I’ve been testing smartwatches, phones, and other communication devices for kids for five years. A longtime technology journalist, I am also the author of Wirecutter’s guide to the best apps for managing a child’s smartphone and an article with advice on setting up a tablet for kids. Also, as a parent of three kids, now 15, 13, and 8 years old, I have a personal interest in finding the best gadget to keep in touch with them—without too many distractions.

This guide is for parents and other caregivers who want a device to communicate with their child but do not yet want to give their kid a standard smartphone.

A smartphone alternative for those who want their kids to Wait Until 8th, these smartwatches let you talk, message, and track your child’s location without giving them full access to the internet, social media, games, and everything else a regular smartphone offers. They’re designed primarily for kids between the ages of about 8 and 13, a time when many kids begin venturing out into the world on their own for the first time. Worn on the wrist, they’re not as easily lost as a phone, and many also come with apps and alarms that remind (and encourage) kids to do chores or finish tasks.

But just like training wheels, some smartwatches may be too limited for some kids or families. For instance, kids may not be able to use them to easily keep in touch with their friends or anyone aside from a few trusted contacts. If you’re looking for other options, in addition to general guides to the best iPhones and Android smartphones, we have advice on how to repurpose an old smartphone or tablet for a kid, a guide to the best apps for managing your kid’s phone, and a guide to tracking your child’s location.

All of these gadgets offer pros and cons. Choosing one that makes sense for your family depends on how much connection your child needs and whether you want additional features, such as GPS tracking and parental controls.

Kids smartwatches

Like a tiny computer on your child’s wrist, smartwatches allow your kid to communicate through text messages, voice calls, and, in some cases, video calls (though they’re best for short, basic conversations). Kids smartwatches with cellular service also allow you to track your child’s location via GPS. (We did not consider kids smartwatches that don’t connect to a cellular network.)

When a child’s smartwatch is paired with an adult’s smartphone, usually through an iOS or Android app, a parent or caregiver can designate who can contact their child. A kids smartwatch comes with a SIM card and a designated phone number for your child, and it usually requires a monthly cellular subscription.

Kids smartphones

Kid-specific smartphones are for parents who don’t yet want their child to use a full-fledged smartphone. Equipped with a touchscreen, a keyboard for easy text messaging, and a camera, they look and feel like adult smartphones. But they’ve been stripped of key features, such as an internet browser and an app store, and/or they have built-in monitoring software and parental controls.

Flip phones

Flip phones hail from a bygone era. These simple phones offer functionality (calling, basic texting) with limited distraction (although most flip phones can connect to the internet, navigation is slow and clunky). They can be used with cheap monthly or prepaid plans, and they’re a great option for a minimalist communication device or emergency phone.

But there are some clear downsides to buying a flip phone for your child: You can’t see who contacts them, track their location, or monitor how your kid is using the phone. For better or worse, kids also can’t join in group text chats. And because flip phones do so little, kids have no incentive to keep these phones with them.

Tracking devices

We did not consider wearable tracking devices, such as the Jiobit Smart Tag, Tile Mate, or Apple AirTag, because they lack a way to communicate. We address these tracking devices in our piece on tracking your child’s location.

Best for: kids ages 8 to 12

Carrier: Verizon (though you don’t need to be a Verizon cellphone customer to get a plan)

Communication: voice, video, and texting

Location tracking: yes

Monthly service fee: $10 per month

How the watch works: Verizon’s Gizmo Watch 3 is a kids smartwatch that can make phone and video calls, as well as send audio messages and text messages—with limits.

Like a smartwatch for adults, the Gizmo Watch 3 has an intuitive touchscreen that kids swipe to access contacts, games, and other features. Kids can send emojis or one of 30 preset messages, such as “When are you picking me up?” or “I don’t feel well.” It also recently added the ability to type out a message on a small keyboard, as opposed to being able to send only preset messages; this is a notable upgrade.

