Hands-on review: The Fitbit Ace 2 activity tracker for kids
After dominating the adult fitness tracker market for years, Fitbit is finally making some serious progress with child-targeted fitness trackers. Fitbit recently released the Fitbit Ace 2 activity tracker. After the mixed feelings we had about the Ace 1, we were really excited to see what was improved.
To determine if the Ace 2 is the best child-friendly fitness tracker, the TechDay team asked for assistance from our favourite 6-year-old Aviraj. Avi wore this fitness tracker every day for three weeks and gave us his thorough notes that we will present below.
The design
The design of the first iteration of the Fitbit Ace tracker was one of its biggest flaws. Fitbit tried to mirror the design of their adult fitness trackers - a move that didn't end up being very appealing for kids. This year, Fitbit smashed the design part out of the park with their new kid-friendly colours.
The Fitbit Ace 2 is available in Watermelon with teal clasp, Night Sky with neon yellow clasp, JAZZ print, GO! print, and Grape classic. These are the colors of the flexible silicon pad that houses the pebble tracker.
The cool bands are not the only design flare Fitbit added to make this kid-friendly. They introduced a kid friendly set of clock faces that are cute, motivational and interactive.
My personal favourite is the plant face that starts as a seed every morning and grows the more steps the child gets. This simple addition makes all the difference in motivating children to walk more and be more active.
Fitness tracking
The Fitbit Ace 2 has a variety of features that make it the best child fitness tracker on the market. The Ace 2 comes packed with almost all the fitness tracking goodness we have come to know and love from their other trackers. It allows for all-day activity tracking. From steps to active minutes, the Ace 2 tracks every skip and jump to provide an accurate representation of the child's active life.
The Fitbit Ace 2 also allows sleep tracking. This is a very underrated feature. Considering how important sleeping habits are for a child's wellbeing, having an accurate detailed report of how well the child slept can be a great tool to help parents improve their child's sleep and in turn, their overall health.
The Ace 2 is also swimproof up to 50 metres deep. While this might seem redundant for some people, our reviewer was very happy to be able to keep his watch on while swimming as that time counted towards his overall activity levels.
The one thing that is missing is the heart rate monitor. While we understand that this might have been left out to keep the device at a more affordable price, we hope Fitbit releases an Ace 2 HR version at some point.
The app
With the Fitbit Ace 2 being targeted at children ages 6+, this meant that the app needed to be altered to match that demographic. Fitbit created a new parental setting in the application.
A parent can now set up a family account and then create a child's account. In the parent view section, they can see their kid's activity levels, sleep cycles, and even approve their connections. In the Kid view section, kids can see limited data like their stats, badges, and clock face options.
The application helps users set up the watch in an easy and interactive way. After everything is set up, the parent can customise the child's goals, bedtime reminders, and reminders to move. This gives the parent the power to help the child improve their health.
The verdict
We have noticed a significant difference in Avi's behaviour after he wore the Fitbit Ace 2. Instead of watching TV seated, he now walks back and forward to rack up steps.
Instead of playing inside, he requests to go outside because he needs to get his numbers up. We didn't expect it, but it had a huge impact. The Ace 2 helped motivate him and keep him wanting to be active. In our books, that is the ultimate win.
Special thank you to Aviraj Cheema for helping us review this product.
