Gabb Watch 3e Review

We’ve spent over 10k hours testing more than 250 safety and security products in real life. SafeWise experts have helped over 10M readers create a safer life.
Best overall: Kids Safety Awards
Gabb Watch 3e
4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5
  • pro
    GPS tracking and geofencing
  • pro
    Stores up to 100 contacts
  • con
    No camera
Why you can trust SafeWise
products considered
250+
research hours in 25+ in-home tests
10k+
years of combined experience
176+
homes and people protected
10M+

For over 11 years, SafeWise experts have conducted independent research and testing to create unbiased, human reviews. Learn how we test and review.

Alina Bradford
Oct 21, 2024
Icon Time To Read6 min read
Icon CheckReviewed ByRebecca Edwards

With 20+ years in tech journalism, Alina blends safety expertise with her passion for simplifying technology. Alina is also trained as a first responder and worked as a volunteer firefighter.

Gabb Wireless, makers of the popular Gabb Z2 kids smartphone and Gabb Phone Pro 4, definitely did their research when developing the Gabb Watch 3e. It replaces the discontinued Gabb Watch 3 model, but still has upgrades like 100 parent-approved contacts (instead of 25), speech-to-text capabilities, a calculator, and more. The kid's watch also got a powerful software upgrade. 

Ultimately, Gabb's blended the best features of the Verizon GizmoWatch 3 and the Xplora X5 Play into one of the most affordable kids' smartwatches on the market. Our tester’s kids thought the Gabb Watch was easy to use, and many of its features—including a virtual pet—were a big hit with her 9-year-old in particular.

After comparing to other kids smartwatches, we picked the Gabb Watch as the Best Overall Kids Smartwatch in our inagural Kids Safety Awards! 

icon of the safewise owl icon with a banner saying deals
Gabb Black Friday Sale!

🔥 Get great savings by using our SafeWise discount! Use code SAFEKIDS25 to get $25 off your purchase!

🔥 Gabb is offering a free Gabb Watch 3e or Gabb Phone 4 for new customers.

🔥 You can also grab the Gabb Phone 4 Pro for just $49.99!

*New lines only. $30 activation. Select devices only. Terms and conditions apply. See details.

Thumbs Up
Get an upgrade!

Already have the original Gabb Watch 3? You can get all the new goodies of the 3e with a free software update.

pro
Pros
pro Parent-controlled contact list
pro SOS button
pro Geofencing and GPS tracking
pro Gamified step counter and to-do list
pro Screen lock
con
Cons
con No video calling
con Requires Gabb Wireless plan

How much money is a Gabb Watch 3e?

The full retail price of the Gabb Watch is $149.99. This is a fantastic price compared to other kids' smart watch brands. 

The watch doesn't work without a Gabb Wireless plan, which costs anywhere from $12.99 to $17.99 a month depending on the plan you choose. There's also a $25 one-time activation fee. 

Compare Gabb Watch 3e plans

Cost of Gabb Watch accessories

Optional Gabb Watch accessories include the following:

  • Equipment warranty ($4.99/mo.)
  • Screen protector ($12.99)
  • Extra watch band ($12.99 to $29.99)
  • Gabb Watch 3e Wireless Charger ($14.99)

Video: Kids & Parents Review the Gabb Watch

Play Video

Subscribe to our YouTube channel and learn how to protect your home, loved ones, and belongings.

One mom's thoughts on the Gabb Watch

Image: Suzi Brzezinski, SafeWise

Krystal, a mom of a 9-year-old boy, has tested several kids smartwatches for us. She had the smoothest set-up experience with the Gabb Watch. 

"Downloading the app and setting up profiles was quick and easy," she said, “It only took 5-10 minutes.”

Suzi also noted that texting and managing settings were equally easy, and the cellular connection was strong even when calling her son at a crowded event.

She said her son loves the digital pet and being able to get in touch with her when he is away from home. She likes being able to connect with him and send positive messages throughout the day.

