What is the Garmin Bounce smartwatch?

I didn’t aspire to be a professional badger wrangler, but that became my fate when I became a parent. While I adore my son’s fiery spirit, it wouldn’t be an inconvenience if he became fond of occasional intermissions, like napping or watching a movie.

Until that day comes, I keep up with my kiddo’s every tree-climbing excursion and playground session. After a full day of this, I often glance at my trusty smartwatch and see I’ve surpassed 15,000 steps. I often wonder what my son’s stats are, and it’s possible to find out with Garmin’s latest offering.

The Garmin Bounce is a smartwatch/fitness wearable for kids, offering young users the same useful features that adults appreciate in smartwatches. This includes LTE-powered communication, quick details on time and weather, and insights into health trends (including movement and sleep). I came into this review as a skeptical parent, but Garmin showed me that a smartwatch can foster healthy connections to movement for kids in a fun way.

The Bounce works hard, so kids can play harder

Setting the Garmin Bounce up is easy. You don’t need a Garmin smartwatch; all that’s required is the Garmin Jr companion app. From there, grown-ups have control over their child’s daily step goals, school and nighttime do-not-disturb schedules, and safety features.

Despite being LTE-connected, the watch’s messaging is restricted to the companion app. If your child wants to connect with trusted people outside their guardians, it’s not as easy as adding their phone number to the Bounce’s contacts.

What’s good about the Garmin Bounce?

The Bounce’s core functions are activity and communication. It tracks four basic exercises — walk, run, swim, and bike — with GPS enabled for tracking distance. I found the Bounce’s activity tracking accuracy to be on par with Garmin’s “grown-up” options.

Safety is the number one reason I’d choose to buy a smartwatch for my child. The Bounce offers peace of mind with live location services and location history. The LiveTrack feature will even track the speed and direction your child is heading in.

What’s bad about the Garmin Bounce?

The Bounce’s GPS enables precise location tracking, but there are recurring costs associated with the Bounce. For $10 per month, Garmin’s standard plan provides LTE-based texting or voice messaging with your child, as well as live location tracking.

Should you buy it?

This is the first somewhat smart device my child has used. A device like the Garmin Bounce is an excellent way to instill confidence in your child’s safety and encourage a healthy relationship with activity while avoiding unfettered access to the internet.

If you feel that the $250+ FitBit Ace LTE is too steep but want connectivity and more advanced features, the Bounce is a nice happy medium. It won’t bust your bank account but does more than just track your child’s movement.

It’s not a perfect device, but I like it enough to recommend it. The Bounce minimizes distractions during the school day and keeps my son in touch with me when he’s at a friend’s house. The activity, health, and sleep tracking features come with Garmin’s promised reliability and accuracy.