UPDATED REVIEW OF iHEART radio feature only
If I could give iHeart radio 0 reviews I would. It sounds like a great idea- giving kids access to child-friendly music and podcasts. The reality is that you can't listen to that content until first listening to commercials that are definitely NOT kid friendly, such as commercials trying to get you to buy something or subscriptions for the podcast. The worst are the commercials about how anxiety is normal and how treatment is readily available at a certain website (Do I think there's anything wrong with having anxiety? No. Do I think there's something wrong with trying to normalize mental issues to young children that have none? Yes.) And to be clear, these were very child-centric programs we tried listening to, such as the Arthur podcast and the Who Was? podcast. The one good thing is that the ticktalk app has the ability to apply time limits to using iheart radio- I set it to 0 minutes, which disables my child's ability to use iHeart radio.

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I just set up the watch today, and my initial thoughts are this is a quality watch. The screen is very responsive. It's not filled with bloatware but seems to have functional apps (calculator, stop watch, timer). A few highlights for me is that the watch can play music but there's the option to limit the playing time in the app. I also really appreciate that there's an analog watch face option (another option I considered is the gizmo, which only has a digital watch face). How will kids become proficient in telling time if they don't have an analog watch to look at? Thank you ticktalk for believing kids are capable enough to tell time on an analog watch. I like the option to create reminders but haven't really tried the feature. I also really like that the watch has wifi and wifi calling/videocalling. Great way to save on minutes/data and to stay connected! I signed up for cellular but the phone hasn't been activated yet (says it can take 48-60 hours). I would dock it half a star if I could had I known we'd have to wait to actually start using the watch. I also feel that the plan option was a little misleading because it's advertised as only $10 but that's for 1000 minutes and 1gb of data. Unlimited talk and data is actually $20. I did knock off 1 star due to the plan because it seems like a bait and switch. If I find that the $10 plan is sufficient for my child's needs, then I'll modify my review.
As for the look, the watch is bulky but it seems to fit on my petite child's wrist fine at the smallest setting.
Overall, I have high hopes for this watch and hoping my expectations will be met.

I'm a dad of four kids, oldest entering Jr. High, all angling for a phone for several years now. I don't know about you but I don't need the cell phone bill for six lines, another device to ignore parental guidance, worried about which app they're on, talking to who knows who about God only knows what... However, I do want to know where they are, be able to reach important people in case of emergencies, document where they are or what's around them, and be free to be kids. I realize that for a 7th grader, the watch may not hold as a high of a cool factor as an Apple or Samsung or Google smart watch, but safety is far more important than cool. Plus, it'll be less likely to be stolen. They'll thank me later.

Features we use often and love about the watches
1) video calls (facetalk)
2) quick messages, group chats
3) voice calls

Features I love about the watch as a parent
1) being able to have their watch call me, so I can gain situational awareness
2) GPS location
3) having control over who they call and who can call them.
4) no apps to download on their watches

Things kids like about it
1) photos & video recording
2) able to talk to and chat with family and list of approved callers
3) have a group chat with just the kids

Some things to be aware of
1) it's durable but kids tend to find ways to break things. Getting the extra warranty on their website is highly recommended. You'll need to do this within 15 days of your purchase. If you're out of warranty, they do provide a swapping service for a fee, less than a full priced watch, but the warranty is even less...
2) not completely waterproof... So probably shouldn't go swimming or shower with it. Would you swim with your phone?
3) they do provide a SIM card with a roughly $10/mo service. This is the option we took as it was more economical than adding lines to our cell phone bill. When the time comes and they need phones, we'll probably switch over.
4) downloading the TickTalk, not TicTok, app on to the phone provides the best experience for other family members, grandparents, cousins, friends, etc. who want to chat or call. Without the app, you can call & receive calls but it does not support texting.

We initially purchased three but with the youngest starting kindergarten, we'll probably purchase another one soon. It's worth it. For peace of mind.

I had been debating getting my son and daughter (10 and 7) some kind of non-phone communication device / gps tracker. I was thinking I'd just disable access to the browser on a cheap Apple Watch, but a) it's not that straightforward and a smart kid can circumvent it, b) Apple decided that only Series 4 or later can share with one iPhone, and c) I suddenly realized that silly decision by Apple made me have to buy 2 Series 4's, and that was not in my budget, especially for a 7 year old.

So I did a ton of research. I looked at quite a few watches and was finally torn between the TickTalk4 and the CosmoJr2, so I bought both as a comparison. I gave my older kid the TT4 ($160 + $24 / mo) and the younger the CJ2 ($60 + $15 / mo if you buy the annual plan). Honestly, the results were very interesting.

Please look for my review of the CJ2 under that product. I don't want to take up space here reviewing another product, but the short of it is, CJ2 is pretty easy to setup, works as advertised, and after ironing out a few nonsensical setup instructions my younger daughter was able to start bugging anyone I put in her contacts with phone calls at 6am (I didn't know). So it works, and it's easy for a child to figure out. Also, the battery and the speaker are good. What I didn't realize is, there is NO video calling (like FaceTime). Hmmm... don't know why I didn't see that prior to purchasing.

So the TT4 is by far the superior product. It has more features and is closer to a real phone than the CJ2. It does have video calling and it works surprisingly well. The calls are crisp, and big bonus, you get a bunch of stories, songs, and other child friendly content (like Avatar: Last Airbender and SpongeBob) as radio podcasts.

