The $300 connected watch is a smartphone alternative for kids<\/p>\n
As part of a surprise wave of new launches, Garmin has unveiled the Bounce 2, a reimagined LTE-connected smartwatch<\/a> for kids. <\/p>\n The latest upgrade to the line, which is available now for $300\/\u00a3260 (plus a $10\/\u00a310 monthly subscription), remains designed to be a phone alternative for parents who want to stay connected with their children.<\/p>\n The launch sees Garmin doubling down on the increasingly niche kids\u2019 smartwatch market, a space that has seen few new entries from major tech brands over the last half-decade. <\/p>\n While Apple has slowly positioned its Watch SE<\/a> line for older children and Google updated its Fitbit Ace tracker last year<\/a>, dedicated, connected smartwatches for a younger audience remain rare.<\/p>\n The core of the Bounce 2 is its LTE connectivity, which provides a suite of peace-of-mind features for parents managed through the Garmin Jr. app. <\/p>\n These include two-way voice calling, text and voice messaging, and real-time location tracking. A new temporary geofencing feature can also alert parents when their child enters or leaves a predefined area, like a park or a friend\u2019s house.<\/p>\n \n Advertisement <\/p>\n For the kids themselves, the Bounce 2 features a bright, round 1.2-inch AMOLED display and a swim-friendly design. <\/p>\n It comes loaded with built-in sports apps for tracking activities like running and cycling, and, in a notable entertainment upgrade, it now supports Amazon Music for phone-free listening through the watch\u2019s speaker or paired headphones. <\/p>\n However, it does also arrive with a battery life claim of just two days. That would see it surpass both Apple and Google\u2019s kid-friendly alternatives, but it\u2019s still not a device with tons of staying power\u2014something to consider if you\u2019re not looking to add another device to your charging routine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The $300 connected watch is a smartphone alternative for kids As part of a surprise wave of new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35692,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[356,111,139,69,145],"class_list":{"0":"post-35691","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gadgets","8":"tag-gadgets","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}