Have you ever lost your kid? – Polaroid Moji GPS Tracker watch review
If you’re anything like me, you’re a bit of a paranoid freak when it comes to your kids! Not only do I have THE POOL INCIDENT that has me so anxious, but I also want to know where my kids are all the time. Who has eyes on them at sports when I am not around? Some days I wonder….what if they wondered off school property and I have absolutely no idea???? One day last year, I randomly called home at about 4pm and this was the conversation:
Me: Hey mom. How did Addison say her test went?
Mom: She’s not home yet.
Me: *I literally stopped breathing *
Also me: *trying to be calm* What do you mean she’s not home yet? Didn’t you pick her up at 2pm?
Mom: No I thought XYZ was dropping her at home.
Me: What the heck (PG version) do you mean? You were supposed to pick her up! GO AND FIND HER!
I then spent half an hour calling any school mom I knew to find out if on some off chance, they were still at school and spotted her. I cried my eyes out, whilst randomly electrocuting my heart to bring me back to life….because I swear I almost died that day. To put it into perspective, I am 30kms away from home and I had no car. My husband was out of town. None of the moms were still at school. I also found out that there was no sports, so she’d in fact been alone for an additional hour…3hrs, not 2. I have never felt more helpless in my life.
Thankfully, after what felt like hours…my mother found her. She was a little stressed, but she waited safely at school, at the tuckshop where there were adults. She’d even started homework already. Poor kid. I still have horrible guilt about the fact that she must have felt abandoned for a few hours, though she honestly moved on in 5 minutes.
Primary school kids are not allowed cellphones, which I understand, but I was always wishing for a way to be able to keep tabs on my child/children. Enter the Polaroid Moji GPS Tracker watch. I actually bought this watch about 6 months ago, but with all the admin that comes with a GPS tracker watch, I was not feeling motivated enough to get it operational. Then I saw a friend of mine did a post on a similar type of watch and I messaged my husband and said: Please get that watch out of the box and onto Addison’s arm!!
What is the Polaroid Moji Kids GPS Tracker Watch?
It’s basically a GPS tracker, in a watch form, for our kids. It uses GPS, AGPS and LBS triple positioning location for an accurate position.
Can I use it to contact my kid and vice versa?
So unlike a cellphone, these watches are allowed at school and you can definitely contact your kid! After setting up SOS/Family number, Contacts, Telephone numbers in the app, kids can only receive calls from the specified numbers. No unknown numbers or random strangers are able to contact your kid. The child can press ‘Call’ to call you and then send you a voice message. I can also in turn either text her a message or send a voice note back.
Just a word of caution, do not send your child voice notes during school hours, or the watch will beep and your child could potentially get into trouble. To combat this situation, there’s a setting in the app where you can actually set the hours the child may not be disturbed. I think that’s a nifty feature in case you forget about the time and send a random message.
How do I actually check on my child and track him/her?
You have to download an app and in there you’ll be able to oversee everything. The child’s location, chat history, everything is there at a glance.
Additional features:
Message Alert / Alarm
The parent will receive a message on their phone for the following reasons:
a. Low-voltage reminder
b. SOS reminder
c. When watch is taken off
The last cool feature is that you’re able to locate the watch if you can’t find it and also I assume if your child is out of sight. You send a command and the watch will ring for a minute so you can locate it.
Cons (as provided by my husband who actually deals with the admin of the watch)
- The battery life is pretty crappy. It needs to be charged daily, which is something we forget to do, in which case she then ends up without the watch every odd day. The odd day usually being a day when I really need to know if she’s okay. *sigh* Thankfully she’s in a really safe school and for the most part, I don’t need to be tracking her daily.
- You need to ensure there’s data/airtime on the SIM card or it won’t be functional. I wish there was a way to check the airtime/data balance so you know when you need to replenish. Also I’d like an estimate of how much airtime or data the watch need for a week. We loaded data onto it when we bought it, but nothing since then. So that is one thing we need to check regularly. I assume to check the data, I need to remove the SIM and insert it into a phone to do a balance enquiry.