That said, the amount of time it took to set it up... let's just say if you want to give your kid a working watch/phone, you'll need to set aside at least an hour. I'm a software developer (videogames) so I know the importance of guiding a person through complex setups, and overall I'd say TT4 does a reasonable job. However, they don't set your expectation early on about the following -- you don't realize you have to setup an account for the watch, an account for the parenting app, and an account for the cell service. While I understand because of the unlocked nature you can't include the cell service in my next point, the account for the watch should have auto populated the parental account and vice versa. The fact that you had to do it twice essentially meant you must do it 3 times. This can be torturous, especially if you do it in the wrong order.

Setting that aside, the watch is actually quite good. It hits the sweet spot of features vs functionality, and it removes my worry of my kids surfing the internet, etc... it also uses a simple authentication scheme to allow or not allow people to call your kids. There's plenty online that reviews each feature, it suffices to say the watch does what it advertises and does it nicely.

I still have two issues to deal with: 1) the volume on the speaker is incredibly low, almost silent. I've tried everything and can't fix it, so I've reached out to their tech support. I'll update this review once they contact me and rate their response and the outcome here. I just hope it's not a faulty speaker because I don't want to go through that setup again, and 2) the battery life has to be carefully managed. With everything turned ON, the watch drained to 50% within 4 hours, which means basically an 8 hour battery life. Now, you really don't need everything on, so I'm sure it will last 12. Given what it's doing (the gps is likely the largest drain, but that's the thing you don't want to turn off) I guess the battery endurance isn't terrible, but it's not great.

Finally, the pricing for the cell service is a bit misleading. They say $10 a month in the literature, but in fact that's for a 1000 minutes only, which is just so year 1990, right? If you want unlimited data/text/and service it's $20 per month. Not a lot compared to my cellphone's service, but it's double what they say, and I guess I'm annoyed about that. But CJ2 isn't much better... all their prices require an annual payment upfront. So I'm probably just annoyed.

Overall, a good watch. If you're wondering which I'd choose between the two I compared, I think the TT4 is a better solution in terms of safety, features, video calling, and other features missing from the CJ2. But, I could've bought 3 CJ2s for the TT4, and I do take that into account. In the end, I think you get what you pay for.

It's not an Apple Watch, which will make the experience and your appreciation horribly skewed if you go into this expecting that. But if you temper your expectations and realize this is just a way for you to track your kids' location, contact them via voice, text, or video calling, and give them and you hope in case of an emergency, you'll appreciate the design and execution of the product. It's IPX67, so splashes are ok, but no submersion which means not at the pool. Keep that in mind.

Summary: A solid watch for our youngins. I'd recommend buying it. Hope this helped your decision. :)

I wanted this watch for my 11yo as a secure gps locater/ phone with parental controls. It's ability to deliver on these points is mostly dependent on the network ability of the carrier. Despite choosing the carrier with the best coverage in my area, cell service was super spotty and did not actually work well in the watch. Switching carriers helped, but there are still some annoying issues (see below if you like that sort of thing).

Overall, I think the watch will still be a good choice for us for the next few years. But, due to the potential for connectivity issues and/or lengthy setup process, do not plan this watch for a present like a birthday or Christmas so that you don't needlessly run out the clock on your 30 days for a free return with the watch sitting wrapped up in gift paper for part of the return window.

PLUS: Customer service is real live people who answer the phone quickly and seem intelligent and pleasant. That is a real plus.
PLUS: You can select that streaming content is only available when on Wifi. That's a nice option since we chose the 1GB data plan for $9.99 and definitely don't want the chance for overages.
PLUS: podcasts are available!
PLUS: The voice quality is great, especially considering that it's essentially on speaker phone.
MINUS: The phone did not work straight out of the box. Despite choosing the T mobile plan (which I selected since their website indicates I am in an Ultra Capacity area), the phone had difficulties with friends and family or even parents getting through. I was advised this is a carrier issue and was sent a new Sim Card to try another carrier.
MINUS: If a caller can't get through to the watch, there is a prompt to leave a message and then it seems that you can leave a recording. However that message won't get sent to the watch. Annoying!
MINUS: If I am on the phone and my child calls me from his watch, sometimes it will ring busy for him AND SOMETIMES IT WILL NOT RING ON MY END. This is the most annoying dysfunction. I want to know my child is calling me, that is literally the entire point of him having the watch in the first place.
MINUS: After my first Customer Service call, I never received the first replacement Sim card. After waiting for it for almost 2 weeks, I called back and they sent a different one.
MINUS: Since I ordered the watch a week before my sons' birthday, then I tried figuring out what was wrong with the watch for a week, waited almost two weeks for the first replacement Sim and 4 days for the second replacement Sim, now I have only one day before my 30 days for a free return are up to decide if the new Sim card on the ATT Network is working.
MINUS: If you get a new sim card, the phone number changes. Really annoying to not have this info shared by customer service ahead of time. Annoying to update all the family and friends. Also my child had already memorized his number, now he has to re-learn a new one.

We have one day left to decide if we want to return it, but I am thinking that despite the issues, the advantage to us to have a watch phone with parental controls outweighs the annoyances and we will end up keeping it. Hopefully we will grow to love it.

I'm in Canada and there is a bit of a process to get it working properly, but all in all this works pretty darn good for keeping track of where our kid is and being able to call and video call if necessary. Although we don't use it much, having the silent 'listening in" capability is nice just in case there's an issue. Once in a while you will have to reset the watch, but as long as you keep all the settings from your carrier handy its pretty easy. Pretty tough too, ours has taken a beating and keep on ticking.