Xplora X5 Play Smartwatch Review

The Xplora X5 Play kids smartwatch wouldn’t be impressive without the unique GoPlay platform, which allows kids to earn virtual coins and real-life swag just by being active.

The X5 Play’s next-best features include its 1080p camera and roomy 50-count contact list. Apart from that, it’s a standard kids smartwatch with GPS tracking, geofencing, school mode, and an SOS button.

• Xplora X5 Play smartwatch
• Charging cable
• Quick start guide

The Xplora X5 Play has room for 50 contacts. There are two ways to add contacts:

• Input contact info manually through the parent app
• Ask potential contacts to download the mobile app, scan the watch’s QR code, and wait for your final approval

All contacts can send and receive phone calls and text messages to/from the Xplora watch. To send photos, videos, and music files, contacts must use the mobile app’s chat feature.  There’s no way to limit the permissions of each contact.

Kids can call each other’s watches, but they can’t text each other. It sounds like Xplora plans to roll out this feature at some point, so stay tuned.

Like most kids smartwatches, the Xplora X5 Play features an SOS button for emergencies. But we think it takes too long for the SOS sequence to start. Your kid has to press the button for a full 10 seconds.

Your phone number defaults as one of the two emergency contacts available on the Xplora X5 Play. The watch will call you first and send a push notification to the second emergency contact. If you don’t pick up, the watch calls the second emergency number. Then, the process starts again.

We love the persistent nature of the SOS calls—the watch won’t give up until someone answers. But having just two emergency contacts seems limited, especially compared to other kids smartwatches. For example, the Angel Watch  starts cycling through three emergency contacts after its SOS button is pressed for just three seconds.

The Xplora X5 Play includes two features we’ve come to expect from kids smartwatches: location tracking and geofencing.

Xplora is up front about the X5 Play’s location-tracking limitations, explaining that GPS signals only work when the watch is outside with an unobstructed view of the sky. The watch uses nearby Wi-Fi signals to provide an approximate location indoors, and when neither GPS nor Wi-FI is available, the watch defaults to cell-tower triangulation.

The Xplora X5 Play’s location tracking is only accurate to about 25 to 100 yards, which means you might have a football-field-sized gap to cover to find your kid’s precise location.

This isn’t a unique problem among kids smartwatches or any GPS tracker. For example, one of our teammates shared a story about a child who, according to their tracker, was supposedly at the county jail. We appreciate Xplora’s transparency on the subject.

You can set up geofences in the app and get alerts when your child enters or leaves that area. The Xplora app calls these “safe zones,” but you can also use it to mark unsafe areas that you don’t want your child to visit without your knowledge.

However you choose to use this feature, the zones must be at least 300 meters (nearly 1,000 feet) across. 

The Xplora X5 Play’s 2MP HD camera doesn’t record videos, but it does take some impressive photos (for a kids smartwatch) with 1080p resolution.

Kids can store around 1,000 photos on this watch.

The GoPlay platform takes the Xplora X5 Play from basic to fantastic.

Not to be confused with a chat app of the same name, GoPlay is Xplora’s gamified fitness platform. Kids play games that keep them active, and the watch tracks their steps. They’ll earn virtual coins for reaching step goals and can trade those coins for real-life products:

• Art supplies
• Lego kits
• Scooter
• Swimming goggles

. . . and way more.

Coins can also be used to access all 20 games on the platform or to donate clean water to charity.

You (or any other contact) can text music as an MP3 file to the Xplora watch. Kids have the option to download the song to their watch’s playlist, but they’ll need to connect to Wi-Fi for best results.

Don’t worry about your kid going rogue: there’s no way for kids to access the internet or app store to download or stream music.

The X5 Play watch also includes these settings and specs:

• School mode
• Alarms/reminders
• Waterproof to a depth of 3 feet
• Bluetooth compatibility (for hearing aids or ear buds)

The Xplora X5 Play isn’t the most feature-rich kids smartwatch. Here’s what’s lacking compared to the competition:

• No video calling
• No video recording
• No included SIM card
• No 911 option
• No audio check-in
• No health monitoring

In our book, the lack of video calling and audio check-ins is the biggest drawback. Both of these features can reassure parents after a stressful situation.

The Xplora X5 Play is great for kids who need a little nudge toward a more active lifestyle. Its fun features also make it easier for kids to remember to wear it. After all, you can’t keep tabs on their location if the GPS watch is still at home on the charger.

But the X5 Play lacks other safety features some parents want, like discreet audio check-ins, video calling, or a 911 option.

If you want to prioritize these features over the gamified activity, we recommend the TickTalk4 or Angel Watch. They cost just a bit more than the Xplora X5 Play but offer a better value.

We reviewed the Xplora X5 Play kids smartwatch by reading the user guide, support pages, and customer reviews. We compared its features to that of other kids smartwatches to determine whether it offers a good value for the money. Hands-on testing is in the works. Learn more on the Safewise methodology page.

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