Garmin Bounce 2 preview – Finally a full-fledged kids' smartwatch?

Tags: Presentation | Garmin

14.11.2025 | 3 MIN

Garmin Bounce 2 proves that a kids’ smartwatch for calling and real-time location can actually be wearable.

Kids’ wearables have been around for years, but whether they were truly “wearable” is questionable. Children’s smartwatches with location tracking and eSIM used to be big and thick. You could barely get a jacket sleeve over them because they simply got in the way. And despite the size, there wasn’t room for a decent battery, so you became a slave to constant recharging.

And Garmin Bounce 2 changes all that.

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These watches have sensible dimensions, two-day battery life, the ability to communicate with a parent, remote location tracking, and they also offer full-fledged tracking of both outdoor and indoor activities.

And since we’re talking about “wearability,” I might as well touch on “bearability.” For some, the price might not be. The watch costs 7 490 Kč, plus you’ll need to factor in a monthly subscription of just under €11. I believe Garmin can justify that—and I’ll get into the details below.

At last, a kids’ smartwatch that’s actually wearable

Size is almost always the key with kids’ watches. Garmin Bounce 2 measures 43 mm across, but the key number is the thickness: just 12.4 mm, with a weight of 40 g.

Even if your child ends up in the water with the watch on, there’s no need to worry. It has a water resistance of 5 ATM, so it’s suitable for swimming.

Even the smallest fingers won’t struggle with controls thanks to the 1.2" AMOLED display with 390 × 390 px resolution.

Bounce 2 is genuinely feature-packed

Parents will appreciate real-time location tracking, including safe zones that trigger an alert if a child leaves them. You can also set alerts for when a child departs their current location (e.g., from an after-school club or pottery class).

You don’t need to deal with a mobile operator for LTE connectivity. Garmin offers its own service for 10.99 EUR per month.

Garmin Bounce 2 enables two-way calling — your child can call you and you can call them. If it’s not urgent, you can send text or voice messages. According to available information, the Garmin Jr. app (used to monitor and manage the device) should support voice-to-text transcription.

Integrated GPS allows kids to track activities like cycling or running. The watch also counts daily steps, and kids can set up a step challenge with a parent. At night it tracks sleep, although it won’t be perfectly accurate since there’s no heart-rate sensor—but it’s better than nothing.

As with Garmin vívofit junior, you can create a list of chores and potential rewards in the app.

What really surprised me is the inclusion of a music player.

Is the Bounce 2 price tag bearable?

Frankly—while these smartwatches are on the pricier side, over the years I’ve tried a number of kids’ models with location tracking and they all had one thing in common: location accuracy wasn’t exactly great. GPS is a Garmin forte, so I trust Bounce 2 will handle it much better. And even though I don’t have kids yet, I know I’d rather invest in safety than cut corners. In general, I find it odd to skimp on safety once you’ve decided to buy this kind of device.

Compared to the competition, these watches offer a host of extra features, but honestly — I’m not sure whether kids or parents will truly appreciate them. Bounce 2 also supports activity tracking with active GPS, and that leaves me a bit torn. Of course, I wouldn’t want to forbid a child from recording, say, football practice, but how long will the watch last with GPS running? What if the battery dies? Or if the child forgets to stop an activity and drains it completely?

These are questions I’ll definitely try to answer in a future review. But not to end on a negative note: yes, Garmin Bounce 2 is currently the most fully featured kids’ smartwatch on the market, and the price tag can be justified. And I’m really looking forward to testing the accuracy. :)

And a small aside to finish—I was amused by the presence of a digital golf scorecard. I’m not sure a child who both plays golf and keeps score really needs remote location tracking.

Photo credits:

• www.garmin.com