Bounce™, Kids Smartwatch, Two-Way Text and Voice Messaging, Location Tracking, Black Camo

We have had this watch for about four months now. I got this for my 10/11 year old son for the summer as we moved to a new neighborhood where he is out and about a lot, and I wanted to be able to reach him and know where he’s at. I was not ready for him to have a phone. But I did want to see if he could be responsible enough to wear this and communicate with it as well as keep it charged and undamaged. The watch itself is really good at tracking activity, that’s just a bonus for him and for us, because that’s not really why we got it. The communication is pretty good. He can only reach out to our family who has downloaded the app. I did download the app for his older brother on his phone and they can contact each other as well too. So he can’t reach out to most of his friends, etc. unless they were to download the Garmin app on their phone. but that is not the intent. The location overall is pretty good, especially if you save locations it will not notify you when he gets to those locations or leaves those locations. Sometimes it is delayed by a minute or two. Which is fine for us. His location uploads about once an hour, so I can go on the app every couple hours and check where he’s at without having to manually load it. If I want to know real time where he’s at, I can just refresh it and it takes less than a minute for him to find his exact location. He’s been back to school for about two weeks now, and I put it in school mode and he keeps it in his book back. They don’t allow smart watches at school. I like to use this because he gets on and off the bus, so I know his location and how close he is to home. It will also track some steps in his book bag, but overall not very accurate because he’s not physically wearing it. Overall, I think this watch is great. I think it’s a great bridge to a phone. It’s a good way to know their location for sure and also for them to start with easy communications. The chores were fun for a little while, but that faded. I’m glad he has this watch because I don’t feel pressured to get him a smart phone. At least not yet. I would recommend. It does require a $10/mo garmin subscription which is fine. Once he does get a phone, I will pass this on to his younger sister. I wish I started using it earlier with him!

Great purchase. We love the design and reliability of Garmin. We especially appreciate the texting and tracking functions.

Why we chose it: 1. GPS tracking – I can always see where she is. 2. Easy setup – The watch’s plan is with Garmin, not our phone company, so if we ever change carriers, nothing changes for her watch. 3. Safe messaging – She can send and receive text or voice messages, but the texts are pre-written by us in the family app. No keyboard on the watch. 4. A few simple games – It has 4 games she’ll probably get bored of quickly, but I’m fine with all of them. 5. School-time focus – I can set “quiet times” so games and messaging are off during school. 6. Safety zones – I get a text if she leaves or arrives at certain places, like karate, tennis, or a friend’s house. 7. Chores & rewards – I can set chores, and she earns rewards when she completes them. 8. Activity tracking – It counts her steps and even shows her my steps too, so we can motivate each other to stay active. We wanted something that keeps her safe and lets us stay in touch, but without the distractions and app overload of a phone or full smartwatch. So far, it’s been a win for us.

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 trips 2. 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 help We 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 better 2. 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 use 4. There are some games and additional features but not too much, enough for a kid 5. 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 habits 7. 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.

When these watches are working they are wonderful. But more often they are causing me issues. We got two for our 5 and 7-year-old for Christmas. Right off the bat opening them one (lilac) would not even turn on and had to be exchange for a new one. After getting the new one it was working great and randomly the watches switched profiles so one kids credentials went on the other and they had to swap their watches out (they are different colors) for them to be the right ones. The following day the original one (green) we bought that was working fine Christmas Day completely stopped working and just had a blank screen. I've been trying to factory reset them and they just won't reset. I am very upset and disappointed this has been a huge waste of time a big inconvenience and a sad situation for my children who were really looking forward to them. Also the app is a pain in the rear. Adding contacts is impossible and finding support videos is slim to none! I followed directions in the manual to a T (which I had to download to my phone.... annoying) and had no success!

This has been a great investment for our family. It allows our 7 year old to stay connected to us but without a cell phone or Apple Watch! We really like being able to track her when she’s at camp but also send her messages if she needs us or we want to make sure she’s okay. Battery life has been exceptional, I know there were some reviews that said it wasn’t good but when we charge it at night it’s still around 70%. My daughter picked up how to use it quickly and had no issues learning the games, audio messages and texting. It’s extremely durable, my daughter wears it in the pool, on hikes and when showering and it has really held up! I would definitely recommend.

Our daughter asked for one of these for Christmas. She’s 10 and in fourth grade. It’s very cute and was easy to set up. It functions as expected. We are pleased with all of the things it does. We are able to track her live and communicate with her which gave us peace of mind when she went to summer camp this summer. I would say it fits her well and the colors is cute. We do pay a monthly subscription of 12.99 but we feel like that’s not a terrible expense for being able to track her and talk to her without having to have a cell phone. We also coparent so it’s nice to be able to talk to her while she’s away. Would buy again.

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.