15% Off: Fitbit Google Ace LTE – Kids Smartwatch with Call, Message, GPS, and Activity-Based Games, Ace Pass Data Plan Required – Mild – Strange Arcade
About this item
- KNOW WHERE YOUR WILD THINGS ARE – The Fitbit Ace LTE is the first-of-its-kind kids smartwatch and fitness tracker designed to move the next generation of gamers; with built-in cellular 4G LTE and GPS location, they’re never out of reach[1,4]
- IN-APP CALLS & MESSAGES WITHOUT A PHONE NUMBER – Stay connected and add up to 20 contacts (ages 13 and up) for them to call and message with; Works with most Android 11.0 or newer or iOS 16 or newer[20,21,22]; Google account and Fitbit Ace app required.
- A BATTERY THAT KEEPS ON GOING – With 16+ hours of battery life, Fitbit Ace LTE can keep up with kids all day long[15]; and fast charging provides 11 hours of battery life in just 30 minutes[16]
- LTE DATA FOR UNLIMITED FUN – The Fitbit Ace Pass data plan gives you access to calling, messaging, and location sharing; plus, kids get every game title in the Fitbit Arcade[4,7]
- HELP YOUR KIDS FOCUS AT SCHOOL – School Time lets you limit gameplay on your kid’s watch during the day to help them focus, while still letting them getting in touch if they need to; kids cannot message each other using Fitbit Ace LTE[8]
- KEEP KIDS ACTIVE – The Fitbit Arcade is full of movement-based games for fun at every level[9]; and the Noodle is an activity ring that records steps, jumps, and bounces and celebrates with a fun animation when kids reach their Move Goal[3]
- UNLOCK MORE FUN STUFF – Every Fitbit Ace LTE Band has technology that unlocks a new haul; kids can keep the eejie’s house looking fresh and stay active with a new Noodle and activity challenges[10]
Original price was: $179.95.$149.95Current price is: $149.95.
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Specification: 15% Off: Fitbit Google Ace LTE – Kids Smartwatch with Call, Message, GPS, and Activity-Based Games, Ace Pass Data Plan Required – Mild – Strange Arcade
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60 reviews for 15% Off: Fitbit Google Ace LTE – Kids Smartwatch with Call, Message, GPS, and Activity-Based Games, Ace Pass Data Plan Required – Mild – Strange Arcade
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Original price was: $179.95.$149.95Current price is: $149.95.
Parkercles –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great little device
After reading other reviews and really carefully considering this purchase, we are happy we decided to give it a try.I have had fitbits for over 7 years now, and my husband and I currently each have the fitbit versa 2. I was a little worried the Ace might be too big for my 8yo’s wrist, but its actually a great size. It is a little thicker than the versa, but I expect that given its meant to have the housing to be able to use a 4G network.Setting it up was quite easy, and being able to add other family members was great. The app is easy to sync to the phone, and both parents have the app (as well as grandparents for emergency uses). It seems pretty durable, as someone who has knocked the crap out of her Versa 2, I dont really have any concerns for the Ace. I did buy a protective case for it that is really thin and came in a 2 pack, just because things happen and its an 8yo, but I really dont have any concerns about its durability.It is fairly accurate in letting you know when the watch is on or off your kids wrist (came in handy when I was able to figure out why they weren’t answering my messages) and gives you a close approximation of where they are via GPS. Did it know that my kid was at a neighbor’s house? Yes. Was it so accurate that it knew the moment he crossed the street? No. Once they were further into the neighbors yard, it showed as much, but to expect 100% accuracy is probably just going to let you down. It does at least get you 95% accuracy, so you can make sure they haven’t wandered off to somewhere they shouldn’t be, and again, lets you know if the watch is on, which could be a useful feature if your kid is prone to trying to sneak.The keyboard on it is incredibly small, again not surprising given its a watch. My kid enjoys it because its like a little spy watch, but mainly uses quick responses or just chooses to call if he needs something more elaborate.So far, we haven’t encountered any low signal issues, and we truly live out in the middle of no where (i.e. 20 minutes from the closest town, not even city) and its worked well.However, because it is on 4G and always looking for signal, we’ve found we can only go 1.5 days before needing to charge the watch. I really dont know how they could make that better, considering phones do the same thing if they dont have signal with a much larger battery. For as small as it is, I’m impressed it lasts that long, with my kiddo turning the screen on every 10 minutes to check step progress and time, lol.Overall, this has been a great purchase for our family and a great alternative to a phone!
2 people found this helpful
Karolina –
5.0 out of 5 stars
The device we have been looking for (kids 10, 9 YO)
This watch is just what I’ve been looking for for my two kids who are eager for more independence but in my opinion too young for a smart phone.The kids previously had Fitbit Ace fitness trackers, which they wore daily and enjoyed checking their step and exercise count on, so they were already used to having a watch on daily and are extremely pleased with the Fitbit LTE as a major upgrade.CALLS & MESSAGING:Main functionality we as parents were looking for. I love that they don’t have to carry around a phone (that inevitably would be dropped / lost) and the call functionality works really well (can even leave voice messages). Messaging works great too. Kids say that it’s a bit tricky to type on the tiny watch face keyword (understandable!) but the watch provides suggested replies that often works really well and can just be tapped on to reply back. You can add emojis to messages which of course is being used frequently.We look forward to having more friends using the watch so that the kids can text with them (this functionality can be turned on / off as far as I understand).LOCATION TRACKING:Love this functionality as we give the kids more freedom to roam the neighborhood and expand their range to be independent. Great to check that they arrived to school in the morning as they walk there on their own.I love that I can check their location to see if they are on their way home when they say they are, versus calling/messaging them as I think this allows them to feel much greater independence (without mom having to worry about them being a few minutes late…).DESIGN:Great size watch face for little wrists. Cute comfortable bands. We have tried both the fabric and the silicone type bands. The kids slightly prefer the fabric ones, but are good with either type. It’s nice to have the silicone one for sweaty exercises in my opinion. We wish there were even more designs to choose from. It’s really fun for the kids that adding new bands unlocks new things on the watch.SET UP & APP:Set up was very easy, we didn’t experience any issues and the set up flow was easy to follow. The App interface is simple and easy to navigate. I can see both kids profiles on one page and select which one to call/text/locate from the same page. I can track their movement, including steps and exercise.GAMES / incentives to exercise:The games can be used for short times before the kid is asked to complete a movement task to unlock more ‘screen time’. Great functionality!Son, 10 years old:The games kept his full attention for some time, and now he uses them once in a while. That being said, he’s an active kid already and moves plenty without the game incentives (i.e. they aren’t providing much additional motivation for him and that’s OK). I think the games are adorable so he might just be a tad old for them.Daughter, 9 years old:Absolutely loves the games and moves all the time to unlock additional game time etc. She loves the cute interface, the rooms and the avatars. The functionality of unlocking extra stuff for the games / avatars is really engaging to her.COST:Main con for me is the cost of the watch, but compared to getting them an Apple Watch or a smart phone with a data plan, I think this is a much better option/value for kids/tweens.BONUS:Option to add schedules when certain functions are turned off, for example games or calling during school time (you select the hours yourself). Lots of settings are customizable, which is great.Love the plastic free packaging!!! That’s how all electronics should be packaged.
80 people found this helpful
Keith M –
1.0 out of 5 stars
Great hardware, horrible limitation in connectivity options prevents usefulness
We were excited to get this for our soon to be 10 year old daughter. She was excited as well when she opened the box and saw it. The hardware is great, the watch software is great, the user interface is great. The setup was super easy on my Samsung phone. I was immediately able to call and text her, as she was able to call and text me. We set up my wife’s phone, but we had to tweak her Pixel’s permission settings, which was fine since we know how to do that. Sadly, that is where the good ends. Here are the problems, from minor annoyance to outright design failures, which are quite surprising since I expected more from such a major tech company.1) The grandparents got stuck with the app setup on their phone, as they don’t know how to go into settings to allow the proper permissions. They were able to call my Daughter, but she was not able to call them, which is very disappointing as we listed them as emergency contacts. We can fix it, but it shouldn’t be difficult.2) I have a Galaxy Watch 7. If my daughter called me, I would not get a notification on my watch. If she texted me, I would get a notification but could not answer. I use my watch so I don’t always need to have my phone with me. However, in order to ensure my daughter can always reach me, I need to have my phone near by at all times. Ridiculous that there is no support for Android Watches to receive or make calls to the Ace LTE.3) Android Auto support is even worse. While driving, a call or text from my daughter was not sent to Android Auto. Therefore, if my daughter calls while I am driving, I will not know until I check my phone. Again, unbelievable that Fitbit/Google did not anticipate that parents would want to get notifications or calls on their Android Auto screens.4) My wife’s car doesn’t have Android Auto, so she connects through Bluetooth. However, her Bluetooth connection would not recognize an incoming call either.5) We paid for the 50% full year subscription in advance. Be aware that if you purchase a full year upfront, and you find you don’t like the Ace LTE experience, you will not be refunded the cost of the subscription.It is truly surprising that this product would be released with all of these connectivity limitations by Google. There are at least 6 other similar products available. While the Ace LTE may have better quality hardware, it seems like the other options have a much better thought out infrastructure plan for their products. The other companies seem to understand their customer needs. Surprising, Google was clueless with their approach for a kid’s LTE watch.
130 people found this helpful
D. LuD. Lu –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great for young kids
This is our second one for another child. First one, we have used for a couple months now. Note, the watch comes pre charged to about 75%, but you have to put it on charger to initiate setup.PRO- It’s really easy to put the band on the watch. Also easy for the child to put the watch on themselves and adjust.- We are an android family, with family profile and google wallet / pay all that already setup. My children also have their own account. So setup is really easy, just pick their name, done in maybe 5 clicks.- Tracking is integrated with Google Maps. You will see them from the app as well as within Google Maps. It’s pretty accurate.- Battery life is good for LTE device. Can fully charge in 15-30min or so. Last about 1.5 days.- It’s water proof, you can swim with it.- Reception is good, sometimes my T-Mobile phone won’t get reception in the hills, but this watch still have it.- Child can call or message you. With messaging, they can text, voice to text, or record a voice.OK- This version comes with bumper, nice bonus. Though, wish it wasn’t necessary, or thinner, as it does deter from it’s slick look.- It’s really fun for them, lots of games to keep them active. (Game part I don’t like.) But it has good fitness tracking ability that comes with fitbit device, so that is good.- There is orientation to the charger, though generally my child has not have problem with it. There was only one day when it didn’t get charged, I think it was due to the orientation issue.- Child can only message people you add (they have to install the app on their phone). In other words, only communicate with trusted adults. This is fine and probably good idea for little kids. But if your kids are older and watch to chat with their friends, then this is not supported.If I could turn off games, or device can chat also chat with another watches (between siblings), then I would give this watch 5 stars. But for now, it does the job of giving me a peace of mind.
27 people found this helpful
Ashley T. –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great!
Bought two of these to replace Garmin Bounces for my twin 7 year olds. Reason being, the Bounces would say they were at the neighbors across the street (a retired lady w/no kids) when they were asleep in bed… Then, it would say they read the text message I sent them, but they weren’t wearing their watch. So, too unreliable to continue use. Already VERY impressed with these. The watch bands are very, very nice. And they were SUPER easy to install, and WAY, WAY easier to take off and replace than the Bounces. The screens are infinitely more responsive, the games are better, the app is great and when I did the location feature, it got our address numbers (where she currently was) perfectly. All in all, an excellent start. I’m very hopeful this will be the answer for us. Downside, it has to be charged every day – but, they came with 30% battery and so we’re charging them now and it’s going very fast. The additional feature of being able to call me (which the Bounces couldn’t do) is worth having to charge them more.
8 people found this helpful
Miranda –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Peace of mind
Purchased this for my 6 year old in Kindergarten who was riding the bus. The app is very easy to use and she loves to wear her watch on the daily. As a mom I love that I can message her and also see her exact location(with subscription). This also keeps her motivated to stay active with little activates that gives her points for other things on the watch. There are games for downtime-like when she was out of school and riding the bus home/to school.
