Customer Ratings & Reviews

This is my second purchase. Earlier last year I bought one for my elder kid and now this for my younger kid. We as parents are happy with the product as having an option of school time gives minimal distraction and at the same time help us to know their where abouts. This will alos keeps the kids motivated for doing activities

It’s great for the kids to be able to play the games. The kids need to walk that one thing that I like and they can only message or call the people that I put on his watch. I 100% recommend this watch.

A good starter watch for our kids but we weren’t aware that when it said it was compatible with IOS and Android that meant through its own app (thought texts would be sent right to messages). Maybe we just missed it in the description.

Quick Overview ================================= Smartwatches have come a long way, but what about ones for kids? They've either been relegated to fitness trackers or full-on smartwatches that parents have to lock down. The ones that were focused on kids, more often than not, had some kind of security failure that defeated the purpose of having a kid-focused smartwatch. Google (with their acquisition of Fitbit) has now entered the fray with the Fitbit Ace LTE focused on ages 7 to 11 and requiring a subscription for connectivity. You can message and call with the watch itself, so let's see how it performs. Overall build ================================= This is definitely built for kids, but don't confuse it with the earlier Fitbit Ace models that were fitness trackers. This is a more full-featured smartwatch with a great color screen, GPS, LTE, and games to keep kids entertained and engaged. The watch itself looks similar to Fitbit's adult smartwatch offerings with rounded corners and a large screen. The screen is Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and there's an included bumper (green) that came with it to help further protect the face of the watch. The sides are plastic and sensor-wise there's an array of sensors (accelerometer, altimeter, gyroscope, heart rate sensor, and more) for tracking fitness and for games. The Fitbit Ace LTE is also rated at 5ATM of water resistance, so they can certainly swim and splash around in it without fear. The band is a looped Velcro mechanism that's easy to take on and off for charging purposes, but I wish they had made it a bit harder to fully unloop the strap. More than once, we've had to catch the watch before it dropped onto the ground as they took it off to change wrists or charge it. Fitbit will sell you different colored bands with different associated digital goodies. Initial setup ================================= Yes, this Fitbit Ace LTE will require a subscription, but until the end of 8/2024, the price is half off. I think it's fair at that point since you'd expect to pay for connectivity if you need this device to make calls, communicate location, and do some messaging. The watch also has WiFi so presumably this will be used inside the house. You'll first need to download the Fitbit Ace app on your phone (parent) and start setting up the watch. Soon you'll be asked if this is for you or a child. If you already have a Google family account (I did), then you can just select a child to associate your watch with. If you don't have a Google family account setup yet, you'll be prompted to create one, then you can associate that child with the watch. After that, you can hand the watch to your child and let them set up their Eejie (a play on emoji?) which is like a Tamagotchi. Performance ================================= Each day, there are Daily Quests to keep moving and keep the Eejie happy. For kids that like virtual pets or virtual friends (ours love Tamagotchis), this should keep them entertained! There are also miscellaneous games in the Fitbit Arcade and each has a good explanation and movement involved. To unlock, your kid will have to walk around for a required amount of steps first, so if they're anything like mine, they zoomed around the house immediately to unlock them. The games are nice and movement-based. For example, Kaiju Golf and Smokey Lake (fishing) requires swinging a virtual club or casting a virtual fishing rod which helps keep your kids moving. Google says there will be new games every few months so let's see if that holds true! There is a School Time mode which you can enable to lock games. Bit Valley lets your kids design and decorate a house and earn more items to put into it. The more your child moves, the more points they'll earn, and the more things they can buy at the store. With the current variety of games, I think there's something for every child. Surprisingly, there were some text-heavy, Q&A style games that may not have been the best idea on a small screen. Battery-wise, don't expect this to last more than a day. I suppose that's why there's no sleep tracking in it. Depending on activity, gaming, and other usage, our watch is usually on its last legs by 8pm or so. Charging is fairly simple, but I think it could have been made foolproof. Yes, there is a bit of a diagram attached to the cord, but why not make it impossible to connect incorrectly? Calling and messaging work fine but with a caveat: You'll both need the Fitbit Ace app installed on your devices (my phone and my child's phone that I set the watch to pair to). Why? Because that's where approved contacts are listed. No adding from contacts on the phone or Google contacts. You'll need to add contacts and confirm them so you can connect safely. We've tested this while out and about and I'm honestly a bit impressed that the phone functionality is as good as it is on a child's device. Messaging works as you'd expect (through the Fitbit Ace app) via speech to text or swiping on the tiny keyboard. You can also send a pre-recorded voice message directly from the watch itself. Location works well also after a brief delay. Your parent's app will show their location data on a map view but there are no geofencing alerts to notify you if/when they enter/leave certain areas. Google Wallet payment is supposedly coming soon (so there's NFC) and I suppose there's a chance that sleep tracking could be added in the future. I don't mind that they don't have it currently since they sleep well enough and it's one less temptation for them at bedtime. Conclusion ================================= Overall, this may be the best kids' smartwatch offering out there now. Instead of using an adult's smartwatch, having a purpose-built device with an app to match may be superior. I certainly think it is. I wish I did have a bit more fitness stats and tracking of activity (like in my current Fitbit), but I suppose as our children, we already know a lot about what they're doing. This is more for communications in an emergency or other scenario and for that, this performs really well. Price-wise, this is up there with an older "proper" smartwatch, but Google is committing to a 3+ year support program on software and new games every 3 months. Let's hope that's true! With a cellular-connected smartwatch, you'll need to typically pay for coverage anyway, so I think at this price, it's a fair deal for a kid-focused smartwatch. If your child falls into the 7-11 age range that this is focused on, I think they'll really enjoy it and you'll feel secure knowing you have connectivity options that can't be easily bypassed. Perhaps it's still new, but the kids really do love the watch, playing the games, and exploring new things so perhaps that's a bit more screentime than I'd prefer, but overall it's a great, child-friendly smartwatch.

