Friday, April 26, 2024

These are the best Bluetooth trackers to keep tabs on valuables

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There once was a time when you’d lose track of your keys and spend valuable time searching for them. Now, you have phones, and you have Bluetooth. When you combine the two, you have Bluetooth trackers that go on your keys — or any other household or office item — and connect to your phone. When items get lost, you’re only an app away from quickly finding them again. Our favorite is the Tile Pro, which offers an impressive range, loud alert, and replaceable battery. There’s a Bluetooth tracker out there for everyone.

Best Overall: Tile Pro

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One of the most critical factors to consider when choosing a Bluetooth tracker is its range. This determines the distance at which the tracker can be found through your smartphone app. Most people shopping for a tracker are going to look for the biggest range possible. While many options on the market clock in around 100 to 200 feet, the Tile Pro beats those numbers by a long shot.

The Tile Pro has an amazing 300-foot range, which is just one of the reasons it’s the best choice. It also boasts a whopping 128-decibel alert, a replaceable one-year battery, and compatibility with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Both iPhone and Android users can enjoy the Tile Pro with the corresponding Tile app. You’ll have access to the largest lost-and-found community. Anyone using the app that’s within range of your lost item can update its location for you.

While this is one of the more expensive trackers, it comes with two of them, so it’s not a bad deal in the grand scheme of things. It’s also important to note that the Tile Pro isn’t as rugged as we’d like. It’s rated IP55, which means it only provides limited protection from dust and water. You’ll want to avoid anything more than a light splash on this tracker.

Pros:

  • 300-foot range
  • Replaceable battery
  • Loudest Tile option

Cons:

  • Expensive
  • Not very rugged

Best Overall

Tile Pro

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  • $50 from Amazon

Widest range, loudest volume

With an expansive 300-foot range and the loudest volume that Tile offers, the Tile Pro is great for keeping track of your most essential items.

Best Value: Tile Mate

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The Tile Mate offers a nice blend of helpful features and portability. It comes with the added convenience of a replaceable battery that’s guaranteed to last a year. It’s a bit bulkier than some of the other trackers, but the Tile Mate is still compact enough that it can fit comfortably in most wallets and purses. It also comes with a keyhole, which is great for attaching to your keys, luggage, backpacks, and so on.

You still get a decent range of 150 feet, and it’s still pretty loud at 119 decibels. When you combine these features, you can feel confident that you’ll be able to locate your Tile Mate without a problem. This tracker also gives you handy access to the Tile lost-and-found community, which is always good to have. It’s also rated as IP55 for minimal water and dust resistance.

You may be compromising slightly when it comes to the range and the decibels, but it isn’t a bad trade-off for the price. Not to mention that you can also pick a 4-pack, which gives you four Tile Mates for the price of two Tile Pro trackers.

Pros:

  • Affordable option
  • Smaller, more lightweight
  • Replaceable battery

Cons:

  • Only 150-foot range
  • Not as loud

Best Value

Tile Mate

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  • $20 from Amazon

Compact and affordable

With its lightweight design, the Tile Mate is easy to carry around at all times. The range might not be as wide, but the lower price tag makes up for it.

Best Colorful : Chipolo Plus

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This colorful Bluetooth tracker is shaped like a circle rather than a rectangle, so it stands out from the rest. It’s still fairly slim and won’t be too bulky to carry around with your items. You can also use your tracker to find your phone. All you have to do is double press it, which will make your phone ring even if it’s on silent.

Not to mention that with Chipolo’s Web service, you’ll have the ability to see the location of each tracker and your phone or tablet from any web browser. If you’ve lost track of an item, you can access the community search to mark it as lost. The Chipolo Plus is IP55 rated as well.

Unfortunately, you cannot replace the battery in the Chipolo Plus. Alternatively, you can participate in the mail-in upgrade program when the battery does die. It’s worth noting that Chipolo has fewer users than Tile, so the crowd-finding system with community searching isn’t as reliable as the more popular Tile app.

Pros:

  • Available in six vibrant colors
  • One year of battery life
  • Loud alert

Cons:

  • Community search not reliable
  • Looks a bit cheap
  • Non-replaceable battery

Best Colorful

Chipolo Plus

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  • $25 from Amazon

Colorful and loud

The colorful Chipolo Plus is one of the loudest trackers at 100dB. With six solid colors to choose from, these trackers offer a 200-foot range.

Best Rechargeable : Cube Shadow

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If you’ve been searching all over for a Bluetooth tracker that you can recharge instead of having to replace the battery, look no further than the Cube Shadow. Did we mention that a single charge can last two months and the USB charger is included? Not bad at all.

