XGO 3 - Watch Phone for Children (4G) - Calls, Messages, Kids School Mode, SOS Function, GPS Location, Camera and Pedometer – (Subscription Required) (Pink)

Update: The company sent me a new watch with a SIM that they promised would work. Indeed, it did work! I really like this watch for my 7 year old son. The GPS seems to be accurate, it has an alarm that he uses every morning to wakeup with, I put it on school mode, and he's able to receive texts from me through the app, and phone calls from anyone I put on the contacts list. The only thing I have not tried out yet is adding the app to my husbands' phone so he can also text. Assuming that will work but we'll see. Otherwise, great connection, you can hear the person on the call easily without having to hold the watch up to his face (some other watches we tried had that issue). Overall, great watch once you get one with the SIM working properly! Could never get the watch to work properly. Set it up and couldn't make calls. Did a few adjustments and restarts and it made a call and seemed to work for about a day and then started giving a "No SIM" error. Worked with customer service back and forth for 10 days (they only have email so it would take a day before I would hear from them and be able to try what they suggest to fix it) and finally got it working again. It worked for 1 day and then started giving a different error and wouldn't make calls again. I gave up and returned.

Quick background: we're a very tech-savvy household; my husband is a software programmer and developer, and we use multiple Android and iOS devices. Quick synopsis: after experiencing hardware malfunctions that are still not resolved after 5 days of back and forth, and then negligent actions on behalf of Xplora, we are starting the return process. Bottom line: IT'S UNACCEPTABLE THAT A COMPANY IN THE BUSINESS OF SELLING COMMUNICATION DEVICES WOULD NOT HAVE ANY DIRECT PHONE SUPPORT OR 24/7 SUPPORT, AND 24HR DELAYS IN RESPONSE TIME. I'll keep the pros/ cons up front, followed by additional details regarding the problems that have led to us throwing in the towel; it's too stressful to keep supporting and dealing with a company that has terrible customer support for a device that is continuing to experience problems. Glad we purchased this on Amazon and signed up for the monthly Connect plan (without a contract) to test this out, after seeing other reviews mention difficulties with the watch, customer service, and getting refunded when things went south. Amazon processed the return quickly (I was also able to return and get refunded for the insurance plan), and it was also easy to cancythe Connect plan; I was just barely within the 30 day window, so the only silver lining here is that we experienced so many issues and such a terrible support experience from the beginning that we were able to quickly determine this wasn't the right fit for us. PROS: - Sleek design with smooth edges and not too chunky; a good fit for 10yo and easy to keep clean - Crystal clear voice calling - Parent-managed contacts only - Can call directly from my phone/ contact list - School Mode = clock only (all other features are disabled except the SOS calling). You can also set up multiple "school modes" which is helpful in limiting "after hours" use of the watch. - SOS call goes straight to me (the primary contact), instead of 911 which I prefer at this age. - Optional Asurion protection plan to cover damage + theft - Camera (I don't particularly care about the image quality, but I like that there's the option for my child to take and text photos) - Backed by Amazon's return policy - Good battery life (we haven't drained it yet, averaging 7-10K steps/ day, but haven't used it a lot for calls yet) - Uses T-Mobile network (could also be a con if you're in a bad service area or do a lot of traveling) CONS: - Ongoing hardware malfunctions (see below details) - Customer/ tech support is only available by email on business days (UTC+1), and takes at least 24hrs to respond to US customers. - Can only text via the Xplora app - Watch can only text photos or Xplora-programmed messages/ emojis (though watch can also send a voice message text for anything specific) AMBIVALENT: - Must remove any dashes or parentheses from contact phone numbers after copying into the app (you won't find these details anywhere else; it took 1wk for customer support to identify this simple problem which they should have seen from the beginning) - Unclear if you can keep/ transfer the phone number to a phone when the time comes - The app notifies you of any calls to/ from the watch; this is annoying in the sense that even when I call or the child calls me, I get a notification from the app, and since all the contacts are managed by me anyway and I can't disable this notification, it's slightly annoying. I can imagine it would quickly become a con if my child was doing a lot more communicating from the watch than currently. Unresolved hardware issues: malfunctioning GPS (pinging locations several miles away from our child's actual location while on the bus), freezing in school mode, unable to restart or power off, and network + internal server errors. Xplora offered to factory reset the watch and asked when would be a good time, indicating I should be with the watch since I would have to re-pair it with the app. I responded on a Monday asking them to reset the watch after 12:30pm UTC+1; they took 48hrs to respond and then said "We unfortunately are operating at UTC plus one therefore it is very hard to match the right time unfortunately." Not sure why it's hard to match UTC+1 time with UTC+1, but this illustrates the level of customer support you're dealing with. So I followed up asking them to perform the reset between the hours of 8am-12:30pm (UTC+1), and instead they reset the watch immediately (at 4:01pm UTC+1). This is on day 5 of back and forth about this, so now my child is at school and I'm unable to access the watch at all or put it back in school mode, and is really unacceptable. Decided to go with the Verizon Gizmo after returning this; the size and look is similar, though the Gizmo has more in-watch features, and you can set up your own activities and rewards instead of in-app-only Xplora coins. Plus, Verizon's support/ customer service is a dream compared to Xplora's.

