WowME Kids 4G (RECENZE) – OBSAH

1. Design of WowME Kids 4G: Childish, but not infantile
2. Watch Functions: What does the WowME Kids 4G do?
3. Features for parents: What can WowME Tracker do?
4. Map is a key app for children's smartwatches
5. Other features of WowME Tracker 4G
6. Final review: Kids' watch with a bonus, but the main features are limping
7. Result

Design of WowME Kids 4G: Childish, but not infantile

You can't expect luxury materials on smartwatches for kids; WowME Kids are no exception. You're still confronted with a choice between features, price, and performance. Therefore, it is not surprising that the main material of the watch is plastic for the case and silicone for the strap. It's a simple choice of reason, the strap doesn't soak up water and requires no care, the watch is relatively durable, and the weight of 55g is nothing that schoolchildren can't handle.

It goes without saying that the watch looks huge on little hands of little children. I tried to put them on the wrist of my four-year-old daughter and it startled me. Even though the watch is supposed to be worn by schoolchildren, and my daughter didn't mind the size nor did it limit her, you, as a parent, will be shocked a bit. No one is expecting that children will treat the watch with care, that's why the display is covered with protection film that is covered with another "travel" film. Still, I'm afraid that after a few months or maybe years, it will be impossible to avoid signs of wear - the display is not recessed and even protrudes slightly for the sake of easier handling.

On the other hand, I welcome the classic metal buckle on the strap. After all, it is subjected to a lot of pressure and stress, so the plastic could become unstable. Would replacing the whole strap solve that? WowME Kids can't detect that they're not on the hand, so it shouldn't affect function, but it would still require a bit of manual dexterity. This is because the watch uses a standard 20mm quick-release stem, but the mounted strap lacks a sliding paw to release the strap.

On the face of it, the WowME Kids 4G is cheap to look at, but it won't awaken memories of Vietnamese marketplaces from the 1990s. There's just not much to invent. There's a wide black bezel around the IPS display, its surface disturbed only by the selfie camera eyelet and a silver ring representing the sensor button taking you back a step towards the home screen.

There is a pink frame around the display, into which the power button is embedded. However, WowME Kids can only be turned off from the watch menu, because a long press of the switch otherwise triggers an SOS call. However, there is no way to manually disable turning off the watch, so there is no way to prevent your child from going off the grid as they please.

Opposite the button, you'll find a SIM card slot. You may be surprised that it can not be removed without a tiny screwdriver, but there is no need to look for tools, you will get a suitable tool already in the box with the watch. Is this a happy solution? You don't have to worry about accidentally ejecting the card, but if you need your child to swap the card between the watch and the phone, prepare for complications.

There's not much else to describe: the bottom side is dedicated to the speaker, which is partnered by a microphone next to the SIM drawer. Surprisingly, you won't find a flashing heart rate sensor light on the back, the watch only measures steps via the accelerometer. Instead, you'll discover contacts for a magnetic charger, IMEI and a QR code used to add a new device to the WowME Tracker app. But you can also view the same on the watch's display, so you can safely rip off the sticker right away.

Watch Functions: What does the WowME Kids 4G do?

The capabilities of a smartwatch are determined by the operating system. WowME uses a platform of its own, but in many cases, you find out some of it is really similar to Android. Swipe from the top edge of the display to see the notification grid, swipe from the right to scroll through features and apps, and swipe the other way to move back a step if you don't want to use the button. For adults, this structure will be natural, so it's easier to translate this behaviour into a child's language. I believe that a six-year-old schoolchild will no longer tend to just tap the screen and be surprised by what happens. The four-year-old guinea pig could hit the icons with her finger, but she did not yet understand their meaning.

Among icons in the watch menu, there are shortcuts for such things as a phone, contacts, camera, and gallery, but even bigger surprises such as a translator using the standard-sized web interface of Google Translator, or a simple game called Mathematics. However, a closer look at the menu will draw the first wrinkles on your forehead.

