myFirst Fone R2 Review

Kids smartwatches are everywhere these days, so we understand if you're wary of any newcomers. We are too, so we vetted the recently released myFirst Fone R2 by asking four families to test it. Our editorial team also took it for a spin for extra scrutiny.

The summary of these real-life, hands-on experiences is overwhelmingly positive. The myFirst Fone R2 is a worthy contender in the kids smartwatch arena. It nails safety, comfort, connection, and fun at a reasonable price. And because it has a broad appeal, kids should be able to enjoy it for years. 

Below, we'll list all the myFirst Fone R2 features we uncovered, explain what we liked and what could be better, and compare it to other kids smartwatches so you can make an informed decision. 

Before we get into what we like and dislike about the myFirst Fone R2 and how it performed during our tests, let's take a look at what it can do.

Communication features:

• Phone calls
• Video calls
• Voice messages
• Group chat
• Text messages (select from 20 preset responses or emojis)
• Share photos through text, on the myFirst Circle social platform, or to the myFirst Frame (sold separately)
• Communicate with a variety of devices, including iPhones, iPads, Android phones, Pinwheel phones, and Bark phone

Emergency features: 

• SOS button
• Automatic voice recording when SOS button is pressed
• Option to call 911 

Location-tracking features:

• Tracking in 85 countries
• Location history with updates every 5 to 60 minutes
• Live location tracking
• Geofencing/safe zone alerts
• Location sharing (from parent app only)

Fun and practical features:

• 5MP selfie camera
• Tons of watch faces to choose from, including custom photos
• .mp3 player for music and audiobooks
• Step counter with an achievement board
• Heart rate monitor
• Alarm/reminders and timer

Parental control features:

• No incoming or outgoing communication with unknown numbers
• School mode schedules
• Shutdown prevention
• Remote restart
• Remote alarm schedules help parents set reminders

We've yet to review a kids smartwatch that can do it all. These devices are just too small to pack in every possible feature. If you're looking for the following, keep shopping. 

For the most part, yes, our team of testers thought the myFirst Fone R2 was easy to install. But there were a couple confusing sections.

Here's what went well during setup:

• The watch came with a magnetic charger that was intuitive to use. 
• The myFirst Circle app didn't take long to download.
• Scanning the QR code in the Quick Start Guide kicked off the entire setup process.
• The watch comes with a 1-month free trial and an integrated eSIM card, so it can make calls and send messages right away.

Here's where it got a little tricky:

• The one-time password failed to send the first time but worked the second time. This happened to multiple testers.
• We were prompted to enter a "myFirst ID," which we thought meant some kind of number code associated with the watch. Turns out you're just supposed to create a username. 
• You're asked to enter the device's phone number, but it doesn't have one (all calls and messages are routed through the app). Fortunately, you can skip this step.
• The watch was ready for a software update straight out of the box—and boy did it need it. If your Fone R2 seems incomplete or faulty, go to Settings and look for an update. It's a game-changer!

The Quick Start Guide has no written instructions, just graphics. We'd love to see another QR code leading to the brand's setup video on YouTube. 

Overall, our testers said it took about 20 minutes to install the app, set up the device, and tour all the settings. It may take longer if you want to set up several school time schedules, safe zones, or alarms.

Yes, most of the myFirst Fone R2 features met our expectations. Our testers were especially impressed with the following.

• The SOS button works really fast. myFirst says it needs to be held for 5 seconds, but we timed it and found it actually triggers in just 3 seconds.
• If the parent or guardian has their ringer turned up, the SOS notification sounds like a police siren and is tough to mistake for a normal text alert.
• A 30-second audio clip is automatically recorded when the SOS button is pressed, which is an uncommon but welcome feature. 

• You can schedule when and how often you want a location update. For example, you could set up check-ins every five minutes after school Monday through Friday and every 60 minutes during the weekend.
• We never received false alarms when we had geofencing turned on. Because GPS isn't always perfectly accurate, it's common for the location to register a few houses away (or even further) every now and then. We were surprised this didn't happen with the Fone R2. 
• Location tracking was accurate overall.

