Tile vs Trackr Bravo
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| Which is the better tracking device, Tile or Tracker Bravo? Tell us below! |
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What is the difference between Tile and Trackr Bravo?
Lets compare Trackr Bravo vs Tile and look at the pros and cons of each tracking device. Do let us know your opinion at bottom if you have either of these products.
Find lost everyday things quick
Do you misplace your things and then scurry around the house to find them in a hurry before leaving the house?
Did you ever imagine it possible that one day there will be a small gadget designed to help you find the things that you might have misplaced? Improbable though it might seem, technology has indeed come up with an ingenious solution for all us absent minded humans who have a tendency to forget where they have placed their things.
While there are as many as seven varieties of products on the market currently that facilitate this ‘Internet of things’, two that are most popular are the Tile and Trackr Bravo.
When it is claimed that technology has made our lives easier, the indication is towards invention of devices that help humans in the handling of our everyday affairs. A trait that is deeply ingrained to human nature pertains to putting things in a certain place and forgetting about it, thus resulting in a massive search operation later on. A time you may already be late for school or work.
Whether it is your key, wallet, bag or pet, finding them in a hurry is a must as these items are essential to your day.
Persistent though the problem is, it was accepted as an inevitable truth of life till technology offered a solution. One of the latest inventions has been a series of tiny gadgets that are attached to the object in question and use Bluetooth technology to register it with an app on your mobile phone (majority of newer Android and Apple phones are compatible, check with manufacturer). No matter where you keep the object, all you need to do is open the app and wait for an alert advising you of the last recorded location of the object in question.
Find objects close and far
Remember these are not GPS trackers, so their ability is locate lost items is limited to being within the radius of an applicable device. The applications on your phone have about a 10 to 30 metre radius in locating the trackers via Bluetooth and will alert you when you are close to the item. If your item is far away or has been stolen, the app will advise of the last recorded location. Another great feature of Tile and Tracker Bravo is the ability to mark items as lost, meaning that any user with the application installed on the phone will be able to anonymously send the location of your item to you if it is out of range (for example, a stolen bike with the gadget attached). See below.
Tile, Trackr Bravo or another tracker?
Given the various ways in which tracking can be carried out, devices are of different types and for you as a user, it implies understanding how each one works before identifying a suitable model. To this effect, Tile and Trackr Bravo emerge as two viable options and apart from their price, purpose and place of manufacture the two devices are sufficiently distinct to call for a comparison. Both companies and products share some similarities. The TrackR Bravo is a thin, circular device made by Trackr, a Santa Barbara, California based company. The Tile is a square device made by Tile, a San Mateo, California based company. Both devices will alert the user about the location of the lost item on a map as well as letting out an alarm that is audible in spite of your lost item being buried under a pile of rubble.
Tile and Trackr ran well supported crowdfunding campaigns in the development phase of the products. There are several other promising trackers that have been or are about to be released soon.
Cost / Price
Acquiring either of these two devices does not call for too much of an investment because both cost about $25 (prices and specials vary, check manufacturer websites for latest deals). That being said, although the basic concept of GPS and ‘crowdsourcing’ are common to both, the two devices vary in terms of pros and cons. As long as your GPS and Bluetooth is enabled and you are within range, you will receive exact coordinates as to where your keys or glasses are owing to the unique system of identification.
Community finds
As previously described, the crowd/ community GPS is active within both Track Bravo and Tile apps and is based on the concept that if you can’t find something, say, your wallet, it is possible that someone else can. To be able to do this, they have to be using the TrackR or Tile app with Bluetooth on and crowd GPS enabled. The gadget on the lost item will give off a unique identifier that can be detected by other people’s apps, sending you GPS data about where they are. This means that the popularity of these products in your local area is an important factor in choosing the right tracker for you.
Trackr Bravo can find your phone
If you have chosen Trackr Bravo as your finder of things, then you stand to benefit from its ability to help you find your phone too. Many times, in the rush of things you might remember to pick up everything except your phone and have trouble recollecting where it is. In such a situation, Trackr Bravo comes in handy because pressing the Trackr Bravo gadget would cause your phone to emit a loud ring irrespective of the mode which it is in. Tile cannot do this.
