You may have read about children being abducted at shopping malls increasingly in South Africa over the last few years. If you are a parent, it becomes a major concern.
When it comes to kids’ safety, one gadget comes to mind: a GPS-tracking watch. And it’s not just any smart watch, it is one built especially for kids with a key geo-fencing feature as most smartwatches are aimed at adults. This also ensures they don’t have access to features like making and receiving calls and texts to unapproved contacts.
Here are five watches to consider:
Huawei Watch Kids 4 Pro
Huawei’s watch has an advanced GPS with a 9 system AI positioning to locate kids with pin-point accuracy, and a safe zone so you’ll be notified when they leave that area. It has a one-button SOS emergency call function that automatically captures photos of their location. It features a 5MP camera for HD calls, supports 4G/LTE, is swim proof up to 50m, supports fast charging and tracks activities. Available in pink or blue.
Funky by Fabulously Fit
This kids smart watch by Fabulously Fit supports a 4G SIM, and lets you accurately track your kids at any time, even where there is no signal, using its GPS. It has an SOS panic button, geo-fence alarm that can be tracked on the app, sleep monitoring, a chat function, torch, camera, and phone book. Available in blue, pink and black.
Polaroid Kids Tracking Watch
The Polaroid tracking watch has full GPS real-time tracking functionality to check on kids at any time, including historical data and geo-fencing safe zones. It is supports 2G for voice calls, is splash proof, i.e., not suitable for swimming, and has an emergency SOS function. Kids can only receive calls from approved numbers and not strangers. It also tracks calories and steps, sleep monitoring and remote shutdown. Available in pink, blue and black.
Volkano Kids Find Me
This GPS tracking smart watch lets you track your child in real-time with an app, as well as a geo-fence so you will get notified when they leave it. You can check in on them by 2-way communication as it supports a SIM and raise alarm with the SOS auto-call button. It also notifies when the watch is removed. It doubles up as a fitness tracker and sleep monitor. It has a 100-hour standby time. Available in blue or pink.
Vodacom Neo
The list wouldn’t be complete without Vodacom’s own Neo smart watch with ergonomic strap that can be personalised with Disney characters, including Star Wars, Pixar, and Marvel. It has a built-in eSIM that supports location tracking, a circle of contacts with parental controls, a 5MP camera, activity tracker, calendar, and weather info. It also has an IP68 waterproof rating and 24-hour battery. Available in green and blue.
Find out more about the Vodacom Neo watch here.
Cover image by Getty Images