This is my first FitBit product and first kid’s wearable. I got the colorful ‘Spicy’ version with the green and purple band (Moovin’), green bumper watch face guard, white trim, and green home button. The watch face is slightly smaller than a men’s watch face but could easily be used by an adult if desired. It’s a bit heavy for a kid though, and I was surprised at how warm it gets while charging though not while wearing it. The hook and loop adjustable watch band snaps into the bottom of the watch face and loops through a bracket at the top. Just be sure that the band is tight enough so that the back of the watch has constant skin contact with the wrist for accurate biometric measurements. You’ll need to purchase an Ace plan (monthly or yearly) which includes Fitbit Arcade and a 4G LTE data plan with unlimited calls and texts as well as GPS positioning. The watch comes with a proprietary magnetic charger that has a USB-C connector but does not come with a wall adapter. The charger has four contact points which are oriented with a ‘+’ and ‘-,’ so the watch can only be charged in one specific direction. It does, however, charge quickly in just over an hour. A full charge will last around 16 hours depending on usage habits, so I recommend charging the watch every night. Spec-wise it runs on a Snapdragon W5 chip, 2 GB RAM, with 32 GB of storage and for tracking data has an optical heart rate sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, altimeter, and ambient light sensor Setting up the watch was pretty straightforward. You’ll need the FitBit Ace app on a mobile device and a Google account. I created a new supervised child account linked to mine for the watch. After that I was able to set up parental controls like “school time” hours, location sharing, and manage trusted contacts. You can set up any contact as a parent by assigning parental permissions in Family Link, but be aware that you can only have two parents at a time per supervisory account. However, the FitBit Ace can have up to 20 contacts, and you can swap parental control at any time. Note that contacts must use the FitBit Ace mobile app and have a Google email address to call or message the watch. As a watch, it’ll show you the time but not the date; the font for the watch time is customizable. There's a built-in microphone for calls and sending voice messages, and it also supports voice-to-text typing. I find this useful as the on-screen keyboard can feel a tad cramped, even for kid fingers. You can also send pre-set quick messages and emojis but not photos, and there are sent/delivered/read receipts. For accessibility, the text on the screen can be enlarged or you can enable a magnification mode via a triple-tap. The screen can be locked via a PIN or a swipe pattern. If your child forgets their passcode, you can unlock the watch with a parental PIN from the mobile app. The watch is waterproof to 50 meters deep and our 8-year-old had no issues with using it in the diving well of the pool. The bumper works well for protecting the edges of the watch face but can feel a little bulky and provides no extra protection for the OLED screen. It is Gorilla Glass 3 though so should be resistant to short drops and scratches. The Moovin' watch band is made of nylon fabric and dries kind of slowly after getting wet which I found slightly uncomfortable. The hook and loops can also catch easily on fluffy fabrics when the band is undone. When setting up the watch, your child will create an ‘eejie,’ a digital avatar, whose physical features can be customized including clothing, and accessories. This eejie will represent your child in BitValley, the arcade section on the watch. Your child can change the ‘points’ goal for each day based on the amount of physical activity they expect to complete: 45, 60 or 75 active minutes. The goal is tracked on-screen via the ‘noodle,’ which is an animated progress bar, customizable with different skins like a snake, robot arm, or hot dog. Meeting your goal will earn a certain amount of tickets, the in-game currency used in BitValley, with higher goals earning more tickets. Attaching a new band will also reward the user with new digital items. Games in the arcade are only available after completing activity goals like learning about the watch and movement goals like completing a certain number of steps. The games are also physically engaging and consist of interactive 3D environments that require your child to move around in order to navigate them. For example, the fishing game requires you to throw out your arm while wearing the watch in order to ‘cast’ the line, then bring your arm back in quickly to reel in your catch. Haptic feedback vibrates the watch for notifications and in-game prompts. To progress in games, your child will need to continue to complete activity goals to reach higher levels. Ticket can be used to purchase digital items used to furnish and decorate their eejie’s rooms. I appreciate that the games have no ad breaks or any sort of advertising. Some parental controls are available like real-time GPS location tracking which has pinpoint accuracy within a few yards when you enable the ‘location accuracy’ setting, ‘Find my device’ which plays an audible tone through the watch’s speaker, and setting up a ‘school schedule,’ even on weekends, for controlled screentime; note that the watch will also not ring, receive incoming calls, or notify your child when a message is received during 'school hours.' They will still be able to call and message emergency contacts, if needed, but not emergency services directly. Parents can view and monitor their child’s physical activity recorded by the watch categorized as steps, light, and active. As for personal privacy, the watch does not send health data to Google and it gets purged after a month. Location history is deleted after one day, and you are not able to download and install 3rd-party apps from the Google Play store to the watch. One feature that is not yet available, but ‘coming soon’ is the ability to connect Google Wallet and give your child an allowance for spending since the watch has NFC. That will allow your child to make purchases with the watch using ‘tap to pay’ with real-time spending notifications for parents. One thing I felt was missing from the watch is a calendar, if only for your child to see what day it is, as the date doesn’t appear anywhere on the watch. I also think this feature would be useful for parents for setting up reminders and pop-up notifications allowing your child to stay on top of activities, events, and daily tasks. You can, however, set up a timer and alarm (one-time or daily) as well as use a stopwatch feature on the watch. Overall, I think the FitBit Ace LTE is a great kid-focused device that’s part smart watch, part fitness tracker. The goals and games are a great way to motivate and get kids excited about physical activity and our 8-year-old is really enjoying wearing and using it. For parents, it lets you stay connected to your child so you can view their physical activity history, call or message them away from home, and see their location giving you peace of mind as your child starts to explore their independence.

