Joe T.

27 de mayo de 2026

This is the one.

If you don't mind the $100 annual subscription and can mentally grasp that GPS & cellular signals don't work flawlessly though cinder block walls at a school, stores, or other building then this is the watch. Be aware, location tracking requires LTE cell service. This is not a true GPS watch that can track location off simple GPS. If you're in an area without cell service you cannot track location. That said, the watch is super simple, easy to use, easy to set-up, and sufficiently rugged (buy screen protectors though). We're getting a 2-3 day battery life IF you set it up correctly. If you're trying to track every activity, do ridiculous fitness competitions with friends, and messaging 20-25 times a day then yes, the battery life will dwindle. However if you use it to tell time, send a few messages per day, track location, and maybe play a math game at the restaurant then you'll only have to recharge during bath time every other night. It also charges very fast. 15 minutes and you'll have 30%, enough to get you through the day. 40-50 minutes and you have a full charge. The location boundaries are awesome and I set one up for every common place that my child might visit. These are basically boundaries where you'll get a notification should your child enter or leave. For us that includes home, school, playgrounds, parks, restaurants, fairgrounds, and stores that we frequently visit. I get notified when they enter and leave those locations. If you're smart about how you set up boundaries you can effectively track which direction they're headed, how fast they're traveling, and get a general sense of what's going on even if you're not directly searching their location in the app. Think of this sequence: "left home", "arrived at school", "left school", "arrived at park", "left park", "arrived at home", "left home", "arrived at restaurant"... I know exactly how the day went, how they were at each location, and I never even opened the app. All pop-up notifications on my phone/watch. My biggest complaint is that the minimum radius for the boundaries is 170 feet, that means a 340ft diameter. Each boundary is about the size of 2 football fields. For me that's too big for some locations. Not a deal breaker. Additionally the notification that they entered or left the boundary can be delayed by 2-4 minutes sometimes depending on signal strength. Not big deal, its enough to keep me in the loop, just don't expect instant updates. My kid loves the customizable home screens which allow you to set a picture as the background. Messaging has been pretty flawless for us so far. Expect at least 1 minute from send to receive, sometimes faster, but just plan on about 1 minute. You also get a "sent", "delivered", and "read" icon on every message which is handy in case you get the old "oh, I didn't see the text" excuse. The fact that you can send two-way voice recordings is awesome so you're not completely relying on 20 preset message options. Its takes a little practice but once they get the hang of it the voice messages come through reasonably clear and allow you to effectively have a phone conversation, albeit with significantly longer delay between messages. It has an emergency "live track" option which significantly boots location accuracy, signal strength, and battery consumption. But you can pretty much go full overwatch if SHTF. Got family friends with the same watch? The kids can message each other and you can even give other parents permission to check your child's location. Nice for sleep overs, babysitting, etc. Overall I highly recommend and it. It has provided a much appreciated sense of security and awareness for us as parents.Ver más

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CPanne

18 de julio de 2026

Must have for little ones before they are of age for a phone

Great value for the money. Perfect to stay in touch with your children/grandchildren but they are too young or you feel they don’t need a phone. Ours are set up so they can call or text their parents and a grand parent. They fit their tiny wrist well. They gave the same appearance as the more expensive watch. I come from a family of educators and this is a great way to keep in touch for emergencies or if they have forgotten something or any necessary communication without a phone.Ver más

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Barb S

13 de julio de 2026

Good tracker for young children.

Replacement watch for my granddaughter after she stepped on the original Garmin we bought. This one has a few more features than the other one but it is great for children who are not ready for a phone. You can send messages back and forth as needed and set places where they are allowed to go. The notifications are a great way to keep them safe and know they are where they should be.Ver más

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Eric M.

Vert poor signal & service

Bought because who thought the name Garmin would have issues in the great outdoors! Works great at home and in our neighborhood. Completely lost service driving down highway. At campground with full phone service and other garmin gps systems with no issues. But the Garmin Jr watch has No service, can not track or communicate at all with or son. The only reason we purchased was to have a little less stresss while he rode bikes & hiked with friends. This watch is about useless unless you're in town. As you can see in screenshot picture our phone has full service.Ver más

