Huawei has its gorgeous Watch to cater for adults but has so far not had anything for the burgeoning kids’ wearables market. That is if we ignore the Honor Xiao K its subsidiary, Honor, released a while back. Now, Huawei is the latest global device brand to enter the kids’ wearable segment with its own smartwatch targeted at children.
To make that possible, Huawei partnered with Disney and Marvel which have for long specialized in producing content and merchandise based on their various creations that resonate with children and other young people.
Thanks to that collaboration, the four models of the Huawei smartwatch meant for kids bear names that many will find familiar as they are based on iconic characters created by the two famous American entertainment powerhouses : Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Captain America and Frozen.
The kids’ smartwatch has a built-in GPS, Compass, WLAN, and an acceleration sensor. Data from the devices will be synced with Huawei’s own cloud from where paired devices (by parents) can fetch the data and assist in monitoring kids’ activities throughout. The GPS is for making it easier for parents to track young ones wearing the smartwatch in real time. In case they get lost an SOS button included in the smartwatch can be used to broadcast their whereabouts. The device’s GSM functionality can also be used to place calls and maybe send texts too. Calls can only be made in emergency situations to a pre-assigned number (mostly the parents’).
The kids themselves can use the watch for some fun stuff when in the company of peers who also have similar devices by using an included “Shake” feature which lets them pair their watches with any other within a range of up to 10 metres.
For the roughly $100 that the Huawei smartwatch for kids goes for, if one opts to get one for their little ones they will get a device with a 1.5-inch PMOLED display, a 300mAh battery and an IP55 rating – meaning it can easily survive the usual kids stuff like water splash or playing in the rain. As with any kids stuff, variety of colours are just as important as the Mickey Mouse and Captain American theming. As such, the watches will, according to Wearable, have “designs offering differently styled straps, cases and backgrounds.”
The Huawei smartwatch for kids is not a new implementation. Last year, I got to play with a similar device made by another Chinese consumer electronics company, Haier, in Europe.
The devices are compatible with both Android and iOS devices.
There is no word on whether Huawei plans to make the watches available outside its Chinese home turf.
