imooimoo Watch Phone Z1 Kids Smart Watch, 4G Kids Smartwatch with Video and Phone Call Durable, GPS Watch with Real Time Location and IPX8 Water Resistance (Pink)

This is for the Z1 watch.I spent a good 25-30 hours researching phone watches. Eventually went through Amazon, YouTube, and independent gadget reviews for 23 devices. So I can tell you that I did my checking. I don't normally review stuff - but - as there was a serious lack of decent reviews on phone watches on Amazon, I thought it may be useful.Eventually went for this one for a 10 year old, even though it was more expensive than some others out there.Key things wanted INITIALLY - Entertainment (games etc), GPS tracking, phone capability (standalone - not needing to be linked to a mobile), Calendar, Alarm, Stopwatch.Now - let's make this clear - NO phone watch had all of these. If you wanted GPS - it would probably not have games. If you wanted a habit tracker calendar - it would probably not have calls. Something would always be absent.So I reduced my key "want list" to - Calls and Entertainment. Calls being the dealbreaker.After a lot of thought, I realised that it wasn't worth sacrificing GPS tracking, or going for a more plasticy "toy" watch, for a couple of really bad computer games (maybe good for a 5-8 year old - but not for my 10 year old - she can source games elsewhere).So we're down to calls and GPS as they're key requirements.I cannot fault this watch so far.- Packaging - pretty classy. Doesn't look like a kids watch. The only things it has on the box are the brand "imoo" and "Z1".- Instructions - clear and easy to understand. But it's not hard to guess your way around this if you've ever had a smartphone of any type.- Build quality - solid. It doesn't feel cheap at all. The strap is a fake leather/silicon hybrid.- Touchscreen - very responsive - it's not in any way worse than my own mobile phone.- Screen definition - very clear. Everything looks and feels good quality- Camera - for a 2mpx camera it takes surprisingly good pics.- Battery - so far so good. About 2 day's charge in there if you have medium usage- Social Media - NONE. <3- Calls - very clear. Some people say it's tinny - but I would say that's using a very strong word for how it sounds. It's just lacking in some bass - but that's to be expected on a speaker this small. What's important is that the clarity is excellent. You can hear everything being spoken with no interference. The watch doesn't need to be raised to the mouth unless you really want to.- Disabling - In addition to the dialpad, you can also disable the odd shake game, the step counter and friend video.- Class mode - You can also disable all incoming and outgoing usage for any sets of dates and times (no limit to how many) so you can make sure the user isn't using the contacts part of the watch during school or tuition or night time etc. It has a backdoor you can toggle so that calls to parents can still be made during this time period if you want. So be aware that you shouldn't send your kid stuff or they'll get in trouble.- SIM - Utterly easy to install. Pop out the "lid" on the back using the plastic tool in the box. Put the Nano SIM into the lid. Clip it back in. When you turn on the watch, it recognises it straight away. I am using a GiffGaff SIM.- Texts/voice messaging - You can send texts TO the watch, but the watch can't send texts. Not a problem, as sending a voice message is a piece of cake. If you do this from the app to the watch and vice versa, it's immediate delivery, and you can send emojis through there too (limited choice). App to watch contact is not linked to your provider so it's free. But phone to app needs WiFi or data.- Video calling - this is ONLY from app to watch or vice versa. If you want someone to be able to video call the watch, they have to download the app, and you have to invite them to your family. Not possible for anyone other than people you've approved to do this. Again you need WiFi or data to do this.- "Binding" - you can "bind" numbers to the watch from the app. If they are bound they can join family chats (group chats) with the watch, call directly, download the app and make FREE facetimes and calls to the watch. Watch to app needs WiFi or data.- Dialling out - You can choose to disable the dial pad if you want from the app. Stops the kid making calls to anyone who isn't bound. If you don't disable this, they can call anyone, and this will be charged to your phone provider. Any phone calls made to "bound" contacts is charged to your provider as this is a phone call and not watch based.- Blocked calls - the watch won't accept ANY calls from numbers that aren't preinstalled on the watch. All numbers added have to be from the app. You can't do it from the watch, which is great.- Emergency SOS - You can set this up so if they draw a "C" on the screen it auto dials the admin of the app. Pretty useful and nice to have this emergency feature. You can't do this if the watch is turned off.- On/off button - It's on the back of the phone. And doesn't stick out. So it's not something they can accidentally turn off (or say they did!). If you're finding it hard to turn it off, press the button using the SIM card tool that comes with the watch. The button isn't easy to press on purpose so there is no chance of accidental turn off.- GPS - SO FAR - pretty decent. The app didn't recognise the watch at first, but if you click refresh on the app, it located the watch to 1-8 metres in 3 seconds. When tracking the watch whist moving, it struggled while it was in a car (you need to refresh the app screen and it located to about 20 metres), but was much better at walking speed. Either way, it's more than fine to get an idea as to where you kid is.- Games - "one" pseudo game. It's hardly a game. You shake the watch and it it logs that you did it. Very odd. You can shake 6 times a day - as you do this daily you unlock little prize chests and achievements. I can't tell you what they all are as we haven't had this long enough to know - I will update when I know more. God knows what this is about - but hey - this wasn't a priority. Don't get this watch if you want games!- App - very user friendly. Over a million downloads on the Google store. Easy to navigate and lots of useful options. Easy to figure things out and try things out.- Step Counter - pretty accurate. Maybe a little off, but close enough to give the user an idea of how much activity is being done.- Security guard. You can set an area based on WiFi for when the watch (and therefore the user) is safe. When they enter that WiFi area you get a message on the app that they're in the secure zone. So for example you could set one up at home, and another at the youth club that they're walking to. When they arrive they don't need to do anything, and you get a notification.Hope this helps! Enjoy!

Update: (as humans we tend to be quick to complain but quick to forget to give accolades when deserved so here goes)We have had this watch for almost a year now and I want to write an update because this watch deserves it. Had issues a few months ago when old messages were deleting once the watch turned off. Customer service over WhatsApp was amazing. They were responsive but you have to be aware of time difference or it would seem they are slow to respond. Also before you reach out to customer service with any issues, try unbinding the watch, deleting the app and then upload app and bind watch (please note: this means everything on the watch gets deleted so you may want to save photos and messages on parent’s phone first) This was a swift fix for me recently.For people saying the tracking is inaccurate. I beg to differ. This watch was misplaced at a school event last term and unknown to us kindly picked up by someone who had sent an email to tell us that night. We were able to track the watch next morning to the door of the person.If you are unsure whether to go for this watch: don’t be. I highly recommend.I was looking for a pre-smart phone alternative for a pre-teen. I checked all the available options that were a lot cheaper but the reviews were not great. The imoo watch was more expensive but has delivered on every point. The people who bought when it first came out had quite critical reviews but they have stepped up their game in the last couple of years and the recent reviews were really good so I took the plunge and have not regretted it. It’s a good alternative if you are not ready to expose your preteen to smart phone and social media. There are 10 people you can add to their safe list who can call them but they can make outgoing calls to any number which gives them control. The tracker function works okay but may be a few meters off sometimes: voice and video calls are great - extremely clear. The giff gaff sim has worked for us. Battery life is about 3 days. It’s been a win win. The app is easy to download and use. The class mode function is great as phones are not allowed in class.Preteen would love a few more emojis and maybe more games but all in all, a great buy