Google’s Airtag competitor trackers are as unreliable as ever

I’ve been testing Chipolo and Pebblebee’s Google-compatible trackers ever since Google first launched its Discover My Gadget community in Could 2024. For eight months now, I’ve lugged them round, plus a bunch of their rivals, on each flight, practice journey, outing, and exercise, hoping to seek out the very best Bluetooth tracker on the market. What began as a enjoyable train of, “Hey, let me see if I can observe my husband by way of a busy space in Paris,” shortly changed into a nightmare due to the sheer logistics of testing these.

I usually had not less than two or three telephones in my pocket — generally 4 — with a bunch of testing eventualities, options to examine, and environments to check in. I additionally needed to enlist my husband’s assist fairly often as a result of I needed to be bodily separated from the “misplaced” merchandise with out dropping it for actual. General, I’ve tried these trackers within the UK, France, UAE, Lebanon, Belgium, Albania, Italy, and Portugal. When all was mentioned and carried out, I needed to comb by way of over 150 screenshots and dozens of movies. I’ve additionally delayed this text repeatedly as a result of I wished to offer Google extra time to roll out its community and redeem its disappointing efficiency. However time’s working out, and if there’s one verdict you could know, it’s this:

However if you would like the lengthy, very lengthy model, strap in your studying glasses and comply with me throughout months of testing to see how Google’s Discover My Gadget trackers examine to the Apple AirTag, Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2, and a bunch of Tile trackers, most notably the most recent Tile Professional.

Certainly one of my first Google Discover My Gadget community assessments occurred on my flight from Paris to Beirut after which again. In each airports, I did the identical factor. I chucked all my trackers inside one suitcase and checked it in. Then, I walked away by way of safety, passport examine, and the duty-free space, maintaining my eye on every app to see whether or not the tracker was exhibiting its reside location.

The Apple AirTag was the simple king, updating its location each two to 5 minutes on common — eight to 10 minutes tops. It’s comprehensible, given Apple’s multi-year headstart within the monitoring community sport and its gadgets’ pervasiveness all world wide.

The Tile Professional was the shocking second one in line — I wouldn’t have anticipated that from a tracker that requires you to put in its personal app to take part within the community — nevertheless it did replace each 20 to half-hour. Samsung was a bit sluggish, updating each 30 to 40 minutes.

However the largest disappointment got here from my Pebblebee Tag on Google’s community. From 1:38 PM after I checked in my baggage till 3:50 PM after I boarded the airplane, the tracker was not discovered. Simply “final seen” at check-in, and that was it. I used to be in a really busy airport with lots of of Android telephones throughout me; the tracker ought to’ve been discovered because it made its means by way of the airport’s backstage areas.

I’ve repeated this check not less than 5 extra instances since then at numerous airports, and the result’s virtually all the time the identical. There’s no uncrowning the Apple AirTag; it’s all the time getting location updates each jiffy. Samsung has since redeemed itself, with updates each 5 to 10 minutes to the SmartTag2’s location in each airport I’ve examined it at, a lot in order that I believe the outcome above was a fluke. Tile is hit or miss, relying on the model’s reputation in every nation; it was fairly efficient within the UK, for instance, however not in Albania.

Google is certainly extra miss than hit, regardless of the tracker model I’ve tried or nation. On one journey, I could also be stunned by swift updates each jiffy, solely to be disenchanted on the subsequent 5 journeys with a “final seen” time of a number of hours.

Check notes: Apple 10/10, Samsung 6/10, Tile 7/10, Google 2/10

Placing apart the community a part of the equation, a Bluetooth tracker ought to be simple to seek out when it’s close to you, proper? So if I get on a airplane and my baggage is loaded inside the identical airplane, I ought to be shut sufficient to detect it as close by, not less than in idea.

Properly, examine the picture above. Tile, Samsung, and Apple all mentioned my suitcase was close to me, whereas Google was adamant I hadn’t been close to the tracker for a number of minutes. If I hadn’t put all of the trackers in the identical suitcase with my very own arms, I’d’ve panicked and thought my baggage was left behind.

