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Kid-Safe Tech
6 min read

Meet the World’s Safest Watch for Kids: The Gabb Watch

By Jackie Baucom

Originally published March 3, 2022

At Gabb, we’re on a mission to empower families to stay safely connected in today’s digital world.

Why Gabb?

Since the early 2000s, the internet, smartphones, and social media have radically transformed how we live and communicate, bringing both remarkable advancements and significant challenges.

Now, parents across the world are beginning to realize the dangers of giving their kids too much technology too soon, and are looking for safer ways to stay connected with their kids than traditional smartphones.

Gabb has been developing kid safe products since 2018. From our safe phones to our watch, there’s a perfect device for every age and for each family’s needs

Gabb Watch: The Best Kids Smartwatch

Gabb Watch is the gold standard in safe smartwatches for kids — tripling as a phone, GPS tracker, and safe interactive smartwatch.

It provides parental controls like safe zones, tasks, speech-to-text messages, focus and silent mode scheduling, and parent-managed contacts. 

Gabb Watch is the safe phone kids wear, so parents can worry less about their childs’ device getting lost, stolen, or broken. It’s the ideal tool for younger kids.

Gabb Watch kids smart watch

How the Gabb Watch Protects Kids

Kids deserve to be protected and feel safe wherever they go, and parents deserve peace of mind about their child’s safety. Gabb Watch supports these needs with several key features:

Reliable GPS Tracking

With Gabb Watch and the MyGabb app (available on both Android and iOS), parents have the ability to monitor their child’s real-time location 24/7.

Custom Safe Zones

Within the MyGabb app, parents are also able to set perimeters around safe zones — their home, their child’s school, the local park, etc. — and be notified when their child enters or leaves each safe zone.

Custom Contacts

Gabb Watch allows up to 100 contacts that are pre-determined by parents in the MyGabb app. Any call or text that comes from a number other than these parent-managed contacts will be blocked.

SOS Button and Emergency Contact

Parents are also able to set 1 emergency contact in the MyGabb app. A child can make an emergency call to the primary contact at any time by holding down the SOS button for 10 seconds. 

Long Battery Life 

Gabb Watch ensures that parents can stay connected with their child throughout the day. Under normal usage, the battery lasts between 14 to 18 hours, while standby usage can extend battery life to 36 to 48 hours. For optimal performance, the watch needs at least 3 bars of cell service; if the signal drops below this, the battery may drain more quickly as the watch uses extra energy to maintain a connection.

How Gabb Watch Connects Families

Parents want to be able to connect with their kids through call and text, but don’t want their kids to be able to send or receive inappropriate content, or be contacted by strangers. Gabb Watch solves this problem by connecting families while keeping kids safe:

Calling

Kids are able to call their 100 parent-managed contacts at any time (except when the watch is in Focus or Silent Mode). Parents and kids can work together to update the 100 custom contacts whenever necessary, helping parents stay in-the-know on the most important people in their child’s life. Any phone number that is not saved as one of your child’s designated contacts will not be able to call or receive a call from your child. 

father and son looking at their smart watches

Voice Messages and TextingKids can text at any time using voice messages (voice recordings up to 20 seconds), speech-to-text messages, preset text messages (up to 15 custom messages configured in the MyGabb app), and emojis (🎉🎊🥳). Any phone number that is not saved as one of your child’s preset contacts will not be able to text your child. As with calling, messaging is also disabled during Focus and Silent Mode. However, kids can always contact their primary and guardian contacts.

How the Gabb Watch Empowers Parents

Parents are responsible for providing age-appropriate technology for their kids, and teaching them healthy tech habits that will set them up for success. 

Task Manager and Step Counter for Kids

Through the MyGabb app, parents can create custom tasks to help their kids stay on top of homework assignments and chores. Additionally, custom step count goals can encourage children to be active. After kids complete their tasks or reach their step goals, they can be awarded coins that unlock additional characters and actions in the Gabb Go app.

Focus and Silent Mode

Parents have the ability to lock the Gabb Watch any time in the MyGabb app. Focus Mode limits the watch to only calling and texting primary and guardian contacts (plus access to the SOS button), blocking all other apps. Silent Mode mutes the watch while keeping all features active. If a child has the volume muted and misses a call, parents can remotely adjust the volume via the app to ensure calls and texts are heard.

Kid-Proof: Water and Sweat Resistant

Water resistance is important for kids who love to play, rain or shine. Not only is Gabb Watch water resistant, but parents can buy an additional screen protector or extended warranty to protect against accidental damage from drops and spills.

Note: Gabb Watch is water resistant, but not waterproof. It isn’t recommended to submerge the watch in water.

Other Gabb Watch Features Kids Love

Gabb Go: The Productivity and Activity Tracker

Pre-installed in the new Gabb Watch, Gabb Go is a fun digital pet that encourages kids to be productive and stay active. By completing custom tasks, caring for a digital pet, and reaching daily step goals, kids can earn coins to unlock additional Gabb Go characters and actions. Because children can only perform three tasks each day for their digital pet, parents don’t need to worry about too much screen time.

Themed Watch Bands and Watch Faces

In partnership with MobyFox, Gabb has developed themed Star Wars watch bands and watch faces with several other themed watch bands and faces coming out soon. Parents can stay in-the-know on all future product releases by following us on social media or visiting gabb.com.

How Much Does a Gabb Watch Cost? Monthly Plans

Gabb Watch is only $149.99 with 3 different plan options, all of which include unlimited talk and text: 

  • $12.99/month with a 2 year contract
  • $14.99/month with a 1 year contract
  • $17.99/month for a month-to-month payment plan

Order your Gabb Watch today and choose the best plan for your child.

