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SickmanNZ

2 posts

Wannabe Geek


#312012 7-Mar-2024 15:02
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Hi, I am looking for a 4G/LTE Smart Watch for my elderly dad who has dementia. We need it so we can call him or find him via GPS when he goes wandering. He needs something that can use a cheap prepaid SIM or eSIM as there will be not much calling or data use. 

 

He has a Samsung A52(?) phone which is great when he takes it as we have the Life360 app on it so we can track him to see where he is and to check to see if he has gone to his booked hairdresser appointment etc :) .  Unfortunately, since he never calls anyone he forgets to take his phone.

 

He knows we can track him he is ok with that :) 

 

He likes wearing a watch so he will always take a watch. I currently have a cheap chinese 4G watch on a $9/month plan on Skinny which works and he likes, but the GPS is very poor and battery life is getting poor and not lasting a day. So I looking for something a bit better quality. I have looked at the kids watches like Spacewatch  (expensive monthly subs), Pixbee, etc (but look very much like the current cheap chinese watch). I prefer to pay for something more reliable and better quality. 

 

So I looking for a Watch which has:

 

  • 4G/LTE via SIM or eSIM
  • GPS
  • SOS button would be handy, but maybe unlikely he would use it. He has a St Johns medical button which he never takes and does not use anyway. 
  • Cheapish monthly cellular connection
  • magnetic charging cable to make charging simple
  • Subscription free if possible
  • Good quality and reliable 

I wondering if any of the Galaxy watches you can set up on a cheap SIM or eSIM plan. They seemed to be locked in to $70/month phone plans with Spark from what I have read a year ago unless things have change in the last year.  Galaxy is good since me and my partner have Galaxy phones to help check watch location. Or if there is good quality kids tracker watch that people have found great then I am happy to give that a go. 

 

FYI, I have an airtag in his wallet (unfortunately have to use a disused old iPad to track it), also Samsung Smart tags on his house keys (which he has to take when locking his villa when going out) and bicycle. These bluetooth trackers are the awesome due to the low power use, cheap, and they track around every 15mins when he is moving around the retirement village or town. Samsung works best for us since it has family sharing so we all can see where his house keys are. 

 

Any advice on unlocked Galaxy Watch or other would be most welcome :) 


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Tinkerisk
4227 posts

Uber Geek


  #3204222 7-Mar-2024 19:03
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Unfortunately, the question arises as to how long he will continue to realise that he has to charge the watch every evening.





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SickmanNZ

2 posts

Wannabe Geek


  #3204231 7-Mar-2024 19:45
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Yes that was a consideration. He has actually been pretty reasonably good at charging at night. During the day he checks the time regularly so when flat he knows to charge it up and only remembers to take off charge when he looks for the time again :) 


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