tested hundreds of products for parents and for the home, often spending dozens of hours per product to ensure her reviews are accurate and informative. Prior to joining the team, she was at Romper where she covered everything from breastfeeding to child sleep habits to abortion rights access. You can find her work on Bustle, Romper, and more. Cat is a bit of an intellectual magpie and perpetual student, most recently receiving a graduate degree in gender studies where she examined a topic that vexes so many — pockets in women’s clothing.
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