It took Google a couple of minutes to replace its location and notice that, oh yeah, the tracker is close by (see picture above). If it was solely this one time, I’d’ve chalked it off as a blip, however I’ve observed this identical habits on many events. Even after I’m sitting at my desk with all trackers subsequent to me, Google’s Discover My Gadget app will usually take a couple of seconds to some minutes to understand the trackers are close by.

Check notes: Apple 10/10, Samsung 10/10, Tile 10/10, Google 6/10.

Check 3: My tracker was misplaced in Paris; assist me discover it

After a number of failed and mitigated assessments, I ended my extensively documented assessments and began utilizing Google’s trackers randomly over a couple of months. I gave them a break till the tip of November 2024, after I resumed testing to see if issues had improved.

This time, I didn’t simply control their location; I really marked these trackers as misplaced to see how effectively they’d reply to a close-to-real-life situation of dropping a helpful merchandise. The method was easy: At evening, I eliminated the batteries from all trackers, put them in a ziplock bag, and despatched them with my husband to work on the subsequent day. This fashion, I knew none of them had a headstart over the others when it comes to community location. Throughout his lunch break, I requested him to place the batteries again in and stored my eye on the clock. (FYI, he carries a Pixel cellphone with out the Tile app put in, so neither Apple, Samsung, nor Tile have any benefit from his cellphone’s proximity. Paradoxically, the one tracker that ought to’ve had a bonus is the Google one as a result of he has the Discover My Gadget community enabled.)

And that is what occurred:

• Apple AirTag: Battery in at 12:12 PM, discovered at 12:13 PM — delay: 1 minute
• Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2: Battery in at 12:13 PM, discovered at 12:14 PM — delay: 1 minute
• Tile Professional: Battery in at 12:16 PM, discovered at 6:11 PM — delay: 6 hours
• Chipolo ONE Level (Google tracker): Battery in at 12:08 PM, discovered… not — delay: indefinite

The under picture reveals the place issues stood at 12:37 PM, about 20 minutes after we put the batteries contained in the trackers. The Apple AirTag and Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2 on the left present the right location on the jap aspect of Paris, each up to date a couple of minutes in the past. The Tile Professional and the Chipolo tracker on the best present a location on the western aspect of Paris, at residence, final up to date many hours earlier, round 2 AM, after I had eliminated the batteries earlier than going to sleep.

For the remainder of the day, Apple’s and Samsung trackers went hand in hand, updating their location very precisely each jiffy. See for your self within the screenshots under. This is likely one of the causes I’m very happy with Samsung’s tracker efficiency basically. It’s shocking how correct and quick it’s, giving Apple’s sturdy Discover My community a run for its cash. And it’s not simply in Paris. In virtually each nation and site I’ve examined these two trackers, I’ve discovered that they go toe-to-toe with their efficiency and accuracy.

As compared, Tile stays hit-and-miss. It really works, however not as regularly or as shortly, since you’re completely counting on close by Tile customers to get the placement of your misplaced merchandise. As I mentioned, the Tile Professional was discovered at 6:11 PM, and as my husband made his means residence, it was nonetheless tracked and located a pair extra instances. A six-hour delay is just not concept, nevertheless it’s higher than the choice…

… which is what occurred with the Chipolo tracker. Nothing a lot modified from midday to 7 PM within the Discover My Gadget app, even with my husband’s Pixel 7 Professional actually subsequent to it and set to contribute to Discover My Gadget “with community in all areas,” not simply high-traffic ones. For seven hours, it didn’t replace as soon as, not even when he put it in his backpack with the opposite trackers on his means residence and took the practice with a bunch of different commuters.

This lasted till 7:56 PM when my husband returned residence, and all of the trackers have been bodily with me, close to my cellphone. I’ll allow you to choose these screenshots.

It wasn’t till a couple of minutes later, at 8 PM, that I acquired the notification that my Chipolo tracker was discovered. Whew! Keep in mind how I mentioned, throughout my baggage on the airplane check, that Google’s trackers are sometimes late to point out as close by even once they’re bodily close to me? Yup, this is identical situation, and it’s nonetheless one I wrestle with to at the present time.

Check notes: Apple 10/10, Samsung 10/10, Tile 5/10, Google 0/10

Check 4: Second time’s the attraction?

