A few years ago I had a smartwatch for Mother’s Day, nothing especially fancy but I still love it and wear it everyday without fail. In fact, I hate taking it off to charge! The two main things I value mine for are the step counter and the time.

One of the children has always liked the idea of counting steps and when I first got mine, used to ask to wear it all of the time. During the Easter holidays we have been trying out the new Xplora XGO2 Android smartwatch for kids is now available in the UK.

Tell me more

The XGO2 is an affordable yet feature rich smart watch with mobile phone and GPS tracking capabilities, providing premium quality components to please both children and parents. Completely GDPR compliant, it is an ideal first phone for children aged 5-12. The Xplora XGO2 is available in black, blue, green or pink from Amazon with Prime delivery and the Xplora website for £99.99.

Need to know more?

The XGO2 allows kids to use a range of functions whilst remaining safe and secure. Running on Android 4.4 with a 1.4” capacitive touch colour LCD screen and a resolution of 240 x 240, it is easy to use and is incredibly responsive with its 1.2 GHz Quad Core ARM Cortex A7 frequency, 512MB RAM and Spreadtrum SC9820E chipset.

When wearing and using the device, children have the ability to make and receive voice calls from pre-saved numbers only, so they can communicate with friends or family without the risk of receiving any unsolicited calls – ideal for younger children seeking a bit more independence.

These contacts can be managed on the parent’s app which is free to download and helps adults to ensure children are only talking to trusted contacts. The watch does not feature social media, making the safety of children using it a priority. The device can also receive and reply to text messages including text, emojis, images and voice messages. With a 0.3 megapixel camera and 4GB storage, there is also plenty of room to store photos.

Including a 700mAh battery providing 72 hours of standby battery and working with Wi-Fi as well as 4G, 3G and 2G connectivity, the watch ensures reliable connectivity and is also IP67 water resistant so can survive a rainy day or messy play session outdoors! 

What else?

One of the most exciting features on the XGO2 watch is the step counter which encourages children to stay active, investigate and explore and to also be rewarded for this! With in-built G Sensors, the XGO2 accurately tracks kid’s steps which earn them Xplora Coins to be used in the ground breaking and award winning Xplora Goplay Platform.

This aims to motivate children to spend more time taking part in physical activities offline in exchange for virtual rewards that can later be redeemed online via a gaming platform. Having announced partnerships with big names including Sony PlayStation, Peter Rabbit, Dr Who and the most recent partnership with Tom & Jerry which launched on the 15^th February 2021, Xplora are regularly adding new rewards to the platform, giving an incentive from characters that children are familiar with to keep getting outside!

Children earn one coin for every 1000 steps they make and these coins can then be used to claim products, merchandise from these shows and movies and even online game time such as the Tom & Jerry Pinball game. If they achieve a top 3 placement on the leader board, kids can also receive exclusive prize bundles which could include Bluetooth speakers, Amazon Fire kids tablets, instant cameras and RYZE Tello drones!  All collaborations are specifically designed to keep kids motivated, engaged, and moving. Children who wear Xplora smartwatches and engage with the Goplay platform typically take up to 300% more steps a day than regular users!

Good for parents

Many parents are constantly trying to both get their children to move more and also communicate more effectively with them – these two things are the focus of the Xplora.

Including many features that are designed to keep kids safe whilst being online, the emergency SOS button can be pressed by the child if needed and will notify their emergency contacts of their location. The XGO2 also uses multiple services to show the devices location (GPS + Wi-Fi + LBS) to ensure it is accurate. There is also the option to setup Safety Zones around key locations such as home and school so alerts can be sent if children exit these areas. This is one of my favourite features as I think it allows parents to give children a bit more freedom with reasonable limits and safety measures in place.

Providing ultimate parental control, parents can rest assured their children are safe whilst still allowing some freedom and independence thanks to the full control and visibility with functionality and settings that are all controlled from the app, including managing saved contacts.

School Mode can also be activated during school time, so that there are no distractions in class with just the watch clock displaying but all calls and messages disabled. Whilst School Mode is on however, parents are still able to track the watch location and the SOS function is still active.

I’m really impressed with the number of features on these watches and I think they are ideal for younger children who don’t have their own phones.

What the kids think

So far, their favourite thing is the step counter and aiming to get more steps than me everyday. They like the idea of rewards for steps and have also taken a gazillion selfies with the camera feature…mainly nostril shots, but, I’m sure that will improve in time.

They also love the fact that they can make calls and send emojis. The watch seems comfortable to wear and easy to charge.

Anything else?

Additional features on the XGO2 include a torch, schedules, alarm and stopwatch to keep kids organised and on time. The XGO2 charges with a Pogo Pin magnetic charger allowing for contactless magnetic charging and also fits a Nano SIM card.

For more information, please visit https://myxplora.co.uk/