Ben 10 is a children's tv programme about a boy called Ben (surprisingly enough) who can transform himself into alien super-heroes by using his omnitrix. For those of you who don't have a Ben 10 obsessed child, the omnitrix is a sort of watch that has a big dial which Ben turns and clicks to select which particular alien he needs to turn into.

The Ben 10 watch that I'm actually reviewing is, however, just a watch. If your little boy has been demanding an omnitrix for Christmas and describes it as a Ben 10 watch, don't make the mistake of thinking that this watch will fit the bill. You'll have a very disappointed child on Christmas morning! As a watch, however, this would make a reasonable stocking filler for the Ben 10 fan who has everything!

I bought this as a little treat for my six year old - hoping that having a Ben 10 watch would encourage him to take more interest in learning about time and numbers etc. (Am I a mean Mum - trying to turn a treat into an educational activity?!) In that respect, it has worked to some degree although I suspect that any bright and cheerful kid's watch from the local market would have been just as effective.

It's a digital watch and, to be honest, I don't really think it has 'cool graphics' as the Amazon description leads you to believe. Then again, I'm not a six year old boy. In terms of quality, it is a fairly basic watch with a plastic strap featuring pictures from the Ben 10 cartoon. With an average selling price of between £8 - £10, I think it's a little over-priced for what you get. The unique feature is the interchangeable alien figures which clip onto the watch face and can be switched over. The watch comes with three of these little covers. My son reliably informs me that these particular aliens are called Heatblast, Four Arms and Grey Matter.

The novelty factor of popping off the alien covers and swapping them around wore off fairly quickly and they soon became left around the house waiting to be swallowed by my toddler with his eagle eyes and desire to taste everything that he spots! Luckily, they have survived so far. The watch itself very nearly came to an early demise when it was dropped in the sink only a few days after buying it! Not surprisingly, it stopped working as the watch isn't waterproof. What is surprising is that it actually started working again totally randomly after a few weeks so it did actually survive being dropped in a sink full of water. (It started working again after we put the heating on for winter so maybe that dried the insides out or something.) It isn't quite indestructable then but it is reasonably hardwearing.

The watch is marketed as being suitable for children from the age of six. The only problem that we found was that the strap was far too long for our six year old. My husband had to make a couple of extra holes in the strap to make it fit on his wrist. I'm not too sure what he used to make the holes but it hasn't made the strap warp or crack at all, so the plastic strap may be stronger and more durable than it first seems.

Overall, this is a nice little gift so long as you're not expecting too much from it. Just make sure your little one isn't expecting an omnitrix though! For just a few more quid you can buy an omnitrix instead and really make his day!

Edit: June 09 - My son's watch is still going strong!