Best GPS tracker for kids in 2022
Best GPS tracker for kids in 2022
Included in this guide:
The all-time GPS trackers for kids permit kids to roam freely — and parents to exhale a sigh of relief. A good GPS tracker tin let you know exactly where your child is — on their way to and from schoolhouse, at a local park, or lost in a crowd on a family outing.
Equipping your children with a tracker is as easily as clipping it onto their backpack or fastening it to their wrist. (Many of the best GPS trackers for kids that nosotros've tested double as wristwatches.) No thing what pattern you choose, a top GPS tracker should be easy to operate, with some devices capable of letting your kids transport out alerts to y'all and other care-givers if there's trouble.
When we look for the all-time GPS trackers, we consider how easy a device is to use, how comfortable it is to vesture and — mayhap most importantly — what kind of information it provides parents. We also look at the ongoing cost of kid trackers; besides the initial cost, you're usually required to pay a monthly fee for network connectivity.
While our search looks at the best GPS trackers for kids, many of these devices work just as well for monitoring crumbling parents. (You may accept to turn to a variation on the tracker to get a more age-appropriate design.) Here's what we've found in our search for good tracking tools.
What is the all-time GPS tracker for kids?
Jiobit has been the best GPS tracker for kids, thanks to a kid-proof design that can withstand the elements, though the company has started taken orders on a new version. The original Jiobit worked seamlessly with the smartphones you or a caregiver might carry around, so y'all non simply knew the location of your child merely who they're with — a valuable characteristic if you rely on a nanny or babysitter and want to cheque in on how everyone is doing.
If you adopt a spotter to a clip-on tracker, Lil Tracker is non only comfortable for kids to wear, it's also affordable, though its app is pretty confusing. While non a traditional kid tracker, the Apple tree Sentinel SE is an intriguing option thanks to Apple tree'due south Family Setup feature for tracking the location of someone wearing an LTE-enabled model of the smartwatch. Given the Apple Lookout man'southward cost, though, we'd only recommend it for older kids or aging parents.
Y'all may exist thinking near trying out other options like a standard GPS tracker instead of one designed specifically for kids, but we'd circumspection against that. The best GPS trackers for kids are designed specifically to be worn and sometimes operated by children. Dedicated GPS trackers, similar the very authentic the Spot Gen3 tin exist overwhelming for youngsters to utilise.
Besides, we'd steer you abroad from using Apple tree's new AirTag to runway anything other than objects. That tracker's use of Ultra Wideband may arrive tempting to apply with kids or pets, but the range isn't as good as a dedicated people tracker; what'southward more, Apple discourages that kind of employ case.
The best GPS trackers for kids you can buy today
Our pick for the all-time GPS tracker for keeping tabs on kids, pets and older adults has been the Jiobit, which is small-scale and light (ii x ane.5 ten 0.5 inches, 0.half dozen ounces). A loop lets yous attach the tracker to a backpack, shoe, belt loop, keychain or necklace, and we found nosotros only had to charge it every five days or then.
The makers of Jiobit take rolled out a new version, the $129 Jiobit Next that promises better bombardment life and more authentic tracking, thanks to a new antenna design. Support for depression-power wide expanse networks should help the Jiobit Next perform better in areas without bully cellular coverage. We plan on testing the device.
Every bit for the original Jiobit, with no screen, microphone or speaker, it feels very durable. It'due south daze-resistant and waterproof with an IPX8 rating — I doubt my 6-year-old could destroy it without a dedicated, sustained effort. We threw information technology on the ground, stepped on it and left it on the driveway during a rain shower, and it kept working just fine.
The best function for parents is how the Jiobit app for iOS and Android lets you know non only where your child is but also who she'south with. If your child has multiple caregivers and they all utilise the Jiobit app, the tracker and the caregiver'south telephone will connect with Bluetooth whenever they're in range. That fashion, you can see in the app that your son left school at 3 p.chiliad., accompanied by his dad, or his stepmom, or his babysitter, or whoever was supposed to pick him upward.
Even better, you aren't notified when your child arrives at or leaves a trusted identify with you. After all, you don't demand a push notification to tell you that you merely picked upwardly your child from schoolhouse. But you do want a notification if she leaves schoolhouse alone or with someone else. Trusted Places are like shooting fish in a barrel to set up in the app, and you tin choose to be notified when the tracker enters, leaves or both.