For several years we have had children’s LTE smart watches for our little ones, starting at around 4 years old, that provided us means to contact each other while apart as well as track their location in case they got separated. However, we experienced several issues with the ones we were using including depleting battery life and our children losing interest in wearing them as they grow older and it was time to consider other options. We didn’t think they were old enough yet to jump straight into the adult smart watch market and wanted something that still sparked our children’s interest since they are only a couple years older now. Fortunately, the latest Google Fitbit Ace LTE smart watch released just in time and had everything we were looking for in a children’s smart watch and even more than we could imagine. As soon as we caught wind of the new Fitbit Ace watch, it immediately had my interest as I have been a fan of Google’s innovation for years and couldn’t wait to see how they reinvented the smart watch with a specific focus on children’s interests as well as keeping in mind what parents might want for their children. I immediately noticed they had a couple of color options including the “Spicy” color which appears to be a neat blend of teal and light purple which I knew both our girls would want because they are both spicy. The Ace watch bezel measures approximately 41mm x 44mm, weighs approximately 28 grams without the band and comes with a 120mm-200mm round comfort stretch recycled yarn hook and loop band. Not only is the Ace made with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 providing screen scratch protection, but it also conveniently comes with a matching soft bumper style bezel protector since we all know children like to play rough and can imagine what toll this could take on any type of fragile technology. The watch is also IP68 water resistance rated so you have piece of mind when your child decided to get in the shower or jump in the pool with it on. Because of its size, the battery only lasts about 16 hours with use meaning you’ll have to get in the routine of charging it overnight. After a quick initial charge with the included magnetic charger, we were all chomping at the bit to see what fun the Ace had to offer. After booting the watch up for the first time, I was taken back by the vibrant colors and brightness of the screen with colorful animations already giving us a sense of what fun the watch had in store. The Ace had simple walk-through steps for set up including downloading the Fitbit Ace smart phone application to the parent’s or care taker’s phone(s). Once the watch is activated and paired to the parent app, it takes you through a tour of what the watch can do, what the buttons are for and other features. The parent app allows you to add up to 20 contacts for calling and messaging specific, parent approved, contacts, GPS location, activity tracking and the option to add “school time” restricting access during specific times of the day. The initial tour provides the parent and child simple and easy to understand features including required milestones such as steps taken, button pushes, etc. before you are able to get into the more advanced features such as the fun games. This had my daughter bouncing around the house to meet those initial milestones while the watch was tracking her movements and steps which was already fun in itself. We could see her look of accomplishment as the watch congratulated her on succeeding each achievement including the main screen “Noodle” that wraps around the bezel while actively moving to her goal of closing the activity ring. After the initial milestones were met, which didn’t take long, the watch introduced us to the numerous games it had to offer including fishing, golfing, dancing and racing through space. The games can be accessed by simply pushing the lower green button on the watch which takes you right to the games page. During the games, the watch is able to identify specific user movements such as casting a fishing line or swinging a golf club while providing very vibrant and colorful animations. Each game had different activities, movements and goals to achieve which gave her digital rewards and accolades. There are already six games offered in the watch and you can track their movements in the parent app. The Ace also sent push notifications, if allowed, to our phones when she met certain goals such as their step count, activities, heart rate, etc. As she met specific goals throughout the day, it provided her virtual points she could redeem to style and decorate her virtual room and “eejie” which is their digital customizable avatar. For even more creativity, if you decide to switch out the watch band, it will unlock a themed “Bit Valley” mini store that can level up the eejie’s house. All-in-all, everything about the new Fitbit Ace watch has sparked and sustained our daughter’s interest in being active as well as giving us the piece of mind she will wear and use the watch while we are also able to remain in contact with her during her summer activities away from home and track her GPS location in the event of an emergency. We would recommend it to anyone in the market for a fun, easy to use smart watch at an affordable price and easy for children to understand.

As all of you should know by now, Google is working hard to catch up with the other major brands to offer a complete set of connected devices which work better together. Be it smartphones, tablets and earbuds, Google has you covered. But now, they're tapping a new crowd with the collaboration of Fitbit to bring the ACE LTE watch for kids and tweens. My kiddo having barely turned 11 needed a safe means keep in touch either through call or text. The Google Fitbit ACE LTE promised all that and more, so let's see how good or bad it is. For starters, let's have a look at the watch itself. The design is slick and the size is perfect for a child's wrist. The screen is big enough to display all manners of info and the screen is very responsive. The watch comes with a dedicated charger and a protective clip-on frame. I decided to add a screen protector just in case, but as far as I was able to see, it shouldn't be necessary. The band is made of textile which wraps around the watch and attaches with Velcro. Now this might not have been the best idea. A soft plastic band would have probably been a better choice, but I'm certain there are enough bands to choose from to replace it later on. The provided charger seems oddly specific to the watch, but it does charge quite fast and the battery lasts a surprisingly long time. Now let's head to the software. Setting up the watch is a very straightforward process. You *will* need a gmail address for you and for your child, a smartphone which can run the app and about 15 to 30 minutes to get everything up and running. There are currently two subscriptions available, a monthly and a yearly one, both of which are very affordable. The watch uses Google's own Fi network to power the connection and so far, it has never lost the signal. Let's have a look at all the features the ACE offers. Being a smartwatch first, the Google Fitbit ACE offers call and text which we use on the daily. The call quality is surprisingly good, the sound is clear and loud enough. Texting is a bit simpler and limited in terms of responses, but it does get the job done. I think I'm not the only one who'll want to be able to keep track of where my kid is and thanks to the GPS function, I know at all times. You can also monitor your child's physical activity which is encouraged by the watch which rewards the child for it. Now, I've been praising the ACE smartwatch quite a bit so far, but it does come with some flaws. The biggest one being the way you add contacts. The contact you will want to add will be required to have a gmail address and be willing to install the app on their phone. In a perfect world, that wouldn't be a problem, but not everyone uses gmail and the contact might not want to add another app to their phone. I understand that this is a very effective way to ensure maximum safety, but in my opinion it's a little bit draconian. To be fair, the contact receives a complete walk-through on how to proceed. Still, some might find it inconvenient. Now the question is this: Is this watch the right one for you child and will it do what we expect as parents? The answer is "Yes". If you take the time to set it up the proper way and you know that the contact won't mind going through the process to be added to the secure list of contacts. Add the nifty "at school" function which locks some of the features during classes to keep your kid focused and you have a really great product which will give you something on which you can't put a price: Your child's safety. Well done Google and Fitbit!