A tiny camera above the screen allows kids to take photos (mostly selfies) and make short video calls. A speaker on the watch also allows your child to talk to you or to record a voice message for you. When we used it, our calls were clear (and, of course, not private, unless you connect the watch to Bluetooth headphones).

The watch must be paired with the GizmoHub smartphone app (iOS and Android), which we found easy to navigate. It allows you to designate up to 20 people who can communicate with your child. If someone calls the watch, and it’s not a designated phone number, the call is dropped and does not connect.

Through the app, you can also send emojis and texts up to 120 characters long. Note, however, that even though the Gizmo Watch 3 comes with a phone number, you cannot text it directly from your phone; you or a designated contact can text only through the GizmoHub app (you can call directly from your phone). That means if you want a grandparent, sitter, or anyone else to be able to message your kid, they will each need to download the app.

Parental controls and tracking: You can track the Gizmo Watch 3’s location on a map in the GizmoHub app. You can also set up a geofencing alert to notify you when your child has left or arrived at a particular location, such as school.

Parents can also schedule the Gizmo Watch 3 to go into School Mode, which blocks all calls, messages, games, and sounds. The child can make emergency calls to a designated contact by holding down the SOS button on the side of the watch. The child can also send (repeated) requests to the designated guardian for School Mode to be turned off.

The hardware and additional features: The watch is enclosed in a plastic, water-resistant shell, with a Gorilla Glass 3 screen and a silicone strap that can be swapped out. In our test, the Gizmo Watch 3 held up through multiple drops, but it did not make it through a swim in the pool (the watch claims to be splash-proof but not waterproof). Some reviewers have complained that their children’s watches cracked or broke after coming into contact with water.

Because the Gizmo Watch 3 is sold through Verizon, you can potentially walk into a store for help with setup and customer support; your experience may vary depending on how familiar a particular employee is with the watch (we’ve had mixed experiences). And once your child graduates from the watch, customer support can help port the number to a phone.

Gizmo also makes an older but similar watch, including a Disney-themed Gizmo.

Potential for distraction: The Gizmo Watch 3 comes with three built-in games, as well as an activity game that encourages kids to jump around. Kids can also make a short voice recording and then filter it, so they can sound like they’ve sucked in helium or are growling like a monster. Another app is for making silly noises, such as fart sounds.

The camera, new to the Gizmo Watch 3 (and not available with the Gizmo Watch 2, one of our previous picks), also opens up potential distractions and challenges, such as taking inappropriate photos.

Privacy: Calling Verizon’s Gizmo privacy policy confusing is an understatement. It’s very short, but to fully understand it, you also have to read Verizon’s own privacy policy. Verizon can keep information “as long as reasonably necessary for business, accounting, tax or legal purposes,” but Verizon told us it keeps Gizmo data for only 60 days. Verizon assumes that the parent is the one agreeing to the policy, and the company collects data accordingly. Aside from the data you give it, such as your name, phone number, location, and email address, Verizon collects device details and may use that data for analytics. Verizon doesn’t use data collected from the Gizmo Watch for marketing, but it’s unclear whether Verizon can use data collected in the companion smartphone app or website for interest-based ads. Common Sense Media gave the GizmoHub app low scores because it collects data that can be used by third-party advertising or tracking services, among other privacy concerns.

Warranty: Verizon offers a one-year warranty for the Gizmo Watch 3. Customers can also return or exchange the watch during a 14-day window after purchase.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Many customers have given the Gizmo Watch 3 mixed (and, in some cases, dismal) reviews. However, we have found that all of the kids smartwatches we’ve tested—including the TickTalk 4, SyncUp, and Gabb 3—have received similarly mixed, if not worse, reviews.

One major complaint is the inconvenience of the GizmoHub app, which is required for text messaging and video calls. If a designated contact doesn’t have the GizmoHub app, they can only call (and receive calls from) the watch. Many of the kids smartwatches we’ve tested require a dedicated smartphone app, so this inconvenience is not unique to the Gizmo Watch.

