Image rights, clockwise from top–left: Orbit USA, Tile, Chipolo, Tile.THE WINNER
Tile Mate
One of the coolest trackers out there
P
ICKING UP A tracking gadget is
a double whammy: they’ll let you
find your things or, if you’ve already
found your things, they’ll let you find
your phone. A two–way street of efficient
finding! And while features like 30–day
GPS tracking and location–based alerts,
to remind you (perhaps too late) when
you’ve left the house without your keys,
are locked behind a Premium subscription,
we’re definitely leaning towards the Tile
Mate as our favorite. It’s a very mature
device, with a strong network backing itup, and an excellent app. Right now it’s
the best tracker and tracker ecosystem.
Will it still be our favorite when Apple
sinks its teeth into the market? That
depends on the execution. Tile is great,
but Apple’s tech has been thoroughly
tested through iOS devices and, as of
Catalina, as part of macOS. Find My is
a well appointed app that does its job
with minimal fuss. All that remains is the
hardware, and with three competitors
already showing how it’s done we struggle
to imagine Apple doing a bad job.> Orbit Keys
$24.99 From findorbit.com
Specs 34x9mm, 20g
Probably the smartest–
presented on test, Orbit’s
smooth and rounded–off
aluminium–cased circle
feels sturdy. Despite the
generous opening for its internal speaker,
it’s IPX6 rated for water resistance, with
a tool included to unscrew it.
Unlike the others, the Orbit’s
activation button sits on the side of the
case. This is, arguably, a better location,
as it mostly avoids accidental presses,
though it can be a little fiddly to reach,
particularly if you’re trying to use the
Keys’ selfie remote feature in a hurry.
We were impressed with the
Bluetooth range, and Orbit runs its own
tracking network — though we’d wager
the sample size is on the smaller end, so
crowd–finding your keys may be tough.GREAT> Tile Mate
$19.99 From thetileapp.com
Specs 35x35x6.2mm, 6g
Tile’s rounded–square Mate is an
attractive and sturdy option. It's
not the lightest of the three (that
honor goes to Chipolo) but it's
definitely not something that’s
going to weigh down your keyring or
cat’s collar. We found it had the highest
range of all three, and was the fastest to
wake up when it was time to track.
We wouldn’t put a huge amount of
money on its resilience over time (a
week on a keyring saw it somewhat
scuffed up) and the front–mounted
button is a bit too easy to accidentally
activate. But the battery is easy to
replace via a sliding cover on the rear.
The real win here is the network:
Tile is a well–established brand with
a large number of users, meaning a
higher chance of finding your lost items.GREAT> Chipolo Classic
$25 From chipolo.net
Specs 35x5mm, 5g
All of these trackers are,
realistically, incredibly
similar. They do the same
job. Chipolo’s circular
Classic, about half a
millimetre larger in radius than the Orbit
Keys, is the boldest in design, with a
bright color and a hidden button
activated by simply squeezing the device.
It also contains a speaker which, despite
only the tiniest output hole, manages to
be loud enough for the job.
We were able to activate it from
a decent distance, and there’s the
requisite whisper network for finding
further afield. But when we tested the
Classic on a set of keys in a back pocket,
the casing came apart on two separate
occasions, which is not the most
reassuring experience.SOLIDThe best keyring trackers
Tile’s Premium subscription provides 30–day
GPS tracking and location based alerts.Device tracking
maclife.com MAR 2020 73