Best Smartwatches for Kids

A kid’s smartwatch has to balance parental control and safety with a child’s increasing need for independence and creative expression. Our top pick—the TickTalk 4—does the best job of pulling this off. It features the most contact slots and communication options of all the watches we reviewed. It’s also the only one to offer music streaming. 

But if you’re looking for something very specific (like temperature tracking, one-way audio, or fun games), another watch may be right up your alley. We tracked down the best options.

We love that the TickTalk 4 isn’t just a smartwatch for parents; it includes features that kids enjoy too. Your child can choose how to communicate, whether it’s through video calls, voice calls, voice messages, preset text messages, voice to text, emojis, GIFs, or photos. It’s just enough variety to allow them to explore some creative expression, but they won’t have access to a full keyboard.

Kids can also use the TickTalk 4’s camera to take pictures, selfies, or videos. Other features include a step counter, do not disturb/school mode, and a reminder list.

The TickTalk 4 has the largest contact list of all the kids smartwatches we reviewed: up to 53 other friends or family members can be added to the “approved contacts” list. 

You have full control over your child’s contact list through the parent app. The watch includes a firewall that blocks unknown numbers from calling your child. So if you haven’t added someone’s number to the mobile app, they won’t be able to contact your kid. 

You can also set up group chats for your child via the parent app.

The TickTalk 4 includes an SOS button that dials one designated contact when pressed for five seconds. But what about 911? We’re really impressed that the TickTalk 4 designers developed a way for kids to dial 911 on a keyboard-less watch. All they have to do is press the silver button once and the red button twice to contact emergency services.

We love that the TickTalk 4 is compatible with numerous cell service providers, including T-Mobile and AT&T. The TickTalk 4 manufacturers recommend using a $10 Red Pocket plan; this watch includes a Red Pocket-compatible SIM card.

Sprint and Verizon customers cannot add the TickTalk 4 to their current plan. 

You remain in complete control of who gets to call your kiddo. The parent app lets you add up to 10 cell phone contacts. You can also designate an additional 11 family members or friends who can voice call, video call, and text. 

One of our original criticisms was that the Angel Watch seemed to be geared toward monitoring a child rather than helping them transition to a modern digital lifestyle. Angel Watch now has a "friends" feature that gives your child a little more freedom to connect with their peers.

If your child meets another Angel Watch user at school, sports practice, camp, etc., they can sync their watches to share voice messages and pictures. No permission needed. The watches have to be connected to Wi-Fi and have their Bluetooth signals turned on. Then, the kids just have to hold their watches at least three inches apart and follow the on-screen instructions. Up to four friends can be added this way. 

Angel Watch also pairs with Line for unlimited contacts.

You can designate three contacts as emergency numbers. When your child presses the SOS button for three seconds, the watch automatically dials each number in the list on a repeated loop until someone picks up. This is the fastest SOS button we found—and the only one that continuously tries to get a hold of someone.

Best of all, this kid’s smartwatch includes a camera for video calling. Sometimes you just need visual confirmation that your child is all right, and sometimes your kiddo needs the same kind of comfort. 

Want to check in discreetly? The parent app has a “sound guardian” option that lets you tune in to the watch’s audio without placing a call. Maybe you’re worried your child is being bullied on the bus; you can listen in to assess the situation.

The Angel Watch also helps parents monitor the health of their child via a vital sign sensor that rests against the skin. The watch can detect four vital signs:

• Body temperature
• Blood pressure
• Blood oxygen
• Heart rate

As neat as this sounds, the Angel Watch Company warns that these readings may not always be accurate. It’s also totally up to the parents to monitor vital signs and take action if needed. This device won’t send out an alert if there’s a worrisome deviation from the norm.

On a less dire note, this watch also counts your kid’s steps and estimates the total distance covered and calories burned. If your child wears this watch to bed, it will also track sleep quality.

All US customers now receive a Red Pocket SIM card with their purchase. Red Pocket Mobile uses the AT&T cellular network and offers no-contract service plans starting at $10 per month for Angel Watch customers. This integrated service offers online activation for easy, plug-and-play setup.

The only thing missing from Angel Watch is some sort of game or entertainment. But some parents might consider this an advantage since it could help to reduce screen time. 

At least your kiddo can have fun choosing from a variety of wristband colors for a healthy dose of self-expression. There are seven colors available for about $15 each. The watch itself comes with either a blue, black, or rose wristband and watch face surround.

Learn more in our full Angel Watch review.

The Gabb Watch's bare-bones design means there's no video calling, no 911 option, and no discreet audio check-ins. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your parenting style.

But there's a cute game on the Gabb Watch to keep things interesting. 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 to their menagerie.

You get the best monthly price for a Gabb Wireless plan (about $10 a month) by signing a two-year contract. But if you'd rather not sign a contract, the required Gabb Wireless cell plan gets a little pricey at around $17 a month.

Use promo code SAFEWISE to get a $20 discount on the Gabb Watch.

Check out the details—including our tester's opinions and images—in our full Gabb Watch review.

Parents retain full control over who’s in their child’s contact list. Up to 50 contacts can be added, so your kid can keep up with their ever-growing list of friends. Like other smartwatches for kids, the Xplora X5 limits the child’s text responses. In this case, the child can only send an emoji, image, or voice message. 

