Best Fitness Tracker for Kids [UK Buyers Guide]

Fitness trackers have long been popular with adults, especially desk-based workers, but in the early days, they were on the expensive side.  Now, however, they have become affordable enough to be given to children, which is handy, since they’re often leading more sedentary lives too.

If you know you’re in the market for a fitness tracker for kids and you just want to know which one to buy, then head straight to the review section.  If you’d like to know a bit more about fitness trackers for kids and what to look for in one, then please keep reading.

Fitness Tracker for Kids

Buying a Children's Fitness Tracker

The number one feature of a children’s fitness tracker is that it actually fits a child’s wrist, by which we mean fits comfortably.  Some children’s fitness trackers are also sold to adults and that’s fine as long as the strap can be adapted so the children’s fitness tracker sits snugly, but not tightly, on their wrist.  It’s also a good idea for there to be some level of waterproofing.

For very young children, you definitely want any children’s fitness tracker to be simple for them to use.  In fact, ideally, the children shouldn’t have to do anything, their parents should be able to set everything up for them and then just leave the child’s fitness tracker to run without any input from them.  After this it depends on the child.  In some cases, simpler is better, but many children are just fine with technology which would leave adults scratching their heads.

The other major point to look for in a children’s fitness tracker is that it’s at an affordable price point.  Quite bluntly, children, even older children and teens, are not always the best at taking care of their possessions (although we’ll admit there are some exceptions here).  Basically, you probably want your children’s fitness tracker to be affordable enough that it won’t hurt too much if it gets lost, broken or, frankly, stolen.

Children’s Fitness Watch Versus Children’s Tracker Watch

A children’s fitness watch is a watch which contains a pedometer and sometimes a heart-rate monitor as well.  It is used mainly for tracking fitness, although it may have added functionality, similar to a smart watch.  It may be linked to a phone (in fact these days most of them are in some way) but it does not need a SIM card to function.

A children’s tracker watch is a basic smart watch with a GPS function which allows parents to track where their children are.  There may be some which can also function as children’s fitness watches, we don’t know of any, but then we’ve never really looked, but that is not their main purpose.  Their main purpose is to keep track of a child’s location.  In addition to being linked to a phone, some children’s tracker watches can also act as cut-down phones and as such can take a SIM card, although they may not need it for basic functions.

Standard Features on an Activity Tracker for Kids

Most of the features on an activity tracker for kids are actually pretty self-explanatory.  We have, however, picked out some of the main ones we think could use a bit of further explanation.

Best Fitness Tracker for Kids

Activity monitoring

This is the main reason why you’re buying an activity tracker for kids so it probably helps to know how it works.

As far as we’ve been able to tell, all activity trackers for kids are basically wrist-worn pedometers.  This means that they actually track arm movements rather than steps and as such they’re highly unlikely to be totally accurate (this goes for the adult versions as well).  We can live with this because a kid that’s moving their arms about enough to register on the tracker is probably being pretty active anyway.

Some activity trackers for kids also have heart-rate monitors which are more accurate and can offer more functionality.  This, however, is only a benefit if it’s actually used, which again will depend on your child.

Sleep monitoring

This is usually fairly accurate, but, please remember to take it as guidance rather than hard facts.  In other words, if you see a potential issue, do some further investigating before deciding whether or not to worry about it.

Phone-linked functions

All the activity trackers for kids we found had to be linked to a phone, if only to pick up the time and date.  One of the activity trackers for kids we found is intended to be linked to a parent’s phone, all the rest are intended to be linked to the user’s phone i.e. the child’s one phone.  If this is an issue, you can link it to another phone, but if you do, there are a couple of points to remember.

Activity trackers for kids are not actually watches, they pick up the time and date from the phone link and any alarms and timers depend on the linked phone having the correct date and time.  If you cross a time zone e.g. on business travel and your phone updates automatically, then so will your kid’s activity tracker.

All bar one of the activity trackers for kids we found provide notifications for calls, SMS and SNS.  If you’re planning on linking a kid’s activity tracker to a parent’s phone, then it’s probably a good idea to turn off this feature.  Otherwise your kid will get an alert every time you get a phone call, text message or social-media notification.  Not only could this be inconvenient for both of you, it might not go down too well with their school (or indeed at after-school activities).

As a final point, we’ve seen various manufacturers advise that their activity trackers for kids can only be used with smartphones rather than tablets.  Given that iOS and Android tablets are literally smartphones without the phone part (and with bigger screens), we’re assuming this is to do with the data connection.  We’re also guessing that if the phone and kid’s activity tracker get too far apart, the connection will be broken and the activity tracker will only have limited functionality.

Best Fitness Tracker for Kids

Best fitness tracker for kids - top five list

Here is our pick of the five best fitness trackers for kids and a brief explanation of what they can do and why we like them.  We’ve included one option for very young children (four to nine) and the rest are for pre-teens and teens.  The reason for this is that from what we’ve seen, most young children are still fairly active.  These days we get the feeling children usually start to slow down when they hit the pre-teen stage and discover the internet and computer games.

BingoFit Kids Fitness Tracker

BingoFit Kids Fitness Tracker

PRODUCT DETAILS

  • Alarms
  • Call, SMS, SNS reminder
  • Calorie Counter
  • Heart Rate Monitor
  • Pedometer
  • Sleep Monitor
  • Sedentary Reminder
  • USB Plug

PRODUCT FEATURES

  • Can track steps, calories, distance and active minutes
  • Has five exercise modes - running, basketball, football, cycling and sit-ups
  • Can use a phone’s GPS to track pace and distance in real-time
  • Compatible with Android and iOS
  • One full charge gives about 5-7 days of working time
  • IP67 waterproof, sweat-proof, rainproof, only suitable for use in cold water below 1M in depth.
  • Available in five colours

Overall - even though the name suggests this is for really young children, we’d actually say it was best for pre-teens and actual teens and could see them through to adulthood.  It has a decent level of functionality at a decent price.