The following month, in December, I made a decision to run a really related check once more. This time, my husband took the batteries out at 9 AM when he reached work, left them out, after which solely inserted them again within the trackers round 7 PM, as he was about to move again residence.

In my many months with the AirTag and different Apple Discover My-compatible trackers, this was the one time Apple’s community failed me. It stored exhibiting a latest location (two minutes in the past!) close to my residence on the western aspect of Paris after I knew the AirTag was far-off with my husband on the jap aspect of the town. I’m not likely positive what occurred right here; there’s a pink lock subsequent to my keys (the AirTag), which often means an error occurred. It acquired mounted by itself the subsequent day, however that meant that the AirTag didn’t actually work throughout this check. Proof that each one good expertise is fallible, I assume?

Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag2 did its factor instantly after being turned on. Tile didn’t replace its location till half an hour later, solely exhibiting the morning’s last-seen location earlier than that. However, surprisingly, the Chipolo ONE Level on Google’s community labored as anticipated!

This was the primary time I really noticed Google’s estimated community location do its magic correctly, exhibiting me a latest and correct location and maintaining it up to date for the entire time as my husband commuted again residence. This check proves that there was nothing fallacious with my trackers; it’s simply that the community is so unreliable. Glorious at some point, horrible the opposite.

Nonetheless, understand that I gave it the very best probability at success as a result of my husband manually enabled “in all community areas” on his Pixel 7 Professional’s Discover My Gadget settings, not simply in crowded locations. Not everybody will do this on their cellphone, so the community’s success nonetheless depends on different individuals’s will to take part in it.

Check notes: Apple 0/10, Samsung 10/10, Tile 5/10, Google 10/10

Check 5: How briskly are unknown tracker alerts after I’m being stalked?

Alright, let’s cease looking for a misplaced merchandise and begin taking a look at another options of those Bluetooth trackers, specifically unknown tracker alerts and stalking safety.

Each Google and Apple have labored collectively to ensure their trackers and networks are interoperable, so when you have an unknown tracker (i.e. one which isn’t touring with the cellphone it’s linked to) following you round, you need to get a notification to provide you with a warning of its presence in your Android cellphone or iPhone. You possibly can then ring it to attempt to establish it and confirm if it’s stalking you or not.

To check this as soon as once more, my husband — the very best check topic and most supportive companion on the planet, I ought to say — commuted with the trackers a couple of instances. Each time we tried this, the outcome was almost the identical. His Pixel cellphone would alert him concerning the AirTag touring with him about one hour after he left residence, with the tracker first seen almost instantly after he’d left residence and moved from my iPhone (the cellphone the tracker is linked to). That signifies that Android is noticing the disconnected tracker, maintaining a tally of it for an hour to keep away from any pointless false positives, and when it notices that there’s a sample, it alerts him.

Google’s trackers usually took much more time to set off this notification. Generally, it went on for a number of hours; different instances, he didn’t get any notification in any respect! The perfect-case situation is proven above. He began strolling away from my telephones with the trackers in his backpack at 8:09 AM. The Pebblebee alert got here at 10:16 AM, multiple hour after the AirTag at 9:09 AM (which already has a one-hour latency for false positives, as defined above). What baffles me right here is that the Pebblebee was first detected at 8:26 AM, so not so lengthy after the AirTag at 8:15 AM, nevertheless it didn’t ping the unknown alert till almost two hours later. Why is Google ready this lengthy to inform individuals of hazard? Why is the community and, thus, the alert so erratic? I don’t know.

Clearly, although, the most important dealbreaker is with Samsung and Tile’s trackers. Each of them supply unknown alerts, however you need to have a Samsung cellphone with the SmartThings app put in and the setting enabled for the previous, and the Tile app put in in your Android cellphone or iPhone for the latter. There’s no interoperability throughout platforms, neither is there a default alert system in case you don’t take these steps, which the grand majority of individuals gained’t do. They’re each a stalker’s dream and a traditional human’s tech nightmare.