My original comment I will leave below, but I'd like to update that after posting my comment on our experience will the xplora Go 3 watch, the company contacted me within 24 hours to resolve the issue. They offered my daughter the latest model (xplora go 6) free of charge, as well as 3 months free subscription & 3 months of the subscription refunded for the issues we dealt with with the watch we originally purchased. They were kind, committed to fixing the issue & prompt. We reviewed both the new watch and a new SIM card within a week of each other and the company was even able to let me daughter keep her old number for the watch. They got it set up and working almost immediately after we received the SIM card and we are already very happy with how the new watch works. Doest drop calls, connects to the wifi, magnetic charger, etc. Thank you for being committed to customer satisfaction and allowing us another opportunity to give XPLORA a chance! I wanted to give the product a few months before deciding how we liked it. My kid has had the watch for 4 months now. For GPS tracking, it does pretty well. For calls, it's terrible. Cuts out quite a bit during a call and the call feature works when it wants to. Most days, it won't let me call the watch, just immediately drops the call after you hit the CALL button. Also does not let my kid make outgoing calls all the time. It works when it wants to. When making updates on the app to the watch or changing watch settings on the app, it takes DAYS for the watch to register the changes you've made. Will definitely be looking into a different product.

These watches are a disappointment. After six months of use, I have very little faith that I would be able to quickly and easily locate my children or even contact them. We have several of these watches, and one or more will not work on any given day. These are completely unreliable. -Poor location information: The location information will be outdated. A notification that the watch has entered a safety zone will be received, but when checking the location on the map, the location is from hours earlier. Attempting to refresh the location is an exercise in watching paint dry. In general sometimes the location updates, sometimes it does not. Several watches will be together at the same location, but the map will show one watch is still at home while the other watch is at the second location -- even hours after they went to that second location. -Poor messaging: After sending a message through the app, the text (the words that I had typed) remain in the input box, and I have to manually delete them in order to enter and send another message. Not very useful. -Poor connectivity: The biggest and most concerning issue is the watches will lose connectivity randomly. I can communicate with a particular watch, but then suddenly something magical happens and that watch loses its connection despite being in a house or other location with reliable cellular service. Sometimes I can send a "reset" signal, but that often does not work. This unreliable and inconsistent connectivity negates the ability to call the watch or track its location, which is the entire reason for having tracking watches. -Limited messaging: I knew the watches do not permit sending free text, and in retrospect that was a mistake. -Limited access: The app allows two parent/guardian accounts, but both will have full administrator access to manage contacts, etc. This means one parent account could remove the other parent account and vice versa. There should be a primary owner account with unrestricted access, and other accounts should be able to be granted additional access such as tracking location, for other family members, nannies, etc., without giving those accounts administrator level access. -Too many notifications: it is nice that the app notifies you of every call the watches make (when they can make calls), bu there is no customization. So if one watch is making several calls to approved contacts, you will receive many notifications. There should be better options for batching or silencing some notifications, but as is, one must silence all notifications. Overall, these watches were a gigantic mistake and waste of money. There has been way too much frustration in setting up and using these watches. It is 2026, and devices in this category should be reliable for reason they are produced: to call and track reliably. I would never purchase these watches ever again. i had previously recommend them to other parents, but now I would never recommend them to anyone.