Do you have any other questions about the Gabb Watch? Let us know in the comments.

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Comments

  • Savannah Dec 11, 2021 09:41 PM

    First time ever buying it watch

  • Adam DeVizia Jan 01, 2022 03:27 PM

    Thanks for the update

  • Kirk Steele Apr 12, 2022 12:22 PM

    We bought a Gabb Watch to be able to track our elementary school-aged kids when they go to and from school so we know they're safe. It's been a complete disappointment. The "reliable GPS tracking" mentioned in the blog post is just not true. We'll often receive alerts that our kids have left the school boundaries and the map will show that they're 3 or 4 blocks away from the elementary school when they're actually at the school. It's concerning the first few times it happens because you think your kid has run off, but then it happens so often you get to the point that you can't trust the GPS location and geofencing on the watch at all and you ignore the false alarms (like the boy who cried wolf) - which completely defeats the purpose of knowing that your kids are safe and they're where they need to be. The same thing happens with the geofencing notifications to let me and my wife know when the kids have left the house to go to school in the mornings and when they're on their way home from school in the afternoons. The notifications are so delayed/laggy. We don't get the notifications that they even left the house until 20-25 minutes AFTER they got to school and it's the same for the notifications that they've arrived at the school. Once again, it defeats the entire purpose of getting the Gabb Watch to know that your kids are safe. The other way we've seen this manifest is the watch will be sitting on the charger in our kitchen and we'll literally get multiple notifications throughout the evening and the night that the watch has left our home and arrived at home - when it has been on the charger the entire time. The battery "long battery life" mentioned above is also just not true. Our kids don't use the watch that much during the day, yet the battery is mostly drained by the end of the day. If our kids forget to put the watch on the charger before they go to bed, there's so little battery life left that there's no way it will make it through the next day. Gabb Watch leadership - we hope you're listening. We love the premise and promise of the Gabb Watch - and it is so needed - but the current version of the watch is flawed and doesn't live up to the basic functionality that most parents are buying the watch for.

  • Gabb Apr 20, 2022 10:07 AM

    Hi Kirk, we appreciate you reaching out and letting us know about your experience. We apologize for any inconveniences that have been caused and we want to make it right. We stand by our products and we are constantly refining and perfecting our system processes. This GPS tracking bug came to the attention of our product team and they worked through solutions so these inaccurate notifications would no longer happen. We can say that this bug has been worked out and you should no longer receive inaccurate notifications. There will be another system update in the next week to further improve GPS capabilities. As for the battery life, if the watch is not being used very frequently, it could be an issue with the hardware--though this is not typical. We suggest you check to see how much the watch is being used and if you still experience issues, please reach out to our Customer Service team at support@gabbwireless.com. They will absolutely help you rectify any issues your device might be experiencing.

  • Steve Leasure Jul 14, 2022 07:04 AM

    We purchased 2 of these watches for our girls, and they have been a huge disappointment. The GPS is buggy, which is frustrating and defeats the point of the watch. The main issue I have, is getting constant notifications from the watches throughout the night. If my girls forget to plug in their watch for even one night, these notifications keep my wife and I up all night. Silencing my phone is not an option. Update your app to be able to Silence the power alerts during the night. They are excessive with such a short battery life. I got an alert at 2:30 ; 4:30, 5:00, 5:30, then it died at 6:42. For the love of all that is holy why??? We have lost countless hours of sleep over this.

  • Gabb Jul 26, 2022 12:03 PM

    Hi Steve, we are sorry to hear about your experience with the GPS tracking. We have since rolled out an update that should have fixed this issue. Additionally, you can set the GPS tracking to only notify you when they are out of their safe zones. If you put your home in the safe zone, you should not receive notifications when they are home.

  • Jody Jan 04, 2023 07:30 PM

    I was very excited for this watch for my kid. But the unreliable gps messages, the fact his father and I can’t both be the “primary” contact (we don’t live together and his father finds the “guardian” feature useless and I agree). The “long battery life” is less than 18hrs IF you barely use the watch at all. It’s nearly dead after 8hrs at school, even being in lock mode. The touch screen is very hard to get to work. You have to really bang on the screen to get it to register the contact. Some features are really wonderful…. This truly would be the perfect smart watch If they worked as advertised.

  • Gabb Jan 05, 2023 03:57 PM

    Hi Jody, we are sorry to hear that your watch is experiencing issues. These do not sound normal for our devices and we would love to help you troubleshoot, or, if there is a manufacturer error, we do have a 1-year manufacturer warranty. Please head to our website and chat in to our Customer Service team so we can get you taken care of.

  • Cassandra Dec 06, 2023 06:22 AM

    We recently purchased the Gabb watch. We turned the service on on November 24th. It is now only December 6th and we are getting messages about unable to send messages. She only has 3 preloaded contacts. Not sure if it's a service issue or it's already waiting to reload for the next month. I can't imagine that it's only had 2 weeks of service and it's still 2 weeks out from reload. If so, it's quite the rip off that she'll be unable to text or make calls till the service is paid again. I could've gone to a another service provider and added a line for unlimited calls and texts for the same price

  • Gabb Dec 06, 2023 05:00 PM

    Hi Cassandra, we are sorry to hear you are having issues with your Gabb Watch 3! It sounds like you may be experiencing some service issues rather than the data having run out. We would love to be able to assist and make sure you have a fully functioning device again. Our customer service team can be reached via chat or phone call.

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