Y'all add other caregivers to your Care Team by phone number. They'll receive a link over SMS (text) to download the Jiobit app, and when they set up an account, they enter their ain phone number. Care Team members can choose to be notified when the Jiobit enters and leaves the trusted places y'all've prepare, and they tin can come across the Jiobit on the map and which caregiver is in range. They just can't set up additional trusted places or modify whatsoever of the Jiobit's settings.
With a combination of Bluetooth, GPS/GLONASS and Wi-Fi, the Jiobit got a adept point indoors and outdoors — the app always institute it within a second or ii of launching. Borer the pinnacle of the smartphone screen lets yous enter tracking mode, where the location updates on the map as the tracker moves, leaving a runway between points. Live tracking for long periods will wear down the Jiobit's battery, so the app asks you subsequently 2 minutes if yous want to go on tracking or become dorsum to the map, which still refreshes every few seconds if the tracker is moving, but without creating a trail.
Fifty-fifty though Jiobit'south app looks slap-up, it could have a few more features. There'due south no History to bear witness where the tracker has been during the day. The original Jiobit lacked an SOS button that your kid could printing if there'due south trouble, merely the new version of Jiobit rectifies that omission.
If you're trying to locate the Jiobit, at that place's no augmented-reality view to guide yous to its exact spot. Only when you're paired by Bluetooth, you lot'll find a petty bar in the app that connects your photo, representing your telephone, to your child'south photo, representing the Jiobit. That bar grows longer or shorter based on how shut you are, which tin assist you home in on the device. Then, y'all can tap the footling bell icon, and the Jiobit will make a noise and wink its LED, in example yous've lost it under the bed, for example.
The original Jiobit costs $149, with a service contract bachelor for $xiv a calendar month. Sign up for 2 years of service and you lower the cost to $nine a month. (In either case, your first 30 days are gratuitous.) Boosted Jiobit trackers can exist added to either plan for $half-dozen a month, with the same pricing for the device. The tracker uses AT&T's and T-Mobile'due south networks to send the GPS data.
The original Jiobit was the all-time GPS tracker for kids, with a long bombardment life and an easy-to-utilize app that make this device piece of cake to recommend. We hope that the sequel lives up to the high standard this edition set up. Check back for our updated review.
The Lil Tracker is a full-featured GPS picket aimed at kids, but it may be a little also full-featured once you lot become a look at the app. Y'all take to provide your ain SIM card (more on that in a bit), simply that enables GPS tracking, every bit well equally 2-mode voice calls, texts and one-way calls in which you can just listen to what'southward going on at your child'south location.
Weighing only 1.5 ounces, the watch is calorie-free, with a comfortable silicone ring and a metal buckle. It has a one.2-inch color touch screen with a friendly blithe monkey that accompanies the time brandish. Information technology's rugged and splash-proof, and there's also a completely waterproof version for $20 more than. Battery life depends on how much yous utilise the device, of course, simply the Lil Tracker is designed to last 12 hours; I had to recharge it every night.
The Lil Tracker stands out from other trackers with its two- and one-way calling. For two-fashion calls, yous phone call the watch from the app on your smartphone; the scout accepts calls only from numbers you've authorized in the app. Kids tin call those approved contacts too, past swiping and borer the affect screen. Holding down the SOS button on the side of the watch will call back to three preprogrammed numbers, in gild, until someone answers. (We reviewed the classic version of the Lil Tracker, but at that place's a waterproof version available for $20 more than. Every bit for seniors, in that location's a $99 version of the watch available in more than mature colors.)
Calls between the watch and the app connected quickly in my tests. The sound quality was simply so-then, but it was good enough for a quick cheque-in. My six-year-old son could empathise me just fine over the sentinel'southward speaker, but I sometimes had a hard fourth dimension telling what he was saying when he was outdoors. When he was indoors and speaking right into the watch, the telephone call sounded a lot better.
