My oldest youngster is a kindergartner, so I am unable to say the considered getting her a telephone is one I lose sleep over — but. However I used to be shocked when she got here to me just lately and requested if she may get a telephone for her seventh birthday. 

Whereas we agreed to attend till she’s older for a telephone, we additionally determined to let her check out Xplora’s new XGO3 and see if the smartwatch was a possible placeholder.

Instantly, she felt empowered by the truth that she had her personal “telephone” and started calling and sending my husband and me textual content messages, even when we have been simply two toes away! 

She liked the sense of independence that having her personal telephone quantity gave her, even when the ability finally went to her head, as evidenced by all of the voice messages she’d ship of her simply saying “poopy”.

The XGO3 is essentially the most reasonably priced mannequin of Xplora’s child’s smartwatch lineup at $130, and it’s obtainable with a reduction now and again. Whereas the bigger X6Play is the newer of the 2, the XGO3 is healthier suited to youthful youngsters and has simply as many quintessential options you’d need out of a smartphone: Cell connectivity, voice and textual content messaging, real-time GPS monitoring, faculty modes, security zones, and an SOS perform to succeed in you within the occasion of an emergency.

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It is available in 5 completely different colours on your infant to decide on between, and in addition options some helpful widgets for them to make use of, like a step counter, stopwatch, calculator, alarm, digicam, and emojis.

Parental controls & subscription

As a mum or dad, although, I really like that this introduction to a smartphone is totally locked down. The XGO3 wants a SIM card with a cell plan to work, and in case you purchase it via Xplora’s web site, a SIM will come included with the watch, so you possibly can then join considered one of its personal knowledge plans. However irrespective of who will get your child’s telephone quantity, they cannot contact them except you, as a guardian, add their contact data within the Xplora app. It is a small element that makes an enormous distinction.

When you activate the XGO3, you must pair it together with your telephone within the Xplora app, which is the place you can ship your youngster textual content messages, photographs, emojis, voice messages, and entry their location and settings. You possibly can name them out of your telephone as you’d to anybody else, however messages are restricted to the Xplora app.

Whereas youngsters can ship you photos, emojis, and voice messages, I did not like the truth that textual content messages coming from them have been restricted to pre-written phrases, like “Love you!” or “Be house quickly”. They cannot sort in their very own messages. The one time a digital keyboard seems on the watch is once you’re getting into the Wi-Fi password. I want you would, on the very least, add in or edit the message templates via the Xplora app.

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Lastly, there is a “College Mode” which you could schedule via the app which locks the smartwatch in order that solely the SOS characteristic is accessible throughout your kid’s faculty hours.

Location monitoring

When my husband and I first determined to ship our oldest to preschool, we have been hit with the uncertainty of sending our firstborn into the open world with out us bodily being there along with her. We had by no means despatched her to a daycare middle or to go tenting, so the thought of GPS monitoring was one thing we knew we wanted going into the primary day of college. 

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From my testing, the GPS monitoring within the XGO3 is dependable, particularly as a result of I can arrange particular security zones throughout the Xplora app, like for house and faculty, and be notified when my youngster leaves these areas. The app additionally exhibits historic monitoring knowledge, which is helpful when you should recall previous actions. The XGO3 offers me peace of thoughts, realizing my daughter is the place she must be. 

Gamifying well being and health

Xplora’s barebones strategy to cell gadgets implies that there aren’t any video games or web entry within the XGO3, although you possibly can earn playtime the extra steps you stroll. The smartwatch encourages bodily motion, with a built-in pedometer that tracks the kid’s steps and rewards them for hitting milestones. For each 1,000 steps, the consumer earns an Xcoin, redeemable for video games within the Xplora app, which might then be performed on a smartphone or pill. It is a sensible solution to gamify well being and health.

Backside line

The Xplora XGO3 is a superb place to begin for anybody trying to maintain their youngster within the loop as they step out of the house. In comparison with the Apple Watch SE, a smartwatch mother and father generally get for his or her youngsters, the XGO3 is healthier suited to youthful kids and fogeys who need extra management over what they’ve entry to. It is a easy machine that youngsters take pleasure in and fogeys can depend on, and it has been good for my six-year-old. That’s till she’s sufficiently old to take care of an precise smartphone.

There are drawbacks, after all, like the truth that you possibly can’t edit the predetermined textual content responses and the truth that Xplora considers a 42mm watch kid-sized. However the advantages outweigh the negatives for me, and I am going to proceed to benefit from the real-time location monitoring, the best way my child’s face lights up when she will get a textual content from her dad, and naturally, the “poopy” voice messages.