T-Mobile launches new kid's watch
T-Mobile has launched the SyncUP KIDS Watch 2, an updated version of its earlier watch aimed at the under 12 year-old market. With the addition of dual cameras and Bluetooth pairing, the watch now becomes a viable alternative to a phone for the younger market and should help T-Mobile to capture more share of this demographic – or more accurately, the parents who want to provide their young child with a watch. Priced at $174, the watch will be an appealing option; better yet, the watch is effectively free if purchased with a SyncUP KIDS Watch standalone plan.
The watch has all the major features one would expect (for parents) such as virtual boundary alerts and other tracking capabilities. There is also a “School Mode” which disables alerts while your little one is supposed to be studying. That may help to alleviate proposed bans on smartwatches in some states (such as California). One small short cut, however, is that the watch is only splash resistant rather than fully waterproof.
The Circana Take:
- The video calling is a nice feature, helping bring the watch’s features closer to those of a smartphone. However, it is not without limitations: video calls are limited to 5-6 minutes (with the caveat of “as long as the watch is not overheating”). It makes sense, as battery conservation is key, but the fact that T-Mobile needs to highlight overheating as an issue could be a concern.
- It should be noted that video calling is also limited to the T-Mobile T Life app: this is not a watch that can support WhatsApp or other video calling options. Of course, compared to other watches, which offer no video calling features, this is hardly a limiting factor.
- A SyncUP KIDS watch line costs $12 per month (as long as AutoPay is used). This is a little higher than the usual $10 per month for a typical watch add but, with video calling, you can expect data consumption to be a little higher on this line compared to many watches.
- The watch line needs to be added to an existing phone line service. That’s normal, but we would like to see T-Mobile truly offer a “standalone” plan. That would pull more families to the carrier by first connecting the kid with T-Mobile, and later pulling over the parents.