*** Summary *** The Fitbit Ace LTE is a stylish, lightweight, neat, and comfortable smartwatch for young kids. It excels at encouraging kids to be active while also providing peace of mind to parents who want to track their child's location and stay in close communication via phone calls and text messaging. Setting up the watch initially was more involved than I anticipated, but it's easy to use overall once activated. My child loves the watch and enjoys trying to fulfill all the activity goals as well as playing games on it. The Fitbit Ace LTE has several great features, making it worth the investment. _____ *Pros: -Intuitive and easy-to-navigate user interface. -Lightweight and comfortable. -Stylish and good-looking design. -Crisp and bright screen. -Loud and clear speaker for phone calls. -Can connect a headset or earpiece through Bluetooth. -Multiple watch bands available. -Tracks activity levels that unlocks in-game items and digital rewards. -The games are simple but fun and engaging. _____ *Neutral: -Occasional swiping lag and stutter. -Off-the-charger, standby battery life is not very good. _____ *Cons: -The battery life is really so-so and needs to be charged one to two times a day on some days. -Very sparse activity details and info on the watch and on the app. I got the Fitbit Ace LTE smartwatch for my 9-year-old daughter, and she absolutely loves it. She chose the “Spicy” model because it's more colorful and vibrant thanks to its bright green button and colorful watch band. The squircle-shaped display with a 333 ppi OLED screen is plenty bright even outdoors, and the Corning Gorilla Glass 3 provides ruggedness and durability. Initially, my daughter opted for the screen protector bumper, but she decided to forgo it after a few days to achieve a sleeker, more adult look. Both the built-in microphone and speaker are very satisfactory, delivering clear voice quality and loud enough volume. I appreciate that a Bluetooth earpiece can be connected to the watch for phone call privacy. Another nice perk is the water resistance up to 50 meters. I tell my daughter not to wear it at the swimming pool and the beach because it's not recommended, but it's nice not having to worry about water in case of rain or occasional splashes. The band that came with the watch is the Moovin’ Band, which is very gentle on the skin, light, comfortable, and easy to put on and take off thanks to the secure Velcro mechanism. The next band she wants is the blue Courtside Band, and I think it’s cool that the watch band can unlock new items and features on the watch. I just wish the bands were a bit cheaper. Setting up the watch for use was a bit involved as I had to first create a supervised child Google account for my daughter, sign in with her account on the watch, and install the Fitbit Ace app on my phone, then sign in with both my Google account and my daughter’s. Once that's done, though, it’s simple and easy to use and navigate on the watch and inside the Fitbit Ace app as the interface is intuitive and well laid out. For my 9-year-old daughter, tapping and swiping to access calling and texting functions, workout data, and games proved to be straightforward. To save battery life, she chose not to toggle the Always-on screen feature, but she did activate the Tilt-to-wake and Touch-to-wake options for convenience. From the home screen, a swipe down reveals a quick panel menu where she can view the battery life, adjust display brightness, summon the call & message screen, turn the ringer on or off, set Do Not Disturb, and access the built-in arcade games. A swipe up from the home screen shows notifications, a left swipe shows a summary of her daily activity goals and achieved levels, and a right swipe shows the Eejie app, where she can create and customize her virtual avatar, as well as the avatar’s home and different rooms. Most of the Eejie items are “locked,” and to unlock them, she is required to up her activity level and earn points. Long-pressing the top home button reveals additional options, such as restart and Settings, where the watch’s behavior can be customized, such as the Always-On mode, screen timeout, and gesture feedback. Overall, I think the Fitbit Ace LTE smartwatch is a great motivator with practical health benefits, as she has been riding her bike more often and even joining me in my jogging runs to increase her points. Plus, she gets to play some games on the go, and she feels “cool” now that she can make phone calls and send text messages like the adults around her. I only wish for two improvements from the Fitbit Ace: better battery life and more detailed health/activity screens, such as miles run or biked and her heart rate level. Curiously, such details are missing, and I can only view her total number of steps, the number of floors she’s climbed, and the number of minutes she was engaged in “Light” and “Active” activity. My daughter may be only nine years old, but she was disappointed at the lack of detail. Maybe it’s because I have a smartwatch and phone that show much more detailed stats for different activities. With that said, I’m quite happy and content with the Fitbit Ace LTE smartwatch, and so is my daughter. I love that it encourages her to be more active, and I love even more that I can call and text her wherever she is and even locate her when needed. Hopefully, Google will churn out more firmware updates that improve the battery life, activate Google Pay, and make the watch more snappy and performant. I give it 4.5 stars and would heartily recommend it to other parents. It’s a Win!

In many ways, this watch is a 5/5 for what it does. I gave it to my 10 year old child, who was excited to receive it. Calling: the calling (and texting) requires a suscription, which only comes out to $60 if you pay it at once (by end of Aug 2024). That is a fantastic deal. The speaker sounds loud and crisp, and I could hear my child just as well. Great sound quality with games too. Texting: texting shows either preset replies, or a small on screen keyboard. My child complained that it was too small, and that a stylus would probably help with that. Despite it, my child texted well because you can also swipe to text. Band: the watch band is adjustable, but it is not the smoothest. My child said the band was at times, a little abrasive, so my child put it over the sleeve. The screen comes with an optional bumper to prevent scratches and bumps, but my child didn't like the looks so it came off. Maybe it is more useful for a 7 or 8 year old. App: Perhaps the biggest issue with the watch is the fact that you need an app on your phone to chat and call your child. The watch has no phone number associated with it, and your limited to 20 contacts. To me, that is not a big deal because it is a good safety features that prevent spam calls and all the other issues from having a phone number. It also prevents kids from giving out their numbers out. The drawback is that, if I got my other child the same watch, they couldn't call each other. I think this could be helpful. The app also enables and encourages activities, and let's guardians and parents see progress. Parents can also locate the watch through the app, and I found it to be accurate. Overall, I am satisfied with the Google Fitbit Ace 3 LTE watch, and would recommend it.

