Best Smartwatches for Kids | Tested by Parents and Kids in 2026

Options can feel slim for parents who need to stay connected to their kids. Smartphones can be distracting for younger kids, and GPS trackers can feel invasive for older kids. Smartwatches strike a balance between the two with kid- and parent-friendly features. 

The best smartwatches for kids track your child's location, send secure messages, and protect your child from unknown callers. They do all this while also offering fun features that help kids get excited about wearing the device. 

Based on our hands-on testing experiences, parent surveys, and years of research, we've chosen the Bark Watch as our overall pick thanks to its outstanding performance during hands-on testing. The COSMO JrTrack 5 is also a top contender with extra parent-approved apps that mimic the utility of a smartphone. The Gabb watch is our choice for the best starter watch and Verizon's Gizmo watch is our budget pick. Our full guide explores the pros and cons of more than a dozen kids smartwatches and includes tips for choosing the best one for your family.

After 10-plus years of testing and wearing family safety devices, we know what makes a kids smartwatch stand out (or not). Here's a peek into our evaluation process and a look at popular features to consider when choosing the best kids smartwatch for your family.

• Price and monthly costs: Most kids smartwatches cost about $150–$200 upfront plus a monthly service fee of about $15, but more affordable options are available.
• Communication options: Full-text keyboards are pretty common in kids smartwatches these days, but others restrict kids to preset responses. You can also look for video calls, voice calls, voice messaging, and voice-to-text to suit your child's needs.
• Contact options: Some kids smartwatches only receive calls and texts sent through the brand's phone app, which can limit communication between friends. Regardless, parents should be able to control who can call or text their child's watch.
• Location tracking: Most kids smartwatches offer this important safety feature, but some go a step further and provide safe zone notifications and live updates upon request.
• Emergency features: Most kids smartwatches have SOS buttons that call a parent or guardian, and some will call secondary numbers if the first emergency contact doesn't pick up. Other helpful emergency features to look for include automatic call pick-up, audio drop-ins (so you can discreetly hear the child's surroundings), removal notifications, and the ability to dial 911.
• Entertainment: There's got to be something in it for the kid, right? They may be more likely to wear it every day and keep it charged if it includes fun features like arcade games, music streaming, or audiobooks. 
• Games that encourage movement: Many parents are understandably worried that technology could promote a sedentary lifestyle. Some kids smartwatches tackle this issue with creative games that reward movement. For example, the child may need to log 500 steps to progress in the game.
• Bluetooth support for headphones: This is especially useful for listening to music, streaming an audiobook, listening to game sound effects, or having a call.
• Useful apps: An alarm clock, flashlight, to-do list, and weather app make these watches far more useful. Some also come with a calculator.
• Parental controls: Some kids smartwatches allow parents to set screen time limits, remotely shut down the watch, and set up School Mode or Focus Mode. 
• Ease of use: The watch should be intuitive to navigate and include a responsive touch screen. The parent app should also be easy to use.

In addition, it's important for parents and caregivers to have an open, ongoing dialogue with the children in their lives about their goals for getting a smartwatch and how to use and take care of it responsibly. 

The Bark Watch earns our recommendation as the best kids smartwatch. During hands-on testing, it stood out as the best kids smartwatch for location tracking. It provided instant safe zone alerts and showed the watch's precise location in a variety of circumstances. Parents also get detailed location history reports unlike anything that's available in other kids smartwatches. Plus, the audio quality is great, the battery lasts about two days, and everything is easy to use.

The Bark Watch is also the only kids smartwatch that notifies parents about problematic messages, photos, and videos, so it's a great choice for nipping cyberbullying and abuse in the bud. According to our 2025 kids safety survey, almost 1 in 2 kids have been exposed to inappropriate content online. Cyberbullying has happened to nearly 3 in 10 kids. As you help your child learn how to safely navigate a digital world, it's important to know what kind of messages they're sending and receiving. Bark makes that guidance easy. 

• Go ahead and buy the Bark Watch if your kid is very social and loves to connect with their friends, or if you value an excellent SOS system.
• Keep shopping if you're looking for a watch with games or music. 

Our parent testers loved the Bark Watch and often praised its thorough parental controls, attention-grabbing alerts, and accurate GPS tracking. Testers initially criticized the parent app because it was difficult to find certain settings, but the app has since been updated and is now significantly easier to navigate. 

Parents say most features are geared toward kids about 9 and up, so the watch may seem like overkill for younger kids. 

One important thing to know about the Bark Watch is how it communicates with other devices. Contacts must be parent-approved (as usual), but they don't have to log in to an app to call or message the Bark Watch. This allows kids to connect with each other through their smartwatches or phones, which may not support third-party apps. 

The potential for so much peer-to-peer interaction makes the Bark Watch's cyberbullying protection even more important, and we're glad to see it. 

