Being eight years old, my son doesn’t go anywhere on his own. However, recently, after a football tournament he got separated from me in a sea of children all wearing the same kit. Nothing happened but he was a bit shaken up when he realised the woman he’d been trying to catch up with wasn’t me and I was in a bit of a state trying to push through the crowd to find him. Just normal growing up stuff. It did play on my mind however and made me worry about how big the crowds would be at our upcoming trip to Universal Studios, Florida. So, when the chance to test out the Garmin Bounce 2 smartwatch, which features two-way calling, text messaging and real-time location tracking, came about it seemed serendipitous…
What is the Garmin Bounce 2?
Before I dive into my honest thoughts on the Garmin Bounce 2 after using it (on my son) for two weeks in America and two weeks back at home in the UK, let’s look at exactly what it is. Marketed by Garmin as a way for parents to delay giving their children a smartphone, the Garmin Bounce 2 is a smartwatch designed specifically for kids, which features LTE connectivity.
Using the Garmin Jr app, the watch allows users to track their children using real-time location tracking and set safe-zone alerts. You can have a conversation via two-way calling and send and receive text messages, too.
Other notable features of the watch include GPS-enabled activity tracking, simple games to play and the ability to listen to Amazon Music. Some parents may also like the ability to issue tasks and rewards.
Looking much like an adult Garmin sports watch and featuring the same high build quality, the watch has a clear and very bright 1.2in AMOLED touchscreen and is waterproof.
The Garmin Bounce 2 comes in teal, black and lilac and has an RRP of $299/£260 but is often discounted. As well as the inconsiderable initial outlay, to use the watches’ location and messaging features, parents will need to purchase an LTE subscription for $9.99/£9.99 a month, or $99/$99 a year.
Garmin Bounce 2: Initial thoughts
After charging in a hotel overnight, I gave my son the Garmin Bounce 2 at the airport ahead of our trip. His initial reaction couldn’t have been better – he loved that it looked like his dad’s smartwatch, liked the teal colourway and said it was comfortable to wear – this was good news for me as previous (non-smart) watches has been abandoned due to being irritating to wear.
Although the games on the watch are simple, my son was elated there was games on it at all, especially given his Switch has accidentally gone in the hold luggage. So far so good!
The Garmin Jr app makes setting the watch up, and accessing all of it’s features, easy. Everything from setting a daily steps goal to setting the safety numbers the Bounce 2 will call in an emergency, if your child requests assistance (up to three numbers) is simple.
After activating my LTE subscription, the location tracking etc. started working without drama. Using it around the airport, I was impressed with how accurate and consistent it was and hoped it worked the same when we landed in Florida. My son’s first text message turned out to be quite a sweet and exciting moment. Social media and accessing the internet aren’t on his radar at all, given that he’s only eight, so he was absolutely delighted with the suite of features available to him. Older children, who are actively asking for a phone, may feel differently, however.
Garmin Bounce 2: In Use
I didn’t loose sight of my son at Universal Studios but the live location tracking, which I tested extensively was accurate, and saved emergency contacts certainly gave me peace of mind. I tested the boundaries geo-fencing feature by setting our hotel as boundary and I got a notification that my son had left everyday as we all headed out. While I don’t currently have a need for this feature, I feel it would be excellent for people with older children, who travel to school independently.
My son took to sending me text message like a duck to water but didn’t become obsessive, or annoying, with it. Calling, both in America and the UK, does work but there’s often a little delay and the quality often isn’t clear enough for a full conversation. I’d say it was a feature useful to check your kid is okay, rather than for a full day de-brief while they’re not with you.
The step counter was popular for our trip to Florida, where we did around 30k steps a day – measuring it against my Apple Watch, it seemed spot-on. Showing my son ‘most steps in a day’ and ‘most active day’ gave him something to chase but I liked that the watch didn’t adjust the daily 7,500 steps goal I initially set.
I found the sleep tracking to be accurate too – it knew exactly when my son had nodded off and woke up. I liked the way there was no sleep score as this isn’t a metric I’d want my youngster to get obsessed with.
Being waterproof meant the Bounce 2 didn’t even have to come off for swimming and meant it was less likely to start getting left in the hotel room. I wasn’t as impressed with the battery life though – I found it needed charging every day and the live tracking in particular using up a lot of power.
A hit at home and away
I wondered if the Garmin Bounce 2 would still be such a hit when we landed back on home soil and it was. My son liked going to school with a photo screensaver from our trip on his watch. Turning school mode on meant I knew he wasn’t being distracted by any games, but he can still use it for the time, and track his steps.
After a solid month of use, my son really likes his Garmin Bounce 2 and is always happy to wear it. He likes to use the step count as well as tell the time and while he plays games on it while we’re in the car, he isn’t obsessed with fiddling with it, so it remains a normal sports watch but gives me the peace of mind that I can track him and contact him if needed – ideal.