Ane-way calls, called "Sound Guardian" in the app'southward menu, are kind of like the Drop In feature on Amazon Echo devices. Parents use the app to call the watch, and they tin hear what's going on effectually information technology, but the watch doesn't ring or make any indication that someone is listening in. This worked well: My son's scout called me right away, and I could tell he was at schoolhouse — simply he didn't know I was calling, and so he didn't say anything to me. The sound quality was merely so-and so and varied based on ambience noise.
The app (which, weirdly, is called SeTracker2, not Lil Tracker, on iOS and Android) has a lot of other features, too. Some are a lot more than important than others. Useful features include the ability to set multiple geofences, rails route histories and remove detection alerts (though mine went off when my son took off the watch considering his wrist was getting sweaty). The watch can rails steps taken and distance, estimate calories burned and count how many times your child turns over in her slumber. (Simply the lookout man is pretty bulky to proceed on at night, and you need to charge it overnight.) You can send text chats to the watch, including emoji if your child isn't a reader yet. They can't text yous dorsum, though.
Unfortunately, the app is riddled with spelling errors and letters that brand no sense. (An item called Make Friends brings upward a bulletin that reads: "Note: app delete office just for friends to pay a unmarried friend devices; devices can cross multiple friends need to device the end delete." Huh?) Time zone selection is confusing, as y'all have to calculate how far away yous are from Greenwich Mean Time. And the app'south main screen has a decorative banner above the map that flips through 5 images that don't add anything to the app — they're just distracting. Worse, though, is that the app ofttimes displays an actual full-screen advert upon launching, fifty-fifty if yous're launching it by tapping a push notification.
The picket runs on the 2G network, which means information technology's using GPRS in the U.S. considering 2G networks are being shut down. (The company told us it plans to release a 3G version of the watch.) For a SIM menu, any GSM/GPRS network should work. Cheap SIM cards from US Mobile, Ting, or SpeedTalk are a good bet, only Lil Tracker leaves the research and buy entirely upward to y'all; the visitor doesn't offer a package that includes a SIM card or service. (However, our review unit came with a SIM installed and pre-activated.)
The bring-your-own-SIM model means you tin can store around for inexpensive service. Your carrier may exist able to add a SIM for this to your family plan, so check with them first. And proceed in heed that Ting offers SIM cards where you pay only for the data you use each month, with plans as low as $ix.
The Lil Tracker scout is passable — and affordable — simply the app is disappointing and hampers the experience. It's as well bad, considering with an all-new app, the Lil Tracker would exist a contender for the all-time GPS tracker for kids. The i-mode calling, which lets you heed in on what'southward happening effectually your child, is a compelling characteristic for parents who want to know more than the kid's location.
The Lil Tracker tin be hard to find on online retailer sites like Amazon, only you tin can always buy directly from Lil Tracker itself if you lot decide that this is the GPS tracker for you. We reviewed the 2G version of the Lil Tracker, but there's now a 4G version available for $129.
Apple tree continues to update its Apple Scout lineup — the latest model is the Apple Watch 7. But parents of older kids who want a device that keeps everyone connected should consider the Apple Watch SE, even if the lower-cost option in Apple's lineup hasn't seen an update lately.
That's because Apple'south Family Setup feature lets you manage an Apple Watch for another person — a child, say, or even older parent. And rather than beingness overkill, should yous grab a cheaper option similar the Apple tree Spotter SE, you can monitor locations from afar.
The Apple Lookout man SE features an aluminum case with silverish, gold and space grey finishes, and information technology comes in 40mm and 44mm sizes. Similar the Apple Picket Series 6, the SE version has an accelerometer, gyroscope, and the ever-on altimeter. Unlike the even cheaper Apple Spotter three, yous go fall detection, noise monitoring, international emergency calling and emergency SOS. That latter feature will exist particularly highly-seasoned to parents who meet the Apple Lookout SE as a potential tracking device.
To go the location tracking abilities for the Apple Watch, you'll need to buy the LTE version, which costs $329 for the 40mm model and $359 for 44mm model (as well as the additional monthly fee from your telephone carrier). With Family unit Setup enabled, you're able to track the location of someone wearing an LTE-connected Apple Lookout SE. You can also ready fitness goals, send allowance money and limit features during school hours via Family Setup.
