There are a great deal of wearables in the marketplace for teenagers, however sadly, a lot of the ones you will discover on Amazon are both glorified toys or bought by some shady reseller. One model that’s neither of these issues is Gabb.
I’ve had the prospect to assessment a number of units from the corporate, and the most recent, Gabb Watch 3, is an effective improve over earlier fashions. It retains the nice, revises issues that might be higher, and provides some new options like voice typing and a full-fledged health monitoring app. After a few month of testing with my eight-year-old son, it is secure to say that Gabb has one other strong product.
Easy however not empty
From technology to technology, Gabb has stayed with a reasonably constant design language for its kid-focused wearables. From the primary Gabb Watch to the brand new Gabb Watch 3, the design has advanced from a small sq. system to a barely thicker and extra rectangular type. This yr, you possibly can choose up the watch in both black on black or black on silver, with a coordinating rubbery 20mm watch band.
In any other case, the two-button setup stays on the precise aspect of the look ahead to going again house or again within the UI and one for turning off the show. As for the show, it is a 1.41-inch, full-color touchscreen panel lined by sturdy Gorilla Glass 3. Serving to out with the sturdiness is a water and dirt resistance ranking of IP68, which my son did his finest to check. I’m joyful to say the watch survived.
The Gabb Watch 3 isn’t a flashy-looking system, however it’s practical and straightforward for teenagers to make use of.
Inside the watch is a 500mAh battery that, in testing, has lasted a full day of use. It is not 24 hours, however 12-14 hours, relying on the place we’re and the mobile protection. Extra on the mobile service a bit later. One thing that I used to be very shocked to see within the field when setting the watch up was a wi-fi charger and never the POGO pin type that each Gabb and practically each different prime youngsters smartwatch has been utilizing. This can be a true wi-fi charger such as you’d discover for the high-end Samsung Galaxy Watch 6. completely different tech as a result of I examined it on my watch, however identical concept.
I do know this will not look like an enormous deal to some, however for those who’re a mother or father or an grownup who spends time taking part in outdoor, these contact factors on the bottom of the watch can get fairly gross and have to be cleaned to ensure that the charger really to cost the watch. By putting off that charging technique, the Gabb Watch 3 has no points charging — regardless of how arduous your child performs.
Transferring onto the watch’s interface and what youngsters will really work together with, it’s a easy method that solely wants a number of swipes and faucets on massive icons to get what your little one wants carried out. My son had no hassle discerning what every icon was for in order that he may shortly ship a message, examine in together with his location, or see what number of steps he had taken.
One thing new to the Gabb Watch 3 that was lacking from earlier fashions is a full keyboard. Truly, there are two keyboards, T9 and a grid of letters, after which the addition to associate with these choices, and the voice message is voice-to-text. Allow to make use of this, you will need to arrange a Gabb ID in your little one that’s tied to your account. As soon as carried out, your little one can faucet on the microphone within the message app, converse the message, faucet the mic once more, after which faucet ship. I used to be very impressed with the velocity, accuracy, and auto-punctuation of the function.
Whereas I am glad there’s a keyboard to sort customized messages with, the voice-to-text function is implausible.
Along with customized messages with the keyboard(s) or voice-to-text, there are additionally preset messages that your little one can merely faucet to ship. These choices might be modified or added too by way of the parental companion app.
It is on this companion app that you simply, the mother or father, can set as much as 100 contacts in your kid’s watch. Should you do not add the contact to the watch by way of the myGabb app, your little one cannot contact the particular person, and vice versa. The myGabb app can also be the place you possibly can create reminders in your little one, set quiet occasions when the watch is silent and apps are disabled, monitor your kid’s location, and extra.
Secure Zones is one in all my favourite options as a result of it permits you to create a geofence round a spot or college, for instance, and when your little one enters or leaves that zone, you will be notified. That is additionally useful for occasions when your little one is at a good friend’s home or strolling house from college. As a result of you possibly can set a number of zones, you may make one for your home, too.
Comparatively minor complaints
One thing that had been lacking in earlier Gabb watches was Wi-Fi, so that may be a function that I am very joyful to see within the Gabb Watch 3. Although this can be a cellular-connected system, for those who occur to be in an space like mine that has poor mobile protection, Wi-Fi might help out fairly a bit. Other than enabling higher messaging capabilities, it additionally helps prolong battery life because the watch will not be straining a lot to remain linked.
Sadly, the watch solely works on the Gabb Wi-fi community, which is a Verizon Wi-fi MVNO. For a lot of, this may not be a problem, however for those who do not dwell the place Verizon has good protection, that may restrict the watch’s utilization and battery life. This isn’t a brand new factor for the Gabb Watch 3, and in lots of cases, it really works high quality, however it’s price being conscious of.
The opposite small factor that is not nice is the general battery life. Whereas a traditional day of use must be no drawback. If that day occurs to be an extended one which has extra messaging or location pings, that battery may not make it. Then, as simple as it’s, youngsters can nonetheless neglect to cost the watch. That is why all units, particularly ones made for youngsters, have to have no less than a full 24 hours of use between costs with regular utilization. Dad and mom have to know that in most conditions, ought to a baby neglect to cost up their Gabb Watch 3, it is going to nonetheless be out there the subsequent day.
Do you have to purchase the Gabb Watch 3?
Getting a linked system for a kid could be a very tough activity. Between there not being many dependable choices and security issues, lots goes into making a alternative. Gabb has been a frontrunner in youngsters’ tech for a few years now. From the Gabb Watch 3 to providing a number of the finest telephones for teenagers, Gabb is aware of what it is doing.
Whereas the Gabb Watch 3 does not provide as many bells and whistles because the TickTalk 4, it’s aimed toward a youthful viewers. Certain, there are occasions when a video name might be useful, nevertheless it’s another factor for teenagers to mess with and get distracted. Talking of that, there are some small video games, like caring for a digital pet, and fitness-focused video games, the Gabb Watch 3 is a good way for teenagers and fogeys to remain linked and have peace of thoughts.
Battery life might be higher, and extra flexibility in what mobile service for the system could be nice, however these are fairly minor points. Location monitoring, geofencing, a number of communication strategies, scheduled quiet time, and extra all add as much as a top quality and secure expertise for all concerned.
Splendidly easy
Whereas it could lack the bells and whistles of another choices, the Gabb Watch 3 is a implausible alternative for folks of youthful youngsters. Older youngsters might take pleasure in it as effectively, however the lack of apps and a digicam could also be a bummer for them. However for youthful youngsters, it’s a nice mixture of enjoyable and performance. Dad and mom can hold tabs on youngsters, and the youngsters can really feel extra unbiased.