SOS button

The Gabb Watch 3e includes an SOS button to quickly reach you (or whomever you designate as the emergency contact). But kids have to press it for a full 10 seconds, and that feels like an eternity in an emergency. In fact, it’s actually faster to just swipe the screen and start a call with a couple of taps.

In contrast, the Angel Watch starts calling emergency contacts after three seconds.

There’s no 911 option on the Gabb Watch, but this is typical of most kids smartwatches.

"On the parent app, you can silence calls to everyone except emergency contacts. I couldn't completely shut that off, so my 5-year-old kept calling me."
—Suzi B., SafeWise product tester

Safe zones and geofencing

Safe zones and geofencing features in the Gabb Watch make it easy to keep track of your child if they’re playing outside or at the park. Common safe zones include school, home, friends’ houses, the cul-de-sac, or the library. The idea is that you can let your guard down a bit and not worry about your kid’s whereabouts until you get that “exiting safe zone” ping.

Here's an example of what that looks like in real life: When her kids left a safe zone unexpectedly, our tester called them through the watch to ask where they went and to remind them to play in the cul-de-sac. 

Our tester decided to make her kids responsible for sharing their locations—the modern version of "call me when you get there." It's as easy as pressing one button on the Gabb Watch. 

Screenshots and image: Suzi Brzezinski, SafeWise

GabbGo™ for gamified fitness and to-do lists

Image of GabbGO virtual dog on the Gabb Watch. Looks like a Beagle.

Image: Suzi Brzezinski, SafeWise

We like seeing a touch of fun on kids smartwatches. The Gabb Watch features a digital pet app called GabbGo, but it’s not the screen-addicting time suck that it might sound like. GabbGo actually turns real-life fitness and chores into a virtual game like a cleverly disguised behavior chart.

Kids start out with either a cat or a dog. The goal is to earn virtual coins and then spend those coins building out a full menagerie of pets. Kids can also spend coins to teach their pets tricks like spin, backflip, roll over, or raise the roof. 

Coins are earned by caring for their virtual pets or completing step goals and to-do lists, which you control and approve through the parent app. It’s a way to peel kids away from their screens and get them moving.

The Gabb Watch 3e’s extra apps and features

The Gabb Watch 3e has no internet access whatsoever, so your kid can’t access social media or download potentially dangerous apps from the App Store. But the Gabb Watch comes preprogrammed with a few extra tools and features, including the following:

  • Stopwatch
  • Timer
  • Alarm
  • Calculator
  • Gabb Move fitness tracker

Parents can also lock the watch from the MyGabb app so kids can’t use it at inappropriate times, such as during school.

Screenshots: Suzi Brzezinski, SafeWise

Gabb Watch 3e watch bands

Image: Gabb

The watch bands that come with the 3e are black and white. You can purchase additional bands for the 3e to add some pizzazz, though. Gabb Watches offers:

  • Colorful watch bands in blue, peach, dark blue, white, and lavender
  • Hook-and-loop watch bands (AKA Sport Bands)
  • Star Wars watch bands

If you have older watch bands that your kiddo likes, don't worry. Gabb Watch 3e is compatible with all previous models. 

What’s missing from the Gabb Watch

The Gabb Watch 3e does not have a camera, which undoubtedly accounts for its affordability. A camera is nice for video calling or so that your kid can share snapshots of their day. It can also be a distraction, so this may not be an issue for you. Gabb Wireless’s mission is to keep kids off their screens as much as possible, so it makes sense that they’d leave a camera off this watch.

Here are some other features you can find in other kids smartwatches, but not in the Gabb Watch:

  • 911 dialing
  • Auto-answer for stealthy check-ins
  • Health monitoring (other than step tracking)
  • Waterproof construction
  • Cell phone coverage from At&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon

Those are all nice features, but we don’t consider them total dealbreakers. The Gabb Watch 3e still offers an incredible number of features for less than $150, and no other kids' smartwatch can compete with its value.

