Kid smartwatch recommendations?

[Bluebird]

DS is 8, and we are years away from getting him a phone, but we are pretty seriously considering a kids smartwatch, so I'm looking for your recommendations and experiences with any of them. Here's what I need:

Minimal/no games
Ability for him to call us & us to call him
Texting to limited contacts
GPS tracking
Prefer not to have to do everything via an app

We have AT&T, so the Gizmo is out. I don't really want to pay for a whole Apple Watch, but I guess I'm not completely ruling that one out yet. He has a friend with the Tick Talk, and I was just reading about the Angel Watch, but I get overwhelmed trying to navigate the pros and cons of various options online and am hoping for reviews from people I "know."

[flojo]

We got DD a refurbished Apple Watch for a fraction of the cost for a new one. It works great for what we need, which is pretty much what you listed.

[agm04]

Both of my kids (9 and 6) have a Gabb watch, which they got at 7 and 5. It's decent for what it is. I think I pay $20/month per line for the service.

Pros:
Does everything you asked for (although a lot of it is in the app - setting up contacts and schedule, GPS tracking, etc.)
Device itself is not too expensive/run sales if you can wait for one

Cons:
Ours isn't waterproof, but the newest version is (or close)
Charging is annoying (though I think they fixed that with the newer version too)
It's a little clunky

Overall I think it's a good option for what you need. We are probably about to give our 9 year old my (almost 4 year old) Apple watch, and I'll get a new one.

[jr]

Apple Watch SE is drastically cheaper than the rest of the Apple Watch line. I think it’s $240, which is more expensive than many of the other smart watches but not by all that much. And it won’t seem babyish in a few years. My kids have have them for a few months and we’ve been very happy with them.

[cnf]

Funny enough, this popped up for me today in an alert. Garmin released a kid smartwatch.

www.garmin.com/en-US/p/714945?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwz42xBhB9EiwA48pT75Pv0LwsUAfGgbt2DPZ1k4AtEKG5iyPELEejaaGYU4iwcx5v5JORuxoC_QQQAvD_BwE

[unicornofthesea]

My kids have the Garmin bounce watch.
Only $10 a month. They can send pre set texts and voice memos. They can’t actually make any calls though…. It’s all done through an app.
The tracking is great on them. They can also send out an emergency help alert to anyone that they communicate with (through the app and my kids can message each other as well)