The Fitbit Ace LTE, a fantastic youngsters’ smartwatch, is all the way down to $170

The Fitbit Ace LTE is a good smartwatch for youths who aren’t fairly prepared for his or her first smartphone. It has cute video games, a enjoyable little exercise tracker, location monitoring, and it lets youngsters name or textual content with preselected contacts. There’s no app retailer, no web entry, no smartphone connection, and no method for them to get spam calls or texts. It’s all the way down to $170.95 from $229.99 on Amazon in each spicy (inexperienced and grey, with a purple and inexperienced band) and delicate (grey, with a grey and black band) throughout the present arbitrary buying occasion. My daughter has been utilizing one since this summer season, and we each suggest it.

The Ace LTE is a cross-platform standalone watch; dad and mom or guardians set it up utilizing the Fitbit Ace app on Android or iOS. That app can be the place you select who your baby can name or textual content (these individuals additionally want the Ace app), set college hours (no video games or incoming telephone calls), and test on location (although location sharing additionally exhibits up within the Google Maps app, which is good). Calling, texting, and site sharing require the Ace Cross, which is $9.99 per 30 days and permits LTE entry. There’s no service integration required.

The watch additionally has interchangeable bands, at $40 a pop, that unlock new video games and actions when related. It’s a shameless try to have interaction the gotta-catch-em-all mode — or at the least encourage watchband swapping at recess — and it’ll in all probability work.

The Verge’s Vee Track did a hands-on with the Ace LTE earlier this 12 months, and my household has been testing one since June. My favourite factor about it’s that it lets my nine-year-old textual content me, which I actually appreciated throughout the summer season when she was at day camp. She was capable of inform me her brother wanted dry sneakers, for instance, or that the toys on the toy museum they visited regarded creepy and that the place smelled bizarre. It opened up a complete new method of speaking in comparison with the preset textual content replies and 20-second audio clips she needed to work with on the Garmin Bounce.

The Ace LTE is greatest suited to youngsters between possibly 7 and 11 years outdated, by which age they’ll in all probability begin to chafe at its limitations in comparison with an Apple Watch or an precise telephone. However for now, I’m cherishing these limitations. Search for my full evaluation quickly.