Fitbit Ace 2 will help your kids stay active… And we wouldn't mind some of its accessory bands ourselves

Much too cool to be left to the kids

Fitbit Ace 2
Duncan Bell
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last updated
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Designed for children of 6 and up, Fitbit Ace 2 is a basic activity and sleep tracker in a selection of funky colours, in a rugged band. This updated version is swimproof to 50m and there are some replacement bands on sale for it that could work well for us adults, so long as we are adults with rather narrow wrists. 

Maybe Fitbit should consider that – the technological part of the Ace 2 is identical to its new Fitbit Inspire, after all…

Fitbit Ace 2

Replacement bands such as the Jazz and Go! straps here cost £24.99. The standard silicone bands ('Grape', rear) are £19.99

The bumper case protects the screen 'during kid-related activities', but the tracker is essentially Fitbit's new Inspire, in a more child-friendly setting. 

Other differentiating features are new animated clock faces, child-specific 'challenges' to keep them moving, and 'colourful avatars and cover photos' to personalise Fitbit app profiles. 

Needless to say, app access is via a parent-controlled 'Fitbit family' account, so you know what they're getting up to. 

The Ace 2 is not the most sophisticated device – there's no pulse tracking for instance – but it does the basics well and is very wearable.

With childhood obesity a popular moral/social panic du jour, a fun, child-centred tracker like Ace 2 should do very well – the first Ace  no doubt did too. However, unlike some of its rival productsAce 2 is not overtly 'childish'. In fact, we could imagine it being still worn by kids even when they start secondary school. Although admittedly probably not for much longer after that.

• Fitbit Ace 2 will be on sale from summer 2019 for £69.99 in watermelon with teal clasp or night sky with neon yellow clasp. 

• After something more grown-up but still affordable? Try the new, £150 Fitbit Versa Lite Edition

More Fitbit essentials

Duncan Bell
Duncan Bell

Duncan is the former lifestyle editor of T3 and has been writing about tech for almost 15 years. He has covered everything from smartphones to headphones, TV to AC and air fryers to the movies of James Bond and obscure anime. His current brief is everything to do with the home and kitchen, which is good because he is an excellent cook, if he says so himself. He also covers cycling and ebikes – like over-using italics, this is another passion of his. In his long and varied lifestyle-tech career he is one of the few people to have been a fitness editor despite being unfit and a cars editor for not one but two websites, despite being unable to drive. He also has about 400 vacuum cleaners, and is possibly the UK's leading expert on cordless vacuum cleaners, despite being decidedly messy. A cricket fan for over 30 years, he also recently become T3's cricket editor, writing about how to stream obscure T20 tournaments, and turning out some typically no-nonsense opinions on the world's top teams and players.

Before T3, Duncan was a music and film reviewer, worked for a magazine about gambling that employed a surprisingly large number of convicted criminals, and then a magazine called Bizarre that was essentially like a cross between Reddit and DeviantArt, before the invention of the internet. There was also a lengthy period where he essentially wrote all of T3 magazine every month for about 3 years. 

A broadcaster, raconteur and public speaker, Duncan used to be on telly loads, but an unfortunate incident put a stop to that, so he now largely contents himself with telling people, "I used to be on the TV, you know."

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