• Call audio sounds exactly like an iPhone.
• The camera takes surprisingly nice photos and videos.
• The screen clearly displayed incoming video. In other words, if the caller's phone has a good camera, their video looks really good on the watch. 

• Short clips (about 8 seconds long) can be sent as Knock-Knock messages, which disappear after a certain amount of time. Photos can also be sent as Knock-Knocks. 
• Two upbeat instrumental songs are included on the watch. Additional .mp3 files can be manually transferred to the watch by connecting its charging cable to a Windows computer. (The watch has a maximum storage capacity of 8GB, which is usually enough for over 1,000 songs. But photos will take up space too.)

• The parent phone immediately receives notifications from the watch, and vice versa.
• The watch fully recharged in a couple hours and lost only 20% of its charge overnight.
• Navigation is straightforward thanks to a responsive touch screen and the "magic button" at the top of the watch, which can be programmed with up to three shortcuts. For example, a short press could take you to the camera, a double press could play music, and a long press could mute the watch.
• The myFirst Circle homepage makes it easy to do a ton of things from one central location: see the watch's battery status, write a message, record a voice message, make a phone or video call, refresh live location, and access health stats.

Our testers say the myFirst Fone R2 could benefit from a more robust user manual. Parents often stumbled onto more features through trial and error. Eventually we had to look things up on the myFirst support portal or browse the company's YouTube channel for more tips.

Here are a few things we learned.

Parts of the myFirst Circle app aren't intuitive. We were confused about how to access certain features and didn't think live tracking was even possible until we realized we hadn't opened the main menu on the homepage.

• On the app homepage, you'll see your child's profile picture over their last known location on a map. Tap this picture to bring up a new menu with all the ways to interact with their watch. It doesn't display by default. 
• From this menu, tap the "refresh" icon to see the watch's live location. Refresh it as often as necessary if you're looking for your lost child.
• Tap the foot icons to see your child's health information (steps and heart rate).
• This is the only place where you'll see the watch's battery status. 
• Other features, like location history and alarms, can be accessed through the Settings menu.

If you're drawn to the idea of being able to track your child's heart rate in beats per minute, you may be surprised to learn it isn't an always-on feature like it is in other wearables. 

• Parents can read their child's current heart rate by using the homepage menu (see above), tapping the feet icon, selecting the Heart Rate tab, and tapping Detect Now. 
• Kids can check their current heart rate by swiping to the right and then swiping up. Next, they'll tap on the heart icon to take a reading. The result is automatically sent to the parents.
• The app gives parents the option to get a high heart rate alert and to set a threshold for what will trigger the alert. But, it didn't work for us. We set a low threshold of just 80 beats per minute. Nothing happened because the watch doesn't routinely monitor the heart rate. And even when we took a fresh reading that was above 80 beats per minute, it sent the same basic alert to the parent phone. 
• Note that the heart rate monitor may not be very accurate. I wore my FitBit Charge 4, which also monitors heart rate, at the same time as the myFirst Fone R2, and the two devices rarely matched. You'll be able to use the myFirst Fone R2 to know generally when your child's heart rate is up or down, but it may not be an accurate tool for hitting a target heart rate during a workout or monitoring for an abnormally high or low heart rate. 

We were surprised by how nice pictures and videos look on the myFirst Fone R2, even when they're sent to and displayed on a larger device like an iPhone. 

But there's one exception: video calling. 

• The watch's camera quality becomes more grainy and pixelated during video calls.
• Sometimes the video would lag on the parent phone (meaning the parent would see the child's footage momentarily pause). 
• On the plus side, kids can see their parents crystal-clear on the watch.

It gets the job done and is only designed for quick calls anyway (five minutes max to preserve battery life), so it's not really a dealbreaker for us. myFirst says video call quality is much better when there's a good internet connection. We'll report back soon with more input from other testers.

