When you’ve ever missed an on-time departure because of a set of misplaced keys or misplaced pockets, you’ll profit from a Bluetooth tracker. These small gadgets connect to your stuff and use your smartphone to maintain tabs on the place they’re. AirTags are one of the best identified within the class, tapping right into a discovering community created by way of nameless iPhone pings within the space. Google now has an analogous community utilizing close by Android telephones, and Samsung has its personal community that employs Galaxy telephones. Some third-party trackers work with both Google or Apple’s community and supply extra options besides. We examined trackers from Apple, Tile, Pebblebee, Samsung and Chipolo, evaluating their discovering capabilities, sound ranges, reliability and design. We expect the Chipolo Pop is one of the best Bluetooth tracker for most individuals, however just a few different trackers have their deserves as effectively.
What to search for in a Bluetooth monitoring system
Bluetooth trackers are small discs or playing cards that depend on short-range, low-energy wi-fi indicators to speak together with your smartphone. Connect one among these devices your stuff and, if it’s in vary, your cellphone can “ring” the chip so you will discover it. These monitoring gadgets supply different options like separation alerts to inform you if you’ve left a tagged merchandise behind, or the place a misplaced merchandise was final detected. Some may even faucet into a bigger community of smartphones to trace down your system if you’re out of vary. Relying on what you need the tracker to do, there are just a few specs to search for when deciding which to get.
System compatibility
Like most issues from the oldsters in Cupertino, AirTags solely work with merchandise within the Apple ecosystem. Each Apple and Google have opened up entry to the Discover My and Discover My System networks to third-party producers, together with Chipolo and Pebblebee. These two firms make device-agnostic fashions that may work with the bigger monitoring community from both model, so iPhone and Android customers can purchase the identical tag. Tile trackers work with both Android or Apple gadgets, however use Tile’s personal Life 360 discovering community. Samsung’s newest fob, the Galaxy SmartTag2, solely works with Samsung telephones and faucets right into a discovering system that depends on different Samsung gadgets to find misplaced tags.
Discovering community
Crowd-sourced discovering capabilities are what make headlines, with tales about recovering stolen equipment or monitoring misplaced baggage across the globe. Utilizing nameless indicators that ping different individuals’s gadgets, these Bluetooth monitoring gadgets can probably inform you the place a tagged merchandise is, even when your smartphone is out of Bluetooth vary.
Apple’s Discover My community is the most important, with over a billion iPhones and iPads in service all working Apple’s Discover My app by default. So until an iPhone person opts out, their cellphone silently acts as a location detector for any close by AirTags. Apple not too long ago elevated the AirTag’s discovering energy by enabling you to share the location of a lost tag with a 3rd occasion, occasion, like an airline. Chipolo fobs that work on Apple’s community have the identical skill. Google launched its Discover My System community in 2024 and it’s an in depth second for the most important within the US
Now that Google’s Discover My System community is up and running, it’s an in depth second for the most important within the US. Like Apple, Android customers are mechanically a part of the community, however can opt-out by deciding on the Google companies possibility of their cellphone’s Settings app and toggling the choice within the Discover My System menu. Samsung’s SmartTag 2 and associated community additionally defaults to an opt-in standing for locating tags and different gadgets.
Tile affords a big discovering grid that features Tile customers, Amazon Sidewalk prospects and folks working the Life360 community. Life360 acquired Tile in 2021, and, in keeping with the corporate, the Life360 community has greater than 70 million month-to-month energetic customers.
In our assessments, AirTags and third-party tags utilizing its community, just like the Chipolo Pop and Pebblebee Clip Common, had been the quickest to trace down misplaced objects. They provided almost real-time location information in reasonably to closely trafficked spots round Albuquerque, together with a bar, bookstore and occasional outlets in Nob Hill, together with varied out of doors hangouts on UNM’s campus.
Samsung’s SmartTags had been in a position to find our misplaced objects more often than not, although not with the identical precision discovering accuracy as AirTags. Once we examined Google’s Find My Device network proper after launch, it was noticeably slower than Apple’s community when utilizing the neighborhood discovering characteristic. Testing it once more in 2025, the time it took to find a misplaced merchandise was significantly improved, taking only a couple minutes for the neighborhood to trace a fob. In our assessments, Tile’s discovering community wasn’t in a position to constantly find its misplaced fobs.
