Do you sometimes lose your backpack or your keys? With the right Bluetooth tracker you can find things more easily. © Image: Chan2545 / iStock | Logo: Google
Android recently also started supporting Bluetooth trackers without being connected to them. We list the trackers for Android for you.
Bluetooth trackers can be particularly useful. For example, have you lost your bag? If there is a tracker in it, there is a much greater chance that you will find everything. Anyone who has an iPhone usually uses an AirTag from Apple for it. For Android devices, however, the range is much larger, and it is not always clear which tracker offers what.
New Find My Device network
The situation is not made easier by the rollout of Google’s new Find My network. This application makes it possible to track down your lost devices and trackers, although previously this was only possible for connected devices. That connection is no longer necessary. Android devices will soon communicate with each other when they encounter a lost phone or Bluetooth tracker. This means that your device can always be found, even if you are out of range of the Bluetooth signal.
There’s just one problem: not all tags offer that feature. Although they work nicely with Android phones, you will not be able to use them in Google’s new Find My Device network. Popular models, such as the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2, also lack support for that new network. In order to know where your tag is located, even if you are not connected to it, it must support the new network.
Currently, only a handful of tags support the new Android function. Not all products that support the network are for sale here either. Which tracker for Android should you get? We have listed this for you here. It is currently not exactly easy to get such a tracker, but that can of course change quickly.
Chipolo
Chipolo is one of the first brands to support Google’s new network. You have to be careful if you want to buy a tag from this brand: not all models work with Find My Device for Android. Only the Chipolo One Point and Chipolo Card Point offer this support, but the brand offers many devices with names that are very similar.
In both cases these are white trackers, one in keychain form and one in card form. Do you choose the key ring? Then you get a tag with a battery life of one year, an IPX5 rating and a speaker with a maximum volume of 120 dB. This means that the tracker continues to work even if it gets wet, and you can also find your belongings outdoors thanks to a loud sound signal.
The Chipolo Card Point is slightly quieter, and offers an audio signal of 105 dB. Like its keychain counterpart, the One Point, the device was given an IPX5 rating to indicate that it can withstand a splash of water. The battery lasts a little longer here, up to two years. Good to know: both the Card and One Point have a replaceable battery. So you don’t have to throw away the tags after a year or two.
There is currently one problem with Chipolo’s tags: they are new and extremely popular. As a result, they have not yet made it to online stores, but can currently only be pre-ordered via the Website van Chipolo.
Euphy
The eufy brand will also make trackers that work specifically with Android. There is also a problem here for the time being: the new trackers are not yet available. Currently, the company only offers the SmartTrack Link and SmartTrack Card, but they only work with Apple devices. The brand will release Android versions, although it is currently unclear at what stage they are now.
Audio devices
The new Find My Device network not only works for Bluetooth trackers, but also on some earphones and headphones. The range here is currently even more limited than with trackers for Android, although these products are already available today.
This includes two products from JBL’s Tour series: The Tour Pro 2 earphones and the Tour One M2 headphones. If you have one of those two JBL products, you can immediately connect them to the new network.
Sony will also immediately join Google’s new network. There is only one device: the Sony WH-1000XM5.
General
Have you come across a deal on a Bluetooth tracker somewhere and want to know if it is compatible with your Android device? You will immediately be able to see this from the packaging. Does it have a badge on it that says ‘Works with Android’? Then you can link the accessory to Google’s Find My Device network. Currently this only concerns a handful of products, but over time there will undoubtedly be more.