One person found this helpful
BeachPleaseBeachPlease –
3.0 out of 5 stars
Some flaws but a great way to communicate with my kid
I was super stoked when Fitbit came out with an LTE watch for kids. We needed a way to communicate with our kid after school and during camp so we took a chance and purchased the Fitbit Ace LTE. We’re currently at about a week of use so these are our pros and cons so far:Pros- LTE service available that doesn’t rely on wifi to allow text, calls, and voice messages.- GPS enabled so you know where your kid is located.- Parents have full control via the Fitbit Ace app.- Promotes kids to get active by giving points (Move Points) based on activity that can be used for games and building their avatar (eejie) and home (Bit Valley) . Does have a step counter.- It is water resistant to 50 meters and has held up really well in the swimming pool.- Customizable home screens and activity ring (noodle).- School time option so you can turn off gaming during school but still allows your kid to communicate if they need to.- The current Fitbit Ace Pass (data plan) for the LTE service is a great deal at $60 for a one year plan that also includes your choice of watch band for free.Pro/Con- Each Fitbit band has technology that unlocks features and “hauls” once connected to the watch. This is cool and fun for kids but I can see it getting really expensive at $35 per band. I’m keeping that part hush hush unless my kids wants to save up his allowance towards a new band.Cons- You are restricted to 20 contacts and the biggest issue I have with this watch is that they must have a Gmail account and must download the Fitbit Ace app. This is super annoying especially for older users that don’t want the hassle of dealing with another account or app. There is no option to add a phone number.- No option to call 911 or dial/text any other number.- Battery sometimes doesn’t quite make it all day long.- It’s a bit pricey for the watch compared to other techy watches out there like Samsung and Apple.Having to download an app and have a Gmail account for all contacts is probably the biggest issue I have with this watch. I’m hoping Fitbit will change this but with it being owned by Google, I highly doubt anything will change.I think this is a great watch for kids, especially if you’re wanting to avoid them having access to a cell phone at a young age. It really helps them get motivated to move more and it gives parents peace of mind knowing their kid’s whereabouts and having the option to contact each other. So far, my kid enjoys it and I’m happy being able to keep in touch with him.Hints- If you’re trying to change the noodle or time format, hold down on the home screen.- To access the settings to change the volume, brightness, etc., hold down the top button (with the circle) on the side of the watch.- There is an option for your kid to do an emergency call for help by holding the circle button on the side of the watch. This will call emergency contacts and text help until somebody answers.
43 people found this helpful
JCallaway –
5.0 out of 5 stars
I’d leave a 4.5 ⭐️ review if I could due to two negatives in a sea full of positives
Finally, after failing twice with Gizmo watches for my older kids, we found success with this watch for my 3rd child. It is simply the best kid’s smartwatch we’ve owned BY FAR.Pro’s: This watch looks great, performs above expectations and my daughter loves it.1. The sound quality is more than adequate on the other callers end. It’s not perfect on the Fitbit end but it’s very close when it comes to clarity.2. The fact that my daughter has to meet certain fitness goals (steps) in order to unlock any game features is such a great idea. She will go out of her way to meet the step goal every day and every month just so she can be earn new games. It’s so cool.3. School mode allows the parents to put the watch in a Do Not Disturb mode during school hours in order to keep them from being distracted but still allowing them to accumulate steps4. It looks great5. The touchscreen is responsive and simple to use6. The texting is easy and convenient. Allowing her to talk to text and also send vocal recordings is awesome.7. The tracking feature is very accurateCons:1. The battery drains pretty quickly. It is of course, affected by how much she uses it, but on average it only lasts around 24 hours. Either way, we bought a charger stand made specially for the device and she easily charges it while she sleeps.2. I wish we could just simply press once to toggle school mode. Instead you have to go into settings and find it. It won’t allow a single call or text go through in this mode. I bet you’re thinking “That’s what it’s supposed to do.” You’re right, but in an actual emergency while in school mode, she would have no way to reach us and vice versa. I wish there was a simple way to toggle it on both ends. For example, the other day my oldest son dropped my daughter off at her friend’s house the other day. Unfortunately, the friends weren’t home but my son had already left her there. She’s 9, so she freaked out when she realized she was alone. This happened on a snow day so school was cancelled. The watch would not allow my daughter to call us for help. Even though there was no school, the watch was still is school mode. (After crying a while, she’s doing great now btw).All of that said, this is well worth the cost!
66 people found this helpful
Allen –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great starter watch!
We got this watch for our 8 year old for a little freedom while out & about. It seemed a little large for her wrist, but she doesn’t seem to mind now. School mode locks most everything down. I wish there was a way to get all of the games completely off of it. Ive blocked most of them, since I don’t want our child walking around distracted. It seems to work.It is set up where she can only talk to the family on our plan, which is fine. I foresee us needing to expand that in another year or so when she wants to be able to chat with her friends. It works for what we need it for. J wouldn’t recommend this watch for older kids who want to chat to more than their family. Make sure you read reviews and know what you are getting in to, it will set your expectations for a watch that delivers. I do think it’s slightly high for the price- we got ours on a black Friday sale, and that price was worth it for us. Especially taking into consideration the monthly charge for service.We charge her watch every night, so can’t vouch for sleep tracking. The step tracking has been great. The one game we can’t block, she gets points for activities and steps. It’s annoying that we can’t block it, except for school mode.
H. Heavey –
3.0 out of 5 stars
It’s meh….
My daughter’s old Fitbit Ace was really starting to show its age and I knew it was getting close to needing to be replaced. My daughter is also getting close to the age where a smart watch or phone with limited capabilities would be appropriate. This came up in Amazon and I was intrigued. I wasn’t sure how it was all going to work (Would she have a phone number? Do I add her to my phone plan?) but figured it was worth a shot. First off, the watch comes with a charging cord but no base so make sure you also purchase a USB C charging block for it. For me, that’s a con…if I’m spending all this $$, throw in a charging block for goodness sake. Secondly, once we were able to find a way to charge the watch we discovered that it does not make a strong connection between the watch and the charger. We had to flip it so that the watch was resting on the cable to keep it in place. Third, the band is not the typical silicone bands that come with most fitness watches. It does not lay flat and bulges out a bit on the side which my daughter finds annoying. Fourth, you need to utilize the Fitbit Ace app in order to “call” or “text”. Any contacts you add must have Gmail address and also add the app in order to be in contact with your child. This could prove difficult if older family members don’t utilize smartphones. I also cannot access messages or calls from my daughter on my Samsung watch, which limits our ability to connect. It appears that the watch may be dependent on WiFi, which is not accessible everywhere, including my daughter’s school, which also will limit our ability to connect. Once the app was added, the cost was $9.99/mo or $119.99/yr. There was a 50% discount so the cost of the app and the service was $59.99 plus the phone cost. This is not as pricey as some other options i looked at, but seems excessive given the limited capabilities of the watch.I do like having the ability to limit calls, texts, and games during school hours which is completely controlled through my phone so my daughter can’t change that on her watch. The GPS appeared accurate, which is also a plus. She is enjoying it so far, which may just be the novelty of a new electronic. We are going to give it a few more days and then decide. So far, it has not met my expectations.Update: You cannot truly limit calls and texts during the day. My daughter texted me all day long from school. The only thing it limits is the notification if someone texts her. We returned it after 2 days. Oh, and if you don’t keep the watch, don’t expect a refund on your service purchase!
24 people found this helpful
Parkercles –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great little device
After reading other reviews and really carefully considering this purchase, we are happy we decided to give it a try.I have had fitbits for over 7 years now, and my husband and I currently each have the fitbit versa 2. I was a little worried the Ace might be too big for my 8yo’s wrist, but its actually a great size. It is a little thicker than the versa, but I expect that given its meant to have the housing to be able to use a 4G network.Setting it up was quite easy, and being able to add other family members was great. The app is easy to sync to the phone, and both parents have the app (as well as grandparents for emergency uses). It seems pretty durable, as someone who has knocked the crap out of her Versa 2, I dont really have any concerns for the Ace. I did buy a protective case for it that is really thin and came in a 2 pack, just because things happen and its an 8yo, but I really dont have any concerns about its durability.It is fairly accurate in letting you know when the watch is on or off your kids wrist (came in handy when I was able to figure out why they weren’t answering my messages) and gives you a close approximation of where they are via GPS. Did it know that my kid was at a neighbor’s house? Yes. Was it so accurate that it knew the moment he crossed the street? No. Once they were further into the neighbors yard, it showed as much, but to expect 100% accuracy is probably just going to let you down. It does at least get you 95% accuracy, so you can make sure they haven’t wandered off to somewhere they shouldn’t be, and again, lets you know if the watch is on, which could be a useful feature if your kid is prone to trying to sneak.The keyboard on it is incredibly small, again not surprising given its a watch. My kid enjoys it because its like a little spy watch, but mainly uses quick responses or just chooses to call if he needs something more elaborate.So far, we haven’t encountered any low signal issues, and we truly live out in the middle of no where (i.e. 20 minutes from the closest town, not even city) and its worked well.However, because it is on 4G and always looking for signal, we’ve found we can only go 1.5 days before needing to charge the watch. I really dont know how they could make that better, considering phones do the same thing if they dont have signal with a much larger battery. For as small as it is, I’m impressed it lasts that long, with my kiddo turning the screen on every 10 minutes to check step progress and time, lol.Overall, this has been a great purchase for our family and a great alternative to a phone!
2 people found this helpful
Karolina –
5.0 out of 5 stars
The device we have been looking for (kids 10, 9 YO)
This watch is just what I’ve been looking for for my two kids who are eager for more independence but in my opinion too young for a smart phone.The kids previously had Fitbit Ace fitness trackers, which they wore daily and enjoyed checking their step and exercise count on, so they were already used to having a watch on daily and are extremely pleased with the Fitbit LTE as a major upgrade.CALLS & MESSAGING:Main functionality we as parents were looking for. I love that they don’t have to carry around a phone (that inevitably would be dropped / lost) and the call functionality works really well (can even leave voice messages). Messaging works great too. Kids say that it’s a bit tricky to type on the tiny watch face keyword (understandable!) but the watch provides suggested replies that often works really well and can just be tapped on to reply back. You can add emojis to messages which of course is being used frequently.We look forward to having more friends using the watch so that the kids can text with them (this functionality can be turned on / off as far as I understand).LOCATION TRACKING:Love this functionality as we give the kids more freedom to roam the neighborhood and expand their range to be independent. Great to check that they arrived to school in the morning as they walk there on their own.I love that I can check their location to see if they are on their way home when they say they are, versus calling/messaging them as I think this allows them to feel much greater independence (without mom having to worry about them being a few minutes late…).DESIGN:Great size watch face for little wrists. Cute comfortable bands. We have tried both the fabric and the silicone type bands. The kids slightly prefer the fabric ones, but are good with either type. It’s nice to have the silicone one for sweaty exercises in my opinion. We wish there were even more designs to choose from. It’s really fun for the kids that adding new bands unlocks new things on the watch.SET UP & APP:Set up was very easy, we didn’t experience any issues and the set up flow was easy to follow. The App interface is simple and easy to navigate. I can see both kids profiles on one page and select which one to call/text/locate from the same page. I can track their movement, including steps and exercise.GAMES / incentives to exercise:The games can be used for short times before the kid is asked to complete a movement task to unlock more ‘screen time’. Great functionality!Son, 10 years old:The games kept his full attention for some time, and now he uses them once in a while. That being said, he’s an active kid already and moves plenty without the game incentives (i.e. they aren’t providing much additional motivation for him and that’s OK). I think the games are adorable so he might just be a tad old for them.Daughter, 9 years old:Absolutely loves the games and moves all the time to unlock additional game time etc. She loves the cute interface, the rooms and the avatars. The functionality of unlocking extra stuff for the games / avatars is really engaging to her.COST:Main con for me is the cost of the watch, but compared to getting them an Apple Watch or a smart phone with a data plan, I think this is a much better option/value for kids/tweens.BONUS:Option to add schedules when certain functions are turned off, for example games or calling during school time (you select the hours yourself). Lots of settings are customizable, which is great.Love the plastic free packaging!!! That’s how all electronics should be packaged.
80 people found this helpful
Keith M –
1.0 out of 5 stars
Great hardware, horrible limitation in connectivity options prevents usefulness
We were excited to get this for our soon to be 10 year old daughter. She was excited as well when she opened the box and saw it. The hardware is great, the watch software is great, the user interface is great. The setup was super easy on my Samsung phone. I was immediately able to call and text her, as she was able to call and text me. We set up my wife’s phone, but we had to tweak her Pixel’s permission settings, which was fine since we know how to do that. Sadly, that is where the good ends. Here are the problems, from minor annoyance to outright design failures, which are quite surprising since I expected more from such a major tech company.1) The grandparents got stuck with the app setup on their phone, as they don’t know how to go into settings to allow the proper permissions. They were able to call my Daughter, but she was not able to call them, which is very disappointing as we listed them as emergency contacts. We can fix it, but it shouldn’t be difficult.2) I have a Galaxy Watch 7. If my daughter called me, I would not get a notification on my watch. If she texted me, I would get a notification but could not answer. I use my watch so I don’t always need to have my phone with me. However, in order to ensure my daughter can always reach me, I need to have my phone near by at all times. Ridiculous that there is no support for Android Watches to receive or make calls to the Ace LTE.3) Android Auto support is even worse. While driving, a call or text from my daughter was not sent to Android Auto. Therefore, if my daughter calls while I am driving, I will not know until I check my phone. Again, unbelievable that Fitbit/Google did not anticipate that parents would want to get notifications or calls on their Android Auto screens.4) My wife’s car doesn’t have Android Auto, so she connects through Bluetooth. However, her Bluetooth connection would not recognize an incoming call either.5) We paid for the 50% full year subscription in advance. Be aware that if you purchase a full year upfront, and you find you don’t like the Ace LTE experience, you will not be refunded the cost of the subscription.It is truly surprising that this product would be released with all of these connectivity limitations by Google. There are at least 6 other similar products available. While the Ace LTE may have better quality hardware, it seems like the other options have a much better thought out infrastructure plan for their products. The other companies seem to understand their customer needs. Surprising, Google was clueless with their approach for a kid’s LTE watch.
