If you don’t have a Verizon account and don’t want one, the Gabb Watch is your next-cheapest option. Its price increased after its initial launch, but it’s still one of the most affordable kids smartwatches worth your consideration at around $150. (SafeWise readers get another $50 off their Gabb Wireless purchase, so don’t forget to use code SAFEWISE at checkout.)
It’s also the best GPS- and call-enabled smartwatch for younger kids—say around age 6 and up—thanks to the fun virtual pet game.
The Gabb Watch features virtual pets that kids can feed, pet, and train with digital coins. They earn coins by logging steps on the watch’s pedometer and by completing tasks on their to-do lists.
Parents set up tasks on the phone app, so you can completely customize how hard your youngster has to work for those coins. It’s a nice way to incentivize them to brush their teeth, make their bed, and put their homework in their backpack.
The Verizon GizmoWatch Disney Edition doesn’t have much in the way of fun other than some cool backgrounds. The GizmoWatch 2 boasts one game, which gets kids jumping like a kangaroo. The Gabb Watch is the better option for entertaining your kid.
Both GizmoWatches let parents hear what’s going on around their child through a drop-in audio feature. Although we don’t consider it a critical feature for our rankings, it comes in handy if the child is unable to answer a call or if parents just want to make sure everything’s going well at a playdate.
The Gabb Watch doesn’t have this “stealthy check-in” feature, and it’s also lacking a location history option. You’ll see your child’s real-time GPS location when checking in, but you can’t see where they were in the past.