Read our full Bark Watch review to learn more.

The COSMO JrTrack 5 is our pick for best extra apps because parents can add nine (and counting) curated and kid-friendly apps to the smartwatch. In fact, it's the only kids smartwatch that supports optional apps. Spotify Kids, iHeartRadio, The Week Junior, Calm, GoNoodle, and a few arcade games are available for download.

Designed by a father with the needs of both parents and kids in mind, the COSMO JrTrack 5 includes a camera, music, a full-text keyboard, and a full roster of safety features. The latest model adds talk to text, real-time location tracking, and an improved battery life.

We're especially impressed by the COSMO JrTrack 5's SOS mode. When the home button is pressed three times, the watch immediately shifts into live-tracking mode and will automatically answer calls with the caller muted for safety. This lets parents listen in to learn more about the situation. Kids can unmute the caller if it's safe to talk. We haven't seen any other kids smartwatch with such a thoughtfully-designed process. 

• Go ahead and buy the COSMO Jr Track 5 if robust safety features are just as important to you as entertainment.
• Keep shopping if you're on a budget or looking for a watch with video calling.

Learn more about our testing results in our full COSMO JrTrack 5 review.

We recommend the Gabb Watch 3e to parents looking for their child's very first smartwatch because most of its features are geared toward younger kids. For example, it features a unique digital pet that helps motivate kids to stay active and complete chores. Younger kids can easily send custom texts with the speech-to-text feature, and the fact that there's no 911 option means you don't have to worry about false alarms.

One big thing missing from the Gabb Watch 3e is location history. You won't be able to see where your child has been throughout the day, but this may not be a problem for younger kids since they're likely to be supervised anyway.

• Go ahead and buy the Gabb Watch 3e if you're looking for a durable and easy-to-use watch
  that encourages kids to stay active and finish their chores.
• Keep shopping if you value emergency features like audio-only drop-ins, automatic call
  answering, location history, and the ability to dial 911.

Our testers consistently describe the Gabb Watch as easy to set up and use. The watch includes must-haves like location tracking, safe zones, reminders, and text and voice communication while blocking unknown contacts and keeping kids off the internet. Parents tell us the Gabb Watch has a good blend of features for the price, but they think Gabb could improve its parental contacts. One mom felt frustrated she couldn't add her husband to the account and give him the same control and access she had.

For kids, the real highlight of the Gabb Watch is GabbGo — a clever way to motivate kids to do their chores and get off the couch. It's cute, simple, and a big hit with our group of testers. 

Here's how it works: kids earn virtual coins by completing their to-do lists (which you delegate through the parent app) or reaching step goals. They can spend those coins to care for a virtual pet, teach it tricks, and add even more pets (including a T-Rex and a unicorn) to their menagerie.

Gabb periodically releases new pets, which helps keep the game fresh.

Check out the details — including more of our test group's opinions and images —  in our full Gabb Watch review. Or get all your questions answered on our Gabb Watch FAQ page.

The Verizon Gizmo Watch 3 Adventure is the most affordable kids smartwatch that we recommend. With a data plan that's just $10 per month, it costs 33% less than the average kids smartwatch. The watch itself costs about $149 upfront ($99 device fee and $40 activation fee), which is about average. However, you can finance the device for $2.77/mo. for 36 months. 

If you prefer Verizon's other kids smartwatch, the Gizmo Watch 3, you'll still enjoy the affordable $10/mo. data plan but will need to pay about $199 upfront (or $40 upfront for the activation fee and $4.16/mo. for 36 months to finance the device). That makes it one of the priciest kids smartwatch in terms of upfront fees, but the month-to-month savings add up to a couple hundred dollars over time.

• Go ahead and buy the Verizon Gizmo Watch 3 Adventure if you want a basic but reliable kids smartwatch with good location-tracking features and an unbeatable price.
• Switch to the Gizmo Watch 3 if you don't mind paying $50 more in upfront fees in exchange for a camera and video calling.
• Keep shopping if you're prioritizing a more interactive experience for your child and want higher-quality fitness games or additional contact slots.

The Verizon Gizmo Watch has been a long-time favorite of ours, but newer kids smartwatches have left it in the dust with interactive fitness games, unlimited contacts, and even music streaming. Still, the Gizmo Watch 3 and 3 Adventure have good bones and some thoughtful features for parents.

For example, parents can switch the GizmoWatch to quiet mode or vibration mode via the app. This allows incoming calls to show up on the screen but silences the ringtone and any of the watch’s sound effects. You can also set up specific quiet times to ensure your child’s ringtone doesn’t disrupt their class, or turn off the watch altogether.

Another neat feature is “auto answer.” After parents toggle this setting on the GizmoHub app, the watch will automatically pick up your call after ringing for ten seconds. This lets you listen in to check on your child or talk through the watch in an emergency.

