Tracker Vs Tile Vs Chipolo Vs Cube Best Bluetooth Tracker – updated 2019
This is crazy flood:
Numerous companies producing Bluetooth Tracker Devices aka Wireless Key finder or Wallet Tracking Devices or Cat finder or GPS Key Locators or Luggage Bluetooth Tags, to track & locate your important things using Bluetooth technology.
I am here to help you Choose:
While everyone wants to sell in the key finder market with similar idea with some or the other small improvements it is extremely difficult to choose correct tracking device with accurate functioning and satisfying the budget too.
In this post I shall be comparing / testing the top sellers and tell you which one is the best key finder for you.
Why I need a Bluetooth Tracker?
It is evident that Billions of $ lost every year in USA due to important items lost during travel or at office or home ! Regularly lost items include car keys, credit cards, wallets, DSLR cameras and Laptops ! While most of the time I use it to track my keys, I think that the lost keys can be made new, lost important data like photos in camera or office data in a laptop can’t be recovered it the item is not found !! This is where importance of tracker comes into picture. Mostly items which you check frequently like mobile phone for messages are likely to remind you to take them always, but items such as car keys, laptop, camera does not remind you to take them and this is where probability of loosing them is most. And value of emotions attached to the picture in a camera can’t e compensated by anything I say !
Is it True?
A survey report at mozy.com says “With the average person losing 1.24 items a year and just half of them being returned, every three years each person will have two items that they never see again.”
While you search for key phone finder, you will be bogged down by thousands of Positive & Negative Reviews on Amazon, wasting all your valuable time to compare the Functions, Pros & cons, Prices, No issues I hope this blog-post will help you to choose the correct key finder 🙂
For those who don’t have time to read through complete review, please refer to the simple but comprehensive Feature & Utility Comparison table between Tile Mate, Chipolo, TrackR Bravo & Cube Bluetooth trackers showing what makes one device more appealing than the other one in year 2019.
Which is the Best key finder 2019 ? Tracker Vs Tile Mate Vs Chipolo Vs Cube Tracker
Tile Mate
| Chipolo
| TrackR Bravo
| Cube | |
| Not Evaluated | Recommended | Not Recommended New Launched TrackR Pixel (to be evaluated) | Not Evaluated | |
| Deals, Discount & Offer Price |  Best Buy USA, UKTileMate Germany |  Best Buy USA, UKChipolo Plus Germany |  Best Buy USA, UKGen 2 Germany |  Best Buy USA, UKcube Germany |
| Tracker Range | 100 feet | 200 feet – Verified by HowzBuy.com (in line of sight) | 30 feet as verified by howzbuy.com (in line of sight) | 100 feet |
| Audible Warning | Very much audible even at a 100 foot distance | Best in class with Chipolo + even at 100 feet | The audible alert is faint at a 50 foot distance | 80 dB,sounds good |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth Low Energy 4.0 (BLE) | |||
| Camera Remote | No | Yes, Selfie button | No | Yes |
| Separation alert | Yes, two way separation alert given | |||
| Add-on Function | Website allows you to ring your phone and send messages to it (Tested Okay) | |||
| Apple iWatch App | Yes | |||
| Battery level indicator | App does not show the battery level of the tracking device | App shows the battery level of the tracking device | ||
| Battery replacement | Not possible You have to send device for replacement at discounted price | Replaceable For Chipolo + model battery is non-replacable | ||
| Extra things you get | The unit comes with an extra battery for Classic model and a key ring | Unit comes with a key ring and an adhesive tape that could be used to attach the device to things like a remote control | Extra CR2032 coin battery Included | |
| Ringtone | You can change | No | You can change | |
| Pairing | Required, Verifying your email address before pairing | Optional | Not Applicable | |
| Crowd GPS tracking | Available Help locate a lost item if you are out of the blue tooth range | No | ||
| Dimensions | 1.3″ x 0.2″ x 1.3″ new tilemate is 25% smaller | 1.4″ x 0.2″ x 1.4″ | 1.2″ x 0.2″ x 1.2″ | 1.5″ x 0.35″ x 1.5″ |
| Weight | 1.28 ounces | 1.3 ounces | 0.3 ounces | 0.42 ounces |
| Warranty | 1 Year Limited | |||
| Manufacturer | Tile | Chipolo | TrackR, a Santa Barbara, CA-based startup company | Cubetracker |
| Customer care | Live online chat support 7 days a week 8:30am-5:30pm (PST) | +1 (650) 560-7220 | info@cubetracker.com | |
| Deals, Discount & Offer Price | Best Buy USA, UK TileMate Germany | Best Buy USA, UK Chipolo Plus Germany | Best Buy USA, UK Gen 2 Germany | Best Buy USA, UK cube Germany |
My quest to find best key finder 2017 will continue with durability tasting & evaluation of key phone finder –
Chipolo plus Torture Test + Evaluation Results – We Recommend buying Chipolo Plus
TrackR Bravo Torture test & Evaluation Results – We do not Recommend buying TrackR Bravo
(Draft Testing Video uploaded to YouTube Click here to see it)
We will be doing tile app review soon after receipt of the tile key finder [its ordered and awaited soon]
What is common among All trackers ?
- Easy Setup – Intuitive that everyone of you can do it quickly
All of four key finder devices are really very easy to setup and have bi-directional search for both the device and the mobile phone it pairs. The process of installing the mobile app and pairing the device to the mobile phone is fairly simple and straight forward.
- Email Address Verification – Ensures enrollment in Crowd GPS feature & Links the tracker
All trackers requires email address verification before pairing
[Optional for TrackR], [Cube does not have this feature]
- Crowd GPS [Locate your lost items while out of BT range]
All three key finder devices feature Crowd GPS which will help you locate your lost item even if you are out of the blue tooth range 🙂 using other people using the App on their phone communicating to main GPS server. [Cube does not have this feature]
- Water resistant [and not water proof]
Please note that these are water resistant and not water-proof devices, hence take care, it can only sustain splashes and can’t be dipped into !!
