Smartphone brand Xiaomi has been listening to the complaints about smartwatches not really being suitable for anything other than big, masculine wrists, and announced the Mi Bunny to compensate. It’s perfect for smaller wrists, except the company may have gone a little too far in the opposite direction, because it’s a smartwatch for kids.
The Mi Bunny is another in the growing line of kid-friendly wearables, designed with safety and wellbeing in mind. It operates like many others, but does come with its own SIM card inside, so kids can place quick emergency calls to a set of predetermined numbers. Alternatively, numbers added to a safe list can send voice messages to the watch, and kids can reply by speaking their own message back.
There are only two buttons on the Mi Bunny, one for sending out that emergency call, and the other for activating the recording feature. On the front is a fun LED display, the strap is made from silicon, and comes in pink or blue. There’s a GPS radio inside, and through the accompanying app, a safe zone can be setup and parents alerted should the Mi Bunny (and therefore, the wearer) leave that area.
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Further safety features include an SOS system that uses the GPS to track the watch’s position and send the location back to a parent. The app will show movements on its own map, and the watch will record a seven second snippet of audio when SOS is activated. The battery inside is expected to last for just under a week, the whole thing is waterproof, and the Mi Bunny doesn’t need a separate monthly data or call plan to work. The included card is good for about six months of use.
Xiaomi is expected to launch a smartwatch for adults in the near future, with recent hints it will be sometime after the summer. In the meantime, the Mi Bunny is available through Xiaomi’s online store, where it costs the equivalent of about $50.
