Item Tracker Tags

One day when you’re late for work and thinking about a million other things you’re going to miss place your keys. Now you have to run around your apartment searching for this small item. Then after you find it you have to rush to work, hopefully not getting a ticket for the resulting speeding.

Or maybe you left your bike chained up outside your local grocery store while you run in real quick to buy milf for tonights dinner. You come out to find your bike has been stolen. So now you frantically search for your bike while trying to run home. Over the next few weeks hopefully you don’t drive yourself crazy wondering if every bike you see on the street is actually yours. Even through these random bikes book nothing like your actual bike.

Technology has come with a solution for this every day annoying problem. In general since companies will sell you an object about the size of a checkers piece that sends out a bluetooth signal. When this device moves throughout the world it will cross paths with a Blue Tooth enabled device that is running the Tile App, or an Apple device, or a Samsung device. These devices will then notify the appropriate devices at Apple, Samsung or Tile and then the company will forward this information on to your app. Devices running the Tile App can only pick up the Bluetooth signal from Tiles. Apple devices can only pick up the Bluetooth signal from AirTags. Samsung devices can only pick up the Bluetooth signal from Smart Tags. So if you lost your property in the middle of a big city you will have more luck finding it than if you lost something in the Alaskan back country. Just because there are more devices looking your lost item. So your search probabilities are all about the number of users in your area. The Tile app must be on and functioning in the background of your devices to be of any help. Samsung and Apple program their devices to look for their trackers automatically. Many of these trackers run on a replaceable watch battery.

Let’s look into your most widely available option.

Title Trackers:

Out of the three options we will be talking about today, Tile has been around for the longest. Tile also has the most variety when it comes to trackers. I personally enjoy their “Slim” tracker. It is about the size of a credit card and can easily slip into your wallet. Tile has recently started to partner with other companies to make their products Tile compatible. Some good examples of this are Bose, Skullcandy and Fitbit. So as long as you purchase the correct model you’ll be all set to use the Tile system. Tile is also the only option for someone who uses both Samsung and Apple products. Tile and Samsung have an external button that can be programed to cause your phone to ring even when its on silent mode. Tile also has a QR code printed on the back of the Tracker, that can be scanned and pull up your contact information if you have provided it.

Tiles Premium Packages

You are also able to upgrade your Tile software to one of their two premium packages. These packages do allot of useful things. The first thing they do is notify you when you get up and accidentally leave a tile tracker item behind. If you never miss place an item then you won’t have to spend the extra time looking for it. They also provide you with insurance to replace the value of your lost item. The Premium Plan ($29.99 a year) will replace your lost item up to a cost of $100. The Premium Protect Plan ($99.99 a year) will replace your lost item up to the cost of $1,000. The Neither Apple or Samsung offer either of these helpful options. Tiles premium service will also send you a yearly replacement battery if have the Tile pro. The other models are completely sealed, which increases their water resistance but also shortens their life span. Finally if your item is damaged while you have one of these Premium Plans Tile will replace it.

The Down Side To Tile

When your item goes missing your digital search group is only the people with the Tile app actively running on their phone and their bluetooth enabled. So for my town that means that there are 2,093 Tile members passively scanning for any possible lost item. Apple and Samsung automatically set up their device to scan for their corresponding item trackers. Apple and Samsung are both massive companies with massive amounts of their products roaming the city streets every day all over the world. This means that your item tracker is more likely to be found if it’s a Smart Tag or an AirTag, just from a pure numbers stand point. The only way to find your missing Tile Tracker is to have it play a desiccative song over its speaker and follow the noise back to item. Hopefully where ever you are is quiet enough to hear the special ring. If you are deaf or hearing impaired this might make it difficult for you to find the item. Air Tags and Smart Tags both offer additional software helps in their apps to assist you. Some of the trackers are completely sealed to make them more water resistant the down side is that they do not have replaceable batteries. Meaning when they die you are stuck throwing them out and buying another.

Overall my Thoughts.

The biggest thing Tile has going for it is it’s Premium Feature to notify you when you’re leaving an item behind. They don’t have the numbers to beat Apple or Samsung in the tracking down your lost item game. But if you never loose the item in the first place that is less of an issue. The other thing Tile has going for it is it’s the only company with a variety of trackers for specialized jobs. It’s allot easier to place the Tile Slim into my wallet than find space to put the SmartTag. Tiles biggest issue is when you’re searching for your lost tracker all you have to go on is the noise made by the tracker.

Apple’s Air Tag:

It goes without saying, but just to clarify, this product can only be used by Apple Customers. If you are an Android customer this product is not compatible for you.

The Air Tag is Apple’s first offering into the item tracking market. It is one of the smallest and simplest item tracker on the market. It is also the only item tracker with any metal in it, which should in theory make it stronger in certain areas as compared to its plastic counter parts. As you would expect with Apple it is very user friendly and has been well thought out. You pull the little plastic tab and it turns on and pairs with your Apple account. The good news is that every item around the world has been preprogramed to look for lost Air Tags. So your possible search group is massive. The Air Tag also comes with a replaceable battery so once you buy one you can use it for many years to come at no additional cost to you. When your item is lost your Apple Find My will tell you what direction your tracker is in and how far. When you get right next to the item you can make it play a set song just like the Tile. You can personalize the tracker with a few letters, numbers or emoji’s. If you tap the back of your phone with the Air Tag then it will display a short message to the person who found your item. They are also the only company that has even tried to deal with they issue of item trackers being used to stalk people or steal their property. If an Air Tag is not with its owner and seems to be following around another Apple User for over twenty four hours it will notify that Apple User and allow them to make the item play a noise to find it. If you are an Android user you will not get these warnings. But if you are not in close range of the tracker or for a prolonged period of time then you light not get the warning message. This is a hard thing to balance because you don’t want the wrong people using your product in bad ways to track people. But at the same time if thieves are quickly being notified about the tracker than it isn’t doing the owner any good.