Check notes: Apple 9/10, Samsung 0/10, Tile 0/10, Google 6/10

Check 6: Monitoring a shared tag touring with a member of the family

For this check, I did issues very merely. My husband and I’ve two shared Google-compatible trackers in every of our wallets. He can observe mine; I can observe his. We’re one another’s solely help system in Paris, so it is a little bit of a second-degree assure that we all know our whereabouts if, heaven forbid, one thing goes fallacious.

So, each few weeks, I’d let him know that I’d be checking his pockets’s location over the subsequent hour or two and see if it was updating correctly. I didn’t trouble evaluating Google’s trackers towards the others right here as a result of I do know these do their job — it’s one of the crucial fundamental options of a “discover” community. I used to be joyful to see {that a} shared Pebblebee tracker, related to his cellphone, was much more responsive and dependable to trace. In all of my assessments, the placement was all the time correct and regularly up to date (each 5 minutes tops). So if you wish to get these trackers to control a member of the family and they’ll all the time have their cellphone with them, you shouldn’t have any qualms. It really works.

Check notes: Apple 10/10, Samsung 10/10, Tile 10/10, Google 10/10

Check 7: I misplaced my backpack in essentially the most complicated mall in Dubai

Ah, Dragon Mart. The labyrinthine maze of impossibly slender alleyways and a dizzying array of retailers with its chaotic vitality and group. If there’s one mall in all of Dubai the place you shouldn’t misplace your backpack, it’s this one. You’ve larger odds of profitable the lottery than discovering your strategy to something in there.

I wished to defy the percentages, although, albeit whereas maintaining some management. I gave my husband my backpack with the Apple AirTag, Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2, and Google-compatible Pebblebee Clip; I had forgotten to slide within the Tile Professional this time — oops! I requested my husband to stroll round a bit so I wouldn’t know precisely during which path my backpack was “misplaced,” and I walked round, too. After about 10 minutes of random wandering by way of the mall, I requested him to cease, and I attempted to make use of the apps to seek out him and my backpack.

I checked out all three apps and observed that the AirTag had the newest location (one minute in the past), the Galaxy SmartTag2 was 5 minutes off, and the Pebblebee (Google) was 9 minutes out. However issues shortly improved for Google and degraded for Samsung. A few minutes later, Google began updating its location and stored it up to date the entire time whereas I used to be making my means over to my backpack, whereas the Galaxy SmartTag2 stopped updating. The last-seen location was nonetheless comparatively correct, nevertheless it wouldn’t have let me discover my husband in that mall’s labyrinth. The AirTag, as (virtually) all the time, was on level.

It took 10 minutes to make my means by way of the maze, alternating between the AirTag’s location and the Pebblebee’s location (which have been the identical) earlier than I lastly took a left flip and located my backpack — and my husband — standing there. The Galaxy tag was nonetheless caught eventually seen quarter-hour earlier. I’ll be sincere: I didn’t count on Google’s community to work this effectively right here in such a sophisticated setting, however I’ll give credit score the place it’s due. It did its factor, and it did it superbly.

The one disappointing side of utilizing Google’s app, although, was extra of a UX drawback. When Apple’s Discover My shows your trackers, it additionally reveals your location relative to them and during which path you’re standing. That means, I may simply know if I used to be strolling in the best path and alter course. Google’s app, however, doesn’t present me my present location. The one strategy to stroll to a tracker was to begin navigation and get instructions in one other app like Google Maps, which wished me to get out of the mall, stroll by way of the parking zone highway, after which return by way of one other entrance.

Worse but, since Google was giving me instructions to the tracker in Maps, it was a static location. Fortunately, I knew my husband was standing nonetheless, but when this was a theft scenario, with my stolen backpack on the transfer, I must exit navigation each jiffy to get the tracker’s up to date location and a brand new set of instructions to it. Not good, Google. Apple, however, does supply instructions by way of one other app, however I may merely depend on the reside view in Discover My to make my strategy to my backpack.

Check notes: Apple 10/10, Samsung 3/10, Tile N/A, Google 8/10

For this very latest check, we went out of the busy and crowded areas to see how effectively these trackers behave in smaller cities. My husband and his buddies have been doing their New 12 months’s Eve run of grocery and meals searching for about two hours, and he carried the trackers with him. As soon as once more, I marked them as misplaced and waited.