With Tile, the same Tile’s location can be shared between several users so for example, the location of the house keys could be accessible to more than one member of the family.
Durability and Battery
Trackr Bravo probably just wins vs Tile when it comes to durability. Users of Trackr Bravo stand to gain from and this is attributed to the aluminum body that the device is encased within.
An added advantage of Trackr Bravo is the coin cell battery that is expected to last for one year after which it can be easily replaced without much ado. Comparatively, the Tile needs to be replaced every year as there is no such provision of the battery that can be replaced every now and then. As both gadgets are new, it is difficult to compare the longevity of inbuilt batteries versus each other.
The pricing of batteries for Trackr Bravo and replacement Tiles is not known yet so it is not possible to make cost assumptions for now but it may prove that Tile replacement is slightly more expensive in the long run due to the replacements.
Dimensions
The Tile’s dimensions are about 37 x 37 x 5.3 milimetres (mm) and the weight, according to their website is approximately the same as that of a writing pen.
The diameter of Track Bravo is 31mm and the thickness 3.5mm, meaning it is slightly smaller.
Considering this, the flexibility in terms of usage is another plus in the case of both Trackr Bravo and Tile meaning that if it is not attached through adhesives or hooks, it can simply be dropped into the bag or in one of the wallet pockets for being carried around. Some may argue that the size and shape of the Track Bravo allow more versatility while other prefer the well designed look of the Tile.
Trackr Bravo is available in multiple colours.
iOS and Android
As far as I am aware, both devices can now run on all the latest phones and on both iOS and Android operating systems. With Tile, objects can be shared between several users so the home keys location could be accessible.
Which is better, the Tile vs Trackr Bravo?
Which do you think is better? Let us know in the comments below.
[addtoany]
very disappointing trackR experiences. i have purchased 5 units. 1 bravo for my wallet and 4 tags for keys etc. All given away as gifts. more dependable on ios than android. seems the app is a poor port to android. On Android, bluetooth conficts create unwanted disconnects. pairing with “hands free” or a headphone causes the trackr to disconnect from the tag and set off alarms. travel in cell dead zones or turn “data off” and you will trigger alarms. the map app needs to run background otherwise the app tells you the last known wifi location and not the map location. frequently while trying to pair, the app cannot find the tag as little as 3 feet away. takes forever to reconnect. trying to home in on a lost item is near impossible after a disconnect. i like the concept and really want this to work dependably, but it doesn’t. gift recipients all feedback to me of poor connectivety, wakeup alarms at crazy hours when the cell phone and keys are in the same jacket. i want and need mine to work but at this point it’s expensive consumer junk.
I beg to differ re the Tile not being able to locate an Iphone. I push the “e” in tile on the device and my Iphone rings so I can locate it. Also the ringer on the Tile is much louder than the Trackr so my vote is for the Tile.
My “Tiles” work great and,when they burn out you get them for $12.95 from then on… Great deal, great product
Love my tiles but they justcame up on my phone that they are going to need to be replaced. A 4 pack was 70.00. Youmentioned a lower price. Where did you find that?
Good point about the price of replacing them Hyspeed. That is quite a bit.
TrackR ~ I am also disappointed as it disconnects frequently ~ daily ! Have to open battery casing and touch the battery and then it works. Until it randomly disconnects again. I was really hoping for a reliable product… you got the idea, but you need to re-evaluate the disconnection issue.
I will be returning mine to the store and wait until this problem is corrected….. TOO BAD I WAS REALLY HOPING THIS WOULD WORK AS I HAVE A MAJOR SHORT TERM MEMORY ILLNESS !
Oh Well ~
I got the TrackR after having tile for a year. The tile expiring after 1 year is a total rip off. I love the size of the TrackR and that I can replace the battery. I have been pretty happy with the ringer volume but I am under 30.
