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There are some non-negotiables when it comes to boxes the best kids’ smartwatches should tick. They need to comfortable, fairly robust, and have reassuring safety features and parental controls.
Beyond this, you can also expect to find kids’ smartwatches with similar features to the best adult smartwatches. For this review, my three young testers and I used watches with activity and health tracking, GPS tracking, and calls and video calls. These “phone watches” can be a great choice for parents who aren’t quite ready to purchase a mobile for their child, but want to safely stay in touch with them. Bear in mind you’ll probably need to cover the rolling cost of a SIM card for these kinds of features though.
If your child is keen on sport (more than 90 per cent of children between five and 16 years old reportedly are), you might purchase a wearable tech gadget to encourage and track movement. By wearing a watch, they can reach their step goals, with more advanced options tracking heart rate, too.
Ultimately, parents should consider what they want to get out of their kids’ smartwatches, whether that’s a fitness tracker, a mini mobile phone or simply a more interactive watch. Here, I’ve rounded up the best ones on the market from a parent’s perspective.
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The best smartwatches for kids in 2026 are: Best overall – Garmin vivofit jr.3: £64.99, Amazon.co.ukBest budget buy – Disney Encanto character print smartwatch: £24.99, Amazon.co.ukBest for heart-rate monitoring – myFirst fone S3: £169.99, Myfirsttech.comBest for easy set-up – Tikkers plain blue interactive watch and headphone set: £34.99, Argos.co.ukHow I tested
With the help of three testers (aged four, six and 13), I put a selection of kids’ smartwatches to the test over many weeks, assessing them on factors such as battery life, fun factor and screen quality. You can scroll to the bottom of my review for a more in-depth look at my full testing criteria.
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