Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am super geeky and love gadgets like this. Recently my 3 year old got distracted at a train show (he's train obsessed) and didn't follow my husband ( my hubby turned right and my son kept going straight). When he lost sight of dad and realized he was 'lost' he panicked and started crying and running- THE WRONG DIRECTION. We were chasing him and yelling after him and he kept running. Sort of scary. We had told him before if he was lost to stay where he was but he didn't. Not sure if the watch will help in that scenario (he might still panic instead of using the watch to call me), but it's worth a shot and at least I can track him on the GPS and attempt to call him. Set up- Set up was frustrating. It took about 24 hours of trial and error to figure it out. I read lots of review with advice in them and many of them helped, but there were still some mistakes I made which I will get to below. SET UP THE WATCH: 1.I recommend purchasing a TMobile Card T-Mobile Prepaid Complete SIM Starter Kit - No Contract Network Connection (Universal: Standard, Mirco, Nano SIM) as ultimately I got it to work and I could NOT get an AT&T SIM card to work. 2. When you get the watch out of the box, unscrew the back with the provided screw driver, insert the SIM card (detailed instructions below), write down the MEI number inside the watch and registration code on the back of the watch with the QR code. 3. Log into TMobile and set up the SIM Card using MEI Number. You will need to call them to get the $30 prepaid plan with data because it is supposedly only available for cards purchased at Walmart, but they got supervisor approval and gave me that plan anyway. Or, if you already have TMobile maybe you can just add a line and get a SIM card. I was never able to get AT&T SIM to work on this. 4. Download the SeTracker or SeTracker2 app on your cell phone. 5. To set up the watch, create an account in the SeTracker App using the Registration number on the back of the watch (with the QR code). Check it twice for accuracy (others have had problems deleting accounts). Make note of the username and password you use. Be sure to select English. If the TMobile plan you have is the right one, it GPS in the App will immediately find the watch. If it's says 'no device connected' make sure you are on a PREPAID PLAN with Data, not a pay as you go plan. Some others have said you need to email to have the APN set up. I did not need to with TMobile. (Details below) I began entering in the SOS contact numbers into the app and saved them, which updated the watch. Then I tested the SOS function on the watch. I received phone calls and text messages immediately to my cell phone. I then set up the phone book in the App and tested it on the watch and it also worked. I tried their voice SMS fuction by holding down the power button, and it worked but as others mentioned, the app is clunky (more on this below). PROBLEMS I ENCOUNTERED DURING SET UP/GETTING IT TO CONNECT TO THE APP 1. Inserting the sim card correctly. I am a sprint customer and have no experience with SIM cards because they don't use them. It kept falling out and losing connection. I finally figured out how to use the SIM housing. Slide the metal SIM card cover backwards, then it lifts up on a hinge. Place the Sim card face down (if you look closely there are small raised edges and one corner is notched just like your SIM card. I didn't see this at all at first and tried putting it in every which way until I saw there are 'guides'. ) Push the hinged metal part back down on top of the SIM card, then slide the metal bracket forwards to lock it in place. Simple, and yet it took me 18 hours to figure out. I could not figure out why it wouldn't lock in place and the card kept coming lose and loosing connection. Duh! TIP: There is a tiny screw driver in the box to take out the pesky tiny screws. I used a jewelers screwdriver because it was magnetic and held the screws though and it was easier. 2. Figuring out the right network/plan to use: TMobile: Following another person's review, I ordered this TMobile SIM T-Mobile Prepaid Complete SIM Starter Kit - No Contract Network Connection (Universal: Standard, Mirco, Nano SIM) purchased the pay as you go plan for $3 and I could call the watch from my Sprint cellphone but could not sync it with the SeTracker app. The APP kept saying 'no device connected'. After reading reviews I found out I needed to purchase a prepaid plan, not pay as you go. The cheapest one is $30 if you aren't adding a line to an existing plan. Stubbornly I wasn't ready to spend this until I knew if the darn thing worked! AT&T: I then pulled an existing ATT SIM card out of my work cell phone and installed it. It has a data plan and so I thought it would work. It also could receive phone calls but App kept saying 'no device connected'. You must connect the watch to the SeTracker App to set up the watch: to add phone numbers to call out, to add SOS numbers, to update the time zone. Also, the App is where you can see the GPS location, so without connecting to it, that doesn't work either. Basically, until you can connect the watch to the App, you can only use a phone to call the watch and the watch has the wrong time on it. I tried texting the AT&T APN data to the watch following another persons review multiple times to no avail. The APN is the information telling the watch how to connect to the 2G network. I then emailed the seller amazongbdusa@126.com for help setting the APN on the ATT network. They asked for photos of the