Compared with the Apple Watch, the Gizmo Watch offers fewer options for sending custom messages, including the ability to send talk-to-text messages. And though the Gizmo Watch offers group texting, it’s limited to contacts designed as guardians, caregivers, or Gizmo Buddies (other kids who also have a Gizmo Watch).

Other complaints include a shorter-than-expected battery life. Although the watch is supposed to last more than three days on one charge, ours never did. Location tracking—which uses significant battery power—can sometimes be inaccurate and slow, so there can be a delay in seeing your child’s real-time whereabouts. It’s also water-resistant only to splashes; as mentioned above, ours malfunctioned after a brief dip in the pool.

The interface’s bright colors, cartoony graphics, and sounds make the Gizmo Watch feel young. But at the same time, it’s a bit bulky, especially for small wrists.

Best for: older kids and teens who can care for a pricey device and whose parents or caregivers have an iPhone

Carrier: AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint (part of T-Mobile), and Verizon

Communication: voice and texting

Monthly service fee: $10 per month to add to a current plan at AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile

How the watch works: The Apple Watch SE GPS + Cellular is an attractive, lightweight, and feature-rich watch for kids and adults alike. Unlike many kid-specific smartwatches, the Apple Watch is not stigmatized as “childish” or “babyish,” since the same watch is marketed to adults.

Though the Apple Watch SE can run just on Wi-Fi, to take advantage of all of its features, you need the GPS-and-cellular model with a monthly plan. This gives your child a designated phone number (which you can later transfer to a cell phone) and allows the watch to be used when no Wi-Fi networks are available.

You can call and text the Apple Watch from a smartphone, just as you would any contact, including exchanging group texts and texts with images or videos; your child can also call, text, and group-text their friends from their Apple Watch. The child can communicate with generic messages and emojis, as well as type on a tiny keyboard or use their finger to handwrite a message. One of the most convenient features—that’s unavailable with the Gizmo Watch—is the ability to press an audio button to record and transcribe into text a lengthier message.

With clear calls (on speaker or Bluetooth headphones) and the most ways to send text messages, the Apple Watch is by far the easiest and most flexible to use of all the smartwatches we tested with kids. Unlike with the Gizmo Watch 3, with the Apple Watch I didn’t have to navigate to a special app to text my daughter; that meant there was one fewer step for keeping in touch with her—and that I wouldn’t accidentally miss a message. Through Apple’s talk-to-text function, my daughter could also easily respond with detailed, specific answers (not a preset message or voice message); when she needed to give me lengthy directions for pickup, for instance, she didn’t have to tap it all out or send an audio recording.

Parental controls and tracking: Kids need their own Apple ID, and adults need to have an iPhone 6s or later, running iOS 15 or later, in order to monitor and manage a child’s Apple Watch SE. Once you’ve linked the child’s watch to your account through Apple’s Family Setup, you can monitor and manage a child’s Apple Watch directly through your existing apps on your iPhone:

• Through the iPhone’s Find My app, you can track the watch’s whereabouts on a map. You can also set up a Notify Me alert if your child has left or arrived at a location.
• Through your iPhone’s Watch app, you can manage the features on your child’s watch.
• In the Watch app, you can access Schooltime, where you can limit (to a degree) your child’s access to the watch during set hours. Schooltime keeps calls and messages from popping up on the watch, so your child is not distracted during class. And it makes it harder—though still possible—to access the watch’s games, apps, and messages. Messages and missed calls are still logged on the watch when Schooltime is enabled. Kids can see them by spinning the crown (the hardware dial on the side of the Apple Watch) to exit Schooltime temporarily, and you can see a log of how often your child exits Schooltime, as well as how long your child has interacted with the watch. If you need to reach your child, you can break through Schooltime by calling the watch repeatedly. (You can’t, however, break through Schooltime via text messaging. I found this limitation frustrating when I simply wanted to notify my daughter about an after-school schedule change.)
• Through Apple’s Screen Time (in the Settings app of the parent’s iPhone or in the Watch app), you can set Communication Limits, restricting those your child can contact and who can contact them. Group chats can be limited to only the watch’s contacts, though group chats as a function cannot be blocked.
• In the Screen Time app, you can also set up Downtime, a regularly scheduled time (such as at night) when access to the watch is limited. Calls can still come through but do not alert, and they can be limited to only the watch’s contacts, while calls and messages from outside the contact list are blocked. You can also limit access to the watch’s apps and games during Downtime; you must set this up in addition to Schooltime, if you want to prevent your child from playing games on their watch. (You cannot set time limits on individual apps on the Apple Watch, as you can on a child’s iPhone.)

Potential for distraction: Compared with kids smartwatches like the Gizmo Watch 3, the Apple Watch offers much more potential for distraction. Kids can enlist Apple Watch’s Siri voice assistant to find apps and games to download. They can also easily message their friends and participate in group chats, as well as receive and view photos and videos from any of their contacts, albeit on a tiny screen.

Through Screen Time, you can block the ability to download apps and games and turn off Siri. But for some kids, just knowing they could have access to Apple’s galaxy of apps could open up more begging and battles than you’d get with simpler, kid-specific devices like the Gizmo Watch, whose menu is significantly more limited.

Hardware and additional features: Kids can customize their Apple Watch SE with one of many kinds of fun watch bands.

The Apple Watch SE also allows you to set up Apple Cash Family, which enables your child to make purchases with the watch. You must connect a bank account (not a credit card) to Apple Cash; you can then send money to your child’s watch through a text message. Your child can also request money from you.

As with the Gizmo Watch (which can be brought to Verizon for help), with the Apple Watch SE, you can potentially walk into an Apple store for help with setup and customer support (though in some cases, the issue may be with the wireless carrier rather than with the watch).

Privacy: Common Sense Media gave the Apple Watch a passing grade for privacy and safety, scoring it much higher than the Gizmo Watch.

Although Apple’s privacy policy and privacy controls limit the sharing of personal data with third-party marketers, Apple does collect and share data with other third parties. To use the Apple Watch with parental controls, you must set up a separate Apple ID for your child. Apple outlines its policy for children under 13 in a separate disclosure; this limits certain data sharing (no targeted ads, for instance) but does include data collecting (such as the child’s geographic location).

Warranty: The Apple Watch SE is covered for one year under Apple’s limited warranty.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The Apple Watch SE is an option only for families with iPhones because it must be paired to your iPhone. (Apple Watches can’t be paired to Android phones.)

If your child is frequently messaging friends and using apps, the watch can run out of battery and may not last all day (as has been the case with my daughter’s Apple Watch). You can turn on low-battery mode to help preserve the watch’s battery.

It’s also an expensive gadget to lose or break. Although the Apple Watch is water-resistant, it’s easier to crack or scratch than the Gizmo Watch 3. Within the first two weeks of wearing the watch, my then-10-year-old scratched the screen—the watch is not designed for rough handling, and we’d say that most kids can be rough on their belongings. (You can also buy Apple Watch screen protectors, which we have not tested.)

You don’t need to download a dedicated smartphone app to communicate with the Apple Watch SE, but it took more time—and was more confusing—to set up parental controls, since you have to do so in both Apple’s Screen Time and the Apple Watch apps on your iPhone.

If you want the convenience of having your child talk-to-text a message but don’t want to get your kid an Apple Watch: The Gabb Watch 3 is your best choice. Kids can call, send up to 20 preset texts, type out a message on a tiny keyboard, and record audio messages. As with the Apple Watch, with this watch kids can also tap a microphone button and record a message that is transcribed into a text message. But unlike with the Apple Watch, with this watch it takes multiple taps and swipes to navigate to this function, and the child has to have a separate Gabb ID.