The Apple Watch SE can't match other defended GPS trackers for kids in terms of battery life, as Apple only promises 18 hours of use. That means yous'll accept to accuse the Apple Watch SE every nighttime. But the Apple Lookout man likewise offers more features than the typical kid tracker, including activity tracking, a dedicated Fitness app and a hand-washing guide.
The Apple Lookout man SE certainly isn't the platonic solution for everyone who merely wants basic tracking features. But for older kids who balk at some of the less sophisticated looks of defended trackers or for older parents who need to be monitored, the Apple Lookout SE delivers a dainty alloy of mode and functionality.
Just be aware that Apple tree is rumored to be working on a new Apple Watch SE for 2022. The Apple Picket SE 2 isn't likely to announced before the fall, yet.
How to choose the best GPS tracker for kids
Hither are the criteria we consider when determining the best GPS tracker for kids.
Features: In addition to tracking location, many GPS devices offering a multitude of features, including one- and two-mode calling and the ability to set up geofenced zones that alert you lot when your kid has left a designated area. We look at which devices went beyond the nuts and how those features were implemented.
Operation: You desire a GPS tracker that accurately displays a person's location, with frequent updates when he or she is on the move. Nosotros took note of how accurately each device pinpointed our location. Nosotros've institute that mostly trackers work better in wide-open locations, with less accurate signals when we tested in dense downtown areas.
Blueprint: We considered the size of the GPS tracker and whether information technology was something a child could easily carry around. We also looked at durability: Could the device withstand rough-and-tumble trips to the playground?
Ease of use: We wanted to detect devices that were easy plenty for a small child to use, certainly, but also ones that wouldn't requite mom or dad fits during the setup and activation process. Here's one universal tip: Brand sure to activate your GPS tracker in as wide of an open up space equally possible — not from inside a building. Trackers hate being enclosed, especially at the starting time.
Cost: In addition to paying upwards front for a GPS tracker, there are monthly service fees. Nosotros considered what each GPS tracker will cost y'all on a monthly basis and whether you're required to sign a service contract. We too note when GPS trackers include the cost of service in the initial price tag, such equally offering the beginning year of service for free.
Security: Bank check what security protocols your GPS tracker follows. And when setting up the device, make sure to change whatever default passwords or user names.
How nosotros test GPS trackers for kids
In the past few years, we've tested a half-dozen kid-friendly GPS trackers; initially we also tested alongside a trio of generic GPS trackers. (Some of the kid trackers we initially tested are no longer available, as they relied on AT&T'due south since-discontinued 2G network; we've removed reviews of those products from this guide for the best GPS tracker for kids.) Nosotros conducted tests in both New York and the San Francisco Bay Area, using trackers to follow immature children both from afar and to find them in a crowd.
To come across what each tracker offers, we enable all push button notifications and test all voice features, except for ones that would trigger 911 emergency calls. We also keep an eye on how the batteries in each device held upwards as we traveled from spot to spot.
We get through the companion apps for each tracker, taking note of the features that are available and testing them with the GPS tracker itself. We also inquiry the monthly service toll for each tracker we review.
Do these GPS trackers for kids too work for seniors and pets?
Kids aren't the only members of your family that you may want to go along tabs on. Trackers can also help you exist aware of where seniors and pets are. And equally yous might imagine, the companies that make the all-time GPS trackers for kids also have devices improve suited for older members of the family or pets that might run off.
In the instance of Jiobit's tracker — both the original version and the Jiobit Next — it looks neutral enough and so that either kids or grandparents can wear information technology without continuing out, and then Jiobit sells the same device at the same toll for people of all ages. For pets, Jiobit includes a fabric pouch attachment that can fasten onto a pet collar, but the tracker and service programme cost the same.
As noted to a higher place, Lil Tracker's watch for seniors comes in a more conservative black color and costs a little more than the version for children, at least for the 2G version of the tracker. 4G Lil Tracker watches costs $129 for seniors and children alike. The company has a version of its tracker for pets, but it's listed equally sold out as of this writing.
The Apple Watch SE has a stylish design that appeals to seniors, and the LTE version of that smartwatch costs the same no matter who's wearing information technology.
If you're interested in reviews of defended products for pets, our sis site PetsRadar looks at the best pet trackers for cats and dogs.
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Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-gps-child-trackers,review-2884.html
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