Our testers showered the Verizon Gizmo Watch 3 with praise thanks to easy set up, a high-quality camera, surprisingly in-depth features (like a weather app that also reports air quality), a variety of simple educational games, great battery life, and a recessed SOS button. The only thing that could be better is the GPS tracking. Our testers noticed that the Gizmo Watch 3 gives accurate readings when the watch is worn outside, but it tends to be less accurate when worn inside. 

Learn more in our full GizmoWatch review or compare the current selection of GizmoWatches to the ever-popular Gabb Watch in our head-to-head review: GizmoWatch vs. Gabb Watch.

The myFirst Fone R2 is our editor's choice for it's family-safe ecosystem. We also love its photo sharing because it connects to a private, parent-moderated social media feed called myFirst Circle (this is part of that ecosystem we're talking about!). The watch's 5MP camera takes surprisingly clear photos and videos, and kids can record short voice messages over their photos or share quick video clips via text.

The company also sells a digital photo frame that displays your child's myFirst Circle posts and makes a cute gift for grandparents, aunts, and uncles. You can also get kid-safe headphones and earbuds (they have a lower max decibel-level for little ears), and a nifty digital camera that our testing families just love.

• Go ahead and buy the myFirst Fone R2 if you have a large network of family and friends and want your child to interact with them and share photos in a safe way.
• Keep shopping if you're looking for a watch with a full-text keyboard or talk-to-text for custom messages.

We think the myFirst Fone R2 delivers a rich, kid-first experience that keeps families safely connected. It’s a standout choice for parents who want more than just GPS—but still want to start slowly with introducing their kids to tech. 

Testers describe the myFirst Fone R2 as a vibrant, feature-packed smartwatch with voice and video calls, messaging, and even music playback—all without the distractions of unsafe apps. With a lightweight, redesigned body, playful color options, and a bright AMOLED screen, the R2 is comfortable and easy for little wrists to wear all day long.

This watch proved to be reliable and easy to use thanks to a large responsive touchscreen and multiple side buttons, including the customizable Magic Button that takes kids directly to their favorite features. Parents reported receiving timely alerts, and they were impressed with the watch's GPS accuracy and overall quality. The parent app was a little trickier to use than the watch, but our testers got the hang of it with some trial and error. 

Check out our in-depth myFirst Fone R2 review for all the details about this kids smartwatch.

We recommend the Pinwheel Watch for older kids (starting around age 9 or 10) because one of its main features is a custom, kid-friendly AI chatbot. Known as PinwheelGPT, it allows kids to ask questions and get quick answers. It's sort of like letting your child access Google without showing them any websites. 

PinwheelGPT requires strong reading skills because its answers are usually in paragraph form and include upper-level vocab. Older kids will probably get the most benefit out of it. Plus, we think it's smart to introduce kids to AI only when they're mature enough to understand what it is and how to use it responsibly. 

• Go ahead and buy the Pinwheel Watch if you don't want your child to have full access to the internet but think they would enjoy interacting with PinwheelGPT.
• Keep shopping if you want video calling or features that cater to younger kids.

Testers were pleased to find that more than one parent can be an admin on the Pinwheel account, which is not always the case with other kids smartwatches. Plus, parents can read all texts and limit who's allowed in a group chat. Most kids smartwatches don't include this level of supervision.

Our testers noticed that the Pinwheel Watch's battery lasted all day, whereas the Pinwheel website says it has a maximum battery life of 10 hours. Battery life varies depending on settings and how often the watch is actively being used, but our testers said charging it each night worked fine for them. 

Testers also noted some problems with GPS accuracy but received a same-day response from Pinwheel customer service, and a recent update seems to have fixed the issue. 

Read all of our testing notes in our full-length Pinwheel review.

The big, bright, colorful TickTalk 5 is our choice for best battery life because it lasted 98 hours during our tests. That's 31 hours longer (almost a day and a half!!) than the watch with the second-best battery life, the myFirst Fone R2. Actual battery life may vary depending on how much time your child spends outside of the home Wi-Fi zone or how often they place video calls. 

The TickTalk 5 also has advanced screen time options, location tracking, SOS calling, and a direct-to-911 option that can help give parents peace of mind. For kids, the TickTalk 5 offers music streaming and basic apps like an alarm and pedometer, but it doesn't include games or a QWERTY keyboard.

• Go ahead and buy the TickTalk 5 if you're looking for a well-rounded blend of communication, entertainment, and emergency features.
• Keep shopping if geofencing and games that encourage movement are important to you.

We had to see if the TickTalk performed well in the real world before crowning it a best kids smartwatch. So, we asked a mom and her kids to put it through the wringer. 

As we expected, the kids loved playing music, making video calls, sending each other greeting cards, and engaging with all of the other kid-centric features of the watch. Mom, on the other hand, appreciated the safety side of things, like the closed communication network and listen-in function.