Google, Apple, and Samsung’s places have been shortly, consistently, and precisely up to date over the course of those two hours of errands, though Samsung was a bit sluggish at one level and had a 20-minute delay. The Tile Professional was a bit extra random; it didn’t be discovered for the primary hour when the errands have been in smaller cheese and produce outlets, nevertheless it was shortly noticed as soon as my husband made his strategy to a grocery store in the course of city.

Regardless of its stellar efficiency right here, although, Google’s tracker had one massive drawback. Apple, Samsung, and Tile despatched me a notification instantly once they have been discovered. Google didn’t. You possibly can see within the screenshots above that the tracker was seen as early as 5:41 PM, however no notification, no alert, no e mail, nothing got here. I needed to manually open the app to see if the tracker was updating its location. If I used to be a daily person and trusted the notification, I’d’ve by no means identified that my Pebblebee had been discovered, or I’d’ve missed it by a number of hours.

Check notes: Apple 10/10, Samsung 8/10, Tile 5/10, Google 8/10

Check 9: Can I discover a close by tracker after I’m offline?

Talking of fundamentals, essentially the most fundamental factor a Bluetooth tracker ought to do is definitely be discovered on Bluetooth. Proper? Proper?

Cough. Google. Cough. RIGHT?

So image this. I’m in a spotty community space. Possibly I’m mountain climbing, and my keys fell from my backpack; possibly I’m touring, and I don’t have a stable connection. Possibly I’m even fully offline, however I nonetheless have to discover a misplaced merchandise. I open the apps to see my trackers, and I discover totally different behaviors.

Apple’s Discover My app warns me I’m offline and that the Discover My community isn’t accessible, however the app falls again to Bluetooth, and I can nonetheless see all my trackers. I can play sound on a close-by one and open the live-finding mode to detect it over UWB. Tile Professional doesn’t care that I’m offline, both. All the things within the app, bar the Tile community discovering, nonetheless works, and I can ring my tracker to seek out it close by. That’s the very precept of a Bluetooth tracker.

Samsung is a bit trickier. The app throws some warnings if I’m in airplane mode or fully disconnected, however nonetheless works even when I don’t have a community connection. I simply need to make it possible for Wi-Fi and knowledge are enabled, even when they’re not related, and I’m in a position to see my tracker close by, ring it, discover it reside with the UWB search, and so forth.

Google… effectively… Oh. See for your self within the screenshots above. The whole Discover My Gadget app doesn’t even load if I’m disconnected or in airplane mode. It’s such a depressingly dangerous failure.

Check notes: Apple 10/10, Samsung 7/10, Tile 10/10, Google 0/10

Check 10: I left my keys at residence — can I get a reminder, please?

Probably the most essential use circumstances for a Bluetooth tracker are separation alerts, in any other case often known as “left behind” notifications while you stroll away out of your most essential objects. Say you’re in a restaurant or a retailer and depart with out your pockets, otherwise you preserve forgetting to take your keys with you while you depart residence; you need to get a notification to warn you of that earlier than it’s too late and another person has picked up your pockets, backpack, or keys, and walked away with them.

Apple, Samsung, and Tile supply this characteristic. Google’s Discover My Gadget implementation doesn’t, which signifies that I can’t clip a Pebblebee Clip on my keys and be warned every time I stroll away from them. Nonetheless, I wished to check out how the others carry out and if this perform is quick sufficient to be helpful.

All three firms embody the left-behind setting of their apps, however you’ll need to subscribe to Tile’s Premium plan at $2.99 a month to have the ability to use it. A little bit of a disgrace as a result of Apple and Samsung supply this at no cost, however a small firm’s gotta do what it must to be able to survive. I’m nonetheless deducing factors from Tile’s word for this, although.

All three trackers additionally enable me to set secure zones the place I can depart objects with out being warned about strolling away. House is a simple one as a result of I can usually depart with out my backpack, and I don’t wish to be bombarded by notifications about it. For my keys, although, I’d quite take away all secure zones as a result of I don’t wish to depart residence with out them.

