Bark Technologies has launched a new kids’ smartwatch built directly on Samsung’s Galaxy Watch8 hardware, replacing its own custom watch design. The Bark Watch runs on the 40mm LTE Galaxy Watch8 platform. The device itself costs $10 a month for 24 months. On top of that, a separate $15-a-month plan covers cellular service and Bark’s parental controls. An optional $4-a-month device protection plan covers accidental damage, loss or theft.
That pricing structure means a family pays at least $25 a month, or $600 over the two-year device term, before adding the optional protection plan. A figure of $240 has circulated in some coverage. That number is simply 24 months multiplied by the $10 device fee alone. It leaves out the mandatory $15-a-month service plan entirely, so it understates what the watch actually costs a family to use.
What the watch does, and does not, let a kid do
The Bark Watch has no built-in camera, no internet browser, and no app store. It also blocks access to social media or games. Kids can make standalone LTE calls, send group texts, and use speech-to-text and text-to-speech instead of typing. It has Emergency SOS, GPS location tracking, an Armor Aluminum body, and IP68 water resistance, and it comes in eight band styles.
Bark’s core pitch is its AI monitoring layer. The system scans a child’s incoming and outgoing texts, photos and videos for signs of cyberbullying, digital threats or explicit content. It alerts parents when it flags something. That is a meaningful amount of automated surveillance over a child’s private messages. It also runs on a subscription a parent has to keep paying to keep active. Families weighing the watch should know exactly what is being scanned and who sees the alerts, not just that “safety features” are included.
Brian Bason, Bark’s founder and CEO, framed the move to Samsung’s hardware as a reliability upgrade. He said, in a statement announcing the watch: “Parents need a dependable way to help keep their kids safe when giving them a smartwatch. By building directly on the Samsung Galaxy Watch8, we are delivering our award-winning safety features on the best-in-class device, giving parents the utmost confidence in their family’s security.”
Availability
The Bark Watch is available now in the US directly from bark.us. There is no separate purchase price listed for the device outside the monthly payment plan.
Source: Bark Technologies
