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If your kid isn't yet acceptable for a smartphone but you privation a mode to spot their location, you mightiness see a GPS tracker.
After speaking to experts and parents, we've selected the champion GPS trackers and devices to show your child's location. Our apical prime goes to the Apple Air Tag, presently connected merchantability for $18, owed to its easiness of usage and close tracking. We went hands-on with immoderate of the champion devices connected the market. Read connected to find which GPS tracker is close for you and your family.
"As a mother, ensuring the information and well-being of my kid is of utmost importance," Dr. Kaitlyn Siu, a kid neurologist and laminitis and CEO of Teach Your Kids Code, told ZDNET. "However, I would equilibrium the request for information with respecting [my child's] privateness and autonomy, utilizing the tracker arsenic a instrumentality for bid of caput alternatively than for changeless surveillance."
What is the champion GPS tracker for kids close now?
ZDNET spoke to parents and professionals similar Dr. Siu to find the champion GPS trackers and devices to enactment alert of your child's location. Our prime for the champion GPS tracker for kids wide is the Apple AirTag since it's reasonably priced and uses Apple's broad Find My web for close tracking.
Though much expensive, we besides liked the Garmin Bounce and Xplora XGO3 smartwatches.
Also: The champion parental power apps to support your kids safe
The champion GPS trackers and devices for kids successful 2025
Why we similar it: The Apple AirTag is an affordable and close solution to support way of your child's location. It works with the Find My app and seamlessly integrates with the Apple ecosystem.
Apple's AirTags are astir the size of a quarter, and determination are countless accessories you tin usage to connect the tiny tracker to a jacket, backpack, oregon adjacent gaffe it into your child's pocket. The instrumentality uses an easy replaceable CR2032 artillery lasts that lasts astir a year.
The AirTag offers coagulated performance. However, enactment that AirTags were ne'er intended for tracking people. We recognize that they're adjuvant and affordable, but Apple doesn't advertise AirTags with the intent to find children oregon pets. One caveat is that an AirTag requires different Apple instrumentality to beryllium adjacent and connected to the net to stock its determination with Apple's Find My network. For example, if your kid doesn't person an Apple instrumentality with cellular capabilities, tracking a young kid connected the schoolhouse autobus requires idiosyncratic -- astir apt different pupil oregon the autobus operator -- to person an iPhone oregon cellular Apple Watch. If determination aren't immoderate Apple devices connected the bus, the determination can't update.
Review: Apple AirTag
Who's it for: The AirTag volition champion service families already utilizing Apple products.
ZDNET contributor Jason Cipriani tested retired placing AirTags connected his children's backpacks and recovered that helium could inactive way them during a schoolhouse day. "One backpack was located astir 30 minutes prior, and the different had conscionable had its determination reported 2 minutes earlier I'd checked," helium wrote. "Presumably, a teacher walked by their backpack with an iPhone successful their pocket, oregon 1 of the students' iPads picked up the tag's Bluetooth awesome and reported it backmost Apple, which successful crook lets maine presumption the determination successful somewhat real-time."
Of the customers who purchased an AirTag astatine Best Buy, 96% said they would urge it to a friend. The device's wide reappraisal standing is 4.8 retired of 5 stars.
Who should look elsewhere: If you're not already an Apple merchandise user, you'll privation to cheque retired our different recommendations.
Apple AirTag specs: Price: $29 oregon 4 for $99 | Battery life: One twelvemonth | Real-time tracking: No | Monthly cost: None | Connectivity: Bluetooth, Apple's Find My Network
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Why we like it: Garmin's latest kids' smartwatch, the Bounce, offers real-time determination tracking, connection features, wellness and slumber tracking, and games.
Also: The champion Garmin watches
Who's it for: This is simply a large prime for parents wanting to support way of their kids portion introducing smartwatch tech successful a controlled environment.
Bounce uses determination tracking to amusement parents their child's existent whereabouts successful the Garmin app and beryllium notified erstwhile their kid leaves pre-approved areas.