Here's another instance where an in-depth user manual would come in handy. The myFirst Fone R2 has a red button at the top that acts as a navigation shortcut. A single press, double press, and long press can be programmed to go to different screens. We went to the Settings menu to look for a way to program it but found nothing.

Turns out you need to press the Magic Button three times to open the programming menu. 

After we learned that, setup was a breeze.

We've reviewed about 20 kids smartwatches over the years, and myFirst Fone R2 is our favorite for sharing photos. 

In addition to the usual calling and texting capabilities we expect from kids smartwatches, the Fone R2 connects children to a safe and very basic social platform called myFirst Circle. Parents have full control over who is added to the Circle and can label them as Family, Besties, Friends, and Acquaintances. Parents can restrict individual posts to just Family, to Family and Besties, etc.

Kids post from the Fone R2 by swiping left on the home screen and tapping Circle, then swiping right and tapping Make Post. This opens the camera and allows them to take a photo. Next, they can record a short voice message, add a filter (like sepia or black and white), or send it as-is.

Kids can also tap View Profile (instead of Make Post) to see their previous posts. Swiping up allows them to scroll through their feed, and swiping right on any particular photo will showcase comments. Kids can tap on any photo to select emoji reactions, but they can't type out responses. 

What makes this social circle so cool is that the watch is just the beginning. myFirst also sells a digital camera and a digital photo frame. We tested both, and they're high-quality devices.

• The myFirst Camera 50 is a digital camera that can take photos up to 20MP on the front-facing camera and up to 12MP on the selfie camera. It also has an adjustable selfie light, basic photo and video editing capabilities, and can make more sophisticated posts to the myFirst Circle app. 
• The myFirst Frame Doodle shows a slideshow of the child's myFirst Circle posts and any any comments, reactions, or voice messages associated with it. It also doubles as an alarm clock, and kids are encouraged to draw on the frame to make it a personalized gift. 

Kids can continue to use the myFirst Circle app when/if they transition to a smartphone. 

In addition to myFirst Circle, we think the myFirst Fone R2 is great for photo sharing because it takes good-quality photos for a kids smartwatch. Kids can also request photos and short videos from friends and family through Knock Knock messages—a cute way to say "I'm thinking about you."

There's just one caveat: parents can't see what's shared in text messages, only what's shared to the myFirst Circle app. Only allow add people as contacts if you absolutely trust them, and consider scrolling through the watch now and then to make sure nothing inappropriate is being shared either way.  

The myFirst Fone R2 retails for $199 but is often on sale for $159. 

You can use Shop Pay to split the cost into four interest-free installments, use your Amazon Prime account for free shipping, or pay with PayPal, Google Pay, Venmo, and major credit cards.

The first month of service is completely free, and the watch comes out of the box ready to use thanks to its preprogrammed eSIM card. After the first month, you'll need to subscribe to a monthly service plan. 

There are only two subscription options:

• $12 per month, billed monthly
• $9.83 per month, billed as $118 annually (an 18% discount compared to the month-to-month plan)

myFirst sells some accessories that work with the Fone R2, including:

• CareBuds (AirPod-style earbuds), $49.90
• AirWaves (open ear conduction-style headphones), $39.90
• Extra charging cable, $15

Our team also conducted basic tests to confirm how long it takes to charge the watch, how long the SOS button bust be pressed to trigger a call, and how accurate the heart monitor and pedometer are compared to the FitBit Charge 4.

In addition, we surveyed 1,000 parents in May 2024 to determine which features parents look for in a kids smartwatch. This information helps us highlight meaningful insights in our reviews.

Finally, we compared the myFirst Fone R2's technical specifications, performance, and price to 20 other kids smartwatches.

Learn more about our review process on the SafeWise methodology page.

The myFirst Fone R2 is one of our favorite kids smartwatches. It works well, is easy to use, and doesn't feel "cheap." The full ecosystem of myFirst products builds connections between families, and the Fone R2 offers a safe way for kids to participate.