  • Product
  • Features
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BingoFit Kids Fitness Tracker, Slim Sports Activity Tracker with Heart Rate Monitor...

Last update was on: March 21, 2024 1:25 pm

Garmin Vivofit Jr. Daily Activity Tracker for Kids

Garmin Vivofit Jr

PRODUCT FEATURES

  • Records steps, sleep and summary of child's 60-minute daily get-active goal
  • Can also be used to set and manage chores
  • Associate app has “adventure trails” which can be used as rewards
  • Available in three colours
  • Stretchy band is designed for wrists up to 150mm (basically children aged 4 to 9)
  • Swim and bath safe (cold-water resistant to a depth of 0.5M)
  • 1 year battery life - you can replace the battery by sliding the watch out of the band (which can be tricky) and then changing the battery as you would on a standard watch.  To maximize battery life there is no light on the watch.
  • Compatible with Android and iOS
  • Parent-controlled app (can link to multiple activity trackers)
  • Set tasks (e.g. clean room)
  • Set up a reward system (for completing tasks)
  • Set task timers

Overall - this one is pitched straight at kids aged four to nine and as such it’s the best option for that age group.  In particular, the strap is stretchy, so it’s easy to get on and off (there’s no buckles or fastenings), but when it’s on it stays on securely, while still being comfortable.

There’s only a basic level of functionality, but that’s understandable.  Frankly the task/reward system is just the digital version of keeping a paper chart on the wall, but it’s still quite nice to have.  Garmin suggests that parents use the task timers to make sure kids don’t take too long with tasks, we actually think it would be more useful as a way to make sure that kids actually spend a decent amount of time brushing their teeth!

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Garmin Vivofit Jr. Daily Activity Tracker for Kids - Digi Camo (Green)

Last update was on: March 21, 2024 1:25 pm

LETSCOM Fitness Tracker

LETSCOM

PRODUCT FEATURES

  • Alarms (including silent alarms)
  • Pedometer only (no heart rate monitor)
  • Tracks your all-day steps, calories burned, miles walked, active minutes
  • Sleep Monitor: monitors sleep quality with deep sleep, light sleep, wake sleep
  • Call, SMS, SNS reminder - shows caller ID
  • Remote shutter release
  • Phone finding feature
  • App provides detailed data report on activities and sleep
  • IP67 waterproof, only suitable for use in cold water below 1M in depth
  • USB Plug
  • One full charge gives about 5-7 days of working time
  • Compatible with Android and iOS
  • Available in five colours

Overall - this is another one for the pre-teens and teenagers, with some nice added functionality.  The remote shutter function and phone finder may go down particularly well!

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LETSCOM Fitness Tracker, Fitness Tracker Pedometer Watch with Slim Touch Screen and...

Last update was on: March 21, 2024 1:25 pm

Letsfit Fitness Tracker

Letsfit Fitness Tracker

PRODUCT FEATURES

  • Activity monitor tracks steps, distance, calories and active minutes
  • Sleep monitor
  • Call, SMS and SNS reminder
  • Alarm clock
  • Sedentary reminder
  • Remote shutter release
  • Available in five colours
  • USB Plug
  • One full charge gives about 5-7 days of working time
  • Compatible with Android and iOS
  • Splash resistant not suitable for use in showers or swimming pools

Overall - we’re not sure why, but there’s something about the styling of this fitness tracker which seems to give it a more “grown up” look than the rest.  If you’re trying to get a teenage fashionista up of his/her favourite chair then this might be the one to go for.

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Letsfit Fitness Tracker, Activity Tracker Fitness Smartwatch Wristband Touch Screen IP67 Water...

Last update was on: March 21, 2024 1:25 pm

moreFit Kids Fitness Tracker

moreFit Kids Fitness Tracker

PRODUCT FEATURES

  • Multi-sports mode, including walking, running, cycling, climbing.
  • Track steps, distance, calories burned, heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygen saturation
  • Sleep tracker
  • Sedentary alert
  • Alarm clock/alarms
  • Message and calls reminder
  • Remote shutter release
  • Water resistant to 1M (only cold water)
  • Available in four colours
  • USB Plug
  • One full charge gives about 5-7 days of working time
  • Compatible with Android and iOS

Overall - when we first looked at all the features in this fitness tracker, we thought most of them had just been shoved in to make it look cool.  The more we thought about it however the more we realized that they could actually be genuinely useful to some people.  Also, when you’re looking at pre-teens and teens (who are clearly the intended market for this fitness tracker), there’s probably a lot to be said for being able to give them something with “cool-gadget” value.

Best Fitness Tracker for Kids - Summary

  • The best fitness tracker for young kids is the Garmin.  Otherwise, the best fitness tracker for your kid - depends on your kid.
  • The BingoFit is a lot more sensible than its name suggests and offers a decent amount of functionality at a reasonable price.
  • The LetsCom covers all the basics and has some nice added functionality.
  • The LetsFit is, in our opinion, the most stylish option, but still does the job.
  • The moreFit has a lot of functionality at a very reasonable price.  Some people may genuinely need it, others may feel reassured having it, others may just think it’s cool and fun.

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