The 7 Best Smartwatches for Kids of 2023, Tested and Reviewed

Best Overall

Spacetalk Adventurer 4G Kids Smart Watch

4.8

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Our Ratings

• Setup
  4/5
• Connectivity
  4.5/5
• Tracking
  5/5
• Software/App
  4/5
• Battery Life
  5/5

The Spacetalk Adventurer 4G Kids Smart Watch has lots of fun features, is user-friendly, and most importantly, is safe to use. Our editors’ kids loved using its step counter, camera, and animal noise maker, and they also had fun texting their moods to their parents—you can program the watch to share if they’re sad, happy, or angry. The wearer can text, call, or video call from the watch, but there’s no social media access and they can only reach (and be reached by) approved contacts, so our editors felt comfortable letting their kids wear it. 

Setting up the smartwatch, which took us under 20 minutes, is straightforward: Download the Spacetalk App, pair the watch to the app using a barcode, insert the included SIM card and activate it online, and select your preferred plan. Then, caregivers can create a profile and add contacts. We really like how safe this process is. Only parent-approved contacts can get in touch with the watch, and your kid can’t access anyone from the watch besides the approved contacts. If an unapproved contact sends a message or calls the watch, an alert will pop up on the parent’s phone, and they’ll have the choice to approve or block that number. 

In addition to contact approval, there are more great safety features. Google Maps-powered GPS tracking makes it possible to see where your child is at all times. You can also set up a predefined “safe zone,” and you’ll get a notification if your kiddo leaves that area so you can contact them and make sure they’re okay. Additionally, the watch allows the wearer to call 911, which one editor’s kid said made him feel very safe. And if you’re concerned about your kiddo getting distracted during school, you’ll appreciate the Spacetalk Adventurer’s school mode, which makes the watch operate like a simple watch, so your kid will only be able to tell the time during school hours. And thanks to the long battery life—it lasts up to two days on one charge, and the included magnetic charging dock is quick—it won’t die while they’re at school.

The stylish watch is durable and can withstand wear and tear. The 1.4-inch screen is made from sturdy Gorilla Glass and is water-resistant up to 3.5 feet for up to 30 minutes. The watch band is also simple to put on, and our editors’ kids liked the speckled frame, which comes in a few different colors. (One editor noted that she could barely get her son to take the watch off at night since he loved it so much!)

It works well, too. The sound quality is quite clear unless they’re calling someone in the same room, which can cause static, and the volume is adjustable. Plus, the size of the text is adjustable, so the kid can make sure they can read their messages well. Unlike some other options that only let kids choose from canned phrases, this smartwatch has a keyboard that kids can use to type their text messages. 

Our editors report that phone calls usually connect in one ring and messages are typically sent immediately. While we appreciate that the watch is compatible with AT&T, T-Mobile, and a few other select networks, it’s unfortunately not compatible with Sprint, Verizon, or SpeedTalk. The Spacetalk Adventurer is priced at $199, and plans for the included JumpySIM card start at $18 per month. Kids and parents alike will love its many features, durable design, and long battery life, which make it a top-notch pick.

Price at time of publication: $199 for the watch; SIM card plan starts at $18/month 

^{Key Specs:
Compatible Networks: AT&T, T-Mobile, select other networks | Number of Contacts Allowed: Unlimited, once approved by caregiver | Screen Size: 1.4 inches}

Best for Tweens and Teens

Apple Watch SE 2nd Gen

4.6

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Our Ratings

• Setup
  4/5
• Connectivity
  4/5
• Tracking
  5/5
• Software/App
  5/5
• Battery Life
  4.5/5

The Apple Watch SE, Apple’s base watch model, is an excellent pick for tweens and teens. Older kiddos will enjoy its features, which are more fleshed-out than the other picks on our list, while caregivers will appreciate the price (it’s less expensive than other Apple models) and the parental controls.

This smartwatch allows teens and tweens to play games, set homework timers, ask Siri questions, track their movement, or iMessage their friends. They can also make phone calls, including the option to make an SOS call to 911 if needed. Plus, the band—which comes in many fun colors—is easy to take on and off and the charger works quickly. While the watch is fairly simple to set up, pairing it with the Apple Watch app can be wonky at times.

Caregivers can set parental controls via Apple Family Sharing settings, like screen time limits and trusted contacts. Once enabled, you can also set up other features like location sharing, Siri, Apple Cash Family, iMessages, emergency contacts, medical ID, and more. Additionally, like the Spacetalk Adventurer, you can turn on Schooltime mode, which limits access to features during the school day.

One editor’s daughter particularly loved the activity features. The watch screen shows three rings with goals for movement, exercise, and standing. She also enjoyed sharing fun facts from a Facts app she downloaded. (There are parental controls available for the App Store and iTunes Store.) After using it for a month, there were a couple of trivial scratches, so her family purchased a screen protector and there haven’t been any scratches since.