In addition, you tin presumption wellness metrics similar sleep, steps, and progressive minutes to support an oculus connected your increasing child. Garmin besides includes activity-related games wrong the ticker truthful kids tin unlock rewards for gathering goals oregon responsibilities, similar completing a chore.
LTE connectivity, disposable from Garmin for $10 per month, allows your kid to substance and dependable connection up to 20 parent-approved contacts.
Parents connected Reddit who person bought the ticker for their kids accidental it's large with notifications and determination updates, particularly for school-bound kids.
Who should look elsewhere: Garmin's smartwatch has a batch of bells and whistles. Parents and caregivers who privation a much minimal tracker should support shopping. The work besides requires a subscription.
Garmin Bounce specs: Price: $150 | Battery life: Two days | Real-time tracking: Yes | Monthly cost: $10 per month | Connectivity: Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi, LTE
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Why we similar it: The SyncUp Kids Watch 2 is cleanable for kids inactive excessively young for a smartphone but mature capable to attraction for a gadget.
Who's it for: This instrumentality is different large enactment to safely present your kids to smartwatch tech. It includes a camera, and your kid tin usage the instrumentality to nonstop and person messages. With the task manager, a genitor tin adhd chores oregon different tasks for their kid to absorption connected aft school, on with real-time determination tracking.
The interface is playful and casual for a kid to usage and includes a "School Mode" that disables other features during people clip to bounds distraction.
One T-Mobile reviewer who gave the instrumentality 5 stars said, "The lone radical allowed to interaction the ticker are acceptable by you, the parent. It's a bully mode to entree your kids erstwhile they are away, but it besides lets them consciousness similar they are increasing up some.
Who should look elsewhere: The SyncUp Kids Watch 2 mightiness beryllium easier to get started with if you're already a T-Mobile user. The instrumentality is costly astatine $174, but if you adhd a enactment to your T-Mobile account, you tin get the ticker for free.
In addition, if you'd similar a much minimal tracking device, you should look elsewhere.
Also: The champion smartwatches for kids
SyncUp Kids Watch 2 specs: Price: $174 | Battery life: 8 hours of speech clip | Real-time tracking: Yes | Monthly cost: No | Connectivity: 4G LTE
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Why we similar it: Verizon's Gizmo Watch 3 is simply a determination tracking instrumentality with peculiar features to assistance your kids enactment connected task.
Who's it for: This is simply a large enactment if you similar T-Mobile's SyncUp Kids watch, but you're subscribed to Verizon.
You tin nonstop and person messages and calls, and it has a built-in camera. You tin adhd up to 10 trusted contacts for your kid to pass with portion wearing the watch. The bearer besides offers a camera-less mentation of the watch.
You'll besides get real-time tracking and geofence enactment to person alerts erstwhile your kid leaves oregon arrives astatine a circumstantial location. Similarly to the SyncUp Kids watch, you tin make tasks for your kid and acceptable up schoolhouse mode to forestall them from utilizing the ticker astatine schoolhouse oregon during different activities.
"We bought the Verizon GizmoWatch astir 2 years agone for our kiddos, past aged 6 and 8," said Kendra Paulson, who is simply a freelance writer. "We unrecorded connected a subject base, and portion it is beauteous harmless here, we wanted to person a mode to pass with our girls portion they were retired riding bikes and playing successful the neighborhood. I tin glimpse astatine the Gizmo representation and spot wherever my kids are, and we tin substance and telephone backmost and forth, truthful it's similar having a starter telephone that straps to their wrist."
The Gizmo ticker costs $150 and person a one-time $35 activation interest from Verizon.
Who should look elsewhere: Like T-Mobile's kids watch, Verizon's Gizmo ticker volition enactment amended for existing customers, different you'll request to motion up for a cellular plan.
Verizon customers besides accidental the artillery beingness is shorter than advertised.
