Smartwatch For Your Kids

Who remembers imagining what it would be like in the future - did you envisage communicating via the watch on your wrist, or travelling via hoverboards, or some self-propelled aircraft? It's mind blowing knowing some of these technologies really do exist in the year 2016. I sometimes wonder what teenagers these days envision as Science Fiction-type technology and what the future hold in terms of technological advancements during the lifetime of BabySumoKids.

The age of communication via watch is already upon us. Maxis recently launched the MaxisOne Kid, which comes with a smartwatch and plan specially designed for kids:

As a parent, I can't help but worry about my children, especially when I'm not around them. "How are they doing in school today?", "Have they eaten their lunch?" and "Will they be able to contact me if something is wrong?", are just some common questions which play through my mind during a normal school day. Although phones may be able to facilitate this matter, for me personally I feel that phones are a distraction for children in school as it would give them access to games, photos, Internet and more.

On the other hand, the Maxis smartwatch gives you the ability to keep in contact with your child, without the distractions that come with the phone. This watch is especially suitable for young children aged between 4 to 9 years old, as they can only make calls to the preset numbers, and have no access to SMS or internet. It's fantastic that I am able to communicate with my child when the need arises (for example, I can contact her if there is unforeseen traffic while I'm travelling to her school so she knows I am on my way).

With the MaxisOne Kid smartwatch, your child will be able to make unlimited calls to any of the ten preset numbers - the contact list is easily accessible on the smartwatch with a relevant avatar which best represents the person. You will be able to set "In-Class Mode" on the app too, which means that during class times, your child will not be able to use the smartwatch as it has been disabled for use and hence will not be a distraction to them during those times. The smartwatch is very user-friendly; I only had to show Chloe what the buttons and functions are once, and she immediately grasped it.

One of the things I really like about this MaxisOne Kid smartwatch is that I, as the parent, am the admin of the smartwatch and am the only one who can preset up to ten numbers of contacts on the smartwatch. This means that Chloe will only able to make or receive calls from these preset numbers, so I do not have to worry about her getting or making calls to strangers. Even if someone gets hold of her number, they will get an engaged dial tone and will not get through to her as it is not a preset number in the contacts list.  Furthermore, she is also able to record and send me a 11-second voice message if she has something she needs to tell me in instances where she cannot get hold of me via a call.

I can also send her voice messages, which she can listen to by accessing "Voices" on the smartwatch

Using the smartwatch, Chloe can take and send photos with the built-in camera. The photos are not stored on the phone, instead they are stored in the Maxis Parent App under the "Chat" folder. She would sometimes take photos of her school lunch, and send it to me, so that I will get to see what she is having that day in school. The other day, I asked Chloe to go downstairs and take a photo and send it to me as a test, and she sent me this :P

With the smartwatch, I am also able to track my child, wherever they are, as it is built with a GPS tracking system with real-time location reports. This will give us parents peace of mind, knowing that our child is safe and at the location they need to be at that time. There is also a feature on the Maxis App, called "Alarm Zone", whereby you can set a "Safe Zone". For example, from Mondays to Fridays, you can set the "Safe Zone" as their school location. If the child goes out of the Safe Zone during the set time, a notification will be triggered to let you know that the child has left the Safe Zone.

 Last weekend, the kids went out with their grandparents - I tracked them in Midvalley. 

There is also a Pedometer function on the watch, so I am able to see Chloe's activity level (steps and distance done, and calories burnt).

The Maxis Parents App is easy to install and navigate on the phone. As the admin, I am able to control all the functions of Chloe's smartwatch. I can call her, send her voice messages as well as text messages. I can assign three other people as Guardians if I want to, and they too can monitor Chloe's location, receive SOS, and location notification via the Maxis Parent App.

The battery life on the smartwatch is pretty good, it can last about 2-3 days on full charge. The app will send you a notification when the battery is running low and it takes about 2 hours to get a full charge.

Having used the smartwatch for 2 weeks now, I feel that it is a great communication tool and it gives me peace of mind as I am able to know my child's location at all times. The MaxisOne Kid plan is available for RM58/month (comes with a one-year contract), for MaxisOne 98 and above customers. With the package, your child will get unlimited calls to the 10 preset numbers (all networks), voice messaging, 500MB data, and the watch (in pink or blue).

For more details on MaxisOne Kid plan, please visit this website here.






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