Bark Watch Review: What a Mom and 11-Year-Old Think of This Safe-For-Kids Smartwatch

The Bark is a smartwatch for kids that allows communication and independence with parental controls built into its very framework. You use it as you would any smartwatch—inputting phone numbers for contacts and calling and texting directly from the face—but there are no games, social media or browsers, and all contacts need to be approved by you (the parent) using the home app. Additionally, like the Bark Phone, it uses AI technology to screen your child’s usage and flag (to you) any concerning content. (More on that below).

The Bark Watch costs $170 up front, and then you pay $15/month to keep it activated.

In fairness, my experience was a little abnormal because I was given a review watch with different set-up instructions than one you’d buy. That said, the set-up is pretty straightforward, provided you follow instructions: You’re given a phone number (or can import one your kid already uses) and connect the physical device to a Bark home app on your phone. From the home app, you create a profile for your child and—here’s the cool part—tell it what you want it to monitor. (Options include anxiety, bullying, drug/alcohol-related content and sexual content.) You can also set up parameters around usage—like a scheduled “bedtime” for the watch to become inaccessible or you can turn off the camera function if you’d rather your child not have access. (Mine uses his exclusively to send photos of his friend’s kittens.)

From there, you input phone numbers for approved contacts; unless a number is approved by you, that person cannot call or text your child. I like this as a safeguard, but the reality is that my kid is constantly calling me from the playground asking if I can input so-and-so’s phone number immediately. I don’t mind this; he finds it annoying.

The watch charges quickly using a cord, and the charge has always lasted us the entire day.

Here’s what you get with the bark watch:

• AI monitoring: The platform scans your child’s usage for red flags and alerts you accordingly.
• Calling and texting: Children can use voice-to-text if they’d prefer.
• Contact control: You vet every contact your child adds.
• Location tracking: At all times, you can access a map that shows you exactly where the watch is.
• Built-in camera: With the ability to turn it off, if you’d like.
• Locate watch button: If you lose the watch, you can deploy an alert to make it beep.

The big difference here is that the Bark gives your child more autonomy than a Fitbit Ace but less unfettered social media and internet access than an Apple Watch. (This makes it similar to the Gizmo.) Unlike a Fitbit, your child can contact their (pre-approved) friends, but unlike an Apple Watch, they cannot join group chats (a fact my son hates and I like).

Another big difference is that most other watches allow you, the parent, to see your child’s call logs and text exchanges. The Bark operates under the assumption that kids should have some modicum of privacy, and the AI software can do the work of monitoring and alerting you of troublesome behaviors, which is does in real time. I totally respect this stance, but the fact remains that I still want to read my child’s texts, which I do, by scanning the watch itself after he goes to bed. For the record, the app has never flagged any content to me as concerning, which squares with the supremely boring texts I see when I snoop.

At the end of each week, the Bark sends me a rundown of his activity (He had 12 positive interactions with Noah B, he received a photo from Grandpa) and offers up some rather cringe-inducing thought-starters for things I could discuss with him: “I love that you check in with us during the day! What’s usually on your mind when you message me or Dad?”