Fitbit hasn’t launched a Fitbit for kids since the Ace 3 back in 2021. Now under Google’s purview, the brand has launched its latest for young ones with the Fitbit Ace LTE which, as the name implies, offers 4G LTE connectivity with a monthly subscription that affords limited functionality for calls, messages, gaming, and more.
Designed for kids aged 7+, the idea behind the Fitbit Ace LTE is to offer parents peace-of-mind while also offering older kids a level of autonomy without having to fork over the dough for a cell phone and plan or get one for a child who parents don’t think are ready for the responsibility just yet.
From a connectivity perspective, kids can send and receive messages and calls from up to 20 approved contacts with the Fitbit Pass. Parents can also leverage 24/7 GPS tracking so they know where their kids are at all times.
As a fitness tracking smartwatch, the Fitbit Ace LTE also incorporates arcade games, activities, and rewards as a strategy to help encourage physical activity. They can play interactive 3D games on the wrist, but these are tied to how much they move. The more activity a child engages in, the more game time they unlock. Each game is built specifically for the device, using haptics, sounds, and the accelerometer. New games will be added every few months to keep the experience fresh. There’s a School Time feature that limits game time during school hours.
Kids can monitor their activity through an activity ring called Noodle that appears on the home screen and celebrates kids when they reach their daily move goals. This can be through taking regular steps, playing sports, even dancing at home, jumping, or spinning. Fitbit says it worked with leading, independent experts in child psychology, public health, privacy, and digital wellbeing to design Fitbit Ace LTE to be fun, safe, and helpful.
In terms of privacy, only parents can see the child’s location or activity data in the app. Location data is deleted after 24 hours and activity data is only kept for 35 days. There are no ads or third-party apps, and only contacts added by parents can be called or messages from the device.
Further, there’s a cute character called an Eejie that is part of the experience. Sort of like Fitbit’s interpretation of the Tamagotchi from the ‘90s, Eejies are customizable creatures that feed off daily activity. The more kids move and reach movement goals, the healthier and happier their eejie is. As kids move more, they earn arcade tickets that can be cashed in to customize the eejie’s look with new outfits or accessories or deck out its home in the virtual place known as Bit Valley.
The Fitbit Ace LTE can be worn with one of six collectible bands, each with built-in technology that unlocks different items, styles, rooms, and Noodles once it’s attached for the first time. The bands effectively function like mini game cartridges. The blue Courtside band, for example, immerses the eejie in a basketball world while the green band introduces Wally, a spooky pug that likes to cosplay. Bands are sold separately with plans for new ones to be released regularly.
For the Fitbit Ace LTE to work, it requires a Fitbit Ace Pass and the new Fitbit Ace app, which is available for both Android and iOS. In the app and with a subscription, parents can see a child’s real-time location, call, send, and receive text and voice messages, add contacts they trust, and manage settings like School Time to eliminate distractions during class. In a few months, Fitbit will be adding Tap to Pay so older kids can pay for items from a connected debit or credit card using the smartwatch. This could be for buying lunch during school, grabbing something at the convenience store, or taking ownership of spending their allowance or birthday money.
The smartwatch is water-resistant down to 50 metres, has a scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 3 screen, and comes with a bumper in the box for added durability and protection. Its battery runs for up to 16 hours, so it will need to be charged daily. This may be why Fitbit has omitted sleep tracking, with the intention that kids charge it overnight. That’s a pretty big omission, however, given how valuable that feature is for other Fitbit devices. This one, however, does offer heart rate monitoring, a first for the feature to be active in a kids’ tracker from the brand.
The Fitbit Ace LTE comes with everything required so there’s no need to purchase and insert a separate SIM card or pay an activation fee. The Fitbit Ace Pass is US$9.99/mo. or US$120/yr. in the U.S. and comes with a collectable Ace Band, valued at US$35; there’s no word yet on availability in Canada. The watch itself is now available for pre-order in the U.S. for US$230. Fitbit is currently offering a promotion: U.S. customers who purchase a Fitbit Ace LTE with the annual plan between now and August 31, 2024 will get the subscription for half price. The smartwatch will officially be in stores on June 5, 2024.