Using the Bluey Wackadoo kid's watch
I was lent this to review.
What I was told is that kids are all about the Bluey show right now here in the US, and that I should put together a video tutorial on how to use the Bluey branded watch, so I did. You can scroll down to that video right now if you just want the instructions.
Before getting the VTech Bluey Wackadoo watch, I literally had no idea what Bluey was, so I looked it up. It's an Australian TV show on ABC Kids for preschoolers (which is Australian Broadcasting Corporation, not to be confused with American Broadcasting Company), and in the United States the show is on the Disney Junior network and internationally through Disney+.
I don't know anything about the show but do know this watch type, as it's very similar to the Blue's Clues Learning Watch (I made a video on that a while back).
What I find most interesting about watches like this are the challenges faced by those who design them.
You may think about the intended audience for this watch (very small children) and then have questions.
Why is this watch not waterproof?
Why only a monochrome LCD display?
How come it does not have a backlight?
Why is the audio speaker somewhat soft in volume?
Why is it not a smartwatch?
Why include any watch features at all?
I actually have answers for all these questions, because the way this thing is designed actually does make total sense.
The watch is not waterproof because there is literally no way to do this and have a speaker you can hear at the same time, given the price point. Sure, such a kid's watch could be designed to have a good speaker and be waterproof, but that would add so much cost that nobody would buy it.
The monochrome LCD display and the non-backlit display is for one reason. Better battery life.
I believe the reason the speaker isn't louder is for the parents and not the child who wears this. The audio volume of this watch is set to "tolerable". It's more than good enough for its intended purpose.
Kids smartwatches do exist, but this one is not. The main advantage of it being a plain watch is it never needs to be charged, it never needs a cable attached to it, and never needs to be connected/paired with anything.
The watch features aren't there for the preschooler. I'm positive of that. Those features are for the parents. If a parent needs something to quickly tell the time, set an alarm, use a stopwatch or a simple timer, all they have to do is take the watch and it's all there. In fact, the only "complicated" parts of the watch are specifically for those features. Everything else is simple. The super simple stuff (meaning the games) is for the child, the rest is for the adult if they choose to use it.
When you think of the watch features in that respect, then it starts to make sense. The designers were trying to make something both small children and adults could get use out of, and I think they succeeded.
And now some help:
Instructions on how to use the Bluey Wackadoo kid's watch
You'll get up and running quick once you watch this video I made on the watch.
Published 2023 Dec 19
