As parents of kids who are growing and becoming more independent, one of our prime concerns is their safety, especially when we are not physically with them. Whether they are at a play date, a party or a sleepover, out shopping or watching a film, many parents dream about being a fly on the wall and following their kids’ activity to have the peace of mind that they are safe.
For those kids who are too young for a phone, it can be challenging to keep in touch, which is why we were very excited when we heard about the launch of the new ‘Go Connect Kids Watch’. The watch enables parents to track their kids’ location in real time and so much more.
We asked one of our writers, Glorianne, a working mother of four children aged between 2 and 12 to test the watch with her 10-year old son. This is what she learnt in her words:
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The Appearance
The Go Connect Kids Watch is a cool colourful watch. It is actually very light and has clearly been designed to cater for the comfort of a kid’s small wrist. It comes with two durable rubber wristbands in two different colours, red and blue, which our tester Gianni absolutely loved. We were told other colours are also available.
The watch’s touch-screen functionality makes it fun and easy for kids to use. I also must mention the glow-in-the-dark USB charger, which was a big hit with Gianni and his friends. Charging the watch is pretty fast too and the charge lasts long too.
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Setting up
This was very straightforward and only took a few minutes to complete. The GO SIM card (which comes with the device) is inserted in the watch and the MyKi watch app is installed on the parents’ Android or iOS device. Once the watch is paired with the parent’s mobile device through a mobile application, you are both literally good to go.
The insertion of parents’ contact numbers (and any other important numbers) is probably the most important step before your kid starts using the device. We were happy to learn that more than one watch can be paired with the MyKi app for those parents with more than one kid and that the watch can be paired with more than one phone. Once we started using the MyKi app, we were surprised at how incredibly intuitive it is and at the level of detail it provides.
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Functionality
Once paired, you will experience what the GO Connect Kids Watch’s main purpose is all about – you get remarkable accurate GPS location of the watch on your app. What is also great is that you can actually see the current location as well as the location history of where your kid has been (genius!).
So, for example, if your kid is getting a lift back home from a party with a friend, you can actually track their trip back home in real time and as a bonus you can also track the speed with which they are travelling in the car! It also has other important functions such as the setting up of two safe zones that sends alerts if and when your kid leaves those set boundaries.
Parents also receive alerts instantly when the watch is taken off or put back on. Incredibly enough you can also track your kid’s physical activity and the quality of his or her sleep. We honestly were amazed at its accuracy.
If your kid is getting a lift back home from a party with a friend, you can actually track their trip back home in real time and as a bonus you can also track the speed with which they are travelling in the car!
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Communication
The two touch screen pictures on the screen allow calls with parents, while other authorized contacts which you wish your kid to be able to call can also be added.The ‘GO Connect Kids Watch’ is a safe communication tool which parents can provide pre-teen kids who may not be ready for a mobile phone. It allows for the functions required for parents to have peace of mind that their kid is safe, including: two-way voice communication between kid and parent, and location tracking without all the other distractions that a mobile phone provides.
An important communication function is the SOS button which you can set to call specific numbers automatically when pressed. Two-way voice messages can also be sent and that’s a bonus. You can be sure that your kid will just love using this watch as Gianni loved speaking to Mum or Dad through the watch and sending and receiving voice messages.
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The price
The GO Connect Kids Watch is being offered at a special device price with Home Pack and Freedom Plans with 2-year contracts at €29.99 and a monthly tariff rate of €6.99. The benefits include unlimited calls and SMS to GO numbers (fixed and mobile in Malta) as well as 30 free minutes and 30 SMS to other local and EU numbers. The retail price is otherwise €99.99.
After trying the Go Connect Kids Watch first hand, we can safely say that this is a sound investment for parents with kids who are old enough to be out and about and too young to have a mobile phone. The peace of mind it offers to parents in our opinion is extremely valuable. To understand more about the benefits of this Watch, we suggest visiting a Go outlet near you to test it and see if it is a right fit for you and your child.
