The $30 you spend on a Bluetooth tracking device will not be consumed if you are lucky. These tags can only be helpful if you have to locate your stuff. If you don’t lose anything, they are just decorative. A Bluetooth tracker is an excellent option if you are constantly looking for your keys and bag while you walk out the door. Apple’s AirTag is recommended for iPhone users. This allows you to search for lost items and provide precision-finding features actively. Use Tile trackers with your Android phone. Tile has the second-largest crowd-finding network.

You can track the location of any Bluetooth tracker from your phone, tablet, or computer. Apple’s AirTag makes an excellent choice for iPhone owners. The tracker will alert you if it is out of range. This means that the device can work with all other Apple devices. It’s more likely that the item you have dropped will be found thanks to this vast network. Your AirTag uses technology beyond Bluetooth to pinpoint the location of your item. AirTran is the only tracker that offers such precision and broad coverage.

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We’ve tested over a dozen Bluetooth trackers in the last few years. These are the major players in this market. We searched Amazon and Google for information about a previous version to ensure we got everything. This search returned great comparative reviews from Tom’s Guide and The Wall Street Journal (subscription necessary), Wired, and Yahoo.

Here are the things we look for when looking for a Bluetooth tracker that is great:

• Size of the network: Bluetooth trackers can use other phones with the tracker app to quietly and privately search for lost objects. Your chances of finding your lost items are higher if more users are on the platform.
• Precision searching: Once your tracker’s location is known, it’s time to find it. To locate your belongings, trackers combine digital apps and physical speakers.
• Size Trackers that are too bulky or difficult to attach to things you need to track are useless. Better is smaller and lighter.
• Range, The further you are from the tracker, the more likely your item will be found.
• Volume If your tracker is too far away, but you can’t hear it clearly, that’s a problem. Some of these speakers can be quite loud, despite being small in space.
• Additional features: Although a replaceable battery is unnecessary, it’s an advantage. Trackers that trigger an alarm on your smartphone are also a plus. It is essential to have an app that is simple to use and provides location updates quickly.

Before Apple’s 2021 AirTag introduction, the most critical test was to determine the range of each tracker. This is how far away a paired smartphone can be from the tracker before it loses the Bluetooth connection. Wirecutter’s 190-foot office in Long Island City, New York, tested the range in 2019. Each tracker was placed on a shelf and triggered to ring. We then left with our paired iPhones while taking distance measurements using a measuring tool. The distance was recorded once the tracker’s smartphone app indicated that it was out of range. This was done at least five times for each tracker. We then calculated the average distance across all measurements. AirTags have a more extensive network and are much more accurate once you are within range. We still test the effective length, but it is less critical.

A rechargeable, user-replaceable lithium battery power every AirTag. This is the only Apple product that makes it easy.

Apple isn’t the only company that uses crowd-finding networks for tracking purposes. However, with over a billion devices, it has the most that can search for your stuff. Apple’s Find My App has been using Bluetooth to locate lost iPhones, Macs, and contacts. AirTags can now use the same system for reporting the location of any item they attach to. This means that if your AirTag-equipped keys are left at a coffee shop, and someone has an Apple device at some point, the location of the keys will be reported to you. The person who identified the keys will not know. Tile trackers work in the same manner but on a smaller scale. It’s more likely that the Tile customer is sitting at a table across from has an iPhone than Tile.

Once you have the tracker’s location, the AirTag’s other key feature works. AirTags can be used to locate your tracker at very short distances. This is similar to the iPhone 11, 12, 13, and 14. You can tap the Find button within the Find My app once you are near your AirTag, such as the coffee shop where your keys were left. The app will show you the distance and direction to the AirTag you want. Your phone will vibrate as you approach the AirTag and allow you to play a sound that can help you in your search. The accuracy of the tracking signal was impressive in our testing. However, it took some time for the AirTag to get on the right track.