As a parent, your primary concern is likely your child’s safety, so we appreciate the Apple Watch SE’s near-real-time tracking. We were able to fetch an accurate location with a minimal delay of 15 to 30 seconds. It’s an easy feature to set up, too, since it pops up during the initial watch setup. It’s most handy if the caregiver also has an Apple device, since the location tracking operates using Apple’s Find Me app. But helpfully, with Family Setup, the watch can access every feature without being paired to an iPhone, so it’s no problem if your teen or tween doesn’t have one.

Though this is the priciest pick on our list, teens and tweens are more likely to take good care of it than elementary schoolers. Also, since it’s not a kid-specific option, you get a full-featured smartwatch that they can use for years—once they’re old enough, all parental controls can be removed.

Price at time of publication: $249 or $10/month

^{Key Specs:
Compatible Networks: Any network that works with an iPhone | Number of Contacts Allowed: Unlimited, once approved by caregiver | Screen Size: 1.7 inches}

Best for Younger Kids

Verizon GizmoWatch 2

4.5

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Our Ratings

• Setup
  5/5
• Connectivity
  4/5
• Tracking
  3.9/5
• Software/App
  5/5
• Battery Life
  4.9/5

If you’d like a way to contact or track your kid but they’re not yet old enough for a phone, the Verizon GizmoWatch 2 is a smart solution. It has enough features to make younger kiddos feel like one of the big kids—but its features are age-appropriate. Plus, it has plenty of parental controls and safety precautions so caregivers can feel confident about giving it to their kids. 

Setting this smartwatch up is fairly seamless. Parents can add up to 20 approved contacts who can message or call the kid through the GizmoWatch app or another GizmoWatch. The watch itself can only send preset phrases, emojis, or voice memos, so your kid can’t text just anything they want. This can be a positive or a negative, depending on your family’s needs, but it’s useful for younger kiddos who need a little help. 

This watch has geographic boundaries, so you can get alerts if your kid strays from that area. Unfortunately, the smallest radius is still pretty big: It encompassed one editor’s apartment and her kid’s school, which are a city block (1,400 feet or so) away, so it was hard for her to tell whether her kid was at home, at school, or walking in between. This may not be much of an issue for kids who go to school farther away from home. You’ll also get an alert every time they send a text or make a call, which may get annoying, but we think it’s a handy safety feature. To charge, make sure it’s accurately centered on the included charger.

The sound quality is much like any phone on speaker, so it’s not crystal clear but still plenty clear. Plus, younger kiddos can navigate the watch thanks to the straightforward app icons. After three months of wear and tear, there are a few scratches on one kid’s screen, but nothing that blocks him from using the watch. He particularly likes the color of his watch, which is available in several bright shades with an adjustment loop in a contrasting color. Plus, he enjoys playing the included games—only a few are available on the watch, which his mom appreciates.

The smartwatch is priced at $100 with a monthly fee of $15, making it the most budget-friendly smartwatch on our list, so it’s a great first foray into technology for your kid. Plus, parents can rest easy knowing their elementary-aged kid isn’t running around with a piece of super-expensive equipment.

Price at time of publication: $100

^{Key Specs:
Compatible Networks: Verizon | Number of Contacts Allowed: 20 with caregiver approval | Screen Size: 1.4 inches}

Best Battery Life

Garmin Bounce

4.4

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Our Ratings

• Setup
  3/5
• Connectivity
  4/5
• Tracking
  5/5
• Software/App
  4/5
• Battery Life
  5/5

One of the primary reasons parents want to buy a smartwatch for their kid is the ability to contact and locate them when they’re not together, which certainly can’t be done if the watch dies frequently. Even the most responsible kiddos are bound to forget to charge their watches overnight from time to time, so we appreciate that the Garmin Bounce has a particularly impressive battery life. Though it varies depending on whether live tracking is enabled, we found that when it had a full charge in the morning, this smartwatch typically had around 70% of the battery left at the end of the day—more than many of the other options we tested. 

The safety features are great, too. As long as the “Assistance” feature is enabled, if your kid needs help, their contacts will receive a message with a tracking link to your kid’s live location. Parents can also add up to 20 approved contacts—kids can’t add any by themselves—that kiddos can send emojis, preset texts, or audio messages to through the Garmin Jr. app (available on Apple or Android), though the watch can’t record video messages. The preset texts are customizable, so if certain phrases will come in handy for your family, you can program them into the watch.

Additionally, the location tracking on this watch works quite well. You can set geographic boundaries and be alerted when your kid enters or exits that area. This feature is particularly useful if your kid takes the bus home while you’re at work or walks to school by themselves.