Overall, all these tracking devices are excellent friends to help you not misplacing your favorite items like Wallet, Cat or Dog, Luggage bags during air travel, even your children during visit to crowded place.
Tile & Tile Mate – Most popular as on date, highest selling
You can see that Tile is the most popular wireless key finder device among all with least negative reviews, although it has to be sent to company for replacement, people are pretty happy with this device as a key finder/Bluetooth tracker. Also it is compatible with Android as well as iOs devices.
We asked for Tile tracker for durability evaluation, Tile denied saying that they do not have units for providing as an evaluation copy ! which creates suspicion in mind !! So never mind we will be buying the same and present our findings. May be our resent evaluation of TrackR Bravo gave clear negative review and Chipolo Plus gave clear positive review is the reason ! who knows !!
With latest introduction of TileMate which is still smaller than the previous version, Please do read detailed and in-depth review on Tile tracker on below link … I am sure you will get insight which no-other website review provides 🙂
Before buying Tile Click here To read and decide yourself!
One interesting thing to mention here that Tile has claimed on their website about people using Tile tracker during their flight, able to track luggage which is normally stored below the airplane floor ! You may try it too !! I tried it for Chipolo Plus and it worked very well 🙂
Know more … about Tile Tracker & buy
Recommended Reading : Tile Vs Tile Mate (Upgrade) What’s New ?
TrackR Bravo (I do not recommend buying TrackR Bravo – Read Why)
Although the TrackR Bravo isn’t the loudest with slightly shorter operating range, a TrackR has main feature of the battery level indicator within the mobile App which is the single most important thing like functioning of our heart … If you don’t have battery in tracker it is as good as dead piece ! and hence I would tend to lean towards buying it.
New Launch Alert! TrackR Pixel is here!!
TrackR Pixel Launched by the company. Now is capable of Glowing-up in the dark. Ringer loudness improved w.r.t. previous versions.
Read About Bravo Gen 2 and Gravo Wallet finder + Bravo Sticker Click here
Know more about TrackR Bravo & Buy
Download The TrackR App [iTunes TrackR App Download] [GooglePlay TrackR App Download]
Chiplo Classic & Chipolo Plus
Chiplo Classic do have replaceable battery [so as TrackR Bravo & Cube] which looks to be attractive than Tile. Most attractive feature I found is that the website allows you to ring your phone or send messages 🙂
But again no battery level indicator, may put you in trouble in important time !
Know more… about Chiplo Classic & Buy
Chipolo Plus is modified version in line with Tilemate, it is water resistant to IP5 rating (Splash proof) & sealed one having one year of battery life. It is said to be loudest sound upto 100 dB (better than tilemate)
I am now using Chipolo plus since last one month as well as TrackR Bravo.
Quick comments (read detailed review on below link) – Update as on 4 April 2017
- Chipolo is quicker and accurate in catching signals than Bravo
- Chipolo could detect my luggage in aircraft during hopping flight
- Chipolo is much more louder than Bravo
Read my review after one month use of Chipolo plus wallet finder
Cube wireless key finder has got an issue of raised button, which gets operated accidentally ringing your phone in an unintentional manner, which is the most irritating issue !
Some add-on knowledge for you !
- The BlueTooth Technology :
Theory : BT is the same frequency used by WiFi networks, cordless phones, and microwave ovens. Typically you can get range of 10 meters (33 feet) with data rate of ~300 kbps. Since the 2.45 GHz radio wave can penetrate walls, you will be able to connect Bluetooth devices across rooms.
Practical : The BT signal gets easily interrupted by walls, solid objects, it isn’t powerful enough getting the Tracker device disconnected from your phone ! It works best when both the devices are in line of sight.
- To ensure that your tracker is constantly connecting and receiving updated locations, your mobile app needs to be running in the background of your device. Hence DO NOT FORCE CLOSE THE mobile App.
WARNING : All these trackers are small & hence take care to give it to children, ti can easily cause choking issue.
If you find this review useful, do put appreciation comment, I will be happy to read and reply them all 🙂
Cheers !!
Rob Kirkpatrick says
I have patiently tried to endure Trackr since it first came out, It does no good to appear to show battery level if you cannot connect. That is only a paper feature advantage. The original 1616 batteries lasted barely a month. The 1620s that they changed to lasts 2-3 months. I am constantly losing the ability to connect with units even when the battery indicates full. Bottom line, the specs are great but daily performance is a failure.
I’m now looking at alternatives, even after having spent close to $200 on Trackr. Very disappointing, and no access to tech support on their site. [Galaxy Note 4, Notetc 7, and now 7 Edge]
Rickey says
I have the same problems, plus when I replace the battery it still show the level is low. The only way to get rid of the battery icon is to delete the trackr and re-add it. Have you checked out the Chipolo. I’ve been using mine for about a month and its the best thus far. It does what it says it can do and it does it well. I can’t speak for the battery yet but they make two models, One with a replaceable battery and one without.
Ramo says
I’ve found Tile to have the issue of unintentional ringing of phone too! very annoying. I was at a concert when my keys must have activated tile… Yeah I was that guy. No way to assure everyone that I had already switched my phone to silent – yet Tile still rung the heck out of it. oh well – nothings perfect.
Bryan says
Well false alarms can be thrown due to normal instability in the bluetooth connection, its BT technology limitation and not the tracker, can happen with each make tracker including Tile or Chipolo or Tackr Bravo ! You will find similar issues in BT enabled headsets sometimes of lost connection etc.
rogerdpack says
Why no cost comparison in that spreadsheet?