watch showing it's connection, the 10 digit phone number, the carrier (ATT) and they wanted me to call the ATT customer service and provide them with the 2G APN, MMC, MNC (not the 35 or 4G APN). We went back and forth. Response time with each email was about 3 hours, so after going back and forth several times a day passed. Finally I went back to reading reviews to figure it out. ATT: New SIM Card- I purchased an AT&T SIM Starter kit on amazon AT&T MicroSim Starter Kit Plus 2FF/3FF Adapter for GoPhone Devices (No Annual Contract) As I began setting up that SIM Card, I found their cheapest plan was also $30 and it was for 600MB instead of 2GB data. Super lame. Also, several reviews said that ATT is discontinuing 2G service next year in 2017. I do not know if this is true. Lastly, I had noticed i had spotty coverage with the previous AT&T SIM at both home and work when installed in the watch and the TMobile one had lots of 'bars' and the circle on the face showing the GPS. I decided maybe T-Mobile was going to have better coverage in my area. I ended up not setting up the New AT&T Sim Card. TMobile- Finally I put the T-Mobile SIM card back in T-Mobile Prepaid Complete SIM Starter Kit - No Contract Network Connection (Universal: Standard, Mirco, Nano SIM) . I gave in and called T-Mobile and purchased a $30 prepaid plan with 100 mins talk time and 2GB data. I hung up the phone, loaded the app and THE GPS LOCATED THE WATCH IMMEDIATELY. Um, hello people! this is the information you are looking for. T-Mobile worked right out of the box with this SIM Card https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LPPHHFK/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_1 and the Prepaid $30 plan with data. You must have a prepaid plan with data, NOT a Pay As You Go. 3. Setting up the app or apps: There are two apps available on Android: SeTracker and SeTracker2. SeTracker has an easier interface with less functionality. It also seems to not update the GPS or refresh all the time. You almost need to leave the GPS map screen by hitting the back button and then re-enter the GPS screen to get it to refresh. SeTracker2 has some other functionality like Locus, but it is harder to find the menus. SHORTCOMINGS OF THE DEVICE/APP SOFTWARE The apps work ok. The interfaces are not too intuitive, and the English is bad making it difficult to discern what some of the functions are. I suggest downloading both SeTracker and SeTracker2 to see which you prefer. I am currently still testing both of them. Voice SMS: The app does not notify you in the phone notifications, so it would be easy to miss a message unless you were checking it often. Also you cannot delete them from the app once you are done. If you tap and hold a message SeTracker2 app it gives you the option to delete, and it will disappear like it was deleted only to come back/reappear. The device is NOT waterproof. I'm scared my 3 year old will destroy it washing his hands or running in the sprinkler or something. The buttons have multiple functions. It's hard for my 3 year old to 'hold' a button down for 3 seconds to get it to make a call. Instead he short presses and struggles to hold it down. He has done it, and so we will continue practicing. I also wonder if he will remember what everything does. A short press on '2' will activate the phone book and a long press will call Emergency contact 2. A short press on 1 doesn't seem to do anything for me, and a long press is SUPPOSED to call Emergency contact 1 but it creates a voice SMS instead. Disappointing. A 3 second press on the power button creates a voice SMS as it is supposed to. An even longer press on the power button will power it off/on. Supposedly a short press on the SOS button will play a received voice SMS (I have not tried) and the 3 second press on the SOS will cycle through 3 emergency contact numbers twice unless someone answers and will also send text messages with date/time of SOS and a Link to Google maps with the coordinates of the watch at the time of the SOS. OVERALL: It's a novel device. I find the GPS to be mostly accurate. It shows the watch within 30-50 yards of where it actually is. It seems to show me if it is in the back of the house versus the front of the house but has been off enough to show the watch erroneously in the neighbors back yard or in my garage- but ultimately it shows which direction the watch is in. I am able to use it, and think a 5 year old would have no problem. It may be tough for my 3 1/2 year old to get, but the GPS will definitely work. I think we can work on the SOS function and he will be able to do it. It's inexpensive and once I figured it out, was ridiculously simple to set up, but like others I struggled for a day. Hopefully my instructions will help you not struggle. Feel free to comment and I might be able to help. My biggest gripe is the cost of the cell phone plan. $30 is steep for something I probably won't have my kid wear daily. I think it will be great at Disneyland and crowded places, or maybe as he gets older and starts venturing over to the neighbors house to play, but right now I can't see him wearing it every single day to and from preschool. It would probably get ruined. Since I have Sprint, I can't just add a line. I think if I had T-Mobile for my cell phone I might be able to add a line for $10 and that would make this way more affordable. I'm looking to see if a family member is using T-mobile and maybe I can get the watch on their plan. I love the idea, it works well enough for a $35 device, but I wish the cell plan was cheaper.