Product Review: Gizmo Gadget from Verizon Wireless

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A smarter way to keep track on your kid

$149 purchase price, $5 a month service

By Mark Snead, That Techie Guy

 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Gizmo Gadget kids smartwatch is the latest collaborative innovation of LG and Verizon. This gadget serves the dual purpose of making you feel and secured regarding your kid’s safety while making your kid happy at the same time. This cool device will allow kids in tweens to send text messages or make calls, giving them the feel of a cell phone or rather a smartwatch which works like a mobile phone.

Gizmo gadget phone feature allows full parent control while giving your child the fantasy of an actual cell phone with speaker, microphone, and ability to text or call. But, it is you who will decide on the numbers his kid will call or text. You will receive a notification when the volume is changed, when the watch receives a call or other status updates. This innovation from Verizon thus helps you to put your kid into a safety zone while you are physically away. It comes in a blue and red color. This all-time wearable watch has a tech savvy smart look.

Image courtesy of That Techie Guy 

The utility on the parental side is that you can monitor the location of your child with the help of the inbuilt GPS of this smartwatch. It is particularly essential for those parents who depend largely on a handful of caregivers for the custody of their child throughout the day. Multiple tuitions and game activities have become an essential part of our child’s life apart from school. Gizmo Gadget features will earn you the peace of mind learning that your child is all-time safe. You can literally ‘geofence’ your kid. You can make instant arrangements if your child leaves the fenced area.

The working modules of Gizmo gadget smart watch are simple unlike its robust name. Parents can operate it without being technologically savvy. You just need to download and install the Gizmo companion application in your phone and other phones of caregivers on whom your child is dependent throughout the day. Communication between the smartwatch and a phone can be established only if both the devices have this application installed and running.

It is to be noted that messages sent from the smartwatch can consist of an emoji, a short audio message, or preset messages. You can set a maximum of nine messages in the phone with the help of the application. Each message can contain a maximum of 30 characters. Audio messages are limited to a brief duration of 20 seconds.

However there are certain disadvantages which you should be aware before investing in one of these gadgets. First of all at least one parent has to be a Verizon subscriber. You need to have the Gizmo companion application installed on all the phones to communicate with the smartwatch. Secondly, battery life of this device is moderate. Needless to say, that at this price, the advanced features of an Apple smartwatch are not included.

Gizmo gadget is a modern and very smart way to keep track of your kids without exposing their immature minds to the world of web, games or to connect with strangers.

Pros:

  • Easy to Use
  • GPS tracking
  • Auto pickup
  • Texting
  • Great for Theme parks, Fairs or any crowded venue
  • Reasonable $5 a month (added to existing Verizon plan)

Cons:

  • $149 purchase price is a little steep (Buy used Gizmo Gadget Blue or Pink for $32.95) 
  • Could be thinner
  • Texts from child is limited to 9 phases
  • Only water resistant (LG doesn’t recommend using it around water)

Conclusion: GizmoGadget is a great first phone for kids 6-12. Any younger and it might get lost or its too bulky to wear. It has great features and provides vital tracking information. My only complaint about the GizmoGadget is the thickness might be too bulky for some little arms. Ideally it should be just a little thinner than the Apple Watch.

Vital Tip: If someone on the approved caller list initiates a call to your child, ONLY the initiator can hang up, not the child. We took our first GizmoGadget back to Verizon thinking it was a defect. Turns out Verizon doesn’t know about this feature either.