The apps are very unintuitive and the clues on how to deal with the situation are sometimes lost in translation. Let's discuss this in more detail:

• Phone – opens a classic matrix of numbers from which you can dial a phone number. There is no linking with contacts. And if you try to dial a number without a SIM card inserted, the error message just says a generic "SIM card error" instead of something more concise.
• Contact – several phone numbers can be stored in the watch via the app and dialled with a click. Interestingly, any network unavailability alerts are graphically identical to Android Ice Cream Sandwich.
• Video call – as the name suggests, a video call can be made from here. What is strange, however, is that the watch downloads the contact of the device administrator, i.e. the person who has access from the phone app. They don't have access to traditional contacts, which forces you to keep two lists of people. What's worse, a video call started from the watch doesn't show up on your phone! You don't get a notification beep, you don't get the option to accept a video call, and nothing happens on your phone.
• Wech – what is in the app named Chat can be found in the watch under the name Wech. It is a simple interface for sending text or spoken messages. From the mobile direction, typing is easy, in the other direction you can respond by just recording a speech or a photo. Again, however, no notification arrives in the app.
• Friends – I didn't understand this item at all, it contains four cartoon portraits but you can't interact with them.
• Camera – if you want to take pictures or just play spy, you've come to the right place. The camera takes pictures, but it can't record video.
• QR Code – allows you to display a square code used either to add a device admin to the application or to access the application.
• Gallery – shows the images created by the Watch Camera. But unlike on your phone, it doesn't show images you've created in chat or that your parents have remotely requested from your phone.
• Mathematics – a fun game that forces you to count simple math examples in a short time limit, and then answer whether they are correct or not. A higher number of examples without errors means a higher score.
• Steps – a simple step counter. However, it requires activation in the app, where you can also set the step length and weight of the wearer. Why it is right next to the time setting (without knowing what time I am setting) I have no idea.
• Plan – although the icon resembles a calendar, it is a timetable. That's a good idea! In the app, you specify how the subjects go in order on each day and then your child doesn't have to pull out paper charts.
• Alarm – a good old alarm clock. However, the ring time is only set in the app, where you can find it in the Time Zones menu. In the watch itself, you'll only see "Please set the alarm clock in APP."
• Stopwatch – working as they should.
• Settings – settings are primarily related to communication (especially connectivity via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or LTE), but you'll also find audio volume, display brightness, languages, or turning off the watch.
• Translator – Google Translate in microscope form. On a 1.4" screen, you'll find the same things you'd find on a desktop. Beware, including such gadgets as taking a picture of the text and translating it instantly!

Features for parents: What can WowME Tracker do?

Unlike smartwatches for adults, the WowME Kids watch assumes that the wearer will not use the phone. The whole app WowME Tracker (for Android and iOS) is therefore some sort of control centre for supervision over the watch. Again, we will go through it in more detail, except for the items already mentioned in the previous chapter. The most important feature, the map, is removed and discussed at length, while the others are only summarized in bullet points.

Map is a key app for children's smartwatches

What good would a children's smartwatch be without geolocation? The watch uses phone and Wi-Fi networks as well as GPS to pinpoint your location. So you can see where the watch is on your phone screen and use the icons on the side to further work with the location.

It's a pity that the icons are not described in any way, so you can only learn their meaning by trial and error. The first icon with the little doll influences whether the location is detected only by the device administrator or by all paired "supervisors", probably parents. The pin icon sends a location update request to the watch. The phone symbol is used to centre the map on the watch.

The following symbol with the radar is more interesting. Through it, you build virtual fences for your child. The fence itself is built using a centre around which you plot a safe distance. So, for example, if you want to stake out a route between your school and home, you'll need to piece together the bus route from several circles. Precision will also be required when trying to monitor, for example, a road beyond which a child is not allowed. There is also no option to create a blacklist for this whitelist if you want to mark places where children are not allowed and do not want to deal with where they are allowed. Surprisingly, the feet icon has nothing to do with the pedometer. It is a location history, where you can easily see on the map at a specified time where the children or the watch spent time.

The last item with two squares is used to switch between the classic Google map, satellite view and the bus route map according to the application. In reality, however, this is a traffic map again from Google, there is no connection with public transport.