- The 4 tiny screws you need to remove to get the SIM card into the watch are a pain apparently. He says they are easy too lose. Also you need to be careful when inserting the SIM as it could damage the wiring of the watch.
These cons for the Polaroid Moji GPS Tracker watch are really insignificant in the grand scheme of things. I picked this watch up at Makro for R399 (on sale), which for peace of mind….is nothing! Does your kid have a GPS tracker watch? Would you consider getting one now if you don’t own one?
39 Comments
Venean
Thanks for the mention, I love these watches! Really give you peace of mind!
Simone
Definitely! Thank’s for the post that made me get it out of the box!
Vannah
I need the app so i can track my lil missy,.
Cool review, i’ll have to get one the minute Kai goes to school.
Caroline
Hey, I had similar feelings of ‘what if my kids walk out of the school grounds…etc’… So I bought the same watches for my kids… the School won’t allow my kids to wear them as the watch has a phone built in, so I must get my 5yo & 7yo to drop their watch off at the office in the morning and collect again after school…. never worked! So now they don’t get used at all 🙁
On a side note I have added both my kids watch sim numbers onto my Vodacom app so that I can see their balances… if you are not with vodacom maybe your provider has a similar function to “link” other numbers to your profile?
Simone
That sucks! And if you comply with ‘muting’ the watch during school hours? Really sucks!
Thanks so much for the info on the sim cards and the Vodacom app, that is very helpful! My husband is with Vodacom.
Caroline
I know right!?!… I tried to tell them that I have muted the watch for School hours and that kids have been instructed to only call me after school from the watch and to go to the office during school hours… but they started the whole… even the grade 7’s have to do the same and if we allow one kid then we have to allow for all… blah blah blah… you know that story.
Really annoying since I see other kids with some that look more like watches and less like phone’s or trackers (much more expensive) and they have no problems. My son has even pointed it out me that other kids have those watches… Maybe I’ll try my luck again this year and see what happens… different teacher may be more tolerant and less of a tattle tale??
Dad
I’m a Dad also have the same concerns. Was looking at the waterproof one but wondered about the bulk on their wrists. I mean it’s huge. Is there something thinner that does the same job?
Sophia
There is one, same brand it just has no anti loss feature, i dont trust other brands anymore though
Sithandwa Mashinini
Hi, this post has been helpful. I bought it as a Christmas gift for my son. How much data and airtime do you use a month? Which network provider do you use?
Kobie
Have you found a waterproof one? I don’t think the Polaroid one is waterproof.
Donna
Lol I’m like you. A bit of a paranoid freak mom, to the point where I have on occasion irritated people and even offended but I don’t care. As a mom its my job and my God given right to make sure that my kids are safe. Egos can be repaired but my kids cannot be replaced. I will definitely look at getting two of these watches so that I have some peace of mind.
Simone
I so agree with you…it’s our job to keep our kids safe, to the best of our ability! <3
Mandy
Uhm ..i had no intention of buying one until reading this review. So not it’s soma on the ‘needs’ list .
Simone
Lol. I need to pick one up for Joshua now as well.
Jackie
I got one for my son but can’t seem to get it to work. Asking for a sim pin and can’t enter it on the phone.
Please help
Bianca
@Jackie– perhaps try turning off the pin function on the sim card when it’s in a phone. That way, you won’t need a pin when it’s in the watch?
Vee
We have just unboxed the watch and I must say.. It took a minute or two to figure it out. So far so good. Now to find out how to set the actual time on the phone… Help this momma please.. Kids can’t contain their excitement
Simone
Hey Vee. So glad that you are enjoying the watch! Drop me an email and I’ll try to help.