130 people found this helpful
D. LuD. Lu –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great for young kids
This is our second one for another child. First one, we have used for a couple months now. Note, the watch comes pre charged to about 75%, but you have to put it on charger to initiate setup.PRO- It’s really easy to put the band on the watch. Also easy for the child to put the watch on themselves and adjust.- We are an android family, with family profile and google wallet / pay all that already setup. My children also have their own account. So setup is really easy, just pick their name, done in maybe 5 clicks.- Tracking is integrated with Google Maps. You will see them from the app as well as within Google Maps. It’s pretty accurate.- Battery life is good for LTE device. Can fully charge in 15-30min or so. Last about 1.5 days.- It’s water proof, you can swim with it.- Reception is good, sometimes my T-Mobile phone won’t get reception in the hills, but this watch still have it.- Child can call or message you. With messaging, they can text, voice to text, or record a voice.OK- This version comes with bumper, nice bonus. Though, wish it wasn’t necessary, or thinner, as it does deter from it’s slick look.- It’s really fun for them, lots of games to keep them active. (Game part I don’t like.) But it has good fitness tracking ability that comes with fitbit device, so that is good.- There is orientation to the charger, though generally my child has not have problem with it. There was only one day when it didn’t get charged, I think it was due to the orientation issue.- Child can only message people you add (they have to install the app on their phone). In other words, only communicate with trusted adults. This is fine and probably good idea for little kids. But if your kids are older and watch to chat with their friends, then this is not supported.If I could turn off games, or device can chat also chat with another watches (between siblings), then I would give this watch 5 stars. But for now, it does the job of giving me a peace of mind.
27 people found this helpful
Ashley T. –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great!
Bought two of these to replace Garmin Bounces for my twin 7 year olds. Reason being, the Bounces would say they were at the neighbors across the street (a retired lady w/no kids) when they were asleep in bed… Then, it would say they read the text message I sent them, but they weren’t wearing their watch. So, too unreliable to continue use. Already VERY impressed with these. The watch bands are very, very nice. And they were SUPER easy to install, and WAY, WAY easier to take off and replace than the Bounces. The screens are infinitely more responsive, the games are better, the app is great and when I did the location feature, it got our address numbers (where she currently was) perfectly. All in all, an excellent start. I’m very hopeful this will be the answer for us. Downside, it has to be charged every day – but, they came with 30% battery and so we’re charging them now and it’s going very fast. The additional feature of being able to call me (which the Bounces couldn’t do) is worth having to charge them more.
8 people found this helpful
Miranda –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Peace of mind
Purchased this for my 6 year old in Kindergarten who was riding the bus. The app is very easy to use and she loves to wear her watch on the daily. As a mom I love that I can message her and also see her exact location(with subscription). This also keeps her motivated to stay active with little activates that gives her points for other things on the watch. There are games for downtime-like when she was out of school and riding the bus home/to school.
One person found this helpful
BeachPleaseBeachPlease –
3.0 out of 5 stars
Some flaws but a great way to communicate with my kid
I was super stoked when Fitbit came out with an LTE watch for kids. We needed a way to communicate with our kid after school and during camp so we took a chance and purchased the Fitbit Ace LTE. We’re currently at about a week of use so these are our pros and cons so far:Pros- LTE service available that doesn’t rely on wifi to allow text, calls, and voice messages.- GPS enabled so you know where your kid is located.- Parents have full control via the Fitbit Ace app.- Promotes kids to get active by giving points (Move Points) based on activity that can be used for games and building their avatar (eejie) and home (Bit Valley) . Does have a step counter.- It is water resistant to 50 meters and has held up really well in the swimming pool.- Customizable home screens and activity ring (noodle).- School time option so you can turn off gaming during school but still allows your kid to communicate if they need to.- The current Fitbit Ace Pass (data plan) for the LTE service is a great deal at $60 for a one year plan that also includes your choice of watch band for free.Pro/Con- Each Fitbit band has technology that unlocks features and “hauls” once connected to the watch. This is cool and fun for kids but I can see it getting really expensive at $35 per band. I’m keeping that part hush hush unless my kids wants to save up his allowance towards a new band.Cons- You are restricted to 20 contacts and the biggest issue I have with this watch is that they must have a Gmail account and must download the Fitbit Ace app. This is super annoying especially for older users that don’t want the hassle of dealing with another account or app. There is no option to add a phone number.- No option to call 911 or dial/text any other number.- Battery sometimes doesn’t quite make it all day long.- It’s a bit pricey for the watch compared to other techy watches out there like Samsung and Apple.Having to download an app and have a Gmail account for all contacts is probably the biggest issue I have with this watch. I’m hoping Fitbit will change this but with it being owned by Google, I highly doubt anything will change.I think this is a great watch for kids, especially if you’re wanting to avoid them having access to a cell phone at a young age. It really helps them get motivated to move more and it gives parents peace of mind knowing their kid’s whereabouts and having the option to contact each other. So far, my kid enjoys it and I’m happy being able to keep in touch with him.Hints- If you’re trying to change the noodle or time format, hold down on the home screen.- To access the settings to change the volume, brightness, etc., hold down the top button (with the circle) on the side of the watch.- There is an option for your kid to do an emergency call for help by holding the circle button on the side of the watch. This will call emergency contacts and text help until somebody answers.
43 people found this helpful
JCallaway –
5.0 out of 5 stars
I’d leave a 4.5 ⭐️ review if I could due to two negatives in a sea full of positives
Finally, after failing twice with Gizmo watches for my older kids, we found success with this watch for my 3rd child. It is simply the best kid’s smartwatch we’ve owned BY FAR.Pro’s: This watch looks great, performs above expectations and my daughter loves it.1. The sound quality is more than adequate on the other callers end. It’s not perfect on the Fitbit end but it’s very close when it comes to clarity.2. The fact that my daughter has to meet certain fitness goals (steps) in order to unlock any game features is such a great idea. She will go out of her way to meet the step goal every day and every month just so she can be earn new games. It’s so cool.3. School mode allows the parents to put the watch in a Do Not Disturb mode during school hours in order to keep them from being distracted but still allowing them to accumulate steps4. It looks great5. The touchscreen is responsive and simple to use6. The texting is easy and convenient. Allowing her to talk to text and also send vocal recordings is awesome.7. The tracking feature is very accurateCons:1. The battery drains pretty quickly. It is of course, affected by how much she uses it, but on average it only lasts around 24 hours. Either way, we bought a charger stand made specially for the device and she easily charges it while she sleeps.2. I wish we could just simply press once to toggle school mode. Instead you have to go into settings and find it. It won’t allow a single call or text go through in this mode. I bet you’re thinking “That’s what it’s supposed to do.” You’re right, but in an actual emergency while in school mode, she would have no way to reach us and vice versa. I wish there was a simple way to toggle it on both ends. For example, the other day my oldest son dropped my daughter off at her friend’s house the other day. Unfortunately, the friends weren’t home but my son had already left her there. She’s 9, so she freaked out when she realized she was alone. This happened on a snow day so school was cancelled. The watch would not allow my daughter to call us for help. Even though there was no school, the watch was still is school mode. (After crying a while, she’s doing great now btw).All of that said, this is well worth the cost!
66 people found this helpful
Allen –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great starter watch!
We got this watch for our 8 year old for a little freedom while out & about. It seemed a little large for her wrist, but she doesn’t seem to mind now. School mode locks most everything down. I wish there was a way to get all of the games completely off of it. Ive blocked most of them, since I don’t want our child walking around distracted. It seems to work.It is set up where she can only talk to the family on our plan, which is fine. I foresee us needing to expand that in another year or so when she wants to be able to chat with her friends. It works for what we need it for. J wouldn’t recommend this watch for older kids who want to chat to more than their family. Make sure you read reviews and know what you are getting in to, it will set your expectations for a watch that delivers. I do think it’s slightly high for the price- we got ours on a black Friday sale, and that price was worth it for us. Especially taking into consideration the monthly charge for service.We charge her watch every night, so can’t vouch for sleep tracking. The step tracking has been great. The one game we can’t block, she gets points for activities and steps. It’s annoying that we can’t block it, except for school mode.
H. Heavey –
3.0 out of 5 stars
It’s meh….
My daughter’s old Fitbit Ace was really starting to show its age and I knew it was getting close to needing to be replaced. My daughter is also getting close to the age where a smart watch or phone with limited capabilities would be appropriate. This came up in Amazon and I was intrigued. I wasn’t sure how it was all going to work (Would she have a phone number? Do I add her to my phone plan?) but figured it was worth a shot. First off, the watch comes with a charging cord but no base so make sure you also purchase a USB C charging block for it. For me, that’s a con…if I’m spending all this $$, throw in a charging block for goodness sake. Secondly, once we were able to find a way to charge the watch we discovered that it does not make a strong connection between the watch and the charger. We had to flip it so that the watch was resting on the cable to keep it in place. Third, the band is not the typical silicone bands that come with most fitness watches. It does not lay flat and bulges out a bit on the side which my daughter finds annoying. Fourth, you need to utilize the Fitbit Ace app in order to “call” or “text”. Any contacts you add must have Gmail address and also add the app in order to be in contact with your child. This could prove difficult if older family members don’t utilize smartphones. I also cannot access messages or calls from my daughter on my Samsung watch, which limits our ability to connect. It appears that the watch may be dependent on WiFi, which is not accessible everywhere, including my daughter’s school, which also will limit our ability to connect. Once the app was added, the cost was $9.99/mo or $119.99/yr. There was a 50% discount so the cost of the app and the service was $59.99 plus the phone cost. This is not as pricey as some other options i looked at, but seems excessive given the limited capabilities of the watch.I do like having the ability to limit calls, texts, and games during school hours which is completely controlled through my phone so my daughter can’t change that on her watch. The GPS appeared accurate, which is also a plus. She is enjoying it so far, which may just be the novelty of a new electronic. We are going to give it a few more days and then decide. So far, it has not met my expectations.Update: You cannot truly limit calls and texts during the day. My daughter texted me all day long from school. The only thing it limits is the notification if someone texts her. We returned it after 2 days. Oh, and if you don’t keep the watch, don’t expect a refund on your service purchase!
24 people found this helpful
Parkercles –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great little device
After reading other reviews and really carefully considering this purchase, we are happy we decided to give it a try.I have had fitbits for over 7 years now, and my husband and I currently each have the fitbit versa 2. I was a little worried the Ace might be too big for my 8yo’s wrist, but its actually a great size. It is a little thicker than the versa, but I expect that given its meant to have the housing to be able to use a 4G network.Setting it up was quite easy, and being able to add other family members was great. The app is easy to sync to the phone, and both parents have the app (as well as grandparents for emergency uses). It seems pretty durable, as someone who has knocked the crap out of her Versa 2, I dont really have any concerns for the Ace. I did buy a protective case for it that is really thin and came in a 2 pack, just because things happen and its an 8yo, but I really dont have any concerns about its durability.It is fairly accurate in letting you know when the watch is on or off your kids wrist (came in handy when I was able to figure out why they weren’t answering my messages) and gives you a close approximation of where they are via GPS. Did it know that my kid was at a neighbor’s house? Yes. Was it so accurate that it knew the moment he crossed the street? No. Once they were further into the neighbors yard, it showed as much, but to expect 100% accuracy is probably just going to let you down. It does at least get you 95% accuracy, so you can make sure they haven’t wandered off to somewhere they shouldn’t be, and again, lets you know if the watch is on, which could be a useful feature if your kid is prone to trying to sneak.The keyboard on it is incredibly small, again not surprising given its a watch. My kid enjoys it because its like a little spy watch, but mainly uses quick responses or just chooses to call if he needs something more elaborate.So far, we haven’t encountered any low signal issues, and we truly live out in the middle of no where (i.e. 20 minutes from the closest town, not even city) and its worked well.However, because it is on 4G and always looking for signal, we’ve found we can only go 1.5 days before needing to charge the watch. I really dont know how they could make that better, considering phones do the same thing if they dont have signal with a much larger battery. For as small as it is, I’m impressed it lasts that long, with my kiddo turning the screen on every 10 minutes to check step progress and time, lol.Overall, this has been a great purchase for our family and a great alternative to a phone!