My 11 year old son was been demoing the Fitbit Ace LTE (Spicy Edition) for the last week for me. This is his first wearable, but has had a Fire tablet for years so he is not completely new to technology. This is the second Fitbit I have setup (Versa 3), but I have never been the end user. The Fitbit Ace LTE is absolutely setup to be a gateway into connected devices for kids without jumping fully to a smartphone. As a parent I know that I have a very limited desire to get my kids a phone until they really need one (like at 16 when they can drive). This is down to the cost of the phone and plan, but also wanting to avoid what a smartphone can expose my kids to. However, I do recognize the need to be able to communicate with my kids if I need to be outside of the house or if they are off with friends. With that in mind the Ace allows you, the parent, to curate their contacts list and create emergency contacts. The Ace does NOT get its own phone number, but rather all communication is done through the Fitbit Ace app. This goes for anyone looking to communicate with the Ace since it is a closed messaging system. You start by setting up your Google Family group – something I already had going. Inside the Family app you assign parent roles to yourself and whoever else you deem worthy. The Fitbit Ace app pulls this info in, and it helps create the contact list and assigned roles. Those with parent privileges can call, message, locate, and use other supervisory features. You can add lesser privileged roles as normal contacts, but they only have access to call and message. The design of the Ace is kid friendly. From the optional bumper (it was mandatory for us), to the Gorilla Glass screen, to the easy to put on band it is obvious that the watch was made with a kid in mind. The watch comes with an IP68 rating making it water-resistant and able to be submerged 1.5 meters (~5ft) under water for 30 minutes, and it can survive being submerged down to 50 meters. The bumper helps protect the screen from random bumps and abrasions that otherwise might scratch up the housing or screen. The band is swappable – replacements are $35, and they come with added fun unlocks/customizations for the watch. The watch’s battery lasts all day for my son, and usually has enough power to get through most of the next day on a single charge. The battery life is quoted at 16 hours, which it would appear we are getting more than that right now. The included magnetic charger is easy to use – it has to be aligned a certain way, but the back of the watch and the charger have symbols that match up with each other. The watch charges fast, and it only takes 30 min to add 11 hours of battery life. Connection for the device is handled over Google Fi, which basically runs on T-Mobile’s network. I have T-Mobile for my primary carrier, and my area has solid coverage. I would assume the watch would enjoy similar coverage. The concept of this watch is pretty simple once you look at the goals of it. Here’s how I would summarize them: 1) Encourage activity/movement through games 2) Provide parents/kids with a means to communicate with each other 3) Provide parents the means to check the location of their kids My use cases for this watch aligns fairly well with these goals. Keeping Goal #1 in mind my son absolutely loves to play games. He also faces the challenges of ADHD. Due to ADHD my son requires an outlet to get that energy out, and it’s really helpful to have something to direct that energy towards. The gamification of movement/activity provides something to focus that energy towards. The concept of movement/physical activity being rewarded with in-game progress and unlocks is not a new thing. The Wii showed us years ago that we can encourage movement through playing games, and the Fitbit Ace is no different in that aspect. The Ace shows you your progress in a couple of ways, but the most visible is the “Noodle” that wraps around the screen as progress is made. There is also a little meter that fills up if you dig down a screen, but the Noodle is really easy to understand at a glance. The rewards that are unlocked range from items in the game to things for your eejie. The eejie needs a small explanation on its own, but I would liken it to a built-in Tamagotchi that you keep happy and unlock customizations through meeting your movement goals. The games are really fun as well. The arcade doesn’t require any user interaction to download new games or get updates – it’s just there. My son’s favorite games are Pollo 13, Galaxy Ranger, and OTal’s Secret. He also gets into Kaiju Golf and Smokey lake (fishing). It’s just kind of funny to see him cast a line out while walking through the grocery store. For Goal #2 this watch really opens up an avenue of communication for my son and I. My son loves to message me silly things on Xbox Live, but we aren’t online at the same time very often. He also likes to randomly leave me notes on my desk that I find while I’m working. My son also struggles a bit with some speech/language difficulties, so he often writes down words that are tougher for him to say clearly. With the Ace I am able to message my son just as easily as I would text anyone in my family. The same goes for him sending me messages. He really loves to send me poop emojis – I get several a day. Every time he does it I can hear him giggling in the other room. Its not just for funny messages though, but I can use it to send him a message that dinner is about ready or that I’m almost back from walking the dogs. He will message me to ask if he can play video games or if we are doing anything today. He’s also sent me messages about things he saw that he now wants to add to his Christmas list. A lot of it is random, but I honestly really like and appreciate it. My son also loves to call his grandparents and uncle and tell them about what he’s doing, or if he has a new joke to tell them. I know my mom loves the calls, and my brother gets a kick out of it too. I have never seen my son so willing to talk and communicate with others. There is another aspect to the communication that meets a specific need of mine. I am a single parent with full custody of my kids, but they do spend a weekend with their mom 2 times a month. Prior to the Ace I didn’t have a way to communicate with my kids and vice versa. This last weekend they before they left my son was very upset because he would miss me. I told him he can now message or call me whenever he wants to with the Ace, and that helped calm him down a bit. After I dropped my kids off it was maybe 5 minutes before he called me to say goodbye and that he missed me already. He messaged me several times that weekend to tell me about the things he was doing and to tell me goodnight. I really appreciated getting those messages. For Goal #3 the Ace is able to securely relay your child’s location. You can do it 2 ways from what I have seen – through the app, and through Google Maps (Pixel user – not sure about iOS). The location will also show up on a desktop browser of Maps if you are logged into your Google account. As long as the watch has mobile coverage it can accurately determine and relay its location. I prefer looking at it through Google Maps app since it’s the easiest to pull up quickly, but the location data could be several minutes old. The most accurate and up to date info seems to be pulled through the Fitbit Ace app. I have pulled up the location data while we were out and about, and it always pinpointed our location, which is reassuring. If you pull the location up through the Fitbit app you have the option to get directions to your child’s location, which gets loaded straight into Maps. This seems like a well-implemented solution, and it's something I can rely on if my son is away from home. I do have a few concerns with the watch. My biggest question is what do I do once my son is old enough to sort of “Age out” of these restrictions? Will it be able to “grow” with him? The watch needs an LTE connection for things to function. At some point he will have his own phone, and I won’t want to carry a watch that needs a separate plan. At that point it becomes e-waste unless the watch can be transitioned to a tethered device and work more like a standard Fitbit. Another thing I would like to see is the ability to push alarms or calendar items to the watch through Ace app – right now the watch user can set alarms, but they are contained within the watch. The watch includes a “School Time” mode that disables games and silences calls and notifications during the scheduled time. However, each day can only have one time range assigned, and it must be a contiguous period of time. I would like to see this expanded to be more than just a single range of time – allow for gaps to be added or multiple ranges in the day that might cover homework time. It would also be nice to have a pause feature you could turn on to disable the games and distractions for 30+min increments. These are just a couple of small improvements that would give a little more flexibility for how things are controlled. Overall, this Fitbit Ace LTE has been a great little piece of technology that my son has really embraced. The games are fun and engaging. It has motivated him to be more active to earn gametime and rewards. I really like the calling and messaging features as well. While I haven’t needed the location info for anything in particular it is reassuring that it works so well.

I am honestly the happiest father along with my wife on how great these Fitbit Ace are, evwrything we needed and no access to social media! We wanted to let our 11 year old have a tad more freedom simce we live in a smallish town and she loves bike rides and the 3 parks we have but only can go of we went. Now, we let her go meet up with friends and can watch her and even talk to her the whole way there. This has made her feel so much more responsible and more like a kid should, she unfortunately has a dad with PTSD and I have always been afraid to let her be more free. Enter the Fitbit Ace into our home for a trial run and we are now going to make it a permanent choice for her and buying another for my 10 year old. I .in absolute love with how fast the tracking updates happen and how clear the phone calls are. Sognal is NEVER a problem with this, my older daughters iphone on a different service loses signal at the parks, but the Ace does not, win win for us! The texting amd calling areomited to 20 people and must be done through the Fitbit Ace app. This is the only negative I can see. We would love to have it be able to text or call and setup allowed phone numbers to do so without the app, it wasnt easy explaining to her grandpa he needed to use the app. The movement tracker is awesome as well, seeing her activities being tracked so we know she is not being a lazy bean all summer while out of school and actually running around with friends. The step tracker gives her a goal as well, she for 2 weeks has made sure to hit 10k steps every single day. Google is also adding Google Payments through it in the future, which I can not wait for that, I hate letting her go to the store with cash at her age anymore, too many chances for her to lose it, I know I did as a kid. So far, the Fitbit Ace is awesome and we love the service, just hoping at some point you do not need the app, just permissions for allowed numbers.