Separation alerts
Right here’s the place a tracker’s day-to-day utility actually shines. A separation alert lets you understand if you’ve traveled too far out of your tagged objects, which is beneficial if you wish to make sure that your laptop bag, or jacket or umbrella at all times comes with you if you depart the home.
These notifications work if you’re out and about too. When you’ve obtained a Bluetooth monitoring system in your pockets and stroll out of a restaurant with out it, the separation alert ought to kick in, leading to fewer misplaced objects. This characteristic additionally tells you the place your tagged merchandise and cellphone had been final paired, permitting you to retrace your steps in case you occur to overlook the alert.
Every tracker handles left-behind objects otherwise. AirTags and third-party fobs utilizing its community (reminiscent of from Chipolo or Pebblebee) embrace the characteristic by default. Tile trackers require a yearly subscription to allow the alerts (presently $30 yearly). Tags working with the Google Discover My System community don’t supply the characteristic in any respect, however Chipolo Pop tags can difficulty left-behind alerts utilizing its personal Android app. Each AirTags and Tiles mean you can flip off separation alerts at sure areas, that means you’ll be able to set your house as a “secure” place the place objects will be left behind, however alerts will nonetheless set off elsewhere.
In our assessments, AirTags and others utilizing the Discover My community alerted us between the 600- and 1,400-foot mark. Tiles despatched a notification after about a median of 1,500 ft and had been extra constant when utilizing an Android cellphone than an iPhone. Chipolo Pop tags paired with an Android cellphone and utilizing its personal app despatched an alert after we obtained round 450 ft away from our tagged merchandise.
Connectivity, quantity and design
The characteristic chances are you’ll use most frequently is the important thing finder operate, which makes the tracker ring if you hit a button within the app. With Apple’s AirTags, you’ll be able to say “Hey Siri, the place are my keys?” and the assistant will ring the tag (assuming it does not mistakenly suppose you are asking for instructions to the Floridian archipelago). Asking Alexa or the Google Assistant to search out your keys will work with Chipolo, Tile and Pebblebee trackers linked to your Android system.
In case you have your tag however can’t discover your cellphone, some trackers will allow you to ring them to search out your handset. SmartTag2 fobs reliably rang our Galaxy cellphone after we double-pressed it. Tile trackers have the identical characteristic. Chipolo Pop trackers can ring your cellphone, however makes use of the Chipolo app to take action, which might run concurrently with the Discover My or Discover My System connection. AirTags and any third-party tags utilizing solely Apple or Google’s networks don’t supply this characteristic.
The quantity of the Bluetooth monitoring system could decide whether or not you will discover an merchandise buried in your sofa cushions or in a loud room. AirTags have a popularity for being on the quiet facet, and that aligned with what we noticed (measuring roughly 65 decibels). Chipolo’s Pop tags and Tile’s Professional mannequin measure between 83 and 86 decibels on common. Pebblebee’s new Clip Common was the loudest of any tag we’ve examined, clocking in at 91 ear-splitting decibels.
Design will decide what you’ll be able to connect the tracker to. AirTags are small, easy discs that may’t be secured to something with out accessories, that are quite a few, however that’s a further value to think about. Chipolo, Pebblebee and Tile supply trackers with holes that simply connect to your key ring, and all three firms additionally supply card-shaped variations designed to slot in your pockets. Pebblebee Clip Common tags include a helpful carabiner-style key ring.
Batteries are replaceable for AirTag, Tile Professional, SmartTag2 and Chipolo Pop fobs and every ought to go for not less than a 12 months earlier than needing to be swapped. Tile Mate and card-shaped trackers don’t have replaceable batteries, which suggests you’ll have to interchange the complete unit every time it dies. Pebblebee trackers are rechargeable in each the disc and pockets selection. They’re additionally the one tags geared up with onboard LEDs.
Stalking, theft and information privateness
AirTags have gotten loads of consideration and even prompted some lawsuits for Apple because of unhealthy actors planting them on individuals as a way to stalk them. Whereas this truth could not affect your shopping for resolution, any dialogue of Bluetooth trackers ought to notice what steps Apple, Google and Tile have taken to handle the difficulty. Final 12 months, all the main gamers within the Bluetooth tracker enterprise teamed up to fight misuse and standardize how unauthorized monitoring detection and alerts work for iOS and Android.
