Kids smartwatch - fit for purpose?

Cadnant

I bought an Xplora X5 smartwatch for my sons birthday in August, and the screen has already cracked. I don't know how it happened, just noticed it when I went to charge it. He's not an exceptionally boisterous kid, just plays like normal. I would expect a product made for a child to wear to be more durable that that - does this make it not fit for purpose?

I have contacted the company and it's not suitable for repair. They have offered me a replacement for £85 (the RRP is £159.99). 

mattyprice4004

As with any device (including tablets made for children) they're still prone to display damage - you can't really do much to stop a child bashing a screen, it's just a risk with a product like this. 
There's lots of screen protectors on the market (including for this model), if you feel a bit of extra protection is needed I'd fit one of those to the replacement. 

Cadnant

The company doesn’t sell screen protectors itself (which is odd, since it came with one which fell off in a few weeks), and all the others I saw online had terrible reviews.

pinkshoes

It's a breakable screen worn on an arm that gets moved about and bumped on things. For this reason alone I got my 10 year old a non-smart step counter watch (garmin one) that you can set reminders on etc... but it is also very robust. I didn't trust him not to break a smart watch!!

Unfortunately it only takes one knock at the right angle and these things break. A child probably wouldn't remember such an event as they are a common occurrence. 

I often wear my smartwatch on the inside of my wrist as I'm always bashing it due to being quite clumsy! It has quite a scratch in the side but I have no idea how I did it! 

Having looked at some reviews I only found one other saying the screen has cracked so doesn't seem to be a common problem.

Cadnant

pinkshoes said:

It's a breakable screen worn on an arm that gets moved about and bumped on things. For this reason alone I got my 10 year old a non-smart step counter watch (garmin one) that you can set reminders on etc... but it is also very robust. I didn't trust him not to break a smart watch!!

Unfortunately it only takes one knock at the right angle and these things break. A child probably wouldn't remember such an event as they are a common occurrence. 

I often wear my smartwatch on the inside of my wrist as I'm always bashing it due to being quite clumsy! It has quite a scratch in the side but I have no idea how I did it! 

Having looked at some reviews I only found one other saying the screen has cracked so doesn't seem to be a common problem.

This is my issue though - the product is made to be worn by a child, so it should be durable enough to withstand normal usage of a child (which is why it's different to a tablet screen - those aren't made to be worn). I bought it for the tracking and communication functions since he's just started traveling to school on his own, and unfortunately no other products really have the same functions.

I looked at feedback on the company's fb page and there were people having issues with the strap breaking and even then the company said only the software was covered under warranty. That doesn't seem right to me.

Manxman_in_exile

Cadnant said:

pinkshoes said:

It's a breakable screen worn on an arm that gets moved about and bumped on things. For this reason alone I got my 10 year old a non-smart step counter watch (garmin one) that you can set reminders on etc... but it is also very robust. I didn't trust him not to break a smart watch!!

Unfortunately it only takes one knock at the right angle and these things break. A child probably wouldn't remember such an event as they are a common occurrence. 

I often wear my smartwatch on the inside of my wrist as I'm always bashing it due to being quite clumsy! It has quite a scratch in the side but I have no idea how I did it! 

Having looked at some reviews I only found one other saying the screen has cracked so doesn't seem to be a common problem.

....

I looked at feedback on the company's fb page and there were people having issues with the strap breaking and even then the company said only the software was covered under warranty. That doesn't seem right to me.

You are correct - that is not right.  Whether or not a particular part of the watch is covered by a warranty would be totally irrelevant if you are arguing - as you are here - that the watch was not fit for purpose in the first place because it is not sufficiently robust or durable for the use for which it is intended.

How long have you had it and did you buy from a UK retailer?

(NB - I'm not saying whether it is or is not fit for purpose - I'm saying the warranty stuff would a red herring in this case)

Cadnant

I bought it from Xplora's UK website at the start of August this year.

ItsComingRome

I think you need to be realistic in how durable a smartwatch can be vs how destructive children can be, even inadvertently.

Smartwatches need to use glass displays, and they're inherently weak, especially on a watch.

I don't think this product is not fit for purpose, but perhaps your expectations were a bit too high.

If you want to track your kids, as creepy as that is, sew a GPS tracker into their clothes or something.

Cadnant

ItsComingRome said:

I think you need to be realistic in how durable a smartwatch can be vs how destructive children can be, even inadvertently.

Smartwatches need to use glass displays, and they're inherently weak, especially on a watch.

I don't think this product is not fit for purpose, but perhaps your expectations were a bit too high.

If you want to track your kids, as creepy as that is, sew a GPS tracker into their clothes or something.

It was more about him being able to use the phone function if he fell off his bike and needed help, which a gps tracker wouldn't do. I'm not so into the creepy tracking as I am giving him a way to communicate with us but avoiding getting him an actual phone.

I think if they're not durable enough to be used by kids then they shouldn't market them to be used by kids.

ItsComingRome

Cadnant said:

ItsComingRome said:

I think you need to be realistic in how durable a smartwatch can be vs how destructive children can be, even inadvertently.

Smartwatches need to use glass displays, and they're inherently weak, especially on a watch.

I don't think this product is not fit for purpose, but perhaps your expectations were a bit too high.

If you want to track your kids, as creepy as that is, sew a GPS tracker into their clothes or something.

It was more about him being able to use the phone function if he fell off his bike and needed help, which a gps tracker wouldn't do. I'm not so into the creepy tracking as I am giving him a way to communicate with us but avoiding getting him an actual phone.

I think if they're not durable enough to be used by kids then they shouldn't market them to be used by kids.

They are durable enough to be used by kids, but your expectations are too high.  They're not indestructible.

pinkshoes

Cadnant said:

pinkshoes said:

It's a breakable screen worn on an arm that gets moved about and bumped on things. For this reason alone I got my 10 year old a non-smart step counter watch (garmin one) that you can set reminders on etc... but it is also very robust. I didn't trust him not to break a smart watch!!

Unfortunately it only takes one knock at the right angle and these things break. A child probably wouldn't remember such an event as they are a common occurrence. 

I often wear my smartwatch on the inside of my wrist as I'm always bashing it due to being quite clumsy! It has quite a scratch in the side but I have no idea how I did it! 

Having looked at some reviews I only found one other saying the screen has cracked so doesn't seem to be a common problem.

This is my issue though - the product is made to be worn by a child, so it should be durable enough to withstand normal usage of a child (which is why it's different to a tablet screen - those aren't made to be worn). I bought it for the tracking and communication functions since he's just started traveling to school on his own, and unfortunately no other products really have the same functions.

I looked at feedback on the company's fb page and there were people having issues with the strap breaking and even then the company said only the software was covered under warranty. That doesn't seem right to me.

Yes, it's made to be worn by a child, so it will no doubt be more durable than say an adult smart watch, but it is still a device with a glass screen, so there will be limits on how robust it will be.

It will be durable against scrapes and bumps, as it has a plastic bit surrounding it, but will break if knocked hard against the glass screen. 

The properties required for an interactive screen unfortunately also mean that it will break. They almost go as far as avoiding mentioning the durability of such a product!