Would love to hear what you think after awhile of using TrackR. I’ve had 12 Tiles (four 1st gen & eight 2nd gen) and 10 TrackR Bravo’s, and Tile stays connected more reliably than TrackR. TrackR randomly loses connection, and having to keep checking and reconnect renders the product fairly useless. Tile stays connected and have only needed to reconnect 1 device only once.
Batteries run out on all my TrackR’s after only a couple months and Tile batteries are still running after a year of use still. Working with TrackR support they said they’re now shipping better batteries. I gave them shipping address but they never appeared. I gave up and purchased new Tile Slims as well. It’s much more reliable than TrackR after having used multiple of both.
Tracker bravo is better
Trackr bravo died and malfunctions if get even the slightest bit wet. It was on my keys and raining out. Started malfunctioning, changed battery 3 times no luck…This is junk!!
I purchased one Tile v1 and three Trackr Bravos about a year ago (Tile was setup Jul15 and TrackR Bravo was setup May15). I use iOS app on iPhone 5s and now a 6sPlus. I put one Trackr in my wallet, one on my car starter fob and one on my keychain along with the single Tile I purchased. I liked the Tile app interface much better but I liked the ability to change the battery on the Trackr Bravo AND the find my phone option AND the fact that the Bravo is slimmer. Since I purchased three Trackrs, I was hoping that it would be more reliable than the Tile.
From the start, the Trackr had difficulty finding my keys and wallet which were in my purse on the chair next to me but I assumed it was line of sight or that it just took longer to find than the Tile. I didn’t really test them; I just bought them because I like gadgets and for a “just in case” scenario since I never really lose things and just hoped they worked if and when I needed them to.
Luckily, I never really needed them because, after only a few months, none of the three Trackrs were found by the app so I tested the batteries on a multimeter and they were all dead. I contacted support and they sent me three new batteries. The Trackr Bravos worked again for a short time (one month maybe?) and then all three stopped working again so support sent me three brand NEW Trackr Bravos stating that I must have received defective devices.
The new ones are now only 4 months old (Feb 2016) and again they are not working although I have not tested the batteries again this time. What good are they if I have to keep troubleshooting them? If they were truly lost, I wouldn’t be able to find them to troubleshoot root cause. The original Tile I have had on my keychain for almost a year is still working. I only launch the apps when I need to find the devices so neither the Tile app nor the TrackR app are running on my phone full time; perhaps the devices work differently and the constant search between the TrackR Bravo and the app causes the battery to drain faster? I don’t know and really don’t care to troubleshoot their device or app flaws so I just bought 8 new Tiles for myself and for family.
The v1 Tile that I have used for about a year is reporting that the tile needs to be replaced (a message appears in the app: “Time to replace your KEYS Tile – Its almost out of power”. I don’t know if the app is actually reporting battery levels or is based on the length of time the Tile was setup but the Tile info in the app reports the date and time the Tile was activated so I am leaning towards the latter.
Replacement Tiles are available at half price. Even though I bought one Tile a year ago for $25, I was just able to buy 8 more at the replacement price of $12 each plus shipping. I just confirmed that the replacement Tiles I purchased will be v2 so I have the added benefit of finding my phone with the Tile now.
I just tested them again. The TrackR Bravo is attached to my wallet which is siting just 2 feet from my phone and it cannot be located nor does it work when I press the button on the device.
But the Tile is still working. I am sitting at my computer in a bedroom upstairs. The Tile on my Keys is not in range but I know it is in my car in the driveway downstairs. With the app launched, I walked about 15 feet down the hallway towards the exercise room (over the garage). At the threshold of the exercise room, 20 feet away from the window overlooking the driveway, I see the message: Keys Connecting…. Your Tile is nearby!. Then I walked a few more feet into the room towards the window and get the message: Keys Nearby Now with a FIND button. The exercise room is 20 feet long with a window overlooking the driveway. I can see my car in the driveway about 25 feet from the garage doors. I went downstairs and out of the garage towards my car and press the Find button. I can hear the audible beep on the Tile in my car. So the Tile is working when I am upstairs and my car is approximately 45 feet away, outside and downstairs. I would say that is reliable.