Final 12 months, Tile launched a characteristic referred to as Anti-Theft Mode, which allows you to render one among its trackers undetectable by others. Which means if somebody steals your tagged merchandise, they gained’t be capable of use the anti-stalking options to search out and disable the tracker. That kind of negates one of many main methods potential stalking victims can keep secure, so Tile hopes ID verification and a $1 million penalty will deter misuse. Individually, Tile was not too long ago hit by a data breach, elevating totally different privateness issues. The corporate issued a statement concerning the occasion, which it shared with Engadget:
Much like many different firms, Life360 not too long ago grew to become the sufferer of a felony extortion try. We obtained emails from an unknown actor claiming to own Tile buyer info. We promptly initiated an investigation into the potential incident and detected unauthorized entry to a Tile buyer assist platform (however not our Tile service platform). The doubtless impacted information consists of knowledge reminiscent of names, addresses, e mail addresses, cellphone numbers, and Tile system identification numbers. It doesn’t embrace extra delicate info, reminiscent of bank card numbers, passwords or log-in credentials, location information, or government-issued identification numbers, as a result of the Tile buyer assist platform didn’t include these info sorts.
We imagine this incident was restricted to the precise Tile buyer assist information described above and isn’t extra widespread. We take this occasion and the safety of buyer info severely. We have now taken and can proceed to take steps designed to additional defend our programs from unhealthy actors, and we have now reported this occasion and the extortion try to legislation enforcement. We stay dedicated to retaining households secure on-line and in the true world.
As a theft deterrent, a Bluetooth tracker could or might not be the most suitable choice. Anecdotal tales abound during which individuals have recovered stolen items utilizing a tracker — however different tales are more cautionary. Neither Apple nor Google promotes its trackers or discovering networks as a method to cope with theft. GPS trackers, however, are usually marketed for simply that goal.
How we examined
Earlier than deciding on which trackers to check, we researched the sphere, person evaluations on Amazon, Finest Purchase and different retailers, together with discussions on websites like Reddit. We additionally checked out what different publications needed to say on the matter earlier than narrowing down our choices to Apple AirTag, Tile, and Chipolo trackers. When Samsung’s SmartTag 2 got here out in October of 2023, we added that to our testing, together with Pebblebee’s rechargeable Clip tracker. After Google launched its Discover My System, each Chipolo and Pebblebee launched trackers in 2025 that work with both community and we examined the Pop and Common key fob fashions and up to date our high picks accordingly.
Right here’s the total checklist of each tracker we examined:
After buying the trackers, I examined every one over the course of some weeks utilizing each an iPhone 11 and a Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely. I recreated probably person experiences, reminiscent of shedding and leaving objects behind at residence and out within the metropolis. I planted trackers at totally different spots close to downtown Albuquerque, largely concentrated in and across the College of New Mexico and the encompassing neighborhood of Nob Hill. Later, I carried out assessments within the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle. Every check was carried out a number of instances, each whereas strolling and driving and I used the measure distance characteristic on Google Maps to trace footage for alerts. I paid consideration to how simple the app was to make use of, how dependable the phone-to-tracker connection was and some other perks and downsides that got here up throughout common use.
Different trackers we examined
Tile Professional and Tile Mate (2024)
Tile not too long ago got here out with a brand new suite of trackers, changing the Tile Mate, Tile Professional, Tile Sticker and Tile Slim with updated models. Along with enjoyable new colours for the Mate and Slim, Tile added an SOS characteristic that may ship a notification to your Life360 Circle if you triple press the button on the tracker. It’s a intelligent addition that turns your keys right into a panic button, one thing provided by private security firms as standalone gadgets.
There are just a few caveats: You and the individuals you wish to notify in an emergency will want the Life360 app put in in your telephones. If you’d like your Tile to additionally set off a name to emergency companies, you’ll want a $15-per-month Life360 subscription (that’s along with a Tile membership, which begins at $3/month or $30 yearly). And enabling the SOS triple-press disables the flexibility to ring your cellphone with the fob.
I examined the SOS characteristic and it did certainly ship a textual content message to my Circle, with the message that I had triggered an SOS and a hyperlink to an internet site that confirmed my present location. I assumed it odd that the hyperlink didn’t open the Life360 app (which exhibits the placement of customers’ telephones), however I wasn’t as a lot involved with Tile’s private security options as I used to be with the monitoring capabilities, which turned out to be lower than superb.