Kids and screen time and safety is always a huge concern for my family. This Fitbit LTE ACE is a great way to find a minimal technology to help with a young child. Setup. Setup was super easy. Charged out of box. Downloaded the Kid Fitbit ACE on android. The 2 ways to install is 1 as a wearer and 1 as a child. The 2 options have completely different options. The most options is if you select 1 as a child. This allows you to be able to track location, movement, contacts etc. We were lucky to get this watch before we went on a trip so I was able to test fully. Day 1 with my kid playing with it and calling and texting and playing the on watch game cause huge battery drain. The first day within 8 hours it drained down to 20%. The following days along with travel it drained down to 40%. Keep in mind this including hopping on an airplane etc. After we got home and it was just used for minimal text and calls it had 60% left at the end of the day. The LTE connection drains the battery. I know because my kid had the older ACE non LTE and it would last for days in between charges... So keep battery in mind with this watch. Back to the design. My kid likes the design. It was easy to put on and use. The different options and interface and was really nice and cute. There are games he was able to mess with and movement games too. Band was comfortable and had a nice color. Box was eco friendly. Texting and calling pre designated contacts was seamless. The texting requires the other recipient to have the app installed on their phone. For the intended purpose I think this watch is pretty good and fets the job done. Especially if you don't want to give them a full cell phone yet but want to be able to track and contact them.

First off, my child loved the idea and being able to have his own smart watch. I was skeptical at first, but seeing that the Fitbit Ace has the ability to send messages and make calls, in my opinion this is better for my son to have than a full fledged cell phone. From the first time he put it on, he has not stopped wearing it except to charge it. The Fitbit ACE comes with a watch band, an attachable case/ screen shield, and a charger cable. After powering it on, it is recommended to use your own Google Account to set up the watch. When inputting your Google info, you will select the watch for your child’s use and then Google will automatically create a child profile for them. There isn’t a need to create a separate Google account for your child. The only thing you’d have to do, if you choose to, would be to add an additional parent through your Google Family Account so they can also have parental controls over the watch. Once you login to the Fitbit Ace app as a Parent, you’ll be able to add which contacts you’d like your child to have. FitBit Ace will let you add anyone you’d like as long as they have gmail (but a Google child account is not allowed), to be able to send an invite to. The person on the receiving end will receive instructions as to how to accept the invite download to begin messaging them. Family members that have been added as contacts for my child have said instructions were easy to follow and easy to set up communication. Although this was nice in a parental control aspect, it was a bit cumbersome for the grandparents that are not as tech-savvy. They needed help with the setup and still need help with getting to the app to send texts or make calls to the child. The most important thing to note is that communication can only be done through the app. This ensures all communication is monitored by the parents and that children don’t communicate with others beyond what the parents have selected. In my case, my child strongly disliked not being able to text his friends freely. Of course, the option of this watch is more for establishing communication directly with your child and only the contacts you choose, for their safety and your peace of mind. More on the Watch - It has many physical activities/challenges through games where kids can earn points based on completing different activities like taking a certain number of steps, running, or moving their arms. The games keep track of their physical activity and pushes them to be more physically active. The battery life is ok, with it being able to make it through normal school day hours. The watch display has a digital rope or robot arm (it changes per day) that “closes in” to show movement and battery life. In summary, I think parents who opt for getting their children the FitBit Ace are parents who see the need to remain in communication with their children, while also maintaining the secure boundaries of not giving their kids full-fledged cell phones and all the trouble that can bring with social media, screen time restrictions, and distractions during school hours. It is important to note that with these uncertain times where public schools are not the safest, children are in sports or other extra-curricular activities, the need for staying communicated with our children is an absolute must. This watch provides a solution to the problems mentioned before - remaining in communication, while shielding children from having a phone at a very young age. In comparison to other smart watches, the Fitibit Ace is catered towards kids and you are essentially paying for a platform ready with child based restrictions. Overall, I think Google has to iron out several issues and make it easier to change your child's access settings, but I think the Ace is a good step in the right direction. Would I recommend it over other smartwatches in its price range? Due to its shortcomings, I can't fully say I can. I do recommend it for those looking for a watch with parental restrictions where you can also monitor your child’s activity (coming at a premium). After some software and pricing updates, I think this could be a good entry point for kid's smartwatches.

I bought the Fitbit Ace LTE for my 10-year-old son and it has been one of the most useful purchases I’ve made for him. The setup was very simple, and within minutes he was able to call and message me directly from the watch. The GPS tracking works perfectly and gives me so much peace of mind when he is outside playing with friends. My son absolutely loves the fun activities and games on the watch, and I love that everything is safe and designed for kids. The battery life is solid, it’s comfortable on his wrist, and the overall build quality feels premium. It strikes a perfect balance between being a fun gadget for kids and a reliable safety tool for parents. Highly recommend this smartwatch for any parent looking for a secure, easy-to-use, and kid-friendly device. Excellent product from Fitbit!

I am a parent of four children and as a parent of grade school kids I can say that raising a child in these times is tough. There is so much to consider and help my child prepare for. I do my best to be upfront and explain all that I do. Above all else safety is what comes first, as a child growing up, I did not have school shootings and other events like that. That leaves me as a parent wondering what could I do in the event of an emergency? My children are not old enough or mature enough to handle a cellphone and all the issues that can come along with that so me and my wife though about this for sometime and figured why not get a smartwatch. There are several of them on the market but ultimately, we decided to go with Fitbit being that it is a Google product. My household exclusively uses Android devices, Chromebooks & Smartwatches (Wear OS). :::Initial Impressions::: My daughters watch got to me in two days and that was impressive, I like the packaging it is simple and minimalistic. In the box you will get what is expected the device, watchstrap, a protective bumper, and charger along with a little setup guide. :::General Thoughts::: Setup was a breeze and once you download the Fitbit Ace application it took literally less than 2 minutes to setup my child’s device. It is important to note that the App MUST be installed as it is required to use the device. All messaging and calls are made through the app it is a good feature depending on how you look at it. Of course, this is subjective as not everyone thinks the way that me and my wife does. We both appreciate the sandbox environment that Fit Bit has here. You can not manually add phone numbers to the watch, instead each “trusted contact” must have a G-Mail account and must use the Fitbit app to communicate with your child. The Fitbit Ace meets my needs as a parent it prioritizes safety and place an emphasis on fitness. You can track your child’s location, call, and message them anytime through the app. Call clarity is shockingly good for a watch in fact I find that it works better than my Samsung watch. Messages work as you would expect it to. Your child can leave voice messages, along with regular text & emoji’s nothing more. There is no MMS or cameras which I find to be good. The fitness part is implemented by giving the user (your child) games to play which they can by being active my daughters favorite game is Smokey Lake it is a fishing game which she seems to enjoy very much. Charging the watch is simple and it charges in a little under an hour. I found the battery life to be just about right, calls and messages and some location tracking and my child can be at around 15 – 20% battery life by the evening. Of course, your results may vary so be mindful of that. The device is water resistant, and the screen is responsive and the included bumper snaps on and gives me peace of mind I am not worried about it getting broken easily the Velcro strap is easily adjustable and durable. I look forward to the future implementation of Google Pay, it would be a good way to teach my child the importance of money and give them an allowance when they are a little older. :::Pros & Cons:::. Pros: - Sleek - Easy to setup & use - Decent battery life - Excellent call clarity - Safe for young children - Google Pay support (in a future update) Cons: - The device is not perfect nothing is but currently I do not have any complaints. :::Closing thoughts::: I have three grade school children and an infant. I really like the fact that they do not have to be exposed to social media yet as it can be detrimental on a child’s psyche amongst other dangers that come with your child having a phone. This watch is exactly what they will use until they are old enough. As I briefly stated earlier, I seen reviews for this product and have not run into any issues with the device like some may have. It is not perfect nothing is but what it does do it does right and it does it well and that is to be able to communicate with your child and provide a safe environment for them, and allow them to feel a little independent and grown. :::TL;DR::: Need a way to keep in contact with your child, but do not want them to have a phone then this might be just what you need.