In addition to being able to reuse and recharge your tracker, the Cube Shadow also promises a generous 200-foot range, 100-decibel siren, and an IP rating of 67. This means your tracker can be immersed in water up to one meter for up to thirty minutes without sustaining damage. The button on the tracker will ring your phone when you can’t find it. You can also use this button to take pictures or videos with your phone’s camera.

This Bluetooth tracker might be a bit pricey compared to others. You also only get one tracker in the package, but it’s more than worth it for all the features it offers. It lacks a keyhole as well, so it’s not ideal if you were hoping to loop it onto your key ring. Although, it does come with adhesive that lets you stick your Cube Shadow to items.

Pros:

  • Rechargeable battery
  • Ultra-thin at just 2 mm
  • 200-foot range

Cons:

  • Lacks keyhole
  • A bit pricey

Best Rechargeable

Cube Shadow

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  • $36 from Amazon

Convenient and rechargeable

The amazingly thin Cube Shadow has a rechargeable battery so you can keep reusing it. It’s perfect for tracking your wallet and other household items.

Best Multi-Purpose : Nut3

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The Nut3 Smart Key Finder is the perfect choice when you need a tracker that can do it all. More specifically, this Bluetooth tracker offers six different functions: One Touch Find, Find Your Phone, Smart Anti-Loss, Left Phone Alert, Lost and Found Network, and Group Control. Lost track of your phone? Simply press the button on your Nut 3 to ring your phone.

Many of these features are self-explanatory, but there are a few interesting ones worth elaborating on. The Smart Anti-Loss feature that will alert you if you happen to leave your wallet behind somewhere. Group Control allows your family to be able to track your Nut3, too. If you leave your phone behind when you’re outdoors, an alert will sound to inform you.

While the Nut 3 claims to offer a 150-foot range, this has exceptions. For example, when using it outside, you can expect a range of 30 to 50 meters. However, when it comes to indoor use where walls are present, the range is around 10 to 30 meters. With all of the functions the Nut3 offers, you can expect to receive a lot of notifications to go with it, which might be annoying for some users. You have the option of a 4-pack, 2-pack, or 1-pack.

Pros:

  • Offers various functions
  • Stylish, thin tracker with a unique design
  • Replaceable battery can last a year

Cons:

  • Range could be better
  • Notification overload

Best Multi-Purpose

Nut3

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  • $55 from Amazon

Do it all

The Nut3 tracker not only comes with a replaceable battery that can last for a year but also gives you access to six functions in one device.

Best for Wallets : Tile Slim

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If you’re already a fan of the Tile ecosystem and you’re looking for the thinnest option, you’ll love the Tile Slim. It’s no thicker than two credit cards, so it’s highly versatile when you need a tracker that can fit in tight spaces. This makes it the perfect tracker for keeping tabs on your wallet. It’s IP57 water-resistant, which is a nice touch.

Some pretty neat features come with this super slim tracker, including community finding, last-known location tracking, and the option to ring your phone by pressing a button on the Tile. At just 9.3 grams, this is also a good lightweight tracker to stick on your electronic devices, whether it be your smartphone, tablet, or television remote.

You might sacrifice some range and some decibels with this Tile device, but it may still be a worthy contender for those who want a slim wallet tracker that offers plenty of features. It’s worth mentioning that the Tile Slim does not come with a replaceable battery, but you can participate in their discount reTile program when the time comes for a new one.

Pros:

  • Thinnest tracker from Tile
  • Works with Alexa
  • Can be used to find your phone

Cons:

  • Non-replaceable battery
  • Short-range of 150 feet
  • Only 82-decibel volume

Best for Wallets

Tile Slim

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  • $30 from Amazon

Slimmest of them all

The Tile Slim is an ideal pick for tracking wallets and purses with a range of 100 feet. The non-replaceable battery will last up to a year.

Bottom line

Any of the Bluetooth trackers on this list will serve you well. We’re partial to the Tile Pro for its incredible range of 300 feet, the extremely loud alert of 128 dB that’s hard to miss, and the replaceable battery that lasts for a year. If range is the most important factor in a tracker, you really can’t go wrong with this one. No other device comes close to what the Tile Pro offers in terms of range.

There are plenty more options out there for you to choose from. The one you pick will depend on what you’re looking for. There are budget-friendly trackers, colorful trackers, wallet trackers, and more. Whatever it is you’re hoping to keep track of, there’s a Bluetooth tracker out there that can get the job done.

Credits — The team that worked on this guide

Courtney Lynch is a freelance writer at Android Central. She’s obsessed with all things health, fitness, and music. At any given time, she can be found checking out the latest and greatest gadgets while simultaneously petting her dog and sipping iced coffee.

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