As with the T-Mobile SyncUp and Apple Watch, you (and any designated contacts) can also directly call and message the Gabb Watch without an app. You do need Gabb’s parent app (iOS and Android) to manage the watch, such as tracking its location, setting up quiet times (which disables apps, calls, and texts), and adding designated contacts (up to 100 phone numbers).

Like the Gizmo Watch 3, the Gabb Watch 3 is best for kids ages 8 to 12. Along with a basic mimicking game, it includes a digital pet that kids can care for and customize—by logging steps or finishing assigned tasks, kids earn virtual coins, which they can spend on features like teaching a dog to roll over or upgrading to a new animal, such as a unicorn or an axolotl. There is no camera, so kids cannot take photos or make video calls.

We found, however, that setting up, navigating, and using the Gabb Watch, Gabb app, and Gabb website was generally less intuitive than with the Gizmo Watch and the Apple Watch. For instance, it isn’t clear that you must set up a Gabb ID for the child; this requires its own password and is in addition to establishing the child’s profile on the watch. You can still use the watch without setting up the child’s Gabb ID, but having it allows the child to send talk-to-text messages and backs up contacts and other information to the cloud. Compared with those of our picks, Gabb’s monthly subscription also costs more—between $12.99 and $17.99 per month, depending on the length of your contract.

If you prefer the Gizmo Watch without a camera: The Gizmo Watch 2 is still available from Verizon. However, a Verizon rep told us it would be phased out by next year or so (when it runs out of the watch). Unlike the Gizmo Watch 3, the Gizmo Watch 2 can’t take pictures or make video calls, and that means fewer potential distractions. But we recommend the Gizmo Watch 3 because it uses a newer and more advanced chipset (Qualcomm 4100) to power the watch; this means it’s faster and has a longer potential battery life (though video calls will quickly drain it). The Gizmo Watch 3 also allows for 20 contacts, versus 10 for the Gizmo Watch 2.

If a watch with a cast of characters from Frozen, Black Panther, Star Wars, and other popular Disney movies would appeal to your kid: The Gizmo Watch Disney Edition is similar to the Gizmo Watch 3 in that it comes with a camera for video calls and photos—along with those characters, each of which makes special ringtones and sounds. But the Disney-branded Gizmo Watch costs more, allows for up to 10 contacts only, and uses an older processor than the Gizmo Watch 3 to power the watch.

If you want a particularly rugged smartwatch for a younger kid: The TickTalk 4 used to be one of our picks in this guide, and we still think it’s a good watch. Similar to the Gizmo Watch 3, it has an intuitive touchscreen and lets kids call, text, and video call (up to 53 contacts). Two cameras make it easy for kids to take both selfies and other photos. Like the Gizmo Watch, it must be paired with a dedicated smartphone app (iOS and Android), which also allows you to manage the watch, keep tabs on its location, and send messages.

But the TickTalk 4 is encased in a thick, rubbery, water-resistant case, which makes it big, heavy, and clunky, especially for small wrists. Setup is also more cumbersome. Once you activate the watch through TickTalk (and sign up for its $10 per month wireless subscription), you then must open a panel on the back of the watch and install the SIM card on your own.

If you hate the idea of having to use a dedicated app to text your kid: The T-Mobile SyncUp Kids Watch is a good option. Available online and through T-Mobile stores, this watch lets kids make calls, send preset text and audio messages, take photos, and play four games (Dino Run, voice changer, tic tac toe, and a puzzle game). One of the conveniences of the T-Mobile watch is that you (or any designated contacts) don’t need to use a dedicated app to send or receive texts or audio messages. The messages appear with all your other messages (if you have an iPhone, they appear in green). You do still need the SyncUp Kids app (iOS and Android) to track the child’s location, set up School Mode, and manage contacts.

