These days, kids are often more tech-savvy than the ones who purchase the gadgets for them.
“Hey Mom, did you know I’ll experience up to 70 percent faster CPU performance with the new 64-bit A9 chip they put in this thing?” – Kids these days.
It’s madness, and if you’re all about Apple, you may have noticed I shamelessly pulled those specs from the company’s brand new iPhone 6s launch page. Putting my Apple plug aside, there’s no question that today’s youth embraces tech. So, it’s only fitting that here at the Toy Insider, VTech’s Kidizoom Smartwatch DX made our Top Tech 12 list. And unlike the iPhone 6s, this purchase won’t have you breaking the bank for your kids.
Designed for kids ages 4 and up, the Kidizoom Smartwatch DX certainly lives up to its name. It’s smart, yes, but it’s also functional, versatile, and stylish. With two different color versions, (royal blue and vivid violet), kids can sport this accessory with confidence, leaving their peers left to wonder when they got to be so hip. Seriously, even I want one of these. A plastic casing wrapped in a thin later of silicone houses the touch screen, and a plastic chrome trim adds some flair. The screen, though small, was pretty easy for me to use, despite my 22-year-old fingers that are more than likely bigger than those on any kid. At least, I hope. Plastic lugs (the part of the watch that connects the case to the strap), seamlessly joins the body to the soft, silicone band. And if we’re being honest with each other, I didn’t already know there was a name for that part of a watch. Thanks, Google!
I don’t even know where to begin with this watch. I mean, I guess I could start with the built-in camera, which now has creative photo effects, frames, filters, and even more memory than its predecessor. The camera quality was surprisingly high for a being built into a kids watch, and that’s coming from an avid photographer. It doesn’t churn out high-megapixel masterpieces, but it’s really all every young, budding photographer needs to get in the game.
Now, on second thought, maybe I should start by mentioning the new clock faces that help kids tell time with either a digital or an analog display. With more than 50 3-D clock face designs that kids can download through the VTech Learning Lodge, customizing this watch is child’s play.
Or what about the eight new games that the watch offers? Should I mention those first? They all provide quality entertainment on the go, and I tried my hand at a few of them. There’s your run-of-the-mill Tic-Tac-Toe, which is painfully straightforward. Then there are my two favorites: Super Snowboard and Super Boarder. In Super Snowboard, kids control a snowboarder as he barrels down the slope. The goal is navigate him left and right in an effort to collect as many coins as possible. In Super Boarder, kids control a character on a wakeboard, tapping the screen when it’s time to jump and avoid an obstacle in the water. They’re simple games, but they do the trick and will entertain any young kid in both long and short car rides. Hello silence.
Allow me to take a page out of Billy Mays’ book: but wait there’s more! The Kidizoom Smartwatch DX even has a few motion games that function when the watch detects movement. Crazy Dance, Racing Run, and Funky Jump, for example, all have characters that dance, run, or jump alongside kids wearing the watch. It’s like a tiny personal trainer on their wrist. There’s also a built-in pedometer, stopwatch, timer, alarm, *gasps for air* calendar, voice-recorder, and a calculator that lets kids work out simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems. *Catches breath*
The watch is also rechargeable and splash-proof, meaning it can handle small doses of sweat, spills, drools, and even the worst of sneezes I guess. Gross. As long as you don’t completely submerge it, you’ll be good.
Long story short, this watch has got it all. And you’ll be pleased to hear that it’s actually a comfortable wear. I wore it for about an hour while I wrote this review, and I ended up forgetting it was even on my wrist. Despite that fact, VTech‘s Kidizoom Smartwatch DX is far from forgettable.