The Down Side To AirTag.

Airtags do not have an external button to help you locate your phone. Smart Tag and Tile both have this option. Airtags also don’t have any way of carrying the airtag by itsself. This means that you are forced to buy some type of case.

Overall my thoughts.

Airtags strengths is that its small, fairly strong, no external buttons you have to worry about and you can replace the battery in it as needed. I would personally throw an AirTag on any of my expensive items. Like my bike, personal travel safe or backpack or language, maybe even in the trunk of my car. If these items are ever stolen then my chance of recovering them went up. If not I can just replace the battery and put them back into their hiding place. Airtags biggest issue is finding ways to mount it to the item you want to track. Hopefully you can find an after market option to fit your needs. But if not you’re stuck trying to make your own. Because there is no key ring hole in the device to do it on its own. Airtag dose have a decent location program. The distance and location hints greatly speed up your time to find the missing item.

Samsung Smart Tag

This item only works with Samsung phones, so if you are an Apple user this is not the tracker for you.

Samsungs Smart Tag does a few things the other trackers do not do. The Smart Tag has a button on the outside of the tracker that can be preprogramed to interact with different smart devices and send the owner messages when these actions take place. For instance your child walks home from school and they press the button on the Smart Tag and it opens the garage door and texts their parent that the child is home. SO if you already have these smart devices at your house or you plan on getting them in the near future then this might be a great selling point for you. If you’re not into smart devices or they won’t work with your house or budget for whatever reason then it’s probably not a big deal for you. The button can also be programed to contact the owners smart phone and cause it to make a noise helping you find it.

The SmartTag also has a superior find my tracker feature in my app. It uses your camera to look at the world in front of you and adds a visual marker over where it believes your tracker is located. The Apple AirTag tracker will give you a direction and a distance. But some people don’t really mentally know how far 4ft to your left is. The Augmented Reality will tell you that the item is around the sofa. It has a spot for a key ring like the tile. It also is made entirely out of plastic like the tile. It also has a replaceable battery like the Tile and AirTag. Another differences is that the SmartTag uses the Android user base to find your item.

The Down Side to the SmartTag.

Smart Tags come in just the one shape and size, so you’re stuck figuring out how to attach that item to your item. It does have a small hole to aid you in doing this, but what’s about all. The tracker can be stolen by criminals are used to gain entry into your house, if you have it preprogramed to open up a smart garage door or unlock a smart door lock. Samsung has not dealt with the criminal use of their tracker. Apple will notify you if a tracker not your own is following you around. But Samsung has not dealt with this issue at all.

Overall My Thoughts.

The SmartTag brings some interesting options to the game that only it can offer. If I already had several smart tag devices in my house this would be a great option for me. I personally used the button to find my phone on a trackers several times and its a big help when you need it. I like the fact that Samsung has somewhat thought about the user and how they are going to attach the tracker to their item. Personally my favorite feature is the Augmented Reality feature in their app when you’re searching for your item. It greatly speeds up the game of hide and go seek you’re playing with your lost item.

After doing all this research what have I learned?

So we have come to the end of our journey, what have we learned. Well each company excels at their own thing. You have to ask yourself several questions

What Type of phone do I have? If you have an Iphone than the Smart Tag won’t work for you. If you have a Samsung phone then the AirTag won’t work for you. Either type of phone will work with the Tile Tracker.
Does your house have the correct smart devices. If you do the SmartTag might be the best tracker for you.
Do you value being able to throw a tracker into the bottom of a bag and not worry about it. If so the Apple AirTag might be the best chose for you.
If you want to track multiple things and have tracking built into every day items you might already own than Tile is the tracker for you. Tile also offers the only system that notifies you if your walking away from your wallet or keys or whatever items has the tile tracker already attached to them. Which I frankly think is the most helpful option available. It will save you time not having to search for the item to begin with.

Overall I like seeing where this space will go in the future. Apple and Samsung are massive companies and them entering the space will greatly improved peoples exerpiences. These companies can grow and and make different moddels in the future. This new market competition forced Tile to grow and deverisify as a company. That is why they are not partnering with outside companies such as Bose to make their appeal larger to both companies.

Tile is great because they have the wider variety trackers, their wallet one works really great for keeping track of your wallet. I do like the fact that they offer a service that will tell you when you left an item behind, that will help you not to loose items in the first place. I do like the fact that Tile is compable across device platforms. So if you have an Apple and your family member has an Android you can both use the device. I like the fact that the Apple Device gives you a way to leave a message to the person who found your device. Other trackers just mark its location, but it might move by the time you get there. I also like the fact that the top of the device is made out of metal, through I wish it wasn’t as shiney. As an Apple user I like the fact that they have tried to address the concern of tracking by criminals with notifying me if the item is strangley following me. The Samsung Smart Tag has the advantage of being able to set different things to happen when you hit the button. So you could program it to open the garage door for your kid and send you a text saying their home. But this is only useful if you have those items. It is nice that most of the new devices coming out have the ability to replace the battery

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