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Mr. D

Good watch for kids with minimal communication capabilities

Our kid is 7 y.o. and we bought that for her, mainly for three reasons:1. To be able to track her location when she is at school or on a field trips2. Stay connected and give her means to communicate with us on her own when one of us parents is not around (i.e. on a business trip out of town)3. To have a communication device for emergencies, when she needs our helpWe were choosing between different options, but stopped on Garmin, mainly because both of us already are using Garmin watches and other devices.Overall, we are happy with this purchase, however there are some caveats and things that I wish would be done differently.First of all, let's see how goals above are achieved:1. Location tracking: no issues here, Garmin is true leader in GPS systems for a reason. We found location tracking to be accurate and fast-responding enough. There is a feature that allows you to establish a geo-boundaries (e.g. school or neighborhood) and get notified with live tracking each time when kid leaves it.2. Stay connected with family: In general it's achieved, but with some caveats:- Kid can send voice messages (short voice recordings) or preset texts. You cannot type custom text from watches which maybe ok for 7-8 y.o., but probably won't be sufficient for older kids- all the communications work via Garmin Jr app. First, that is not convenient because I don't want another message app. I would prefer it was using at least Garmin Messenger, that I'm already use for InReach (I'm often outdoors with no cell coverage and staying connected with my wife). Second that it requires other family members (e.g. grandparents) to install the app and register to communicate with kid.3. Emergency communications: In general, it's better than nothing (and much more than we had when were kids). However, communications require app, meaning that you won't get kid's texts if you have cell coverage with no good LTE/5G.Other noticeable features:1. Battery lasts for 2 days. Builds a good habit to be responsible and recharge her device. The charging time is a couple of hours and could be better2. There is a "School restrictions" mode that will block most of the features on watch to help kid not be distracted. Which is great, with one huge caveat: it will block messages, including emergency. So, e.g. in case of earthquake and evacuation, kid will not be able to reach out to us until end of school time. That's the reason why we don't use it.3. The screen is big enough, bright and easy to use4. There are some games and additional features but not too much, enough for a kid5. We liked that there is no full internet access or uncontrolled communications with random people (all contacts must be set by parents through the app).6. Kid likes the watch and likes to use them. She also started to track her activities (e.g. hiking, bicycling and etc.) and even joining the family steps competition. I think it's a good help to build healthy life habits7. The communication plan (which is required for messages) costs $99 for a year, which is lower than competitors (but also provides less capabilities - only voice and preset text messages)8. The watch uses its own Garmin Jr. app for everything which leaves a feeling of some disconnect from the rest of Garmin infrastructure. I would love to see kids account in Connect and use Garmin Messenger instead of Garmin Jr.9. We installed a protective screen on the watch to protect from scratches (hence bubbles on the photo)Overall, if you are ok with what mentioned above, I think it's a good watch. But I can see that in the next couple of years it might require an upgrade or some alternative.

Meagan R.

9 de julio de 2026

Great investment for an independent kid

Honestly we’ve been raving about this watch to anyone who will listen! This is a great investment for a kid who is trying to be independent, but you also need to know what is going on with them like where they are, their needs, how many chores they have done, even their exercise. This watch has literally been so easy to use for my son, he loves the features that come with the watch, the option to text or send us a voice chat if he needs something, and the gps feature is awesome. We’ve only had a few random blips with it, but that’s technology for you. We’re so happy we bought this for him! Will definitely get one for our daughter later when she’s old enough for one!Ver más

1 persona la encontró útil

Nikki Offenberg!

20 de junio de 2026

Love it!!

Amazing product for kids! You can stay in communication and track when they leave home or school! My son and daughter are both on track and love to run so we got them each a watch and pay for the monthly service! Unfortunatly my son lost his watch and we can't get another at this time but my daughter uses hers daily and we absolutely love it!Ver más

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ashley

15 de agosto de 2025

Great for young kids

Admittedly I slacked on my son's birthday planning this year. We got home from a two month long cross-country trip 3 days before his 12th birthday. I knew I wanted to get him some sort of smart watch. Preferably one that didn't rely on WiFi so he could use it for after school events, friends houses, etc. I just didn't give myself enough time to really look into all the features of this watch or to compare with many other similar items. Here are the main things I have discovered in the last day of owning this.• Since this requires a monthly LTE plan, I assumed it would come with its own phone number. It does not.• It cannot call or text phone numbers. You have to do all communication through the Garmin junior application. So anyone who wishes to communicate with your child needs to download their app and be invited by the administrator (parent) to your family group.• It only allows your child to choose from 20 pre-set text responses, they cannot text custom messages.• Your child CAN send voice recording messages• The watch itself has been lagging terribly, even just for games.It's not all bad though- the design is very visually appealing. It charges quite fast and fits comfortably. It is waterproof also.I think this is a really good choice for anybody with younger kids (I would say elementary age probably). It would be ideal if the only people communicating with your child are mom and dad and a sibling that wouldn't mind having the app. For older kids it's not the greatest considering they have friends that want to text them also and they are unable to do that like they would with a normal smartwatch. This is a great beginner watch for little kids. The LTE plan is $9.99 monthly or $100 for the entire year so it is quite inexpensive.Ver más

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Nicole Gleadow

Not suitable for use outside the USA

This product is ONLY suitable for use in the USA. It has a US SIM in it which doesn't work on Australian networks. The watch will only work when it is connected to a WiFi or Bluetooth connection, this defeats the purpose of your child being able to contact you when they are out. I've been advised to return the watch and purchase one through Garmin Australia.Ver más

Alfonso Gutierrez

23 de julio de 2026

Falta Servicio

El servicio de localización y llamadas de Garmin al parecer aún no está disponible en México

Charlene Brownlie

29 de abril de 2026

Watch review

Batter is poor, needs charged frequently. I assumes it would be the same as my husbands garmin in terms of quality but the battery life is disappointing

DanEE

1 de marzo de 2026

UK - will not work

UK buyer - the tracking and messaging does not work unless on WiFi which defeats the point of why I bought it. It also let me pay for a monthly subscription even though it won’t work!

padillapa

21 de abril de 2026