To check this, I left residence at 9:44 AM with my iPhone 13 Professional Max, Galaxy S24 Extremely, and Pixel 9 Professional. I purposely left all of the trackers behind and walked away. I used to be just a few dozen ft away after I acquired the notification on the S24 Extremely about my disconnected Galay SmartTag2. Tile adopted quickly after; I used to be nonetheless strolling out of the constructing at that time. And the iPhone remained surprisingly silent. It was freezing chilly, so I put it again in my pocket and dashed to the practice station. A couple of minutes later, I checked it out and lo-and-behold, the notification had arrived, two minutes later than Samsung and three after I’d left residence.

I’ve carried out this a couple of instances since then, and the outcomes appear to be concordant. Samsung pings first, Tile is usually as quick and generally a fraction slower, and Apple is a minute late. We’re speaking about margins of two minutes tops, although, so all three are very dependable. However in case you’re in search of one thing to ping you the very second you stroll away out of your tag, the Galaxy SmartTag2 is an efficient wager.

As for Google, effectively, we’re ready for that characteristic to roll out.

Check notes: Apple 8/10, Samsung 10/10, Tile 6/10, Google 0/10

I’ve recapped my completely scientific, not biased in any respect, rankings from all of the assessments within the desk under.

As you’ll be able to see, Apple’s headstart and its Discover My community’s tremendous dependable location monitoring make it the gold customary for Bluetooth trackers. It simply works in all places in each nation and each setting I’ve examined it — effectively, wanting absolutely the wilderness. I nonetheless don’t perceive what occurred for it to fail throughout the fourth check, however that’s your proof that not all tech is dependable.

However what in case you don’t have an iPhone to take pleasure in Apple’s pervasive discovering community availability? Properly, when you have a Samsung Galaxy cellphone, the SmartTag2 is a no brainer. It’s essentially the most dependable of the Android-compatible trackers as a result of it aggregates all Samsung telephones on the planet as a part of its discovering community, and other than a few conditions the place it wasn’t stellar, it really works actually, very well. Usually as quick because the AirTag and as exact, in a number of international locations, throughout many crowded and uncrowded locations.

Tile is okay in some international locations however much less so in others. You may get updates each jiffy like clockwork, or you could wait 4 to 5 hours. You actually toss a coin with it, although, since you’re solely counting on different Tile customers. However for individuals who don’t have an iPhone or a Galaxy smartphone, it nonetheless at the moment supplies extra reliability than Google’s personal trackers. What I can say is that it labored in all places for me and by no means failed; it was all the time ultimately discovered, even in essentially the most distant of locations like Bovilla Lake in Albania. It simply took time, generally. The unknown alerts scenario, as with Samsung, is what it’s. It gained’t have an effect on you in case you personal the tag, nevertheless it’s dangerous in case you’re being tracked by one. That’s not one thing that may be mounted until Tile cooperates with Google and Apple to combine its trackers’ anti-stalking features inside Android and iOS on an working system stage.

As for Google, effectively, what can I say that I haven’t already mentioned? The community has considerably improved since I first began testing in mid-2024, nevertheless it’s nonetheless nowhere close to as dependable as Apple’s or Samsung’s. Even Tile has a leg up at this level, and it requires a close-by Tile person, whereas Google’s Discover My Gadget is meant to be passively utilizing thousands and thousands of Android telephones on the planet!

When it really works — and sure, some issues do work very effectively — Discover My Gadget is kind of superior. It has the pace and accuracy of Apple’s AirTag and Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag2. I can apply it to my Pixel 9 Professional, Nothing Cellphone 2, Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely, and HONOR 200 Professional; I’m free as a hen, not tied to any model. I really like that. The issue, nevertheless, is that I don’t know when it’ll work and when it gained’t. And when it doesn’t, it simply doesn’t. 5 hours for Tile?! With Google, it could be days. Or the tracker might be subsequent to me and the app is just not even seeing it. Or possibly I’m making an attempt to do the unthinkable and in search of a Bluetooth tracker over Bluetooth!

Google nonetheless has quite a bit to do to repair the shortcomings of its community and trackers. It additionally wants so as to add a bunch of options that exist already on the opposite platforms: Bluetooth-only mode, reside location replace whereas navigating to a tracker, separation alerts, UWB, and extra. Till then, the promise is far, a lot larger than the fact.