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best alternative for a tween

ericg301

ericg301

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 15, 2010
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my tween really wants a smart watch for her birthday this summer. she has an iPhone SE and is responsible with it, but I don't trust her with an Apple Watch yet (not that I don't trust her...but I don't trust the rest of her middle school peers.)

She's had a Fitbit Ace 2 for the last two years and has outgrown it..."it's too babyish" in her exact words.

Amazon is full of Chinese AW knockoffs around $50...with mixed reviews...does anyone have any recos?
 
RunsForFun said:
I would not trust any of those with my data or to last any decent amount of time. I would recommend an Apple Watch SE with family setup. That way you can control exactly what she can do with it.
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I’m not worried about her with it. I’m worried about her being bullied, or getting it stolen. Or busted up.
 
I don't know where you live but my kids have had a watch for 2-3 years each now (they are 13/15) and have never had any issues with bullying or someone trying to steal their watches. At least here so many of their peers also have them that it's not a big deal at all.
 
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ericg301 said:
I’m not worried about her with it. I’m worried about her being bullied, or getting it stolen. Or busted up.
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Apple Care is always a good option for that. As for being stolen I would think the incentive for stealing an Apple device is pretty low considering how locked down they are. It would basically be a paper weight for anyone that would steal it. Are kids actually bullying over watches these days? Good grief.
 
Honestly she’ll be starting middle school next fall and I don’t know what their electronic device policy is. They may be banned outright anyway.

Going to convince her to keep her Fitbit through the summer until we find out what the new school rules are…and maybe what the next Apple Watch looks like (or price drop on the current SE)

This will go over like a lead balloon I’m sure. …
 
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For me, the watch is an intermediate step before giving my daughter a phone. She can’t lose it because it is strapped to her body, it is cheaper, and cell service is cheaper. She is entering fifth grade.
 
If you are concerned about it being damaged/lost/stolen (her fault or otherwise) - you could look for a 2nd hand Apple Watch on eBay. I just picked myself up a Series 3 for AU$137... so not a huge outlay. (And already have my 13yo and 8yo sons saying "Where's mine!"; However as noted, you should certainly check the school's policies on smart devices...)
 
DoubleFlyaway said:
For me, the watch is an intermediate step before giving my daughter a phone. She can’t lose it because it is strapped to her body, it is cheaper, and cell service is cheaper. She is entering fifth grade.
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Mine already has a phone.

A new Watch with cellular is almost the same price as an iPhone SE 2.
 
Duckhunter said:
I’d vote for a series 3 watch. Pretty cheap to replace it lost or damaged.
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I'd rather wait til the fall and see what goes into the Series 3 $199 slot. Maybe the S4, or the current SE?

I had numerous friends and family reach out to me in the last weeks, unable to update their S3 watches to the new OS without having to completely reset it.

But the consensus on this thread is not to bother with any other knock-off devices. it's AW or bust.
 
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ericg301 said:
I'd rather wait til the fall and see what goes into the Series 3 $199 slot. Maybe the S4, or the current SE?

I had numerous friends and family reach out to me in the last weeks, unable to update their S3 watches to the new OS without having to completely reset it.

But the consensus on this thread is not to bother with any other knock-off devices. it's AW or bust.
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Yeah I would not recommend the S3. It’s got a serious problem with updates.
 
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I would vote for the AW SE. If your daughter doesn't need all of the fancy features like blood oxygenation and the always on display, the SE would be my vote. I heard issues around the S3 with updates as well — I wouldn't get the S3. Apple will have their keynote on June 7th so maybe wait and see if the first generation AW SE will have a price drop. As for the watch being damaged, You can always get her like a belkin watch bumper. I had one when I was in college when I became an AWS1 owner as a freshman. I went to the gym a lot in my freshman year and the bumper helped prevent the case from being scratched and/or have bumps in it. I also dealt with a lot of design studio hours (I'm a graphic designer) which required me to man handle a lot of physical things and that has actually really protected my watch. https://www.apple.com/shop/product/...us-kwgo-pla-btb-3pp--slid---product-HNLZ2ZM/A

You can get her a apple watch screen protector. I had that for awhile and then I stopped using it probably when I got out of college because I rarely accidentally bump my watch into anything. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/zagg-i...OCiLPYT-qEK3_LIMDixoCsC0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

But I'd definitely get apple care with the watch. Better safe than sorry! I'm not so much worried about having my apple watch stolen. Literally 90% of the time the watch is strapped to my wrist, and I only take it off for when I'm taking a shower or going to bed or charging my watch. If it gets lost, you could use the Find My app to locate it. I can't imagine kids bullying others just for having an Apple Watch, if anything, I think apple products are top of the line. Heck, when I was in high school, I was jealous of others for having an iPhone and I didn't get my first iPhone until my junior year of high school!
 
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Duckhunter said:
I’d vote for a series 3 watch. Pretty cheap to replace it lost or damaged.
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I find the limited storage on the S3 to be a real pain when you need to install an OS update. you now have to wipe the phone and reinstall from scratch. It takes several hours. I don't recommend those anymore. Hopefully Apple moves something like the SE or S4 into that price slot in the fall.
 
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This year my sons middle school forbade Apple Watches. So he has to put it in his backpack when he gets to school until school is out. Something to watch out for.
 
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