This post is sponsored by Xplora. All photos and opinions are my own.
The one great thing about remote learning for Luke and working from home for me and Charlie is that we all get to spend more time with each other. But the one thing we are all trying to work on is trying to stay active, especially keeping Luke active. Although he has breaks during remote learning, he doesn’t really have a real recess, which he misses very much.
So….we found a fun and interactive solution for Luke to stay active– the Xplora X5 Play Smartwatch. And we figured now is the best time to get our 8 year a smartwatch that we can all benefit from. It’s a good balance between screen time and getting some much needed physical activity. Especially during remote learning from home.
If you haven’t heard about Xplora – it’s an electronic company located in Norway that’s best known in Europe for creating popular mobile smartwatches that keep kids safe and active. The Xplora X5 Play watch is the first time Xplora is available to U.S. consumers (right in time for the holidays)! The Xplora X5 is currently available for purchase on Amazon and Xplora’s website.
We had heard of smartwatches for kids but found that the Xplora X5 Play Smartwatch has all the features we were looking for. The Xplora X5 Play watch is a combination of a phone, smartwatch, activity tracker and has the GoPlay platform (incentives to get kids up and moving). We want our third grader to stay active and have fun doing it but want to monitor where he’s at and what he’s doing as well.
Luke has had the Xplora X5 Play watch for two and half weeks now and so far this 8-year old still enjoys wearing his X5 Play smartwatch. I wanted to make sure we used the Xplora X5 for a good period of time before we share our thoughts on it. We are still learning about all the features on the phone but wanted to share why the Xplora X5 Play is the perfect first phone for Luke and what we like about it.
Staying More Active with Cool Incentives
As an 8-year old, Luke is already an active kid but we found the Xplora X5 Play is just another way to keep Luke active. He likes to check how many steps he has taken and tries to beat his previous day’s steps counts.
An added bonus is the cool feature on the Xplora X5 Play is that it also has fun and engaging activities on the GoPlay platform. The GoPlay platform rewards kids one Xplora Coin for each 1,000 steps. These coins can be converted into these activities or even redeemed for real products on the Xplora GoPlay Store. So not only does Luke stay active on the X5, he looks forward to some of the incentives from it too. I think it’s a good balance between screen time and physical activity.
A Fun Way to Stay Connected
Charlie and I like the fact that our phones are connected with Luke’s Xplora X5 Play. We downloaded the free Xplora app from the Apple Store (or Google Play) on Charlie’s phone, which allows Charlie to pair an X5 with the app. Only Charlie has control who what Luke can do with the watch and who he can communicate with. Charlie and Luke has had fun communicating back and forth with the watch and Charlie’s phone. Luke can send Charlie a voice messages, emojis, and pre-defined text messages from the phones. It’s been fun listening to what Luke has to tell us. His favorite thing to do is sending emojis from his smartwatch.
The GPS Features You Can Set
Xplora has a GPS features where Charlie and I can set up safe zones for Luke. So if he goes out of the zone like our courtyard, we will receive a notification and we can see where he is on the app. We can also call him to make sure he’s okay or tell him to come back within the zone.
The Camera Feature for Exploring
We love to explore Chicago as family, and I love taking pictures of us and the city when we are out. I think my love of photography has inspired Luke to take pictures as well. The Xplora X5 Play has a camera so Luke has been able to take pictures of what he sees when we are out, which is mostly pictures of nature and his twin baby brothers.
Secure Information
With all the great features of the Xplora X5, we wanted to make sure all the information and activity that Luke has logged into his watch is secured and private. Xplora has indicated that they are compliant with GDPR and other data security features.
More information about the Xplora X5 Play Smartwatch
- In order to activate the watch, you must purchase and install a Nano SIM card from your carrier. In the US, the X5 will work with all major carriers. We also pay a monthly fee from our carrier to use the SIM card.
- The X5 has a battery life of 72 hours (approx. 5 hours of continuous call time).
- The X5 is water resistant and can submerge up to a maximum depth of five feet underwater for 30 minutes.
- The X5 is great for kids ages 4-11 years.