Also: The champion kids' phones for keeping you successful touch
Verizon Gizmo Watch 3 tech specs: Price: $150, positive a $35 activation interest | Battery life: Up to 3.5 days (standby) oregon 1.5 days changeless use | Real-time tracking: Yes | Monthly cost: No | Connectivity: GPS, Cellular (4G)
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Why we similar it: The Xplora XGO3 ticker uses GPS, progressive Wi-Fi, and GSM triangulation to supply real-time determination tracking. It besides offers geofencing, truthful you tin acceptable up information zones astir cardinal locations similar location and school. If your kid wanders retired of these pre-marked areas, you volition beryllium notified.
Review: Xplora XGO3
Who's it for: The XGO3 offers a reliable mode to support way of your kids but adds immoderate other fun.
The ticker doesn't person immoderate games, but games are disposable via the GoPlay app. For each 1,000 steps that your kid takes, they volition gain 1 Xcoin, which tin beryllium saved up and redeemed for existent prizes successful the GoPlay store. To bash so, you'll request to entree a smartphone oregon tablet. Verified customers accidental it's an intelligent mode to gamify wellness and fittingness for small ones.
ZDNET writer Maria Diaz tested the ticker connected her girl and said it gave her bid of mind. "From my testing, the GPS tracking successful the XGO3 is reliable, particularly due to the fact that I tin acceptable up circumstantial information zones wrong the Xplora app, similar for location and school, and beryllium notified erstwhile my kid leaves those areas," she wrote successful her review. "The app besides shows humanities tracking data, which is useful erstwhile you request to callback past activities."
Who should look elsewhere: A monthly subscription is required to usage the ticker and its services. The prices scope from $10 to $14 per period excluding tax.
Xplora XGO3 specs: Price: $99 | Battery life: 72 hours (on standby) | Real-time tracking: Yes | Monthly cost: $10-$14 per period | Connectivity: Cellular (SIM card), Wi-Fi, GPS
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Our proposal for the champion GPS tracker for kids is Apple AirTag. However, immoderate of the options connected this database would marque bully GPS trackers and devices for kids. It conscionable depends connected what you want, and which features are a precedence to you.
GPS tracker device | Price | Battery | Real-time tracking? |
Apple AirTag | $29 | One twelvemonth | No |
Garmin Bounce | $150 | Two days | Yes |
SyncUp Kids Watch 2 | $174 | One week | Yes |
Verizon GizmoWatch | $150 | Up to 3 days (standby) oregon 1.5 days of changeless usage | Yes |
Xplora XGO3 | $100 | 72 hours (on standby) | Yes |
Choose this GPS tracker... | If you want... |
Apple AirTag | The champion wide tracker for astir people. There's nary monthly fee, and the artillery lasts astir a year. |
Garmin Bounce | A smartwatch loaded with features and real-time tracking. Parents tin usage determination tracking connected the Bounce to presumption their child's existent whereabouts successful the Garmin app. |
SyncUp Kids Watch 2 | A wearable ticker for kids nether T-Mobile. The wrist-worn gadget costs $174, but you tin get it for escaped if you adhd a enactment to your account. |
Verizon Gizmo Watch | A wearable ticker for kids nether Verizon. You tin make tasks for your kid and acceptable up schoolhouse mode to support them from utilizing the ticker astatine school. |
Xplora XGO 3 | A GPS ticker that encourages kids to play outside. With geofencing, you tin acceptable up information zones astir captious locations, similar location and school. |
If you're buying a GPS tracker for your kids, you should see the following:
- Privacy: Keeping your child's accusation and information is of the utmost value with immoderate tech device, truthful we looked astatine trackers and devices with privateness features similar encryption, parental controls, and two-way connection truthful you tin interaction your child.
- Real-time tracking: We included trackers and devices that person real-time GPS tracking, which uses outer signals to find the precise determination of the device, truthful you cognize precisely wherever your kid is astatine immoderate fixed moment.
- Battery life: A tracking instrumentality serves small intent if it's retired of battery, truthful we looked astatine devices with agelong artillery lives truthful you don't person to recharge constantly.
- Price: These tracking devices tin scope dramatically successful price, but we tried to support each products nether astatine slightest $200.
The parental controls are acceptable from your phone, utilizing the Xplora app.
When we trial smartwatches, we typically travel the aforesaid regular for each 1 to spot which performs champion when tested successful the existent world.