2 people found this helpful
Karolina –
5.0 out of 5 stars
The device we have been looking for (kids 10, 9 YO)
This watch is just what I’ve been looking for for my two kids who are eager for more independence but in my opinion too young for a smart phone.The kids previously had Fitbit Ace fitness trackers, which they wore daily and enjoyed checking their step and exercise count on, so they were already used to having a watch on daily and are extremely pleased with the Fitbit LTE as a major upgrade.CALLS & MESSAGING:Main functionality we as parents were looking for. I love that they don’t have to carry around a phone (that inevitably would be dropped / lost) and the call functionality works really well (can even leave voice messages). Messaging works great too. Kids say that it’s a bit tricky to type on the tiny watch face keyword (understandable!) but the watch provides suggested replies that often works really well and can just be tapped on to reply back. You can add emojis to messages which of course is being used frequently.We look forward to having more friends using the watch so that the kids can text with them (this functionality can be turned on / off as far as I understand).LOCATION TRACKING:Love this functionality as we give the kids more freedom to roam the neighborhood and expand their range to be independent. Great to check that they arrived to school in the morning as they walk there on their own.I love that I can check their location to see if they are on their way home when they say they are, versus calling/messaging them as I think this allows them to feel much greater independence (without mom having to worry about them being a few minutes late…).DESIGN:Great size watch face for little wrists. Cute comfortable bands. We have tried both the fabric and the silicone type bands. The kids slightly prefer the fabric ones, but are good with either type. It’s nice to have the silicone one for sweaty exercises in my opinion. We wish there were even more designs to choose from. It’s really fun for the kids that adding new bands unlocks new things on the watch.SET UP & APP:Set up was very easy, we didn’t experience any issues and the set up flow was easy to follow. The App interface is simple and easy to navigate. I can see both kids profiles on one page and select which one to call/text/locate from the same page. I can track their movement, including steps and exercise.GAMES / incentives to exercise:The games can be used for short times before the kid is asked to complete a movement task to unlock more ‘screen time’. Great functionality!Son, 10 years old:The games kept his full attention for some time, and now he uses them once in a while. That being said, he’s an active kid already and moves plenty without the game incentives (i.e. they aren’t providing much additional motivation for him and that’s OK). I think the games are adorable so he might just be a tad old for them.Daughter, 9 years old:Absolutely loves the games and moves all the time to unlock additional game time etc. She loves the cute interface, the rooms and the avatars. The functionality of unlocking extra stuff for the games / avatars is really engaging to her.COST:Main con for me is the cost of the watch, but compared to getting them an Apple Watch or a smart phone with a data plan, I think this is a much better option/value for kids/tweens.BONUS:Option to add schedules when certain functions are turned off, for example games or calling during school time (you select the hours yourself). Lots of settings are customizable, which is great.Love the plastic free packaging!!! That’s how all electronics should be packaged.
80 people found this helpful
Keith M –
1.0 out of 5 stars
Great hardware, horrible limitation in connectivity options prevents usefulness
We were excited to get this for our soon to be 10 year old daughter. She was excited as well when she opened the box and saw it. The hardware is great, the watch software is great, the user interface is great. The setup was super easy on my Samsung phone. I was immediately able to call and text her, as she was able to call and text me. We set up my wife’s phone, but we had to tweak her Pixel’s permission settings, which was fine since we know how to do that. Sadly, that is where the good ends. Here are the problems, from minor annoyance to outright design failures, which are quite surprising since I expected more from such a major tech company.1) The grandparents got stuck with the app setup on their phone, as they don’t know how to go into settings to allow the proper permissions. They were able to call my Daughter, but she was not able to call them, which is very disappointing as we listed them as emergency contacts. We can fix it, but it shouldn’t be difficult.2) I have a Galaxy Watch 7. If my daughter called me, I would not get a notification on my watch. If she texted me, I would get a notification but could not answer. I use my watch so I don’t always need to have my phone with me. However, in order to ensure my daughter can always reach me, I need to have my phone near by at all times. Ridiculous that there is no support for Android Watches to receive or make calls to the Ace LTE.3) Android Auto support is even worse. While driving, a call or text from my daughter was not sent to Android Auto. Therefore, if my daughter calls while I am driving, I will not know until I check my phone. Again, unbelievable that Fitbit/Google did not anticipate that parents would want to get notifications or calls on their Android Auto screens.4) My wife’s car doesn’t have Android Auto, so she connects through Bluetooth. However, her Bluetooth connection would not recognize an incoming call either.5) We paid for the 50% full year subscription in advance. Be aware that if you purchase a full year upfront, and you find you don’t like the Ace LTE experience, you will not be refunded the cost of the subscription.It is truly surprising that this product would be released with all of these connectivity limitations by Google. There are at least 6 other similar products available. While the Ace LTE may have better quality hardware, it seems like the other options have a much better thought out infrastructure plan for their products. The other companies seem to understand their customer needs. Surprising, Google was clueless with their approach for a kid’s LTE watch.
130 people found this helpful
D. LuD. Lu –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great for young kids
This is our second one for another child. First one, we have used for a couple months now. Note, the watch comes pre charged to about 75%, but you have to put it on charger to initiate setup.PRO- It’s really easy to put the band on the watch. Also easy for the child to put the watch on themselves and adjust.- We are an android family, with family profile and google wallet / pay all that already setup. My children also have their own account. So setup is really easy, just pick their name, done in maybe 5 clicks.- Tracking is integrated with Google Maps. You will see them from the app as well as within Google Maps. It’s pretty accurate.- Battery life is good for LTE device. Can fully charge in 15-30min or so. Last about 1.5 days.- It’s water proof, you can swim with it.- Reception is good, sometimes my T-Mobile phone won’t get reception in the hills, but this watch still have it.- Child can call or message you. With messaging, they can text, voice to text, or record a voice.OK- This version comes with bumper, nice bonus. Though, wish it wasn’t necessary, or thinner, as it does deter from it’s slick look.- It’s really fun for them, lots of games to keep them active. (Game part I don’t like.) But it has good fitness tracking ability that comes with fitbit device, so that is good.- There is orientation to the charger, though generally my child has not have problem with it. There was only one day when it didn’t get charged, I think it was due to the orientation issue.- Child can only message people you add (they have to install the app on their phone). In other words, only communicate with trusted adults. This is fine and probably good idea for little kids. But if your kids are older and watch to chat with their friends, then this is not supported.If I could turn off games, or device can chat also chat with another watches (between siblings), then I would give this watch 5 stars. But for now, it does the job of giving me a peace of mind.
27 people found this helpful
Ashley T. –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great!
Bought two of these to replace Garmin Bounces for my twin 7 year olds. Reason being, the Bounces would say they were at the neighbors across the street (a retired lady w/no kids) when they were asleep in bed… Then, it would say they read the text message I sent them, but they weren’t wearing their watch. So, too unreliable to continue use. Already VERY impressed with these. The watch bands are very, very nice. And they were SUPER easy to install, and WAY, WAY easier to take off and replace than the Bounces. The screens are infinitely more responsive, the games are better, the app is great and when I did the location feature, it got our address numbers (where she currently was) perfectly. All in all, an excellent start. I’m very hopeful this will be the answer for us. Downside, it has to be charged every day – but, they came with 30% battery and so we’re charging them now and it’s going very fast. The additional feature of being able to call me (which the Bounces couldn’t do) is worth having to charge them more.
8 people found this helpful
Miranda –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Peace of mind
Purchased this for my 6 year old in Kindergarten who was riding the bus. The app is very easy to use and she loves to wear her watch on the daily. As a mom I love that I can message her and also see her exact location(with subscription). This also keeps her motivated to stay active with little activates that gives her points for other things on the watch. There are games for downtime-like when she was out of school and riding the bus home/to school.
One person found this helpful
BeachPleaseBeachPlease –
3.0 out of 5 stars
Some flaws but a great way to communicate with my kid
I was super stoked when Fitbit came out with an LTE watch for kids. We needed a way to communicate with our kid after school and during camp so we took a chance and purchased the Fitbit Ace LTE. We’re currently at about a week of use so these are our pros and cons so far:Pros- LTE service available that doesn’t rely on wifi to allow text, calls, and voice messages.- GPS enabled so you know where your kid is located.- Parents have full control via the Fitbit Ace app.- Promotes kids to get active by giving points (Move Points) based on activity that can be used for games and building their avatar (eejie) and home (Bit Valley) . Does have a step counter.- It is water resistant to 50 meters and has held up really well in the swimming pool.- Customizable home screens and activity ring (noodle).- School time option so you can turn off gaming during school but still allows your kid to communicate if they need to.- The current Fitbit Ace Pass (data plan) for the LTE service is a great deal at $60 for a one year plan that also includes your choice of watch band for free.Pro/Con- Each Fitbit band has technology that unlocks features and “hauls” once connected to the watch. This is cool and fun for kids but I can see it getting really expensive at $35 per band. I’m keeping that part hush hush unless my kids wants to save up his allowance towards a new band.Cons- You are restricted to 20 contacts and the biggest issue I have with this watch is that they must have a Gmail account and must download the Fitbit Ace app. This is super annoying especially for older users that don’t want the hassle of dealing with another account or app. There is no option to add a phone number.- No option to call 911 or dial/text any other number.- Battery sometimes doesn’t quite make it all day long.- It’s a bit pricey for the watch compared to other techy watches out there like Samsung and Apple.Having to download an app and have a Gmail account for all contacts is probably the biggest issue I have with this watch. I’m hoping Fitbit will change this but with it being owned by Google, I highly doubt anything will change.I think this is a great watch for kids, especially if you’re wanting to avoid them having access to a cell phone at a young age. It really helps them get motivated to move more and it gives parents peace of mind knowing their kid’s whereabouts and having the option to contact each other. So far, my kid enjoys it and I’m happy being able to keep in touch with him.Hints- If you’re trying to change the noodle or time format, hold down on the home screen.- To access the settings to change the volume, brightness, etc., hold down the top button (with the circle) on the side of the watch.- There is an option for your kid to do an emergency call for help by holding the circle button on the side of the watch. This will call emergency contacts and text help until somebody answers.
43 people found this helpful
JCallaway –
5.0 out of 5 stars
I’d leave a 4.5 ⭐️ review if I could due to two negatives in a sea full of positives
Finally, after failing twice with Gizmo watches for my older kids, we found success with this watch for my 3rd child. It is simply the best kid’s smartwatch we’ve owned BY FAR.Pro’s: This watch looks great, performs above expectations and my daughter loves it.1. The sound quality is more than adequate on the other callers end. It’s not perfect on the Fitbit end but it’s very close when it comes to clarity.2. The fact that my daughter has to meet certain fitness goals (steps) in order to unlock any game features is such a great idea. She will go out of her way to meet the step goal every day and every month just so she can be earn new games. It’s so cool.3. School mode allows the parents to put the watch in a Do Not Disturb mode during school hours in order to keep them from being distracted but still allowing them to accumulate steps4. It looks great5. The touchscreen is responsive and simple to use6. The texting is easy and convenient. Allowing her to talk to text and also send vocal recordings is awesome.7. The tracking feature is very accurateCons:1. The battery drains pretty quickly. It is of course, affected by how much she uses it, but on average it only lasts around 24 hours. Either way, we bought a charger stand made specially for the device and she easily charges it while she sleeps.2. I wish we could just simply press once to toggle school mode. Instead you have to go into settings and find it. It won’t allow a single call or text go through in this mode. I bet you’re thinking “That’s what it’s supposed to do.” You’re right, but in an actual emergency while in school mode, she would have no way to reach us and vice versa. I wish there was a simple way to toggle it on both ends. For example, the other day my oldest son dropped my daughter off at her friend’s house the other day. Unfortunately, the friends weren’t home but my son had already left her there. She’s 9, so she freaked out when she realized she was alone. This happened on a snow day so school was cancelled. The watch would not allow my daughter to call us for help. Even though there was no school, the watch was still is school mode. (After crying a while, she’s doing great now btw).All of that said, this is well worth the cost!
66 people found this helpful
Allen –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great starter watch!
We got this watch for our 8 year old for a little freedom while out & about. It seemed a little large for her wrist, but she doesn’t seem to mind now. School mode locks most everything down. I wish there was a way to get all of the games completely off of it. Ive blocked most of them, since I don’t want our child walking around distracted. It seems to work.It is set up where she can only talk to the family on our plan, which is fine. I foresee us needing to expand that in another year or so when she wants to be able to chat with her friends. It works for what we need it for. J wouldn’t recommend this watch for older kids who want to chat to more than their family. Make sure you read reviews and know what you are getting in to, it will set your expectations for a watch that delivers. I do think it’s slightly high for the price- we got ours on a black Friday sale, and that price was worth it for us. Especially taking into consideration the monthly charge for service.We charge her watch every night, so can’t vouch for sleep tracking. The step tracking has been great. The one game we can’t block, she gets points for activities and steps. It’s annoying that we can’t block it, except for school mode.
H. Heavey –
3.0 out of 5 stars
It’s meh….