Compare Gabb Watch 3e to competition

Watch
Best for
Watch price Icon Tooltip  Dark
Video calling
GPS tracking
Max. number of contacts
Compatible cell providers
Learn more
Best overall
Icon No  LightNo
Icon Yes  LightYes
100Gabb Wireless
Budget pick
Icon Yes  LightYes
Icon Yes  LightYes
20Cosmo
Best for kids under 10
Icon Yes  LightYes
Icon Yes  LightYes
53AT&T and T-Mobile
Best for Verizon customers
Icon No  LightNo
Icon Yes  LightYes
20Verizon
Best for advanced GPS tracking
Icon No  LightNo
Icon Yes  LightYes
10AngelSense: AT&T, T-mobile

Amazon.com price as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Read full disclaimer.
*Limited time deal.
 **No contract required. $30 activation. New lines only.

*Amazon.com price as of post date. Read full disclaimer.

Gabb Watch 3e is the most affordable watch out of our comparison of kids' smart watch brands. It also offers more contacts that other brands.  Cosmo JrTrack 3 comes in a close second on price, but can only save up to 20 contacts.

Final word

If you’ve been careful to keep your kid’s screen time to a minimum throughout their life and want to continue that trend, you’ll appreciate the bare-bones nature of the Gabb Watch 3e. It offers the safety net of a phone without any internet access, stranger danger, or distracting social media apps and selfies.

If your kid is older and already has a smart device, the Gabb Watch might seem a little dull, though.

Overall, we’re impressed with the Gabb Watch’s balance of features and affordability.

Gabb Watch FAQ

Yes, the Gabb Watch has a virtual pet game that encourages kids to develop care routines, accomplish real-world tasks set by parents, and complete daily step goals. You can’t download any other games to the Gabb Watch.

No, the Gabb Watch does not have music.

No, the Gabb Watch does not pair with any Gabb phone. If you give your kid both devices, they’ll have two different phone numbers.

Find out how Gabb's smartwatch compares to similar watches in our Best Kids Smartwatches Guide. You can also compare the Gabb kids watch to Verizon's Gizmo watch in our Verizon Gizmo Watch vs Gabb Watch review.

Yes, you can send regular texts and emojis, preset texts, voice messages, and speech-to-text messages using the Gabb Watch 3e.

A few drops won't hurt the 3e, but it can't be submerged in water.

Read answers to more Gabb Watch FAQs.

How we reviewed the Gabb Watch

Image: Gabb

To test the Gabb Watch's appeal, user-friendliness, and location accuracy, we asked a mom to try it out with her elementary-aged son. Then we pitted the Gabb Watch’s specs and features against our lineup of the best kids smartwatches. We also browsed Gabb Wireless’s support portal to learn more about the ins and outs of this GPS watch. For more information about how we wrote our Gabb Watch review, check out the SafeWise methodology page

Related articles on SafeWise


Disclaimer

*Product prices and availability are accurate as of post date and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product. Safewise.com utilizes paid Amazon links.

Certain content that appears on this site comes from Amazon. This content is provided “as is” and is subject to change or removal at any time.

Alina Bradford
Written by
Alina is a safety and security expert that has contributed her insights to CNET, CBS, Digital Trends, MTV, Top Ten Reviews, and many others. Her goal is to make safety and security gadgets less mystifying one article at a time. In the early 2000s, Alina worked as a volunteer firefighter, earning her first responder certification and paving the way to her current career. Her activities aren’t nearly as dangerous today. Her hobbies include fixing up her 100-year-old house, doing artsy stuff, and going to the lake with her family.

Recent Articles

Man and woman couple wife husband set up surveillance security camera
Best Apartment Security Systems of 2024
In 2024, we tested the best apartment security systems and cameras. They offer security solutions...
Mother looking at security system app with family
The Best Home Security System Apps
Home security apps help you protect your home when you’re not there by letting you...
woman adjusting thermostat in bright home
The Best Home Security Systems and Alarm Companies of 2024
After thousands of hours of tests and research, we picked Vivint and SimpliSafe as the...
small yellow single family home
Abode vs Ring: Which security system is better?
Abode reigns over Ring in this DIY system face-off, but it’s not a clean sweep....