This watch also includes an SOS feature that activates when the side button is pressed for 10 seconds, which is slightly longer than the Angel Watch (three seconds) and TickTalk 4 (five seconds). 

Like the other watches we’ve discussed so far, the Xplora X5 Play includes a GPS tracker to help you locate your child at any time. You can also set up a geofence “safety zone” to receive an alert when your child goes out of bounds.

This smartwatch includes a 2MP selfie camera and stores around 1,000 photos and videos. We’re impressed by the video and audio quality. In fact, we expected video calling to be included in this smartwatch since it has such a nice camera. But that’s the major downside of the Xplora X5 Play; you can’t hop on a video call with your kid. 

We understand that too much screen time is a huge concern for 21st-century parents, so you might balk at the thought of a smartwatch with games. Is your kid going to just sit around all day staring at their wrist? Not with the Xplora. 

We absolutely love that this smartwatch uses an interactive game platform called “Goplay” to encourage children to be active. With Goplay, your child earns one coin for every 1,000 steps logged on the watch. Coins can be redeemed on the Goplay platform to play virtual games or purchase products.

Physical fitness aside, we think this is a great incentive for kids to wear this GPS-tracking watch at all times.

The Xplora X5 works best with the T-mobile network and does not work with Verizon, Sprint, or U.S. Cellular. You’ll also need to purchase a SIM card separately.

Learn more in our full Xplora X5 Play review.

The retail price of the Verizon GizmoWatch Disney Edition is $199, but there's a $35 activation fee. So in reality, you're looking at spending about $234 total. Verizon offers 36-month financing, which lets you pay off the watch for less than $6 per month.

In addition to the upfront fees, there's a monthly cell plan fee, which costs around $10 per month.  

You can save $100 by choosing the GizmoWatch 2 instead. This watch has different features than the Disney Edition, so make sure you read our full GizmoWatch review to compare them before choosing. 

We haven't always recommended the Verizon GizmoWatch Disney Edition. When it was first released, it had a camera but didn't allow video calls. It didn't seem worth it since you could spend less money and get more features with the TickTalk 4.

Now that Verizon has introduced video calling to the Disney Edition without raising the price, it's easier for us to recommend. 

We love that the GizmoWatch is designed for easy parental control. It uses a smartphone app called GizmoHub where you can do things like updating your child’s contact list. Only ten contacts can be added.

Parents can also switch the watch to quiet 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, for example, your child’s ringtone doesn’t disrupt their class. 

Another neat feature offered through the app is “auto answer.” By toggling this setting, 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.

The GizmoWatch allows anyone in the 10-person contact list to send text messages as per usual. In other words, they type out a message and send it. But the child can only send premade responses or emojis. Parents customize the response list through GizmoHub. 

If your child wants to communicate something a little more complex, they can send a voice message or make a phone call.

Learn more in our full GizmoWatch review.

This isn’t a GPS smartwatch, nor does it support texting or calling. That’s probably because it’s meant for kids as young as four years old, who probably remain under direct supervision anyway. But if your little one feels super left out when their older sibling gets a cool new gadget, this is what you could give them to keep them entertained.

This watch features a camera and impressive storage. Your budding photographer can store up to 30 minutes of video footage or 3,000 pictures. They can also add stickers to their photos.

Tobi also includes some basic games and an activity tracker/fitness tracker. If one of your kid’s friends also has a Tobi watch, they can send each other photos or emojis. 

The good news is that you don’t need to purchase a monthly cellular plan for this watch because it cannot place phone calls.

Learn more in our full Little Tikes Tobi Robot review.

We evaluated many other brands before choosing the best smartwatches for kids. Although these didn’t make it to our top five, they still offer some interesting features that could be perfect for you and your family.

We decided to use price as a tie-breaker. The VTech Smartwatch Kidizoom DX2 retails for $62.99.

But we do love that there are plenty of extra learning games you can add to this smartwatch via the VTech Learning Lodge. Your kid won’t get bored if you add a new game to the watch every so often. And they might learn some neat skills like telling time.

But we don’t think the SyncUP Kids Watch is quite ready to knock our top five faves out of position. It has a few flaws:

• Available to existing T-Mobile customers only
• Available in stores only
• No video calling
• The 911 option can’t be toggled off in the parent app
• Camera quality is poor

The SyncUP Kids Watch retails for about $175 and requires a $10 monthly subscription through T-Mobile. 

The TickTalk 4 earned our vote as the best smartwatch for kids because it includes virtually every safety feature that parents want in a kids smartwatch—including the ability to visually confirm their child’s safety with a video call. But we’re especially impressed that its kid-oriented features strike a balance between “boring after one use” and “borderline addicting.”

Although it is an expensive purchase, it offers a lot of features for the price when compared to other kids smartwatches.

There are a lot of features packed into smartwatches for kids. To narrow down the contenders, we prioritized the following:

• GPS tracking
• Video calling
• SOS button
• Parent-controlled contact list
• Fun games or activities 

We scoured the internet for smartwatches that met our priority list and compared their features and prices to find the best deals. We also read hundreds of user reviews to evaluate each contender’s performance and customer service.

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