My daughter’s old Fitbit Ace was really starting to show its age and I knew it was getting close to needing to be replaced. My daughter is also getting close to the age where a smart watch or phone with limited capabilities would be appropriate. This came up in Amazon and I was intrigued. I wasn’t sure how it was all going to work (Would she have a phone number? Do I add her to my phone plan?) but figured it was worth a shot. First off, the watch comes with a charging cord but no base so make sure you also purchase a USB C charging block for it. For me, that’s a con…if I’m spending all this $$, throw in a charging block for goodness sake. Secondly, once we were able to find a way to charge the watch we discovered that it does not make a strong connection between the watch and the charger. We had to flip it so that the watch was resting on the cable to keep it in place. Third, the band is not the typical silicone bands that come with most fitness watches. It does not lay flat and bulges out a bit on the side which my daughter finds annoying. Fourth, you need to utilize the Fitbit Ace app in order to “call” or “text”. Any contacts you add must have Gmail address and also add the app in order to be in contact with your child. This could prove difficult if older family members don’t utilize smartphones. I also cannot access messages or calls from my daughter on my Samsung watch, which limits our ability to connect. It appears that the watch may be dependent on WiFi, which is not accessible everywhere, including my daughter’s school, which also will limit our ability to connect. Once the app was added, the cost was $9.99/mo or $119.99/yr. There was a 50% discount so the cost of the app and the service was $59.99 plus the phone cost. This is not as pricey as some other options i looked at, but seems excessive given the limited capabilities of the watch.I do like having the ability to limit calls, texts, and games during school hours which is completely controlled through my phone so my daughter can’t change that on her watch. The GPS appeared accurate, which is also a plus. She is enjoying it so far, which may just be the novelty of a new electronic. We are going to give it a few more days and then decide. So far, it has not met my expectations.Update: You cannot truly limit calls and texts during the day. My daughter texted me all day long from school. The only thing it limits is the notification if someone texts her. We returned it after 2 days. Oh, and if you don’t keep the watch, don’t expect a refund on your service purchase!
24 people found this helpful
Parkercles –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great little device
After reading other reviews and really carefully considering this purchase, we are happy we decided to give it a try.I have had fitbits for over 7 years now, and my husband and I currently each have the fitbit versa 2. I was a little worried the Ace might be too big for my 8yo’s wrist, but its actually a great size. It is a little thicker than the versa, but I expect that given its meant to have the housing to be able to use a 4G network.Setting it up was quite easy, and being able to add other family members was great. The app is easy to sync to the phone, and both parents have the app (as well as grandparents for emergency uses). It seems pretty durable, as someone who has knocked the crap out of her Versa 2, I dont really have any concerns for the Ace. I did buy a protective case for it that is really thin and came in a 2 pack, just because things happen and its an 8yo, but I really dont have any concerns about its durability.It is fairly accurate in letting you know when the watch is on or off your kids wrist (came in handy when I was able to figure out why they weren’t answering my messages) and gives you a close approximation of where they are via GPS. Did it know that my kid was at a neighbor’s house? Yes. Was it so accurate that it knew the moment he crossed the street? No. Once they were further into the neighbors yard, it showed as much, but to expect 100% accuracy is probably just going to let you down. It does at least get you 95% accuracy, so you can make sure they haven’t wandered off to somewhere they shouldn’t be, and again, lets you know if the watch is on, which could be a useful feature if your kid is prone to trying to sneak.The keyboard on it is incredibly small, again not surprising given its a watch. My kid enjoys it because its like a little spy watch, but mainly uses quick responses or just chooses to call if he needs something more elaborate.So far, we haven’t encountered any low signal issues, and we truly live out in the middle of no where (i.e. 20 minutes from the closest town, not even city) and its worked well.However, because it is on 4G and always looking for signal, we’ve found we can only go 1.5 days before needing to charge the watch. I really dont know how they could make that better, considering phones do the same thing if they dont have signal with a much larger battery. For as small as it is, I’m impressed it lasts that long, with my kiddo turning the screen on every 10 minutes to check step progress and time, lol.Overall, this has been a great purchase for our family and a great alternative to a phone!
2 people found this helpful
Karolina –
5.0 out of 5 stars
The device we have been looking for (kids 10, 9 YO)
This watch is just what I’ve been looking for for my two kids who are eager for more independence but in my opinion too young for a smart phone.The kids previously had Fitbit Ace fitness trackers, which they wore daily and enjoyed checking their step and exercise count on, so they were already used to having a watch on daily and are extremely pleased with the Fitbit LTE as a major upgrade.CALLS & MESSAGING:Main functionality we as parents were looking for. I love that they don’t have to carry around a phone (that inevitably would be dropped / lost) and the call functionality works really well (can even leave voice messages). Messaging works great too. Kids say that it’s a bit tricky to type on the tiny watch face keyword (understandable!) but the watch provides suggested replies that often works really well and can just be tapped on to reply back. You can add emojis to messages which of course is being used frequently.We look forward to having more friends using the watch so that the kids can text with them (this functionality can be turned on / off as far as I understand).LOCATION TRACKING:Love this functionality as we give the kids more freedom to roam the neighborhood and expand their range to be independent. Great to check that they arrived to school in the morning as they walk there on their own.I love that I can check their location to see if they are on their way home when they say they are, versus calling/messaging them as I think this allows them to feel much greater independence (without mom having to worry about them being a few minutes late…).DESIGN:Great size watch face for little wrists. Cute comfortable bands. We have tried both the fabric and the silicone type bands. The kids slightly prefer the fabric ones, but are good with either type. It’s nice to have the silicone one for sweaty exercises in my opinion. We wish there were even more designs to choose from. It’s really fun for the kids that adding new bands unlocks new things on the watch.SET UP & APP:Set up was very easy, we didn’t experience any issues and the set up flow was easy to follow. The App interface is simple and easy to navigate. I can see both kids profiles on one page and select which one to call/text/locate from the same page. I can track their movement, including steps and exercise.GAMES / incentives to exercise:The games can be used for short times before the kid is asked to complete a movement task to unlock more ‘screen time’. Great functionality!Son, 10 years old:The games kept his full attention for some time, and now he uses them once in a while. That being said, he’s an active kid already and moves plenty without the game incentives (i.e. they aren’t providing much additional motivation for him and that’s OK). I think the games are adorable so he might just be a tad old for them.Daughter, 9 years old:Absolutely loves the games and moves all the time to unlock additional game time etc. She loves the cute interface, the rooms and the avatars. The functionality of unlocking extra stuff for the games / avatars is really engaging to her.COST:Main con for me is the cost of the watch, but compared to getting them an Apple Watch or a smart phone with a data plan, I think this is a much better option/value for kids/tweens.BONUS:Option to add schedules when certain functions are turned off, for example games or calling during school time (you select the hours yourself). Lots of settings are customizable, which is great.Love the plastic free packaging!!! That’s how all electronics should be packaged.
80 people found this helpful
Keith M –
1.0 out of 5 stars
Great hardware, horrible limitation in connectivity options prevents usefulness
We were excited to get this for our soon to be 10 year old daughter. She was excited as well when she opened the box and saw it. The hardware is great, the watch software is great, the user interface is great. The setup was super easy on my Samsung phone. I was immediately able to call and text her, as she was able to call and text me. We set up my wife’s phone, but we had to tweak her Pixel’s permission settings, which was fine since we know how to do that. Sadly, that is where the good ends. Here are the problems, from minor annoyance to outright design failures, which are quite surprising since I expected more from such a major tech company.1) The grandparents got stuck with the app setup on their phone, as they don’t know how to go into settings to allow the proper permissions. They were able to call my Daughter, but she was not able to call them, which is very disappointing as we listed them as emergency contacts. We can fix it, but it shouldn’t be difficult.2) I have a Galaxy Watch 7. If my daughter called me, I would not get a notification on my watch. If she texted me, I would get a notification but could not answer. I use my watch so I don’t always need to have my phone with me. However, in order to ensure my daughter can always reach me, I need to have my phone near by at all times. Ridiculous that there is no support for Android Watches to receive or make calls to the Ace LTE.3) Android Auto support is even worse. While driving, a call or text from my daughter was not sent to Android Auto. Therefore, if my daughter calls while I am driving, I will not know until I check my phone. Again, unbelievable that Fitbit/Google did not anticipate that parents would want to get notifications or calls on their Android Auto screens.4) My wife’s car doesn’t have Android Auto, so she connects through Bluetooth. However, her Bluetooth connection would not recognize an incoming call either.5) We paid for the 50% full year subscription in advance. Be aware that if you purchase a full year upfront, and you find you don’t like the Ace LTE experience, you will not be refunded the cost of the subscription.It is truly surprising that this product would be released with all of these connectivity limitations by Google. There are at least 6 other similar products available. While the Ace LTE may have better quality hardware, it seems like the other options have a much better thought out infrastructure plan for their products. The other companies seem to understand their customer needs. Surprising, Google was clueless with their approach for a kid’s LTE watch.
130 people found this helpful
D. LuD. Lu –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great for young kids
This is our second one for another child. First one, we have used for a couple months now. Note, the watch comes pre charged to about 75%, but you have to put it on charger to initiate setup.PRO- It’s really easy to put the band on the watch. Also easy for the child to put the watch on themselves and adjust.- We are an android family, with family profile and google wallet / pay all that already setup. My children also have their own account. So setup is really easy, just pick their name, done in maybe 5 clicks.- Tracking is integrated with Google Maps. You will see them from the app as well as within Google Maps. It’s pretty accurate.- Battery life is good for LTE device. Can fully charge in 15-30min or so. Last about 1.5 days.- It’s water proof, you can swim with it.- Reception is good, sometimes my T-Mobile phone won’t get reception in the hills, but this watch still have it.- Child can call or message you. With messaging, they can text, voice to text, or record a voice.OK- This version comes with bumper, nice bonus. Though, wish it wasn’t necessary, or thinner, as it does deter from it’s slick look.- It’s really fun for them, lots of games to keep them active. (Game part I don’t like.) But it has good fitness tracking ability that comes with fitbit device, so that is good.- There is orientation to the charger, though generally my child has not have problem with it. There was only one day when it didn’t get charged, I think it was due to the orientation issue.- Child can only message people you add (they have to install the app on their phone). In other words, only communicate with trusted adults. This is fine and probably good idea for little kids. But if your kids are older and watch to chat with their friends, then this is not supported.If I could turn off games, or device can chat also chat with another watches (between siblings), then I would give this watch 5 stars. But for now, it does the job of giving me a peace of mind.
27 people found this helpful
Ashley T. –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great!
Bought two of these to replace Garmin Bounces for my twin 7 year olds. Reason being, the Bounces would say they were at the neighbors across the street (a retired lady w/no kids) when they were asleep in bed… Then, it would say they read the text message I sent them, but they weren’t wearing their watch. So, too unreliable to continue use. Already VERY impressed with these. The watch bands are very, very nice. And they were SUPER easy to install, and WAY, WAY easier to take off and replace than the Bounces. The screens are infinitely more responsive, the games are better, the app is great and when I did the location feature, it got our address numbers (where she currently was) perfectly. All in all, an excellent start. I’m very hopeful this will be the answer for us. Downside, it has to be charged every day – but, they came with 30% battery and so we’re charging them now and it’s going very fast. The additional feature of being able to call me (which the Bounces couldn’t do) is worth having to charge them more.
8 people found this helpful
Miranda –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Peace of mind
Purchased this for my 6 year old in Kindergarten who was riding the bus. The app is very easy to use and she loves to wear her watch on the daily. As a mom I love that I can message her and also see her exact location(with subscription). This also keeps her motivated to stay active with little activates that gives her points for other things on the watch. There are games for downtime-like when she was out of school and riding the bus home/to school.
One person found this helpful
BeachPleaseBeachPlease –
3.0 out of 5 stars
Some flaws but a great way to communicate with my kid
I was super stoked when Fitbit came out with an LTE watch for kids. We needed a way to communicate with our kid after school and during camp so we took a chance and purchased the Fitbit Ace LTE. We’re currently at about a week of use so these are our pros and cons so far:Pros- LTE service available that doesn’t rely on wifi to allow text, calls, and voice messages.- GPS enabled so you know where your kid is located.- Parents have full control via the Fitbit Ace app.- Promotes kids to get active by giving points (Move Points) based on activity that can be used for games and building their avatar (eejie) and home (Bit Valley) . Does have a step counter.- It is water resistant to 50 meters and has held up really well in the swimming pool.- Customizable home screens and activity ring (noodle).- School time option so you can turn off gaming during school but still allows your kid to communicate if they need to.- The current Fitbit Ace Pass (data plan) for the LTE service is a great deal at $60 for a one year plan that also includes your choice of watch band for free.Pro/Con- Each Fitbit band has technology that unlocks features and “hauls” once connected to the watch. This is cool and fun for kids but I can see it getting really expensive at $35 per band. I’m keeping that part hush hush unless my kids wants to save up his allowance towards a new band.Cons- You are restricted to 20 contacts and the biggest issue I have with this watch is that they must have a Gmail account and must download the Fitbit Ace app. This is super annoying especially for older users that don’t want the hassle of dealing with another account or app. There is no option to add a phone number.- No option to call 911 or dial/text any other number.- Battery sometimes doesn’t quite make it all day long.- It’s a bit pricey for the watch compared to other techy watches out there like Samsung and Apple.Having to download an app and have a Gmail account for all contacts is probably the biggest issue I have with this watch. I’m hoping Fitbit will change this but with it being owned by Google, I highly doubt anything will change.I think this is a great watch for kids, especially if you’re wanting to avoid them having access to a cell phone at a young age. It really helps them get motivated to move more and it gives parents peace of mind knowing their kid’s whereabouts and having the option to contact each other. So far, my kid enjoys it and I’m happy being able to keep in touch with him.Hints- If you’re trying to change the noodle or time format, hold down on the home screen.- To access the settings to change the volume, brightness, etc., hold down the top button (with the circle) on the side of the watch.- There is an option for your kid to do an emergency call for help by holding the circle button on the side of the watch. This will call emergency contacts and text help until somebody answers.