For my assessments, I planted Tile trackers in a densely populated space of Seattle (about 15,000 individuals per sq. mile). After setting the trackers to “misplaced” within the Tile app, I waited. After 4 hours, one of many trackers was not found by the discovering neighborhood, so I went and retrieved it. One other fob I planted alerted me that the tracker had been discovered by the Tile neighborhood after three hours — however the location it gave me was off by a 3rd of a mile. I then determined to plant a tracker in essentially the most populated place I might consider — the dried fruit and nuts aisle of a Dealer Joes on a Friday night earlier than a serious vacation. It nonetheless took over a half an hour earlier than one other Tile person anonymously pinged my misplaced tracker.
In my assessments with Samsung’s trackers and the fobs on Google’s Discover My System community, it took round ten minutes for them to be found. AirTags took half that point and all had been examined in a far much less populated metropolis. 4 hours with no ping and over a half hour earlier than getting successful in a crowded TJs had been fairly lengthy stretches.
Our high choose, the traditional Chipolo, has nearly no discovering community. However in case you’re getting a tracker for that characteristic alone, it’s best to go together with AirTags you probably have an iPhone or the Google-enabled Chipolo or Pebblebee trackers in case you use an Android cellphone. We favor the Chipolo as a result of it really works with both iOS or Android gadgets, it rings loud, it’s fast to inform you if you’ve left it behind and it connects almost immediately if you’re trying to find a misplaced tracker round the home.
Tile gadgets additionally work with each cellular working programs and its newest fashions are certainly louder than they had been earlier than. However they aren’t as fast to attach and you must pay for a membership to activate left-behind alerts. And if you do, these notifications don’t kick in as rapidly as they do with competing trackers.
Bluetooth tracker FAQs
Which Bluetooth tracker has the longest vary?
Each the Tile Professional and the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2 declare a most vary of round 400 ft, which is longer than the 300-foot declare for Chipolo’s Pop tags. The Pebblebee Clip Common claims a 500-foot vary, although different trackers with a shorter claimed vary carried out higher in our assessments. Apple doesn’t make vary claims for AirTags. Any Bluetooth sign, after all, relies on just a few elements. Obstacles like partitions and folks can block the sign, so a transparent line of sight is the one method to obtain the utmost vary. Different indicators, like Wi-Fi, may intervene with Bluetooth connections. Even excessive humidity can have an impact and reduce the space at which your cellphone will connect with your tracker.
Keep in mind, when contemplating the vary of Bluetooth trackers, the dimensions of the “discovering community” additionally comes into play. That is the variety of close by telephones that can be utilized to anonymously ping your tracker when your personal cellphone is out of Bluetooth vary. As of now, Apple AirTags have the most important community, adopted by Google’s Discover My System, Samsung’s discovering neighborhood and Tile’s Life360 members.
What’s the finest Bluetooth tracker for a automobile?
Bluetooth trackers are designed to trace small, private objects like keys, jackets, backpacks and the like. All trackers have safeguards to ban the tag from getting used to stalk individuals, so most will alert somebody if a tracker that doesn’t belong to them is detected following them. Which means a automobile thief could get tipped off that there’s a tracker within the automobile they’re making an attempt to steal. That mentioned, you’ll see loads of stories about individuals discovering their automobile because of a Bluetooth tracker. Some police departments have even handed out trackers to fight excessive charges of carjacking. In most situations, the tracker of selection has been AirTags because of their broad discovering community. When you’re in search of a tracker to your automobile, chances are you’ll wish to look into GPS trackers, a few of that are designed for simply that goal.
How correct are Bluetooth trackers?
Accuracy for Bluetooth trackers will be checked out in two methods: Discovering objects close by and discovering objects misplaced outdoors your house. For close by objects, you’ll most frequently use the ring operate on the system to hunt it down. Two tags, Apple’s AirTags and Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag2, additionally use ultra-wideband know-how, which creates directional navigation in your cellphone to get you inside a foot of the tracker.
Precisely discovering misplaced objects outdoors your house will depend on the dimensions of the discovering community. Since this depends on the serendipity of a random cellphone passing inside Bluetooth vary of your tracker, the extra telephones on a given community, the higher. And since Bluetooth ranges and distance estimates are solely exact inside a couple of meter or so, getting pings from multiple cellphone will assist finding objects. Right here once more, it’s price noting that Apple’s Discover My community is the most important, adopted by Google, Samsung and Tile (each Chipolo and Pebblebee have fobs that work with the Apple and Google networks).
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/equipment/best-bluetooth-tracker-140028377.html?src=rss
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