Since it tracks health data like heart rate, steps, sleep, and exercise, it’s great for sporty kids—even swimmers: The swim-friendly watch can withstand water pressures up to 50 meters. They can also set timers or stopwatches, which is great for sports, homework, chores, and more. Plus, thanks to the sophisticated design, kids can feel grown up: One 9-year-old commented that he liked wearing it because “it doesn’t look like a kids’ watch.” It comes in a few different bright and neutral colors, so your kid can pick their preferred look. 

At $150, this smartwatch is priced similarly to most of our picks. We think it’s a worthwhile purchase for its accurate location tracking, long battery life, and health data tracking.

Price at time of publication: $150  

^{Key Specs:
Compatible Networks: Any | Number of Contacts Allowed: 20 with caregiver approval | Screen Size: 1.3 inches}

Best With Games

T-Mobile SyncUP Kids Watch

4.3

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Our Ratings

• Setup
  4/5
• Connectivity
  5/5
• Tracking
  2.5/5
• Software/App
  4.5/5
• Battery Life
  2.5/5

Kids love to have fun, and what could be better than a watch with interactive games they can play any time? The T-Mobile SyncUP Kids Watch comes with several games—one editor’s kid couldn’t get enough of “Dino Run”—and other entertaining features, like a voice changer, animations, two watch band options, and emojis and stickers they can use to text. From the parents’ perspective, our editors appreciated that the games were much more limited than on a smartphone or tablet, so they weren’t too distracting. Plus, there’s a school mode that limits access to games and other potential distractions. 

The texting function is convenient and easy to use. Unlike other kids’ smartwatches that only send preset messages, kiddos can type their own texts on the SyncUP Kids Watch’s keyboard. In addition, they can text emojis, stickers, and voice memos to their parent-approved contacts, who will appreciate that the messages appear on their phone in their texts rather than a specific app, like the Garmin Bounce. The watch can make phone calls, too, and it has a built-in camera.

Though some features work well, we were disappointed by the location tracking and boundary alert functions. The tracker often showed that kids were a few blocks away from where they really were, and we sometimes got a “weak signal” alert when we tried to use the boundary alert feature, which is supposed to tell parents when their kid leaves a designated area. We do like that the water-resistant smartwatch has a “Help” button, which allows kids to reach their emergency contacts or call 911, and a replaceable screen protector to help prevent scratches and shattering. 

If location tracking is your main priority, we recommend the Spacetalk Adventurer 4G Kids Smart Watch or the Apple Watch SE instead. But if you’re looking for a fun watch that keeps your kid entertained and connected via text, the T-Mobile SyncUP Watch is a solid option.

Price at time of publication: $174 upfront or $7.25/month for 24 months for T-Mobile customers

^{Key Specs:
Compatible Networks: T-Mobile | Number of Contacts Allowed: Unlimited, once approved by caregiver | Screen Size: 1.4 inches}

Best With Camera

Xplora XGO3

4.2

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Our Ratings

• Setup
  4/5
• Connectivity
  3.8/5
• Tracking
  5/5
• Software/App
  3.9/5

The Xplora XGO3 stands out because kids can use it to take pictures with the 2-megapixel camera. They can then send the photos to their parent-approved contacts (up to 50), which is a great way to stay connected with cousins or grandparents. The smartwatch also has a step counter that rewards kids with one coin for every 1,000 steps, which they can use on Xplora’s Goplay platform to play games or change the design on their watch face.

When it comes to texting, kids can only send canned messages—there’s no option to type out a message themselves. They can also send audio messages and photos that their contacts will receive in the Xplora app, available on Apple and Android. You may need to disconnect the watch from Wi-Fi for the messages to go through, but it can also be used on 2G, 3G, or 4G cellular networks, so this isn’t a huge issue. The audio quality of phone calls is adequate for sound coming through a watch rather than a phone.

We found that the live location tracking was impressively accurate—even on the streets of New York City, according to one editor. The location also refreshes frequently and provides timestamps, and you can view 72 hours of location history before the log is wiped. Caregivers will also appreciate the school mode: When it’s enabled, kids can only tell the time so they can concentrate in school. The smartwatch also has alarms and a calculator, which come in handy for homework.

The initial setup is a breeze with the included quick start guide. This watch comes with a SIM card already installed, so you’ll just need to choose one of Xplora’s plans, which start at $10/month. However, the instructions did not help describe how to use the smartwatch’s features and functionalities, so we had to use the internet and contact customer service to fully start using the watch.

This watch held up well to our editors’ kids’ activities—including cartwheels and playground fun—but we do wish a screen protector was included for extra durability (you can add one to your purchase for $17). The band is available in neutral and bright colors, so your kiddo can find one that fits their style. And at $130, this is one of the more budget-friendly picks on our list, second only to the Verizon GizmoWatch 2, which retails for $100. 

Price at time of publication: $130 for the watch, SIM card plan starts at $10/month

^{Key Specs:
Compatible Networks: T-Mobile and Xplora's connectivity | Number of Contacts Allowed: 50 with caregiver approval | Screen Size: 1.4 inches}