Bark Watch Review

The Bark Watch is an internet-free smartwatch designed to keep kids safe on their very first connected device. All unauthorized numbers are automatically blocked, and parents get an instant notification when anything dangerous, disturbing, or concerning is detected in texts, images, or videos sent or received by the Bark Watch.

The Bark Watch is our favorite kids smartwatch for preventing cyberbullying, but it's also an excellent choice if you're looking for accurate GPS tracking and no distracting games. Below, we share insights from our real-world testing and compare the Bark Watch to other kids smartwatches to help you decide if it's right for your family.

Ready to meet the Bark Watch? Here's a quick look at what it offers. 

Communication features:

• Phone calls
• Voice messages
• Text messages plus the ability to send photos, videos, and emojis
• Full-text keyboard (English and Spanish) 

Emergency features: 

• SOS button
• Continuous SOS calling (will call a second emergency contact if the first doesn't answer)
• Option to call 911 or 988

Location-tracking features:

• Live location tracking
• Geofencing/safe zone alerts
• Location history

Fun and practical features:

• 5MP selfie camera
• Step counter
• Alarm and timer

Parental control features:

• No incoming or outgoing communication with unknown numbers
• School mode schedules
• Remote shutdown
• Remote alarm schedules
• To-do lists and reminders
• Text, photo, and video monitoring

Although it has a camera and allows kids to share videos via text, the Bark Watch doesn't support video calling. There are also no games on this watch, which many parents believe is a good thing. 

Here's a full list of what you won't find on the Bark Watch. 

Setting up the Bark Watch was a little time-consuming and required some troubleshooting to get it to connect with Wi-Fi. "My experience testing the Pinwheel Watch was WAY easier—it just worked right away," one tester said. 

Parents can download the Bark app on their smartphone or computer. One tester who installed the desktop app says it's hard to uninstall, but that's likely by design to prevent kids from removing it.

All in all, the Bark Watch was ready for action in about an hour. 

Yes! The Bark Watch worked like we expected, and nothing was glitchy or misleading. Even GPS tracking proved to be accurate and detailed. 

"Awesome tracking! I tested it hiking with my daughter in a remote area with spotty cell service, but still got accurate tracking in the app," one tester said. "In my experience the Bark Watch has the best GPS tracking—better than Pinwheel and Gabb."

Here are some other features our parent testers liked:

• Easy charging thanks to a magnetic connection
• Battery lasts long enough for a full day of use
• School Mode effectively blocked the watch's features
• Accurate and helpful alerts about concerning content in messages
• Convenient monitoring across multiple devices in one parent app
• Short and informative educational videos in the app
• High-quality camera and clear audio

The Bark Watch's stand-out feature is undoubtedly its content monitoring. Bark software screens all texts, photos, and videos for inappropriate content and alerts parents if needed. 

Limiting who your child can contact through the watch is a step in the right direction, but what happens when their "friend" starts cyberbullying? Or a family member sends an inappropriate photo? Other kids smartwatches don't protect against these scenarios, but Bark helps nip them in the bud with real-time parental alerts. 

"When my daughter texted me that she got hurt, I got a separate alert from Bark," one tester said. "That was helpful to make sure nothing serious got missed." 

Bark screens for nearly 30 topics, and their software is constantly updated with the latest text slang and emoji codes. 

There are no one-time fees associated with the Bark Watch. Instead, you pay a $7 monthly fee for the device (for 24 months total) and a $15 monthly fee for cellular service.

In total, the Bark Watch costs $22 per month for the first two years. Then it costs $15 per month. 

Paying $7 per month for 24 months is the same as paying a lump sum of $168, which is about the same price as other kids smartwatches. The $15 monthly service fee is on the high side but isn't the most expensive we've seen. 

Your Bark Watch purchase includes a free subscription to Bark Premium, our favorite parental control app for monitoring other devices in your child's life, like laptops and tablets. Bark Premium normally costs $14 per month, so it's like getting a two-for-one deal with the Bark Watch.

Buying the Bark Watch also gives you free access to Talkspace Go, a self-guided therapy app that normally costs $29.99 per month. Note that this app can't be downloaded to the Bark Watch app, but it could be helpful to you as a parent.

You can choose to pay an extra $3 per month device protection plan that kicks in 15 days after enrollment. If the Bark Watch is stolen, lost, damaged, inoperable, or cracked, this plan lowers the cost of replacement to just $29, or about 18% of the total cost of the device.

Additional watch bands can be purchased for $14 each. They're available in light blue, white, pastel green, yellow, light pink, and camo. 

Based on our tests, we believe the Bark Watch is dependable and serves as a safe introduction to the world of smart devices. 

The Bark Watch is a great choice for:

• Kids who are excited to text with their friends thanks to its ability to receive messages and calls from other kids smartwatches and kids phones.
• Parents who want to know right away if their child shares or is exposed to anything inappropriate.
• Parents looking for a kids smartwatch with reliable GPS tracking.

The Bark Watch stands in a league of its own thanks to its comprehensive content monitoring and highly adjustable parental controls. That said, younger kids may do just fine with a simpler watch.