As my child has gotten older I have struggled with what to do for their connectivity. I don’t want to get a smartphone as I would prefer to wait a few more years for more responsibility like that. Then, I noted that there were options like a smart watch but they all require a phone plan that supports LTE smart watches which the carrier I use does not. So I figured I eventually would have to jump over to a different carrier to add a smartwatch for the kid which would also cost me a great deal more money on a monthly basis than I have been paying. It was all a bit of a conundrum. Then the FitBit Ace came along and changed everything for my family’s situation. This is a smartwatch that is specifically designed for kids, primarily 7-12 years of age. My child is right in that range. It is unique in that it does not need to be tethered to a phone or even a family phone plan to work which is absolutely perfect for me. Fitbit is now owned by google, so this watch leans in the Google way of doing things, however it will work with Apple phones such as my iPhone 14 Pro Max just as well. You set it up with the app and create a Google family so you can manage your child there without even having to create an account for them specifically although you do have to have a Google account of your own. You can add other adults as parents or supervisory individuals, and be able to have access to the tracking and contact information for the watch. From the app you also setup your totally independent LTE plan for the watch and invite people who are allowed to contact your child to download the app and connect that way. The independent nature of this watch from either major ecosystem means that it works the same way with either one, but also means that it is its own thing and everything from calling, texting, and location tracking is all done with the Ace app rather than your typical means of contacting people. This is really the only flaw for it but it is a minor inconvenience compared to everything else it does. My child loves this watch and the freedom it offers. There are games that can be played on it that are timed based on daily activity levels, the ability to call and text approved people, and send sound recordings as well. The watch is charged with a USB-C cable that is magnetic on the watch side similar to other Google watches on the market. It does not include a power adapter which is annoying but normal for devices like this now. It’s a very nice design and looks perfect for its intended audience. We’re using the included bumper for added protection and it seems like it will hold up well. The Fitbit Ace provided me the perfect solution to a big problem I had coming up, and has saved me tons of money while giving my child a connection to me and other trusted people. It’s fantastic and I’m very happy with it in spite of the few small limitations it has.

A common dilemma parents face these days is deciding at what age your child is old enough to have a cell phone. The problem is that in reality, a 9 year old, which is my daughter's age, really shouldn't have the world opened up to them in a way that having a cell phone does. On the other hand, it can give some peace of mind as to the safety of your kids. With a phone you can reach them or they can reach you in case of an emergency. That's where this Google Fitbit Ace LTE smartwatch comes into play, as it has become the perfect solution to that dilemma. Yes, it's a Fitbit first and provides all the benefits that Fitbit is known for, but as a parent, it's the LTE functionality and features that takes center stage. This watch gives you the ability to both keep track of and communicate directly with your child at anytime, exactly how a cell phone would, but since it requires the Fitbit Ace app to do so along with a Google Family account, it's limited to only the users you allow. That means no random phone calls, no spam, and no actual phone number to be mis-used. Personally, both my wife and I are setup in the account and each of us has the Fitbit Ace app installed on our iPhones. So through the watch or app, my wife and I are the ONLY people who can directly communicate with our daughter. So far it has worked almost flawlessly. The other day my wife and daughter were out shopping and decided to pick up some takeout on the way home. Instead of my wife trying to call me to see what I want while she was driving, she just had my daughter call me through her watch! Convenient and safe! Another day my daughter had a slumber party with close family friends, and we were able to text her and vice versa. Another scenario that came up in just the week we've had this is when grandma, my mom, took my daughter skating around the neighborhood. My mom is known for keeping my daughter out later than she should and venturing pretty far out. With this watch I was able to track exactly where my daughter was at all times too with the GPS functionality. I cannot stress enough, how much less stressful it now is when my daughter is out, especially as she gets older and becomes more independent. The call clarity is great too. I haven't had any audio quality issues and I've been able to hear my daughter perfectly clear on my end and her me. When we first tested it out in the house, we did notice a slight second or two delay over what you would expect with a standard phone, but to me that's acceptable. As for texting, again, all this comes through the Fitbit Ace app, it also work flawlessly. And to make it even easier for kids, there's an option to just send a voice recording instead of trying to type out a message on the small surface area of the watch, which they can still do as well. Setting all of this up when you first get the watch is pretty simple too. It probably only took me a few minutes to get things going. Keep in mind though, that it does require a subscription to use. Normally, I'm someone who is very opposed to subscription services, but since this is basically like adding another phone line, and because of the peace of mind it gives me, it is more than worth it, and I will happily continue to pay for this. Plus at the current cost of 9.99 a month, I feel it's both fair and reasonable for what you're getting. But wait, there's more! It is a Fitbit after all, but a Fitbit designed for kids. It tracks activity as you expect, but also makes it fun for kids with its goals and games. I especially love how it requires kids to reach activity goals too before letting them play or do certain things. A few times now my daughter found herself short of her goals or was trying to unlock a game, so she was literally running back and forth inside the house. It was actually quite amusing to watch and see her do her own version of exercise. The watch interface isn't overly complicated either. As with any technology there is always going to be a bit of a learning curve, but it didn't take my daughter long to figure out how to use this watch. The first couple hours saw her periodically come up to me for help, but between the both of us, we were able to figure out how to do things without watching or reading any guides, other than the tips on the watch itself. I really can't say enough good things about this watch. It really is the perfect solution for when you want to be able to communicate with your child at all times, but not expose them to the dangers of having a cell phone. If that were all it did, I would buy this in a heartbeat, but then you get a Fitbit on top of that. I feel like Google really hit a homerun with this smartwatch and highly recommend for any parent.