Our editorial team also tested the TickTalk 5 and found that its location tracking wasn't as precise as some other watches, but it was accurate to within about 30 to 50 feet. The parent app offers a play-by-play video of your child's location history, which is a nice touch. 

The TickTalk 5 offers crystal-clear audio quality, but its video quality leaves something to be desired. It gets the job done, but the videos look fuzzy. We prefer the Verizon Gizmo Watch or the myFirst Fone R2 for video quality. 

We've actually tested a couple versions of this watch, and we noticed a huge improvement between the TickTalk 4 and 5 when setting up video-calling permissions. With the TickTalk 4, our testers noted that it was difficult to set up this feature with grandparents who lived across the country—the approval process required them to scan the watch's QR code. With the TickTalk 5, parents can set permissions in the app within seconds. 

The TickTalk 5 also has improved GPS and mapping features, allowing parents to get a more accurate picture of their child's location. 

Get all the details in our full TickTalk Kids Smartwatch review.

We also surveyed 1,000 parents in May 2024 in order to understand their top kids safety concerns, which included:

• Access to inappropriate content
• Abduction
• Accidental injury
• Cyberbullying

The survey results helped us hone in on features that keep kids off the internet, track their location, prevent harmful messages, and give both kids and parents access to emergency tools. We ultimately came up with a list of 45 criteria for comparing kids smartwatches and narrowing down the top candidates.

Once we determined which kids smartwatches had the best features, we tested them hands-on with parents and kids. Brands we've tested include TickTalk, Gabb, Bark, COSMO, Verizon, Pinwheel, myFirst, Garmin, AngelSense, Angel Watch, Apple Watch, T-Mobile, and Xplora. Tests are ongoing, and we'll have insights to share about more brands, like Garmin, very soon. 

Our family tests focus on ease of use, comfort, and durability. Testers use the watch daily for at least one to two weeks, then report back on their likes and dislikes. We also keep tabs on families that adopt any of these watches to see how they perform over time.

Our editorial tests evaluate battery life, location tracking accuracy, audio quality, video quality, SOS response, and ease of use.

We also read hundreds of user reviews to look for trends in performance and customer service. On top of that, we speak regularly to many of these companies to learn about how the technology is developed, why they choose the features they do, and what's coming next.

Learn how we rank and review.

Based on our real-life battery life tests, the myFirst Fone R2 is the kids smartwatch with the best battery life. myFirst advertises a maximum battery life of just 16 hours, but our tests showed it lasted 67 hours — more than four times longer than advertised. We also like that parents get push notifications when the battery gets low and when the watch shuts down completely.

View the full results of our battery life test in the table below. To make this head-to-head test as fair as possible, we charged all the kids smartwatches to 100%, set up 60-minute location tracking intervals whenever possible, adjusted each screen to medium brightness, and ensured the step tracker was on. Then, we took the watches off the chargers at the same time.

To simulate regular use, we sent texts and placed SOS, phone, and video calls (when possible) on each watch and requested several live location updates throughout the day. All watches were kept together throughout the duration of the test, so they all spent the same amount of time in battery-saving Wi-Fi zones.

We checked battery life four times over the next 24 hours and recorded the final battery life as the time when the parent account was notified about the watch's shutdown. Some watches failed to send these notifications, so we estimated the actual battery life based on our previous battery check-ins. 

You may experience worse battery life with these kids smartwatches if your child frequently uses features that drain the battery, such as taking photos, making video calls, or streaming media. Frequent location updates or live tracking also use the battery faster.

The Bark Watch has the best location tracking and geofencing of all the kids smartwatches we've tested. The Gabb Watch 3e and COSMO JrTrack 5 also provide accurate GPS locations, but their geofencing alerts aren't as timely as the Bark Watch's.

Compare our hands-on test results in the table below. We set up the same geofence for each watch and brought the watches across the virtual boundary at the same time, then recorded when the parent phone received an alert. All watches were connected to the same parent phone, so there were no differences in phone reception. 

For the location tests, all of the kids smartwatches were brought to the same location at the same time. Our team then opened each parent app and requested a live location check-in. The open field test was conducted in a public park. The outdoor test with obstacles was conducted inside a car parked under a tree. The indoor test was conducted inside a one-story residence. 

Location tracking accuracy can be affected by obstacles (including trees, tall buildings, or concrete walls) and cell reception, so you may experience different results.

Our favorite kids smartwatches meet in the middle between “fun gadget” and “safety device.” Kids love having a direct line to their loved ones, and the games and fun features certainly don't hurt. Parents love giving kids more freedom while drawing fair boundaries.

From our tests with parents and kids alike, we picked the the Bark Watch for its unprecedented cyberbullying, content protection, and location accuracy. We also like the Cosmo JrTrack 5 for its pricing and robust features, with family-friendly messaging and optional parent-approved music and apps.