43 people found this helpful
JCallaway –
5.0 out of 5 stars
I’d leave a 4.5 ⭐️ review if I could due to two negatives in a sea full of positives
Finally, after failing twice with Gizmo watches for my older kids, we found success with this watch for my 3rd child. It is simply the best kid’s smartwatch we’ve owned BY FAR.Pro’s: This watch looks great, performs above expectations and my daughter loves it.1. The sound quality is more than adequate on the other callers end. It’s not perfect on the Fitbit end but it’s very close when it comes to clarity.2. The fact that my daughter has to meet certain fitness goals (steps) in order to unlock any game features is such a great idea. She will go out of her way to meet the step goal every day and every month just so she can be earn new games. It’s so cool.3. School mode allows the parents to put the watch in a Do Not Disturb mode during school hours in order to keep them from being distracted but still allowing them to accumulate steps4. It looks great5. The touchscreen is responsive and simple to use6. The texting is easy and convenient. Allowing her to talk to text and also send vocal recordings is awesome.7. The tracking feature is very accurateCons:1. The battery drains pretty quickly. It is of course, affected by how much she uses it, but on average it only lasts around 24 hours. Either way, we bought a charger stand made specially for the device and she easily charges it while she sleeps.2. I wish we could just simply press once to toggle school mode. Instead you have to go into settings and find it. It won’t allow a single call or text go through in this mode. I bet you’re thinking “That’s what it’s supposed to do.” You’re right, but in an actual emergency while in school mode, she would have no way to reach us and vice versa. I wish there was a simple way to toggle it on both ends. For example, the other day my oldest son dropped my daughter off at her friend’s house the other day. Unfortunately, the friends weren’t home but my son had already left her there. She’s 9, so she freaked out when she realized she was alone. This happened on a snow day so school was cancelled. The watch would not allow my daughter to call us for help. Even though there was no school, the watch was still is school mode. (After crying a while, she’s doing great now btw).All of that said, this is well worth the cost!
66 people found this helpful
Allen –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great starter watch!
We got this watch for our 8 year old for a little freedom while out & about. It seemed a little large for her wrist, but she doesn’t seem to mind now. School mode locks most everything down. I wish there was a way to get all of the games completely off of it. Ive blocked most of them, since I don’t want our child walking around distracted. It seems to work.It is set up where she can only talk to the family on our plan, which is fine. I foresee us needing to expand that in another year or so when she wants to be able to chat with her friends. It works for what we need it for. J wouldn’t recommend this watch for older kids who want to chat to more than their family. Make sure you read reviews and know what you are getting in to, it will set your expectations for a watch that delivers. I do think it’s slightly high for the price- we got ours on a black Friday sale, and that price was worth it for us. Especially taking into consideration the monthly charge for service.We charge her watch every night, so can’t vouch for sleep tracking. The step tracking has been great. The one game we can’t block, she gets points for activities and steps. It’s annoying that we can’t block it, except for school mode.
H. Heavey –
3.0 out of 5 stars
It’s meh….
My daughter’s old Fitbit Ace was really starting to show its age and I knew it was getting close to needing to be replaced. My daughter is also getting close to the age where a smart watch or phone with limited capabilities would be appropriate. This came up in Amazon and I was intrigued. I wasn’t sure how it was all going to work (Would she have a phone number? Do I add her to my phone plan?) but figured it was worth a shot. First off, the watch comes with a charging cord but no base so make sure you also purchase a USB C charging block for it. For me, that’s a con…if I’m spending all this $$, throw in a charging block for goodness sake. Secondly, once we were able to find a way to charge the watch we discovered that it does not make a strong connection between the watch and the charger. We had to flip it so that the watch was resting on the cable to keep it in place. Third, the band is not the typical silicone bands that come with most fitness watches. It does not lay flat and bulges out a bit on the side which my daughter finds annoying. Fourth, you need to utilize the Fitbit Ace app in order to “call” or “text”. Any contacts you add must have Gmail address and also add the app in order to be in contact with your child. This could prove difficult if older family members don’t utilize smartphones. I also cannot access messages or calls from my daughter on my Samsung watch, which limits our ability to connect. It appears that the watch may be dependent on WiFi, which is not accessible everywhere, including my daughter’s school, which also will limit our ability to connect. Once the app was added, the cost was $9.99/mo or $119.99/yr. There was a 50% discount so the cost of the app and the service was $59.99 plus the phone cost. This is not as pricey as some other options i looked at, but seems excessive given the limited capabilities of the watch.I do like having the ability to limit calls, texts, and games during school hours which is completely controlled through my phone so my daughter can’t change that on her watch. The GPS appeared accurate, which is also a plus. She is enjoying it so far, which may just be the novelty of a new electronic. We are going to give it a few more days and then decide. So far, it has not met my expectations.Update: You cannot truly limit calls and texts during the day. My daughter texted me all day long from school. The only thing it limits is the notification if someone texts her. We returned it after 2 days. Oh, and if you don’t keep the watch, don’t expect a refund on your service purchase!
24 people found this helpful
Parkercles –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great little device
After reading other reviews and really carefully considering this purchase, we are happy we decided to give it a try.I have had fitbits for over 7 years now, and my husband and I currently each have the fitbit versa 2. I was a little worried the Ace might be too big for my 8yo’s wrist, but its actually a great size. It is a little thicker than the versa, but I expect that given its meant to have the housing to be able to use a 4G network.Setting it up was quite easy, and being able to add other family members was great. The app is easy to sync to the phone, and both parents have the app (as well as grandparents for emergency uses). It seems pretty durable, as someone who has knocked the crap out of her Versa 2, I dont really have any concerns for the Ace. I did buy a protective case for it that is really thin and came in a 2 pack, just because things happen and its an 8yo, but I really dont have any concerns about its durability.It is fairly accurate in letting you know when the watch is on or off your kids wrist (came in handy when I was able to figure out why they weren’t answering my messages) and gives you a close approximation of where they are via GPS. Did it know that my kid was at a neighbor’s house? Yes. Was it so accurate that it knew the moment he crossed the street? No. Once they were further into the neighbors yard, it showed as much, but to expect 100% accuracy is probably just going to let you down. It does at least get you 95% accuracy, so you can make sure they haven’t wandered off to somewhere they shouldn’t be, and again, lets you know if the watch is on, which could be a useful feature if your kid is prone to trying to sneak.The keyboard on it is incredibly small, again not surprising given its a watch. My kid enjoys it because its like a little spy watch, but mainly uses quick responses or just chooses to call if he needs something more elaborate.So far, we haven’t encountered any low signal issues, and we truly live out in the middle of no where (i.e. 20 minutes from the closest town, not even city) and its worked well.However, because it is on 4G and always looking for signal, we’ve found we can only go 1.5 days before needing to charge the watch. I really dont know how they could make that better, considering phones do the same thing if they dont have signal with a much larger battery. For as small as it is, I’m impressed it lasts that long, with my kiddo turning the screen on every 10 minutes to check step progress and time, lol.Overall, this has been a great purchase for our family and a great alternative to a phone!
2 people found this helpful
Karolina –
5.0 out of 5 stars
The device we have been looking for (kids 10, 9 YO)
This watch is just what I’ve been looking for for my two kids who are eager for more independence but in my opinion too young for a smart phone.The kids previously had Fitbit Ace fitness trackers, which they wore daily and enjoyed checking their step and exercise count on, so they were already used to having a watch on daily and are extremely pleased with the Fitbit LTE as a major upgrade.CALLS & MESSAGING:Main functionality we as parents were looking for. I love that they don’t have to carry around a phone (that inevitably would be dropped / lost) and the call functionality works really well (can even leave voice messages). Messaging works great too. Kids say that it’s a bit tricky to type on the tiny watch face keyword (understandable!) but the watch provides suggested replies that often works really well and can just be tapped on to reply back. You can add emojis to messages which of course is being used frequently.We look forward to having more friends using the watch so that the kids can text with them (this functionality can be turned on / off as far as I understand).LOCATION TRACKING:Love this functionality as we give the kids more freedom to roam the neighborhood and expand their range to be independent. Great to check that they arrived to school in the morning as they walk there on their own.I love that I can check their location to see if they are on their way home when they say they are, versus calling/messaging them as I think this allows them to feel much greater independence (without mom having to worry about them being a few minutes late…).DESIGN:Great size watch face for little wrists. Cute comfortable bands. We have tried both the fabric and the silicone type bands. The kids slightly prefer the fabric ones, but are good with either type. It’s nice to have the silicone one for sweaty exercises in my opinion. We wish there were even more designs to choose from. It’s really fun for the kids that adding new bands unlocks new things on the watch.SET UP & APP:Set up was very easy, we didn’t experience any issues and the set up flow was easy to follow. The App interface is simple and easy to navigate. I can see both kids profiles on one page and select which one to call/text/locate from the same page. I can track their movement, including steps and exercise.GAMES / incentives to exercise:The games can be used for short times before the kid is asked to complete a movement task to unlock more ‘screen time’. Great functionality!Son, 10 years old:The games kept his full attention for some time, and now he uses them once in a while. That being said, he’s an active kid already and moves plenty without the game incentives (i.e. they aren’t providing much additional motivation for him and that’s OK). I think the games are adorable so he might just be a tad old for them.Daughter, 9 years old:Absolutely loves the games and moves all the time to unlock additional game time etc. She loves the cute interface, the rooms and the avatars. The functionality of unlocking extra stuff for the games / avatars is really engaging to her.COST:Main con for me is the cost of the watch, but compared to getting them an Apple Watch or a smart phone with a data plan, I think this is a much better option/value for kids/tweens.BONUS:Option to add schedules when certain functions are turned off, for example games or calling during school time (you select the hours yourself). Lots of settings are customizable, which is great.Love the plastic free packaging!!! That’s how all electronics should be packaged.
80 people found this helpful
Keith M –
1.0 out of 5 stars
Great hardware, horrible limitation in connectivity options prevents usefulness
We were excited to get this for our soon to be 10 year old daughter. She was excited as well when she opened the box and saw it. The hardware is great, the watch software is great, the user interface is great. The setup was super easy on my Samsung phone. I was immediately able to call and text her, as she was able to call and text me. We set up my wife’s phone, but we had to tweak her Pixel’s permission settings, which was fine since we know how to do that. Sadly, that is where the good ends. Here are the problems, from minor annoyance to outright design failures, which are quite surprising since I expected more from such a major tech company.1) The grandparents got stuck with the app setup on their phone, as they don’t know how to go into settings to allow the proper permissions. They were able to call my Daughter, but she was not able to call them, which is very disappointing as we listed them as emergency contacts. We can fix it, but it shouldn’t be difficult.2) I have a Galaxy Watch 7. If my daughter called me, I would not get a notification on my watch. If she texted me, I would get a notification but could not answer. I use my watch so I don’t always need to have my phone with me. However, in order to ensure my daughter can always reach me, I need to have my phone near by at all times. Ridiculous that there is no support for Android Watches to receive or make calls to the Ace LTE.3) Android Auto support is even worse. While driving, a call or text from my daughter was not sent to Android Auto. Therefore, if my daughter calls while I am driving, I will not know until I check my phone. Again, unbelievable that Fitbit/Google did not anticipate that parents would want to get notifications or calls on their Android Auto screens.4) My wife’s car doesn’t have Android Auto, so she connects through Bluetooth. However, her Bluetooth connection would not recognize an incoming call either.5) We paid for the 50% full year subscription in advance. Be aware that if you purchase a full year upfront, and you find you don’t like the Ace LTE experience, you will not be refunded the cost of the subscription.It is truly surprising that this product would be released with all of these connectivity limitations by Google. There are at least 6 other similar products available. While the Ace LTE may have better quality hardware, it seems like the other options have a much better thought out infrastructure plan for their products. The other companies seem to understand their customer needs. Surprising, Google was clueless with their approach for a kid’s LTE watch.
130 people found this helpful
D. LuD. Lu –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great for young kids
This is our second one for another child. First one, we have used for a couple months now. Note, the watch comes pre charged to about 75%, but you have to put it on charger to initiate setup.PRO- It’s really easy to put the band on the watch. Also easy for the child to put the watch on themselves and adjust.- We are an android family, with family profile and google wallet / pay all that already setup. My children also have their own account. So setup is really easy, just pick their name, done in maybe 5 clicks.- Tracking is integrated with Google Maps. You will see them from the app as well as within Google Maps. It’s pretty accurate.- Battery life is good for LTE device. Can fully charge in 15-30min or so. Last about 1.5 days.- It’s water proof, you can swim with it.- Reception is good, sometimes my T-Mobile phone won’t get reception in the hills, but this watch still have it.- Child can call or message you. With messaging, they can text, voice to text, or record a voice.OK- This version comes with bumper, nice bonus. Though, wish it wasn’t necessary, or thinner, as it does deter from it’s slick look.- It’s really fun for them, lots of games to keep them active. (Game part I don’t like.) But it has good fitness tracking ability that comes with fitbit device, so that is good.- There is orientation to the charger, though generally my child has not have problem with it. There was only one day when it didn’t get charged, I think it was due to the orientation issue.- Child can only message people you add (they have to install the app on their phone). In other words, only communicate with trusted adults. This is fine and probably good idea for little kids. But if your kids are older and watch to chat with their friends, then this is not supported.If I could turn off games, or device can chat also chat with another watches (between siblings), then I would give this watch 5 stars. But for now, it does the job of giving me a peace of mind.