- Daily wear: We deterioration the smartwatch arsenic our superior watch, with communications, applications, and different elements being tested arsenic if it were our lone smartwatch.
- Application enactment and performance: One facet that makes smartwatches antithetic than modular watches is the enactment for applications. We load up the ticker with apps and past trial the show and functionality of those applications. For example, Apple peculiarly excels successful the country of third-party exertion support.
- Workouts: Smartwatch makers person embraced wellness and fittingness truthful we instrumentality smartwatches retired for moving with GPS, rowing connected the Hydrow, biking connected trails, and walking with the family. GPS and bosom complaint information is tracked and past we measure the accuracy against proven GPS sports watches.
- Sleep and enactment tracking: Sleep tracking has improved with smartwatches implicit clip and we measure and comparison them to astute rings and different watches. Nighttime is besides a bully clip to complaint your smartwatch, truthful you whitethorn take not to usage your ticker to way slumber truthful your ticker tin service faithfully each time and into the night.
For a deeper look into our investigating process, cheque retired our comprehensive smartwatch investigating methodology.
Latest quality astir GPS trackers
- In October, Florida implemented laws aimed astatine cracking down connected high-tech Bluetooth tracking utilized successful crimes, aft reported cases of nefarious location-tracking activity, similar stalking cases.
- Skechers launched the Find My Skechers sneaker enactment with a hidden Apple AirTag slot. The shoe's insole lifts to uncover a peculiar integrative compartment for the tracker.
- School buses successful Allen Parish, LA volition beryllium outfitted with GPS trackers. Through a concern with tech institution SamSara, the trackers tin archer parents a bus' location, if it's delayed, and immoderate imaginable mechanical issues.
The instrumentality uses a outer web to find its location. A GPS tracker converts these outer signals into information specified arsenic velocity, time, and presumption truthful that you tin spot precisely wherever the instrumentality and, successful turn, your child, is.
No, Fitbit makes GPS-enabled enactment trackers for kids, but not determination trackers with real-time determination tracking.
Privacy concerns and morals are the main concerns astir GPS tracking devices successful general, particularly erstwhile it comes to tracking children. ZDNET asked parents however they felt.
"As my daughters turn older and yet caput disconnected into the satellite connected their own, it volition transverse my caput wanting to cognize wherever they're astatine and whether they're safe," said genitor and Ling App co-founder Kanyarat Nuchangpuek.
"On the different hand, it bothers maine that I could beryllium crossing a enactment peeking into their backstage lives. It's akin to uncovering retired that your parent work your diary. It's an penetration of privateness and whitethorn besides deter my children from experiencing beingness successful their ain way. Having to wonder, "Is mommy watching?" shouldn't beryllium a earthy thought."
Regardless of your choice, it's a bully thought to support your data, particularly erstwhile it involves your child's location.
Also: How to find retired if an AirTag is tracking you
For example, erstwhile signing up for an account, usage a unsocial and analyzable password -- preferably stored successful a password manager -- to adhd a furniture of extortion to your account.
If you're unsure astir a merchandise oregon service, ever beryllium definite to work done the company's privateness policy.
The AirTag uses Bluetooth to assistance find items, but it's constricted if your kid isn't adjacent Apple devices. The AngelSense works anyplace with cellular sum and is specifically designed for kids. It offers real-time GPS tracking, including two-way dependable and SOS alerts.
Unfortunately, galore GPS trackers and devices for kids necessitate an further subscription payment. This is particularly existent if the instrumentality requires an app with precocious features oregon a wearable that provides LTE connectivity.
Be definite to origin this other outgo into your last decision.
Latest updates:
- In our December update, we refreshed the leafage contented and added accusation astir the dangers associated with Bluetooth trackers and fashionable options similar AirTags.
- In our August update, we performed important layout and transcript changes. We besides added a latest quality conception connected GPS trackers.
Other GPS trackers to consider
For much connected GPS tracker quality and reviews, cheque retired our speedy tips connected how to GPS-track a phone and wherefore we emotion Garmin's eTrex Solar tracker.
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