Compared with the Gizmo Watch 3, however, the T-Mobile SyncUp’s touchscreen was not as responsive, sometimes requiring multiple swipes in our testing. Though there is a camera to take photos and record short videos (and send them), you cannot video call with the watch. It has also received more than its share of poor reviews, such as complaints that the watch stopped working for no reason.

Going by our conversations with parents and kids, we considered the following features and capabilities during our search:

Communication: Parents and kids must be able to convey basic information in real time, such as the location where a child needs to be picked up.

Messages: For the instances when a child or adult isn’t readily available, the other party needs to be able to leave a message that can be picked up later.

Distractions: We wanted minimal distractions on the device, meaning limited web and social media access and preferably few or no games.

Time out: We wanted to be able to disable the watch at certain times, such as during school.

Ease of use: We noted how intuitive or cumbersome it was to set up and use the device and its corresponding parent app(s).

Durability: Though we don’t expect a device to be unbreakable, it should withstand being tossed, bumped, splashed, or dropped on the ground.

Location tracking: We liked the peace of mind and convenience of tracking a child’s location, particularly for younger kids.

Appealing to kids: We took into consideration features that could be a draw for kids, such as a choice of colors, ringtones, or other ways to customize the device.

Since 2018, I’ve tested 14 smartwatches with my kids, who are now 15, 13, and 8. To check how effective the devices were for communicating, one of my kids took them to a playground half a mile away, called me, and read random passages from a book. The watches and phones were also tossed on the ground, worn while swimming, and roughly used. And about a dozen Wirecutter and New York Times staffers have used the devices with their kids.

Although some of these devices can work with Wi-Fi, all of the smartwatches in this guide require a monthly or prepaid cellular plan to take advantage of all the features (such as being able to communicate when out of range of an available Wi-Fi network). The cost varies by wireless carrier but generally starts at about $10 per month, in addition to an activation charge, taxes, and other fees.

The devices do not need to share the same cellphone plan or network as the parent’s device, as they function independently.

We plan to publish a new guide on the best first phones for kids by spring 2024. It will include both “dumb” phones—also known as feature phones and flip phones—and smartphones designed for kids, including the Bark, Troomi, Pinwheel, and Gabb Phone 3 Pro.

Many of the devices we’ve tested over the years are no longer available, or they’ve been replaced by newer versions. Below, we’ve listed models that are still available:

The Garmin Bounce can track workouts (including swimming), sleep, steps, and location. Kids can also play puzzles and basic math games and be rewarded for finishing chores. But communication is limited: The watch cannot make or receive real-time phone calls. Your child can only send preset text messages and record audio messages, which you receive through the Garmin Jr. app.

The XPlora X6 Play has a responsive touchscreen, which is framed by a protective, soft plastic case. But in the middle of our testing, the watch stopped connecting and could no longer make or receive phone calls or texts. It wasn’t clear at first why this had happened, but after installing a software update, we got the watch to work again. We believe a watch should still work even when it requires a software update.

We did not test the Cosmo JrTrack 3, but we did try the no-frills Cosmo JrTrack 2 SE. Although it was the cheapest kids smartwatch we tested at the time, we noted that it charged high subscription costs and required an upfront minimum commitment. We found the navigation of the Cosmo JrTrack 2 SE to be somewhat clunky and the camera resolution to be notably less sharp than the Gizmo Watch 3’s. At one point, it also inexplicably glitched and could not send messages for a few minutes. It comes with no games or fun apps—that means no distractions but also little appeal for kids.

In 2021, we tested the Omate smartwatch, which comes with a Lego-like “nanoblock” band, which kids can decorate and customize with tiny, rainbow-colored bricks. But the Omate watch was painfully slow to boot up, the touchscreen often failed to respond and frequently lagged, and it shut down after the battery dropped to 20%.

Additional reporting by Thorin Klosowski.

This article was edited by Rachel Hurn and Kalee Thompson.