Nicole
Hello there. Thank you for this review. I bought this watch for my child yesterday, as she is going on an excursion today. I would have preferred not sending her, but this excursion has a lot to do with the curriculum and therefore did not want to limit her. So buying the watch was for my peace of mind. However I now have the school clamping down on me, advising that the watch is not allowed at school. In their mind, they do not see it as a tracker but rather a cell phone. Do you have any suggestions on how a mum can change their mindset, so that the watch is allowed. TIA. God bless
Marisel
Hi there!! I bought n gps watch for my girl 2 years ago. It was the best thing ever. But then the school decided that smart watches are not allowed, because theres n “recording function” on the watch……and its against the teachers’ human rights….ok? What are they hiding…just joking! Anyway, I bought a new touch screen watch (we love it) that is waterproof, I only say its n gps watch, not a “phone”. So now that it gets colder she can wear it under her jerseys. My girl is 8 and is very disciplined, its not my problem if the other children cant behave with their watches in the classrooms. Long story short, she was grabbed by 6 men when she was about 6years old, I know the feeling of helplessness when you as a mom cant do anything! Thats way I highly recommend these watches for the kids, I just wish the schools would allow them😔
Simone
Oh my word Marisel…that is insane!!! I’m so glad your situation doesn’t have a grim ending and your girl is safe!
Which watch have you bought now?
jmachache
You don’t need not set the phone. its uses GPS. Set the time zone in the app
Sophia
would like to know 2 things, 1 how do you feel about the watch now, (baugt a differant tracker got lots of issues after a while but it worked at first)
What app does it use
Charlene
Which app did you use?
Mary-Lou
How safe is this watch to strap onto your child?
Can it be hacked by third parties?
What security tests were run against hte device once it was built?
Who else will be watching your childs movements?
I would be wary of these types of devices that are able to tell exactly where your kids are, in the wrong hands….
Madlene Matthews
Hi Simone,
I have this exact watch for my daughter, but I’m battling with the App function. The location is never accurate.
I have downloaded the SeTracker2 APP; what App are you using?
Simone
I think that’s the same app we had. We’ve stopped using the watch though, as the school decided to ban them🤕😭
Jazinda Machache
I bought two watches for my kids. they are working well by have false readings. The phones can be recorded to be at two separate locations over 2km apart while both are in the house.
also the Geofence is not accurate as it reads Child to be outside the 500m perimeter fence while child is asleep in the dead of the night.
Other than that i think the phone gives a level of security.
Jessica
Hi Simone,
I’m wondering if you both parents can run the app and monitor their kids or if you can only set it up on one mobile phone, do you perhaps know?
Simone
Hi there. Yes my husband and I could both have the app on our phones and track the watch/kid.
Carla
Hi Simone
Have you got all the activation codes that need to be sent via sms to the watch?
My eldest has a Q50 but the codes dont work with the polaroid watches
Saadia mahomed
Hi.the watch has a cycle tone, that beeps after every 12hours .any idea how we can disable it, as it randomly beeps in class?
The tone is the same as when you switch it on.
Bobo
Are these watches waterproof? My son’s one stopped working out of nowhere, i suspect could be water damage.
Marisel
Hi Simone, I bought the polaroid ipx7 touch screen. When its on DND it only gives you the time, incase of emergency, she holds the sos button and it phones me.
I will try my best to let the school allow her to take this “normal” watch with her.
Simone
Our school also disallowed the watch for a while, but I found out recently you need to ask for some form and request permission to let your kid wear it. I didn’t know, so need to do that soon. You guys should take it to the PTA. Perhaps strict rules for offenders that use the watch as a phone?
Ayanda
Hi Parents
Thank you for you r comments they are really helpful.
I recently purchased the Polaroid Moji Active watch, but its not doing everything that it says it does. Firstly it doesnt send an sms when it is taken off and the tracking is not accurate. Does anyone know where i could get customer service or fix this?
sipho
Can u please help me I’m unable to find / track my child watch,I downloaded the app but it doesn’t work it ask me a input I put imei nd barcodes
Please help whatha am I doing wrong?
Adri
I think this watch offers a little peace of mind… and with all the craziness going on on SA these days – we honestly can not be too cautions. Was looking to purchase one for my grade 1 son and your honest review’s been appreciated!.
# Bonus entry
Mish
I bought my kid the Polaroid Moji active and it was opened yesterday but the clamp charger is a task to actually get it to charge, I actually had to google to see what I was doing wrong.. anyhow, it’s charging as I’m chatting.. hopefully settling it up is easier