We've now been using the XPLORA GO watch for a month or so now and we're really happy with it. There's something really special and comforting about knowing that wherever your child is, you have a way of contacting them, sending them an important message or just saying "I love you!" And then conversely if they need something or just want to chat, they can call or send a voice memo as well. Hearing my son's little voice over the phone and giving him the practice to carry on a whole conversation independently, is a really fun thing to experience as well. We love that we can track where he is and I'd say the tracking is better than the apple tag we were using previously. And one unforeseen benefit that we've discovered now is that our son can message and call his cousin (who also has a watch) when he misses him and wants to talk to him and it's like being able to be in one another's company. Overall, we're really happy with the XPLORA GO 3 and recommend it to anyone looking for a simple watch phone for their kids.

you need to purchase the plan for at least a year so it will have an additional cost. it’s a great option for my 10 year old who isn’t mature enough for a phone. i do wish that he was able to text me back full sentences instead of emojis and preset words. the only way you can text is through downloading the app or at least that’s how i’ve had to do it. so sometimes i don’t realize when he sends me the texts. i like that i have control over who can communicate with him. in my case it’s almost too limited and wish it had more features.

I bought this for my 10 year old after a lot of research. I saw that this was a frequently returned product but it seemed like the functionality was good and the price was right. However ultimately we returned it after trying it out for 2 weeks as it just doesn’t really do what we wanted it to. Pros: Location and real time tracking Alert for leaving and entering safety zone Cute color Comfortable Seems durable although we only had it 2 weeks Has a camera Phone call audio quality is decent Cons: Child can NOT compose text messages. There is no keyboard on the phone. The preprogrammed messages are limited and not very functional phrases. The preprogrammed messages can not be customized either by the child or parent. The points earned for steps is an OK idea (although it feels a bit paternalistic of the company to determine that for each person!) however the games absolutely do not work. This was hugely disappointing as my kid LOVES video games and would have bought into wearing the watch if this function worked. Summary: This phone is good for tracking your kid’s location. Useful to me as my child went on an out of area trip with their other parent. You can call each other. The child can’t compose text messages so if they aren’t comfortable speaking out loud with out in their current location they won’t use the watch to communicate other than a few phrases and emojis over and over. You can compose text messages to send your child so you are able to communicate freely to let them know any info or to provide reassurance and keep connected. My 10 year old has an iPad and is proficient in sending direct messages so this watch was a letdown. I could have kept it for my younger child who reads very little as it would allow him to learn the few preprogrammed phrases but again, those aren’t very useful. And the fact that the game functions don’t work meant he had no interest in exploring the device at all. So we are returning it sadly. I will probably eventually just buy an Apple Watch for my 10 year old unless I find another kids product that allows more functionality.

I really want to love this product. The fit and size are good and comfortable for my child to wear. The device is relatively simple to setup, works well and has decent battery life. BUT despite the description, it DOES NOT SUPPORT SMS/MMS! Instead it supports messaging only from the watch to another device with the app installed. I don't mind using an app for setup and configuration, but I don't want to be forced to use it just to send a message to my child, and it has been inconsistent in norifying me when my child sends messages. I bought this in part so my kid can text with their friends so this is a deal breaker and we are returning it.