27 people found this helpful
Ashley T. –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great!
Bought two of these to replace Garmin Bounces for my twin 7 year olds. Reason being, the Bounces would say they were at the neighbors across the street (a retired lady w/no kids) when they were asleep in bed… Then, it would say they read the text message I sent them, but they weren’t wearing their watch. So, too unreliable to continue use. Already VERY impressed with these. The watch bands are very, very nice. And they were SUPER easy to install, and WAY, WAY easier to take off and replace than the Bounces. The screens are infinitely more responsive, the games are better, the app is great and when I did the location feature, it got our address numbers (where she currently was) perfectly. All in all, an excellent start. I’m very hopeful this will be the answer for us. Downside, it has to be charged every day – but, they came with 30% battery and so we’re charging them now and it’s going very fast. The additional feature of being able to call me (which the Bounces couldn’t do) is worth having to charge them more.
8 people found this helpful
Miranda –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Peace of mind
Purchased this for my 6 year old in Kindergarten who was riding the bus. The app is very easy to use and she loves to wear her watch on the daily. As a mom I love that I can message her and also see her exact location(with subscription). This also keeps her motivated to stay active with little activates that gives her points for other things on the watch. There are games for downtime-like when she was out of school and riding the bus home/to school.
One person found this helpful
BeachPleaseBeachPlease –
3.0 out of 5 stars
Some flaws but a great way to communicate with my kid
I was super stoked when Fitbit came out with an LTE watch for kids. We needed a way to communicate with our kid after school and during camp so we took a chance and purchased the Fitbit Ace LTE. We’re currently at about a week of use so these are our pros and cons so far:Pros- LTE service available that doesn’t rely on wifi to allow text, calls, and voice messages.- GPS enabled so you know where your kid is located.- Parents have full control via the Fitbit Ace app.- Promotes kids to get active by giving points (Move Points) based on activity that can be used for games and building their avatar (eejie) and home (Bit Valley) . Does have a step counter.- It is water resistant to 50 meters and has held up really well in the swimming pool.- Customizable home screens and activity ring (noodle).- School time option so you can turn off gaming during school but still allows your kid to communicate if they need to.- The current Fitbit Ace Pass (data plan) for the LTE service is a great deal at $60 for a one year plan that also includes your choice of watch band for free.Pro/Con- Each Fitbit band has technology that unlocks features and “hauls” once connected to the watch. This is cool and fun for kids but I can see it getting really expensive at $35 per band. I’m keeping that part hush hush unless my kids wants to save up his allowance towards a new band.Cons- You are restricted to 20 contacts and the biggest issue I have with this watch is that they must have a Gmail account and must download the Fitbit Ace app. This is super annoying especially for older users that don’t want the hassle of dealing with another account or app. There is no option to add a phone number.- No option to call 911 or dial/text any other number.- Battery sometimes doesn’t quite make it all day long.- It’s a bit pricey for the watch compared to other techy watches out there like Samsung and Apple.Having to download an app and have a Gmail account for all contacts is probably the biggest issue I have with this watch. I’m hoping Fitbit will change this but with it being owned by Google, I highly doubt anything will change.I think this is a great watch for kids, especially if you’re wanting to avoid them having access to a cell phone at a young age. It really helps them get motivated to move more and it gives parents peace of mind knowing their kid’s whereabouts and having the option to contact each other. So far, my kid enjoys it and I’m happy being able to keep in touch with him.Hints- If you’re trying to change the noodle or time format, hold down on the home screen.- To access the settings to change the volume, brightness, etc., hold down the top button (with the circle) on the side of the watch.- There is an option for your kid to do an emergency call for help by holding the circle button on the side of the watch. This will call emergency contacts and text help until somebody answers.
43 people found this helpful
JCallaway –
5.0 out of 5 stars
I’d leave a 4.5 ⭐️ review if I could due to two negatives in a sea full of positives
Finally, after failing twice with Gizmo watches for my older kids, we found success with this watch for my 3rd child. It is simply the best kid’s smartwatch we’ve owned BY FAR.Pro’s: This watch looks great, performs above expectations and my daughter loves it.1. The sound quality is more than adequate on the other callers end. It’s not perfect on the Fitbit end but it’s very close when it comes to clarity.2. The fact that my daughter has to meet certain fitness goals (steps) in order to unlock any game features is such a great idea. She will go out of her way to meet the step goal every day and every month just so she can be earn new games. It’s so cool.3. School mode allows the parents to put the watch in a Do Not Disturb mode during school hours in order to keep them from being distracted but still allowing them to accumulate steps4. It looks great5. The touchscreen is responsive and simple to use6. The texting is easy and convenient. Allowing her to talk to text and also send vocal recordings is awesome.7. The tracking feature is very accurateCons:1. The battery drains pretty quickly. It is of course, affected by how much she uses it, but on average it only lasts around 24 hours. Either way, we bought a charger stand made specially for the device and she easily charges it while she sleeps.2. I wish we could just simply press once to toggle school mode. Instead you have to go into settings and find it. It won’t allow a single call or text go through in this mode. I bet you’re thinking “That’s what it’s supposed to do.” You’re right, but in an actual emergency while in school mode, she would have no way to reach us and vice versa. I wish there was a simple way to toggle it on both ends. For example, the other day my oldest son dropped my daughter off at her friend’s house the other day. Unfortunately, the friends weren’t home but my son had already left her there. She’s 9, so she freaked out when she realized she was alone. This happened on a snow day so school was cancelled. The watch would not allow my daughter to call us for help. Even though there was no school, the watch was still is school mode. (After crying a while, she’s doing great now btw).All of that said, this is well worth the cost!
66 people found this helpful
Allen –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great starter watch!
We got this watch for our 8 year old for a little freedom while out & about. It seemed a little large for her wrist, but she doesn’t seem to mind now. School mode locks most everything down. I wish there was a way to get all of the games completely off of it. Ive blocked most of them, since I don’t want our child walking around distracted. It seems to work.It is set up where she can only talk to the family on our plan, which is fine. I foresee us needing to expand that in another year or so when she wants to be able to chat with her friends. It works for what we need it for. J wouldn’t recommend this watch for older kids who want to chat to more than their family. Make sure you read reviews and know what you are getting in to, it will set your expectations for a watch that delivers. I do think it’s slightly high for the price- we got ours on a black Friday sale, and that price was worth it for us. Especially taking into consideration the monthly charge for service.We charge her watch every night, so can’t vouch for sleep tracking. The step tracking has been great. The one game we can’t block, she gets points for activities and steps. It’s annoying that we can’t block it, except for school mode.
H. Heavey –
3.0 out of 5 stars
It’s meh….
My daughter’s old Fitbit Ace was really starting to show its age and I knew it was getting close to needing to be replaced. My daughter is also getting close to the age where a smart watch or phone with limited capabilities would be appropriate. This came up in Amazon and I was intrigued. I wasn’t sure how it was all going to work (Would she have a phone number? Do I add her to my phone plan?) but figured it was worth a shot. First off, the watch comes with a charging cord but no base so make sure you also purchase a USB C charging block for it. For me, that’s a con…if I’m spending all this $$, throw in a charging block for goodness sake. Secondly, once we were able to find a way to charge the watch we discovered that it does not make a strong connection between the watch and the charger. We had to flip it so that the watch was resting on the cable to keep it in place. Third, the band is not the typical silicone bands that come with most fitness watches. It does not lay flat and bulges out a bit on the side which my daughter finds annoying. Fourth, you need to utilize the Fitbit Ace app in order to “call” or “text”. Any contacts you add must have Gmail address and also add the app in order to be in contact with your child. This could prove difficult if older family members don’t utilize smartphones. I also cannot access messages or calls from my daughter on my Samsung watch, which limits our ability to connect. It appears that the watch may be dependent on WiFi, which is not accessible everywhere, including my daughter’s school, which also will limit our ability to connect. Once the app was added, the cost was $9.99/mo or $119.99/yr. There was a 50% discount so the cost of the app and the service was $59.99 plus the phone cost. This is not as pricey as some other options i looked at, but seems excessive given the limited capabilities of the watch.I do like having the ability to limit calls, texts, and games during school hours which is completely controlled through my phone so my daughter can’t change that on her watch. The GPS appeared accurate, which is also a plus. She is enjoying it so far, which may just be the novelty of a new electronic. We are going to give it a few more days and then decide. So far, it has not met my expectations.Update: You cannot truly limit calls and texts during the day. My daughter texted me all day long from school. The only thing it limits is the notification if someone texts her. We returned it after 2 days. Oh, and if you don’t keep the watch, don’t expect a refund on your service purchase!
24 people found this helpful
Parkercles –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great little device
After reading other reviews and really carefully considering this purchase, we are happy we decided to give it a try.I have had fitbits for over 7 years now, and my husband and I currently each have the fitbit versa 2. I was a little worried the Ace might be too big for my 8yo’s wrist, but its actually a great size. It is a little thicker than the versa, but I expect that given its meant to have the housing to be able to use a 4G network.Setting it up was quite easy, and being able to add other family members was great. The app is easy to sync to the phone, and both parents have the app (as well as grandparents for emergency uses). It seems pretty durable, as someone who has knocked the crap out of her Versa 2, I dont really have any concerns for the Ace. I did buy a protective case for it that is really thin and came in a 2 pack, just because things happen and its an 8yo, but I really dont have any concerns about its durability.It is fairly accurate in letting you know when the watch is on or off your kids wrist (came in handy when I was able to figure out why they weren’t answering my messages) and gives you a close approximation of where they are via GPS. Did it know that my kid was at a neighbor’s house? Yes. Was it so accurate that it knew the moment he crossed the street? No. Once they were further into the neighbors yard, it showed as much, but to expect 100% accuracy is probably just going to let you down. It does at least get you 95% accuracy, so you can make sure they haven’t wandered off to somewhere they shouldn’t be, and again, lets you know if the watch is on, which could be a useful feature if your kid is prone to trying to sneak.The keyboard on it is incredibly small, again not surprising given its a watch. My kid enjoys it because its like a little spy watch, but mainly uses quick responses or just chooses to call if he needs something more elaborate.So far, we haven’t encountered any low signal issues, and we truly live out in the middle of no where (i.e. 20 minutes from the closest town, not even city) and its worked well.However, because it is on 4G and always looking for signal, we’ve found we can only go 1.5 days before needing to charge the watch. I really dont know how they could make that better, considering phones do the same thing if they dont have signal with a much larger battery. For as small as it is, I’m impressed it lasts that long, with my kiddo turning the screen on every 10 minutes to check step progress and time, lol.Overall, this has been a great purchase for our family and a great alternative to a phone!
2 people found this helpful
Karolina –
5.0 out of 5 stars
The device we have been looking for (kids 10, 9 YO)
This watch is just what I’ve been looking for for my two kids who are eager for more independence but in my opinion too young for a smart phone.The kids previously had Fitbit Ace fitness trackers, which they wore daily and enjoyed checking their step and exercise count on, so they were already used to having a watch on daily and are extremely pleased with the Fitbit LTE as a major upgrade.CALLS & MESSAGING:Main functionality we as parents were looking for. I love that they don’t have to carry around a phone (that inevitably would be dropped / lost) and the call functionality works really well (can even leave voice messages). Messaging works great too. Kids say that it’s a bit tricky to type on the tiny watch face keyword (understandable!) but the watch provides suggested replies that often works really well and can just be tapped on to reply back. You can add emojis to messages which of course is being used frequently.We look forward to having more friends using the watch so that the kids can text with them (this functionality can be turned on / off as far as I understand).LOCATION TRACKING:Love this functionality as we give the kids more freedom to roam the neighborhood and expand their range to be independent. Great to check that they arrived to school in the morning as they walk there on their own.I love that I can check their location to see if they are on their way home when they say they are, versus calling/messaging them as I think this allows them to feel much greater independence (without mom having to worry about them being a few minutes late…).DESIGN:Great size watch face for little wrists. Cute comfortable bands. We have tried both the fabric and the silicone type bands. The kids slightly prefer the fabric ones, but are good with either type. It’s nice to have the silicone one for sweaty exercises in my opinion. We wish there were even more designs to choose from. It’s really fun for the kids that adding new bands unlocks new things on the watch.SET UP & APP:Set up was very easy, we didn’t experience any issues and the set up flow was easy to follow. The App interface is simple and easy to navigate. I can see both kids profiles on one page and select which one to call/text/locate from the same page. I can track their movement, including steps and exercise.GAMES / incentives to exercise:The games can be used for short times before the kid is asked to complete a movement task to unlock more ‘screen time’. Great functionality!Son, 10 years old:The games kept his full attention for some time, and now he uses them once in a while. That being said, he’s an active kid already and moves plenty without the game incentives (i.e. they aren’t providing much additional motivation for him and that’s OK). I think the games are adorable so he might just be a tad old for them.Daughter, 9 years old:Absolutely loves the games and moves all the time to unlock additional game time etc. She loves the cute interface, the rooms and the avatars. The functionality of unlocking extra stuff for the games / avatars is really engaging to her.COST:Main con for me is the cost of the watch, but compared to getting them an Apple Watch or a smart phone with a data plan, I think this is a much better option/value for kids/tweens.BONUS:Option to add schedules when certain functions are turned off, for example games or calling during school time (you select the hours yourself). Lots of settings are customizable, which is great.Love the plastic free packaging!!! That’s how all electronics should be packaged.