I want to start by talking about the device itself. It’s not small on my 7 year old girl's arm. My daughter is tall for her age, but she is petite. My wife has a Fitbit Sense 2 and it’s remarkably similar in size if not identical! There are a couple buttons on the side, and a cool little bumper to protect the device. I love that. It’s a good solid feeling device. It’s pretty laggy when you first set it up, or turn it on after it dies, or after a restart, but after it’s been on for a bit, it smooths out. It has a nice high res screen, with vivid colors which I think are playful and perfect for kiddos. I think it's OLED, but if it's not, it's darn close to it. The blacks are so deep I wouldn't be surprised if it was an OLED. The device lasts about a day and a half with GPS turned on. I did run into an issue when I changed my daughter’s Google password, unfortunately I hadn't changed it in a while and set up the device on the old password. When I changed it, the device stopped working and there was NO WAY to update it, other than factory resetting the watch. That is a bummer for sure! BUT luckily resetting and keeping your settings will just relink the account and keep all the settings as is, so it’s not a huge bummer, but a bummer and a time waster. I love this device! I seriously do, it teaches my kiddo some restraint and gives her some independence as well but doesn’t give the world her information. For example, no one can call her on her watch unless I authorize it on the app and when she calls people it only rings the app! So, there’s no phone number that can be called! AMAZING!!!! I love that! So, I don’t have to worry about her number getting out there for potential creeps or spam calls. It does mean, grandparents have to download the app and learn how to use the app. I do have one technophobic parent so it's kind of a hassle getting them setup, but still. The messaging is great! It’s fun for her and it promotes reading and responses. And as a parent, I love hearing from my daughter during my workday. The communication part is so great! There’s also a school mode, which we haven’t tried out since it’s in the middle of the summer, but from what it says it does, I think it’ll be a good option to have and hopefully prevents distractions while in class. The GPS is good, but not great! I love the fact it has a general idea of where she’s at, but my wife and I have location sharing going on with iOS, and in Google Maps and always it shows her location off from where we’re at or where Google Maps says. For example, we happened to take a trip to Grand Lake and during the commute home, I checked her location, and it looked like we dropped her off on the side of the highway, her device was the only device that still showed she was so far behind us. I’m guessing this is because it updates slowly to save battery life. I don’t hate this, but I wish it had the option for more precise location tracking. I’d hate to have an emergency happen and I am miles behind where she is because the watch hasn’t updated yet. I do like how I can see information on what she’s using on her watch through the Family Link app by Google. As far as her perception of the device, she loves it. There's plenty of activities, the wording is good, not too sophisticated for a 7 year old, but challenging enough that I think an older kid can enjoy it as well. The swiping did confuse her a bit, she’d often swipe the wrong direction to get to what she wanted, but what’s nice is it loops and will eventually get where she needs to be. The customization of things she loves, she’s that type of girl. She instantly changed the ‘noodle’ the little wormy thing that gives the representation of her steps and activity. There’s also a little character she can customize and she for some reason settled on the punk style girl? I don’t know what that means exactly, but I learned something new about her haha. Any long story short, I LOVE this, my daughter loves it, and I feel safer having it, and I love the fact she’s more interested in going out and playing with the incentivized solutions. It’s so good! I wish Google would also add features to this that tie into say Android tablets. Like if she does x amount of activity, an Android tablet unlocks x amount of time and so on. That would be amazing, but as it is now. Fantastic and I couldn’t recommend it more! I didn't want to make a huge review, but there's plenty more things this can do and there's many more things I love about this, but the stand out for me is communication, the incentivizing of physical movement and movement based rewards, and GPS. I love knowing where she is!

My 10-year-old son is using the Google Fitbit Ace LTE smartwatch. I figured this may be less distracting than a smartphone. He will be going into middle school in the coming school year. This is a way for me to know where he is and be able to contact him. He was using a disconnected old iPhone, and he is only able to communicate whenever there is Wi-Fi. But I noticed the apps and games are too much of a distraction. I am hoping this watch is the solution during the school year. Firstly, the packaging is minimal. The watch arrived and needed to charge. He wanted a green edged face color that came with purple and green band. From the photos they looked good but when it arrived, the shade was a little different. It looks brighter and flashier. He is okay with it but also, he was surprised. We may opt to just get another color band. I found some at the Google store for $34, a little pricey. The bands though feel good and work well. Easy to put on for kids. You will need to create a child account linked to your own Google account. The first hurdle I ran into was filling out his first name. He goes by his nickname which consists of two letters. The Google interface does not accept it because it is too short. I ended up using his full name. It took a few minutes for things to get set up. The next hurdle for me is to remind him to wear the watch. He is not used to wearing a watch. There is a worm-like character that is displayed on the screen and gets longer as it counts the steps he takes. He also gains points. It looks like 500 steps daily. I have not seen it increase in the week he used it so far. There are some other games/goals that would pop up on the watch face. The communication is through the Google Fitbit Ace app. The watch does not have its own number. If his mom needs to contact him, she needs to download the app on her phone. The caller ID will show up as me, but it is really his mom calling. The call quality is fine, but we have only tested it around the house. He prefers messaging. The primary use for this device is to know his location in a subtle way and be able to communicate with him. So far, it has been working well. There is a monthly fee of $9.99 or annually for $59.98. For its location tracking and ability to communicate, if necessary, I like this device for my son. As he gets older, we may opt to get him a connected smartphone. For now, this will suffice.

We have owned a few different models of children’s smartwatches for my older child, but wanted something more updated for my 7-year-old. He was excited to own his first smartwatch, the Fitbit Ace LTE. Setup involved downloading the Fitbit Ace app and connecting with my Gmail account, which went smoothly. The watch fit comfortably and securely on my child’s 5 ½ inch wrist. After a little troubleshooting to adjust my wife’s limited access in the Google Family Link, I was able to add her to the contacts. Note that only users with Google accounts and the ability to download the Fitbit Ace app can be added to the watch’s contacts. In addition, two users with Fitbit Ace watches cannot contact each other. My son was able to make phone calls and use the preloaded text messages easily. He also enjoyed trying to achieve new levels with the challenges. The call quality was clear, and I appreciated the adjustable Velcro band. The GPS location feature is incredibly accurate. Future updates to this model will include Google Wallet, which would be convenient for children so they don’t need to use cash. I would recommend this smartwatch for young children; however, if you’re looking to be able to connect multiple children with other Fitbit Aces or even other smartwatches, you will be unable to, so keep that in mind. Pros Great connectivity Intuitive controls High quality display Cons Bumper case around watch face marks up easily Limited pool of users for contacts