Amazfit Happy Duck is a fitness focused smartwatch just for kids
Zepp Health’s (known as Huami in China) has released in China its first ever smartwatch for kids. Instead of focusing on educational tools, Amazfit Happy Duck Children’s Health Watch packs health and sports tracking functionality.
The Amazfit brand has seen the release of a plethora of smartwatches over the years. Some would even go as far as saying there have been perhaps a few too many. Strangely enough the outfit has been very quiet this year and we didn’t see many new launches.
Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets
A couple of weeks back we found out the brand is working on a new version of its operating system and chipset for smartwatches. Along with this, it was announced that blood pressure measurements from the wrist are coming by the end of this year. Then we saw a visual revamp of the Zepp Health app.
These are certainly positive developments. Rather than focusing on spitting out lots of new devices, the company is taking some time to improve the software and work on the next generation tech.
One thing that has been missing so far from the Amazfit lineup is a device solely dedicated to kids. Until now.
Amazfit Happy Duck – a health watch just for kids
The new device was officially launched only in China for now. When we reported earlier on the story, it was our understanding it would be called Amazfit Pop Pro. In the end this was not the case. Instead, the watch goes under the name Amazfit Happy Duck Children’s Health Watch (translation from Chinese).
The other name it goes by is Happya Children’s Health Watch. This is because alongside the watch the company announced a mascot called Happya. The idea is to inspire children to engage in more sports and physical activities.
The CEO of Huami, Huang Wang, said in a series of posts that they’ve first thought about a kids watch more than six years ago. That is when the company received an offer for such as device, which they rejected in favour of conquering the smartwatch space. But it is clear that Huami has been kicking around the idea for some time.
“Back then, children’s watches were used primarily to meet children’s real-time communication and positioning security needs,” said the CEO.
“They were made like children’s cell phones strapped to their wrists.”
Unlike the adult market, the kids smartwatch market is not saturated with big names. Garmin, Fitbit, Samsung, Apple and other big names are yet to make an appearance in this space. Which leaves it dominated by a large number of smaller wearable tech players. For some reason, the well known names remain hesitant to take advantage of this and grab a slice of the pie.
So what does Amazfit Happy Duck children’s health watch bring?
Unlike some other kids watches, the focus of Amazfit Happy Duck is on sports and fitness. Huang Wang says that this is because the small display of kids watches may lead to eye defects, such as myopia. So instead of games and learning resources we get something aimed at improving health.
Stemming from this is an innovative feature. The device keeps tabs on how much time a kid spends outdoors by analysing sunlight and environmental data. It will then send reminders and suggest a physical activity when your little one is spending a bit too much time indoors.
As the pictures show, this is a robust looking watch that has a IP68 water-resistant rating. There’s a 1.4-inch TFT screen on-board with a resolution of 240×240. Under the hood is Huami’s Huangshan No. 1 AI portable processor and BioTracker PPG high-precision biological tracking sensor.
The weight of the watch is 51.4 grams and the dimensions of the polycarbonate body come in at 43.4 x 16.4 x 231.6 mm. The whole thing is attached to 20mm food-grade straps.
Amazfit Happy Duck comes with a lot of kid-friendly sports and fitness modes. A few on the list are rope skipping, sit-ups and running. There’s also 24 hour heart rate tracking (something not typically seen in a kids watch), an accelerator for steps monitoring, sleep tracking and more. You can also keep tabs on the height and weight of the child, presumably by manually entering these metrics.
Not to be left behind, Amazfit Happy. Duck does offer some kids smartwatch functionality. This includes 4G cellular, AI multi-positioning, a rotating 88 ° wide-angle high-definition camera for taking pics and making video calls, the ability to add contacts, XiaoAI voice support and more. Finally there’s also an SOS button and geofencing that can tap into GPS and Beidou.
All of these internals make the watch pretty battery hungry. Luckily there’s massive 700 mAh battery inside that keeps the gizmo ticking for around 4 days between charges.
The watch can be pre-ordered in China for around $120 in a choice between blue or pink. Actual sales and availability begin on August 18th. Most Amazfit devices have made it across the border so we guess this one will be no exception. No word yet, though, on when that will happen.
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