Tech Review | TickTalk 3

Most don’t know this, but there is a lack of proper analysis of products in this industry. Sites like ours receive lots of products annually, and pretty much every one of them wants to be the first to cover a product, but at what cost? Also what does this have to do with the TickTalk 3? Well everything and nothing really.

The TickTalk 3 is a watch phone and GPS tracker designed for kids between the ages of 5 and 12. Since this is a product designed for the safety of kids, and one that we’d personally be using with a child in my family, we had to make sure that it was fully tested in all circumstances possible. As such, we’ve actually had this watch for more than a year, and so we’re confident that we’re well equipped to offer an expert analysis of the product.

Similar to what we did with its competitors, we’ve tested the watch with a child in controlled cases for a substantial amount of time. In these real world tests we’ve analyzed the device’s build quality, performance, features and most of all safety.

Out of the box the TickTalk 3 comes with:

• One wristband, two strap pins and one charging cord.
• The Space Black watch will come with Midnight Black wrist band and the Vanilla White watch will come with Neon Pink wristband.

Manufacturer Specs

Product Size: 43.5 × 44.5 × 17 mm
CPU: MT 6737
Ram/ Rom: 1G/ 8G
Antenna: LDS
SIM Card: Nano
LCD Size: 1.54 inches, TFT
LCD Resolution: 320 × 320 dpi
Camera Resolution: 2 Million
Waterprove: IP67
Battery: 680mAh
Standby Time: 1.5 Days
Input: 350 mAh / 5V

Those who wish for more wristband options can acquire them on the company’s website for $15 USD. Our review unit came with three bands in orange, blue and black variations. These bands are made of very high quality fabric-like materials and feel comfortable on the arms. They also have what I assume to be some kind of new space age Velcro solution to stay in place. Once in place on the watch and on the hand of the child, it’s difficult for it to be removed by accident.

The watch is also made of a hard plastic material, which when paired with the fabric on the bands allows the child’s arm to breath easily. One great side effect of this combination is a lack of irritation to the skin, something I learned is quite common with other products. Oh and the TickTalk 3’s comfort doesn’t end there. The watch is also light enough on the arm and is IP67 certified, so it can be worn all day if desired.

Comforts aside, this is still a very competent phone for communication with your little one. It being a 4G/LTE device means that video and voice calls on the watch matched our expectations perfectly. Add to that the watch also includes messaging options for when they may be unable to communicate verbally. TickTalk partnered with RedPocket to offer a $10 prepaid monthly plan for the US market, but it’s also possible to purchase a sim from other GSM carriers who support the following bands:

4G
B1/ 2100
B2/ 1900
B3/ 1800
B4/ 1700
B5/ 850
B7/ 2600
B40/ 2300

3G
B1/ 2100
B2/ 1900
B4/ 1700
B5/ 850

2G
B2/ 1900
B3/ 1800
B5/ 850

With a sim in place, you can then install the TickTalk app from either the Google Play Store or Apple App store to setup the watch. The app allows the parents of the child to manage the watch in numerous ways including; Who can call, message, or receive other forms of communications from the watch. Compared to other watch phone competitors we found this to be one of the most robust and easy to use apps on the market. It can even be installed on multiple phones at the same time so that households with multiple guardians can all monitor communications and GPS information for the watch.

The experience for the child is also much more robust than I expected. Firstly, they’re able to choose between multiple watch faces. We stuck with the pink unicorn of course. They then have access to a calculator, calendar, stopwatch, and parents can set reminders or greeting cards (example: “bedtime”, or “happy birthday sweetie”). As for the communication options they include: dialing number (a feature which can be switched off by the parents), send pictures, messages, voice notes, emojis and stickers to contacts, as well as make voice and video calls. There is even a group chat option so that your entire family can communicate together. The watch also allows for preset messages like, “I’m on my way home”, or “at the park”. This all works with a standard ringer and vibrator so they’ll know when notifications are received.

Now all these niceties are great and all, but the main reason any parent should get a product like this is for SECURITY. Most parents these days work long hours and may not be able to be at home when their child leaves for school or gets home. They may have them in the care of someone else during these hours, but it’s always comforting to know that you can monitor them in a less intrusive manor during the hours that you’re apart. This is where the most important aspect of the TickTalk 3 comes into play, the GPS tracker. The tracker is quick and *accurate enough thanks to this being the 3rd iteration of this particular watch. It combines GPS, WiFi, and LBS technologies to give a more accurate signal even when GPS and WiFi signals aren’t available.

*GPS may be a bit off from a few feet to a lot or two depending on if they’re using wi-fi or GPS. This means that you should test the watch in some real world settings in places your child will be regularly so you can avoid some of the heart attacks we got while testing. Once you have a grasp of it you should be comfortable enough with it. Also you should always have a secondary option for communication with your little ones to confirm information like their location just in case they are unable to talk (example: being in a class). Our best recommendation is to use certain emojis or stickers to convey necessary information, like a thumbs up to confirm that they are at school and a cup of tea for home.

To add to the security needs of a modern child, the watch also has a 911 option and an SOS button.. On the side of the watch is a very noticeable red button. This button allows the parent to configure who is called when the button is held by the child for more than 3 seconds. When activated the SOS feature will ring all the contacts set by the parent for emergencies. For 911 they’ll need to press the silver button on the side once then the red one twice and 911 will be called from the watch. Having features like these are some of the main reasons I believe every parent should consider getting a product like this for their child. They allow you as the parent or guardian to monitor and communicate with them as well as for them to request help should they need it.

Ticktalk also releases important updates for the watch, and I highly encourage all users to install them as often as possible. This will allow for new features and better security for the watch. It should also go without saying that you should also make sure you have all features you don’t want your child using switched off. There are some that should be by default, but aren’t so it’s up to the guardian to do so themselves.

Finally let’s talk about performance. The TickTalk 3 gives you about a day’s worth of charge and operates using touch input. Since the battery doesn’t comfortably last for more than a day we recommend setting a reminder on the watch just before bedtime so that your kiddo gets in the habit of charging it every night. To do so they’ll need the propriety charging cable that comes with the watch. This cable has a magnetic clip which connects and holds the pins in place to the back of the watch. Charge time should be about 3 and a half hours, so if they charge it at night while they sleep it will be ready for them the next day.

Once charged it should allow them to record videos, make calls, take pictures and all that other jazz for an entire day of moderate use. The watch itself doesn’t get too hot and since it uses a bright enough LCD, they should be able to use it comfortably in and out doors.

Final Verdict

The TickTalk 3 is an almost perfect product for children and parents alike. It greatly impressed us time and time again, leaving us struggling to find flaws with it. It’s got great build quality, lots of impressive features and most of all it does what it’s supposed to do. Also considering that we used it for a long period of time, we were able to see how the changes made to the watches OS improved it’s usability while using it in numerous situations and regions. What TickTalk has created is a great product for child safety, and it’s easily one of the best on the market, especially at that price of $169.99 USD.

The TickTalk 3 used for this review was provided to us by it’s manufacturer, TickTalk.

Qudduws Campbell

That messy hair bloke: Romantic, Food lover, Gamer, Sports Fan, Manga Reader, Tech Head, Podcaster... Pretty much do a bit of everything.