My conclusion is that I would rather buy replacement Tiles each year and have a more reliable product than to be able to continually replace batteries without knowing when they will fail. I guess if the TrackR app would give a battery level, I could at least replace the batteries before I actually lose them but what good is that? When I buy something for ease and convenience, it should just work, without fuss. TrackR Bravo does not do that but the Tile does. I hope that the second version of the Tile device is as reliable as the first generation and that the battery lasts as long.
While both TrackR Bravo and the 2nd generation of the Tile device have a Find Phone option, both also use crowdsourcing to locate missing devices, but here are the Pros and Cons of both.
Tile
Cons:
no find phone option on version 1
device is thicker
no battery replacement
no automatic separation alert; need to activate manually
Pros:
reliable
better app interface (iOS)
Apple Watch app plus Glances integration
find phone option now on version 2 (even when phone is on silent)
TrackR Bravo
Cons:
batteries drain fast
awkward app interface
doesn’t find devices nearby even when batteries are new
Pro:
battery replacement option
thinner
app has more customizable options such as device separation and custom alarm sounds
I love the detail of your review!
I have a Tile and it’s been working fine. I’ve been considering another to keep in my car, but thinking of a TrackR because of the battery being replaceable. Now, I think I will continue to buy Tiles because multiple reviewers suggest, like you, that Tiles are more reliable.
Thanks for putting in the time to create an excellent review!
Gus Morgan’s review is spot on from what I’ve experienced as well. I’ve been testing both a TrackR Bravo and v2 Tile for about one month. There have been no problems with the Tile at all. The TrackR Bravo doesn’t seem to stay connected as well as the Tile does to my iPhone.
If the volume level of the sound matters to you (how could it not?), the Tile is much better in this area. If you’re close enough to either device, the volume is fine. But if you truly don’t know where the device is and the volume is what you’re hoping to have help in your search, Tile helps much more.
I say all of this even though I really wanted TrackR Bravo to be the better product. The tight integration with Amazon’s Echo/Alexa was a huge selling point to me. With the upcoming Atlas product from TrackR, maybe some of the range/disconnection issues with the TrackR Bravo won’t matter. But do you really want to have to invest more heavily in a product line to make an inferior product work reliably?
Why are you putting all of this in your purse? Your name is Gus. It looks like you might have stolen that review or didn’t think to follow through with the details. However, if you have a “purse” in the sense that I’m thinking and your name is infact Gus. That not only invalidates all of that it makes me really sorry for you as a person.
TrackR is a great idea, but Tile actually works:
I’ve had 12 Tiles (four 1st gen & eight 2nd gen) and 10 TrackR Bravo’s, and Tile stays connected more reliably than TrackR. TrackR randomly loses connection, and having to keep checking and reconnect renders the product fairly useless. Tile stays connected and have only needed to reconnect 1 device only once.
Batteries run out on all my TrackR’s after only a couple months and Tile batteries are still running after a year of use still. Working with TrackR support they said they’re now shipping better batteries. I gave them shipping address but they never appeared. I gave up and purchased new Tile Slims as well. It’s much more reliable than TrackR after having used multiple of both.
Thanks to Gus Morgan for hos excellent review.
Not sure what the point of the original article was other than to reiterate what is already written elsewhere in the marketing blurb of both products.
I am paranoid that my luggage gets lost during tight connections at US airports. So its a relief when I see that the luggage is in the same airport as me!
Since this was a “crowd sourced GPS”, the question I have is: Which network has the biggest coverage?
Its pointless for, say, TrackR to be better than Tile in minor specifications – but has a limited network so you can’t elicit the help of other people to help locate your TrackR/Tile.
So which has better crowd GPS coverage?
I like my Trackr Bravos very much, except battery life. All 7 of my trackr’s arrived with dead batteries. It cost me $18 to buy 4 new ones. I got them 3 months ago and 1 is already dead. I reached out to them twice when I first got them. I heard back once saying where I could go buy new ones.
Neither. TrackR pixel. It’s small, loud, and lights up.
Tile expiring after one year is not a Tile issue, it is a battery maker issue thus, it is not a rip off. My vote is for Tile.