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Tracker tags are a simple idea, but they’re easy to get wrong. Google’s failures with its Find My Device network are largely its fault, but getting the hardware right is just as important, and I think Pebblebee’s Android tracker really excels in that regard. For now, it’s the best you can get.
hardware
Pebblebee offers three trackers for its Android Find My Device network: Clip, Card, and Tag, each with their own use cases.
The Clip is the most versatile of the three and the least expensive at $29.99. The tracker has a circular design with a built-in hole. This hole can be used with a traditional keychain, but a carabiner-like clip is included in the box. I used this to attach the Clip to my backpack and it has felt securely attached ever since. The Clip’s hardware also includes LED lights on the edge of the hardware that indicate battery and pairing status. There’s also a full-sized USB-C port for charging the built-in battery.
Next up is the Card, a wallet-only tracker that retails for $34.99. The Card is about the thickness of two or three credit cards and easily fits into even the slimmest of wallets. I use the tiny Peak Design Slim Wallet, and the Pebblebee Card fits right in, even with cards and documents inside. Unlike the Clip, the Card requires a dedicated magnetic charger to charge the internal battery. This is inherently a bit of a pain, but it works well enough considering you only need to charge it once every year and a half (at least by Pebblebee’s estimates).
Finally, the tag is also available for $34.99. It is the smallest of the series and comes with an adhesive sticker and rubber case that allows you to attach it to a variety of locations. It is ideal for hard surface items like bikes, but its small size makes it the most versatile of the series. It is great for tracking larger objects or slipping into small spaces in your bag. Like the card, this device requires a charger, but if you buy both devices, the charging cables are interchangeable.
setting
Setting up the Pebblebee tracker for your Find My Device network is incredibly easy and operates entirely from your Android smartphone without the need to install any new apps. When you unbox it, you’re given a QR code that leads to a web app with easy-to-follow instructions, but if you skip that it’s still super easy.
Beneath the logo on each tracker is a button that activates pairing mode. I found a slow double-tap to be the most reliable way to trigger Fast Pair on my phone. I also found these trackers to connect much faster than the Chipolo trackers I’d set up previously.
Once you see the Fast Pair UI on your phone, setup is as simple as linking it to your Google account, opening each tracker in the Find My Device app, and setting a name and item type. It’s that easy.
How effective is it actually?
But of course the big question is, how well does this work in practice?
It’s a mix of good and bad.
The good news is that Pebblebee has what I believe to be the best Find My Device hardware currently available for Android networks. In my experience, Pebblebee trackers are more reliable than Chipolo’s options; they connect within seconds if they’re nearby, and typically succeed 90% of the time. In other words, simply put, they work.
The drawback here, however, is the Find My Device network itself, which has not yet been fully rolled out and only works (by default) in “high traffic” areas, meaning it won’t work in suburban homes, etc. This means that if I put a tracker in my bag and leave it in a friend’s car, and he doesn’t have an Android phone, it’s unlikely to be found unless he’s driving in a busy area of town. While it does improve privacy overall, I strongly feel that Google made a mistake by making this the default setting.
Another drawback is the polling rate at which the network tries to find nearby trackers. On a trip to Paris, where the network is even less widespread than in the U.S., I noticed that the tracker in my hotel room (right by the door) never updated once while I was out all day. I’m hoping to learn more about how these trackers update as I travel the U.S. over the next few weeks, but so far I’m not overly impressed with how often the trackers actually update their location.
This isn’t just limited to your home. One of the things I was really excited about with Find My Device was that Google said it would leverage Nest devices to tell me how close they are to specific speakers or smart displays in your home. This is super cool and would be really useful for finding your keys or wallet, but it doesn’t work as well as I hoped. Some devices tell you “Near my Office Nest Hub,” while others just tell you “Near my home,” which is frankly pointless information. Even when it does tell you a specific device, it’s often not the closest one (although I definitely have more Nest devices in my home than the average user).
Also debatable is the lack of UWB. UWB (ultra-wideband) allows Apple’s AirTags to be found by a nearby iPhone with precise direction; Samsung offers the same feature with its Galaxy SmartTag 2; but the Pebblebee doesn’t. The Find My Device app uses Bluetooth to provide a rough estimate, but it’s very cumbersome and requires guesswork to actually find the tracker. Is this a critical drawback? Absolutely not. many Android phones don’t even have the necessary hardware, but hopefully Pebblebee will offer this feature in future versions of its tracker – for now, it looks like Motorola will be the first to offer it.
The bones of a good tracker lie within the Find My Device network, and Pebblebee’s hardware seems up to the task, but in real life it’s been disappointing.
Finally…for now
I’d been waiting for a tracker like the AirTag to come to Android for a year now, and when Google announced the Find My Device network it was exciting and I was more than ready to start using a tracker.
But when it arrives, it turns out to be a disappointment.
As my colleague Damien explained in his review of Chipolo’s trackers, the current state of these trackers on Android is “disastrous.” But I don’t think it’s the fault of the trackers themselves. The problem comes down to flaws in the Find My Device network and how it’s implemented in Android, especially in the case of the Pebblebee option, which seems robust at a hardware level.
And Google seems willing to admit that things aren’t as they should be. The company says it’s making improvements, and acknowledges the fact that the default “high traffic” settings don’t work in most cases. It doesn’t look like this default will change anytime soon. Reversing its privacy decision would be a step in the right direction. far It’s worse than if Google had made it work everywhere in the first place.
So with that in mind, this is not a final judgement. I think it’s too early to make a judgement since the network is not yet fully available, despite the flaws that Google has built in. We will continue to test these trackers as they come online around the world over the coming months.
But for now, I think Pebblebee offers the strongest product. In terms of connectivity, rechargeable battery, and the hardware itself, it’s the best option available today. It’s a shame that Google is holding back Pebblebee’s true capabilities.
Where to buy Pebblebee Android trackers
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