Best smartwatch for kids 2023: smartwatches and fitness trackers

The best smartwatches for kids will give your little ones many of the features included in smartwatches built for adults, with a more playful approach to design and the smarts that come packed into them.

These mini wearables can also track activity, let you see phone notifications, handle calls and even include things you actually won’t find on more grown-up equivalents, such as cameras.

Note, if you’re looking for something a little more lightweight – you can also get fitness trackers for children. These can be found in Stuff‘s best fitness trackers for kids guide.

There’s a growing amount of smartwatches out there now that are built specifically for the wrists of children of all ages but there are some good and not-so-good ones. We’ve picked out the best smartwatches for kids that we think are worth considering.

So whether you don’t want to dish out a smartphone just yet or you like the idea of some of the safety features that these wearables offer, these are the top children’s smartwatches to take a look at.

Oh, and if you’re shopping for an adult, don’t forget to check out our lists of the best smartwatch overall as well as the best GPS watches.

What’s the best smartwatch for kids?

We think the Spacetalk Adventurer (buy now) is the best smartwatch for kids. The Adventurer offers a good mix of safety and fun smarts to make it appealing to both kids and parents as well.

Other kids smartwatch recommendations

The best kids’ smartwatches you can buy today:

1. Spacetalk Adventurer

The Spacetalk Adventurer is a full-featured kids’ smartwatch that ticks off offering something that can handle taking calls, help parents know their child is safe and there’s some smarts to have fun with too.

Those features are all packed into a design that offers some resistance against water with the OLED touchscreen display firmed up with some Gorilla Glass to give it an extra layer of protection.

For parents, it can be used as a GPS tracker to monitor the location of the wearer along with creating safe zones they can stay inside of, with 4G connectivity and the ability to send text messages also supported.

For the kids, there’s a 5-megapixel camera to snap pics with, a heart rate monitor and a step counter to keep active, plus a school mode that strips back those features so they can only be distracted by checking in on the time.

2. NickWatch

NickWatch, from everyone’s favourite kids’ brand Nickelodeon, has all the features you’d expect of a connected kids’ smartwatch, including GPS tracking, two-way messaging, calling, and a camera. But, what’s special about NickWatch is that it’s plastered with Nickelodeon characters and colourful icons throughout the whole operating system.

Beloved characters such as Spongebob Squarepants, The Loud House and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles star in regularly updated games and promote creativity, independence and physical activity. This, we think, is an amazing feature that will make children actually want to wear the watch.

NickWatch comes equipped with a USB-C cable for charging and two easily changeable velcro watch bands: the grey Simple Strap and the Snazzy Strap printed with Nickelodeon characters. 

3. Vtech Kidizoom Smart Watch D

Vtech’s smartwatch sits at the more fun end of the kids’ watch spectrum and is aimed at users aged 4-12 and comes in your pick of just pink or blue case looks.

That case is only splashproof, so not fit to go for a dip in the water but does host a good-sized, 1.44-inch LCD display that is the touchscreen kind little fingers can prod at.

The fun stuff includes a dual camera to drop effects onto images and videos, playing augmented reality games and being able to personalise watch faces. There’s even some onboard memory for a voice recorder feature.

It lacks big safety features found on other smartwatches but does include the ability to track daily activity if that’s something that’s important to you. Ultimately though, this is a smartwatch that’s a good pick for much younger users who want something on their wrist that has a more playful feel.

4. Apple Watch SE

The Apple Watch SE is primarily designed for adults, but with the addition of Apple’s new Family Setup feature, it’s one that can feasibly work for older kids too as opposed to the ones that are still running rings around you.

Using that Family Setup means an adult can let their child use the Watch to receive notifications, make calls and share location, putting some of its typical features off limits in the process.

If you’re worried they might go on an App Store spending spree you can set it up so you have approval on app and game purchases and when they wander to school with it you can set up the Schooltime mode to stop them from being pestered by notifications until they’re out of the school gates at the end of the day.

So they get one of the best smartwatches available and you can keep in control of the big Watch features they’re using and when they’re using them.

5. Xplora X6 Play

Another kids smartwatch that aims to offer plenty of grown-up smartwatch features along with one’s parents can put to good use from afar, the R1 is equipped with 4G/LTE connectivity to handle calls and uses that onboard connectivity along with GPS to locate the position of the wearer and includes a class mode to turn off distracting features.

It’s been given a raised edge design to help protect the display from damage, has a splashproof as opposed to a swim-friendly design and does let you change the straps if they start to get a bit grubby.

You can snap pictures with a 2-megapixel camera, pile on up to 500 songs to turn it into a music player and include fitness tracker smarts to help make sure your little ones are not sitting staring at a screen for most of the day. It’s a good-looking kids’ smartwatch with plenty of strong features that inevitably push the price up.

Now check out the best fitness trackers for adults, from Fitbit and Garmin to Withings and more.