Other features of WowME Tracker 4G

• Family members – here you will find the profile of the device administrator including their login email and ID.
• Notification centre – in this menu you will find a record of messages when the watch has sent an SOS, when safe zones have been left and when the battery is low. By the way, the watch can't send SOS without a SIM card, even when connected via Wi-Fi, and the actual record of the emergency call only appears in the log after a delay.
• Tracking mode – sets the frequency of transmitting the location. The choices are once every ten minutes, once an hour to save power, and a tracking mode whose description says "1 minute/time". Presumably, this means sharing the location every minute.
• Setting up SOS contacts – here you can list up to three phone numbers to which you can send an SMS message in an emergency.
• Rewards – probably the most bizarre feature of the watch, which raises eyebrows not only in translation but also in function. The title Reward for Love is anything but apt, the incentive " Kid is cool, give him some reward" also doesn't help understanding. The whole functionality of Rewards is that you punch in a number on your phone and send it to the watch, where it appears in the corner of the face. How that encourages the child I don't know.
• No classroom use – Device lock function, where the child can only see the time on the watch but cannot use anything else to avoid distraction. The SOS function is kept, but nothing else can be used. To the detriment of the function, however, only three time periods can be defined, and only by the clock. Therefore, it is not possible to set, for example, a lock for the duration of hobbies or according to the length of classes on a particular day.
• Time zone – again a translation error, the time zone of the watch is set elsewhere, here you can set up to three alarms including the possibility of repeating them.
• Device search – the name says it all, the loud ringtone can also be triggered via Wi-Fi.
• Eavesdropping – just dial the watch number to call quietly and you'll hear what's happening on the other end. However, it's a mystery why you can't save the watch number anywhere in the app.
• Alert mode – here is nothing but sound profiles in the classic format for a silent profile, only sound, only vibration and vibration with sound.
• SMS notification settings – here you enter the number that should be notified when the SOS button is held down and the battery is low. What connection this menu has with the SOS contacts a few lines above is probably known only to the manufacturer.
• Health – in this menu, you will find a simple pedometer with conversion to calories burnt including a weekly overview. Do not look for more detailed statistics. Then there's the special sleep measurement, where quality is rated by how many times you roll over in bed. And without a heart rate sensor, how does the watch know you're asleep? Well, you set the time from when to when you sleep and activate the switch. I don't think the quality of that measurement needs comment.
• Remote photo – if you remotely request a photo from the watch's camera, you can find it here in the app, but you can't access it on the watch. I think that's a reasonable approach, the kids might be very upset if they find out how often you check it. And you probably wouldn't like to explain that 95% of the time there was no reason to check either.
• Timetable – a simple overview of the subjects by day. There are no more than eight subjects, nor are there afternoon clubs, but let's keep in mind that the watch is really for first graders, where such demands are uncommon.
• Language and time zone – basic settings for the language of the app and the time zone you are in, with the option to enable daylight saving time.
• LBS – abbreviation, which was a mystery to me at first, but it is just the ability to geolocate by BTS and nearby Wi-Fi. It's not as accurate as GPS, so it may increase the frequency of false positives, but again, it makes determining location faster.
• Remote shutdown – as the name indicates, you can turn the watch off via the internet. You can't turn it on though.

Final review: Kids' watch with a bonus, but the main features are limping

We have described the various features of the WowME Kids 4G watch and the capabilities of its WowME Tracker app. You will have noticed that a certain pattern of behaviour repeats itself: the features are mostly useful, but their reliability is far from ideal. For a price under two thousand CZK, you might look the other way from the very poor quality of the translations, but trust in the location monitoring system and especially the alerting of any suspicious anomalies is crucial. It is not possible to talk about a helper with the first steps towards independence on the one hand and the other hand deliver an SOS alarm to a mobile phone silently and with a half-hour delay.

Comparison of WowME Kids 4G and WowME Kids Play

Model	WowME Kids 4G	WowME Kids Play
Case size	43.6mm	40.8mm
Weight	55g	19g
Display size	1.4"	1.4"
Glass	Chemically hardened	Plastic
Display type	IPS	TFT
Calling	With the inserted SIM card	✕
Messages	Reply with a voice message	✕
Safety features	Leaving the safe zone, SOS button	✕
Health functions	Sleep monitoring , Motion reminder	Drink reminder , Motion reminder , Sleep monitoring
Sport functions	Pedometer, Calorie calculation	Pedometer, Heart rate, Calorie calculation, Distances
Smart functions	Games, Sleep/do-not-disturb mode	Weather forecast, Sleep/do-not-disturb mode, Custom dials, Games
Position and route tracking	Using the GPS in your watch	✕
Watch functions	Day of the week , Stopwatch , Alarm clock , Date	Alarm clock , Date , Day of the week , Stopwatch
Maximum battery life	72 hours	360 hours
Waterproofing	IP67	IP68
Package contents	Charging cable	Charging cable , Spare strap
Price*	1.590 Kč	990 Kč

^{*Price subject to change - current as of 16th of October 2023.}

Result

The WowME Kids 4G smartwatch is designed for first graders. As such, they will definitely make them happy. Unfortunately, they fail somewhat in those essential functions for parents, especially communication with the phone and a number of unthought-out elements that do not make using the watch easier.