80 people found this helpful
Keith M –
1.0 out of 5 stars
Great hardware, horrible limitation in connectivity options prevents usefulness
We were excited to get this for our soon to be 10 year old daughter. She was excited as well when she opened the box and saw it. The hardware is great, the watch software is great, the user interface is great. The setup was super easy on my Samsung phone. I was immediately able to call and text her, as she was able to call and text me. We set up my wife’s phone, but we had to tweak her Pixel’s permission settings, which was fine since we know how to do that. Sadly, that is where the good ends. Here are the problems, from minor annoyance to outright design failures, which are quite surprising since I expected more from such a major tech company.1) The grandparents got stuck with the app setup on their phone, as they don’t know how to go into settings to allow the proper permissions. They were able to call my Daughter, but she was not able to call them, which is very disappointing as we listed them as emergency contacts. We can fix it, but it shouldn’t be difficult.2) I have a Galaxy Watch 7. If my daughter called me, I would not get a notification on my watch. If she texted me, I would get a notification but could not answer. I use my watch so I don’t always need to have my phone with me. However, in order to ensure my daughter can always reach me, I need to have my phone near by at all times. Ridiculous that there is no support for Android Watches to receive or make calls to the Ace LTE.3) Android Auto support is even worse. While driving, a call or text from my daughter was not sent to Android Auto. Therefore, if my daughter calls while I am driving, I will not know until I check my phone. Again, unbelievable that Fitbit/Google did not anticipate that parents would want to get notifications or calls on their Android Auto screens.4) My wife’s car doesn’t have Android Auto, so she connects through Bluetooth. However, her Bluetooth connection would not recognize an incoming call either.5) We paid for the 50% full year subscription in advance. Be aware that if you purchase a full year upfront, and you find you don’t like the Ace LTE experience, you will not be refunded the cost of the subscription.It is truly surprising that this product would be released with all of these connectivity limitations by Google. There are at least 6 other similar products available. While the Ace LTE may have better quality hardware, it seems like the other options have a much better thought out infrastructure plan for their products. The other companies seem to understand their customer needs. Surprising, Google was clueless with their approach for a kid’s LTE watch.
130 people found this helpful
D. LuD. Lu –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great for young kids
This is our second one for another child. First one, we have used for a couple months now. Note, the watch comes pre charged to about 75%, but you have to put it on charger to initiate setup.PRO- It’s really easy to put the band on the watch. Also easy for the child to put the watch on themselves and adjust.- We are an android family, with family profile and google wallet / pay all that already setup. My children also have their own account. So setup is really easy, just pick their name, done in maybe 5 clicks.- Tracking is integrated with Google Maps. You will see them from the app as well as within Google Maps. It’s pretty accurate.- Battery life is good for LTE device. Can fully charge in 15-30min or so. Last about 1.5 days.- It’s water proof, you can swim with it.- Reception is good, sometimes my T-Mobile phone won’t get reception in the hills, but this watch still have it.- Child can call or message you. With messaging, they can text, voice to text, or record a voice.OK- This version comes with bumper, nice bonus. Though, wish it wasn’t necessary, or thinner, as it does deter from it’s slick look.- It’s really fun for them, lots of games to keep them active. (Game part I don’t like.) But it has good fitness tracking ability that comes with fitbit device, so that is good.- There is orientation to the charger, though generally my child has not have problem with it. There was only one day when it didn’t get charged, I think it was due to the orientation issue.- Child can only message people you add (they have to install the app on their phone). In other words, only communicate with trusted adults. This is fine and probably good idea for little kids. But if your kids are older and watch to chat with their friends, then this is not supported.If I could turn off games, or device can chat also chat with another watches (between siblings), then I would give this watch 5 stars. But for now, it does the job of giving me a peace of mind.
27 people found this helpful
Ashley T. –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great!
Bought two of these to replace Garmin Bounces for my twin 7 year olds. Reason being, the Bounces would say they were at the neighbors across the street (a retired lady w/no kids) when they were asleep in bed… Then, it would say they read the text message I sent them, but they weren’t wearing their watch. So, too unreliable to continue use. Already VERY impressed with these. The watch bands are very, very nice. And they were SUPER easy to install, and WAY, WAY easier to take off and replace than the Bounces. The screens are infinitely more responsive, the games are better, the app is great and when I did the location feature, it got our address numbers (where she currently was) perfectly. All in all, an excellent start. I’m very hopeful this will be the answer for us. Downside, it has to be charged every day – but, they came with 30% battery and so we’re charging them now and it’s going very fast. The additional feature of being able to call me (which the Bounces couldn’t do) is worth having to charge them more.
8 people found this helpful
Miranda –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Peace of mind
Purchased this for my 6 year old in Kindergarten who was riding the bus. The app is very easy to use and she loves to wear her watch on the daily. As a mom I love that I can message her and also see her exact location(with subscription). This also keeps her motivated to stay active with little activates that gives her points for other things on the watch. There are games for downtime-like when she was out of school and riding the bus home/to school.
One person found this helpful
BeachPleaseBeachPlease –
3.0 out of 5 stars
Some flaws but a great way to communicate with my kid
I was super stoked when Fitbit came out with an LTE watch for kids. We needed a way to communicate with our kid after school and during camp so we took a chance and purchased the Fitbit Ace LTE. We’re currently at about a week of use so these are our pros and cons so far:Pros- LTE service available that doesn’t rely on wifi to allow text, calls, and voice messages.- GPS enabled so you know where your kid is located.- Parents have full control via the Fitbit Ace app.- Promotes kids to get active by giving points (Move Points) based on activity that can be used for games and building their avatar (eejie) and home (Bit Valley) . Does have a step counter.- It is water resistant to 50 meters and has held up really well in the swimming pool.- Customizable home screens and activity ring (noodle).- School time option so you can turn off gaming during school but still allows your kid to communicate if they need to.- The current Fitbit Ace Pass (data plan) for the LTE service is a great deal at $60 for a one year plan that also includes your choice of watch band for free.Pro/Con- Each Fitbit band has technology that unlocks features and “hauls” once connected to the watch. This is cool and fun for kids but I can see it getting really expensive at $35 per band. I’m keeping that part hush hush unless my kids wants to save up his allowance towards a new band.Cons- You are restricted to 20 contacts and the biggest issue I have with this watch is that they must have a Gmail account and must download the Fitbit Ace app. This is super annoying especially for older users that don’t want the hassle of dealing with another account or app. There is no option to add a phone number.- No option to call 911 or dial/text any other number.- Battery sometimes doesn’t quite make it all day long.- It’s a bit pricey for the watch compared to other techy watches out there like Samsung and Apple.Having to download an app and have a Gmail account for all contacts is probably the biggest issue I have with this watch. I’m hoping Fitbit will change this but with it being owned by Google, I highly doubt anything will change.I think this is a great watch for kids, especially if you’re wanting to avoid them having access to a cell phone at a young age. It really helps them get motivated to move more and it gives parents peace of mind knowing their kid’s whereabouts and having the option to contact each other. So far, my kid enjoys it and I’m happy being able to keep in touch with him.Hints- If you’re trying to change the noodle or time format, hold down on the home screen.- To access the settings to change the volume, brightness, etc., hold down the top button (with the circle) on the side of the watch.- There is an option for your kid to do an emergency call for help by holding the circle button on the side of the watch. This will call emergency contacts and text help until somebody answers.
43 people found this helpful
JCallaway –
5.0 out of 5 stars
I’d leave a 4.5 ⭐️ review if I could due to two negatives in a sea full of positives
Finally, after failing twice with Gizmo watches for my older kids, we found success with this watch for my 3rd child. It is simply the best kid’s smartwatch we’ve owned BY FAR.Pro’s: This watch looks great, performs above expectations and my daughter loves it.1. The sound quality is more than adequate on the other callers end. It’s not perfect on the Fitbit end but it’s very close when it comes to clarity.2. The fact that my daughter has to meet certain fitness goals (steps) in order to unlock any game features is such a great idea. She will go out of her way to meet the step goal every day and every month just so she can be earn new games. It’s so cool.3. School mode allows the parents to put the watch in a Do Not Disturb mode during school hours in order to keep them from being distracted but still allowing them to accumulate steps4. It looks great5. The touchscreen is responsive and simple to use6. The texting is easy and convenient. Allowing her to talk to text and also send vocal recordings is awesome.7. The tracking feature is very accurateCons:1. The battery drains pretty quickly. It is of course, affected by how much she uses it, but on average it only lasts around 24 hours. Either way, we bought a charger stand made specially for the device and she easily charges it while she sleeps.2. I wish we could just simply press once to toggle school mode. Instead you have to go into settings and find it. It won’t allow a single call or text go through in this mode. I bet you’re thinking “That’s what it’s supposed to do.” You’re right, but in an actual emergency while in school mode, she would have no way to reach us and vice versa. I wish there was a simple way to toggle it on both ends. For example, the other day my oldest son dropped my daughter off at her friend’s house the other day. Unfortunately, the friends weren’t home but my son had already left her there. She’s 9, so she freaked out when she realized she was alone. This happened on a snow day so school was cancelled. The watch would not allow my daughter to call us for help. Even though there was no school, the watch was still is school mode. (After crying a while, she’s doing great now btw).All of that said, this is well worth the cost!
66 people found this helpful
Allen –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great starter watch!
We got this watch for our 8 year old for a little freedom while out & about. It seemed a little large for her wrist, but she doesn’t seem to mind now. School mode locks most everything down. I wish there was a way to get all of the games completely off of it. Ive blocked most of them, since I don’t want our child walking around distracted. It seems to work.It is set up where she can only talk to the family on our plan, which is fine. I foresee us needing to expand that in another year or so when she wants to be able to chat with her friends. It works for what we need it for. J wouldn’t recommend this watch for older kids who want to chat to more than their family. Make sure you read reviews and know what you are getting in to, it will set your expectations for a watch that delivers. I do think it’s slightly high for the price- we got ours on a black Friday sale, and that price was worth it for us. Especially taking into consideration the monthly charge for service.We charge her watch every night, so can’t vouch for sleep tracking. The step tracking has been great. The one game we can’t block, she gets points for activities and steps. It’s annoying that we can’t block it, except for school mode.
H. Heavey –
3.0 out of 5 stars
It’s meh….
My daughter’s old Fitbit Ace was really starting to show its age and I knew it was getting close to needing to be replaced. My daughter is also getting close to the age where a smart watch or phone with limited capabilities would be appropriate. This came up in Amazon and I was intrigued. I wasn’t sure how it was all going to work (Would she have a phone number? Do I add her to my phone plan?) but figured it was worth a shot. First off, the watch comes with a charging cord but no base so make sure you also purchase a USB C charging block for it. For me, that’s a con…if I’m spending all this $$, throw in a charging block for goodness sake. Secondly, once we were able to find a way to charge the watch we discovered that it does not make a strong connection between the watch and the charger. We had to flip it so that the watch was resting on the cable to keep it in place. Third, the band is not the typical silicone bands that come with most fitness watches. It does not lay flat and bulges out a bit on the side which my daughter finds annoying. Fourth, you need to utilize the Fitbit Ace app in order to “call” or “text”. Any contacts you add must have Gmail address and also add the app in order to be in contact with your child. This could prove difficult if older family members don’t utilize smartphones. I also cannot access messages or calls from my daughter on my Samsung watch, which limits our ability to connect. It appears that the watch may be dependent on WiFi, which is not accessible everywhere, including my daughter’s school, which also will limit our ability to connect. Once the app was added, the cost was $9.99/mo or $119.99/yr. There was a 50% discount so the cost of the app and the service was $59.99 plus the phone cost. This is not as pricey as some other options i looked at, but seems excessive given the limited capabilities of the watch.I do like having the ability to limit calls, texts, and games during school hours which is completely controlled through my phone so my daughter can’t change that on her watch. The GPS appeared accurate, which is also a plus. She is enjoying it so far, which may just be the novelty of a new electronic. We are going to give it a few more days and then decide. So far, it has not met my expectations.Update: You cannot truly limit calls and texts during the day. My daughter texted me all day long from school. The only thing it limits is the notification if someone texts her. We returned it after 2 days. Oh, and if you don’t keep the watch, don’t expect a refund on your service purchase!
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