Time was you'd lose track of your keys and waste precious minutes or even hours scouring the house or office for them. Now, though, you have phones and you have Bluetooth. Put them together and you have Bluetooth trackers that go on your keys — or any other household or office item — and connect to your phone. That way, if what you're tracking ever gets lost, you're only an app and tap away from quickly, cooly finding them again. Here are our favorites!
Tile Mate
The easy-to-use Tile app allows you to find your keys (or anything else you've put a Tile on) on a map or have them make a sound so you can hunt them down.
The 100-foot Bluetooth range means you won't be too far away to find what you need, and since you can connect up to 10 Tiles to one iPhone, you can everything you need as well. If your keyring Tile is out of the 100-foot range, you can activate a wider search which anonymously uses the growing community of Tile users to scan for your missing Tile.
Tile is waterproof with a battery that last for up to one year, after which you will be sent replacement Tiles at a reduced cost. Check it out at Amazon for about $25.
Chipolo Plus
The Chipolo Plus is (for all intents and purposes) a Tile Mate clone. It's about the same height and width as the Tile Mate — it's just a circle instead of a square. That being said, it has an excellent, loud alarm (around 100dB), so you'll likely be able to find it anywhere in your house, and it has a battery life of about a year. The battery isn't replaceable, but Chipolo has a discounted renewal service to help you out.
Chipolo Plus is water-resistant at an IP5 rating, so it can withstand some splashing and even jets of water. Just don't submerge it. The handy Chipolo app can give you a fairly accurate location of your lost item, and if you're out of range, it'll show you where you had it last.
Chipolo Plus comes in seven vibrant colors, which makes it a lovely little keychain accessory. You can buy a 1-, 4-, or 7-pack, with the 4-pack saving you 30%. Pricing starts at $25 for a 1-pack and if you buy a multi-pack, you can choose your colors!
MYNT Smart Tracker & Remote
The sleek MYNT Smart Tracker and Remote adds more to the mix than just finding your misplaced keys. Of course, the Bluetooth connection and MYNT app warn you when your keys and your phone are getting too far apart, and the alarms are easy to hear if you do lose your keys. It's water-resistant and for a few extra dollars, you can buy a colorful waterproofing cover for it.
The replaceable battery lasts up to one year and each tracker has a range of up to 150 feet. The Smart Tracker can also be used as a Remote, whether for taking selfies or syncing to your MacBook for a PowerPoint presentation. Talk about versatility. $20 on Amazon (to start — other color options are available).
iTrack Easy
The iTrack Easy system will sound an alarm and flash an LED light to help you find your keys. The replaceable battery lasts a little longer than the standard batteries in other trackers, thanks to Sleep Mode which can be set up for times when you don't require alerts and reminders. The iTrack Easy network uses the tracking app on your iPhone to help locate your lost keys or other items if they are out of the standard 100-foot range.
The trackers can be purchased in vibrant orange or green or regular white if you're looking to be more subtle. They also double as remote controls for the camera in your iPhone, making selfies and group shots easy. Pricing starts at $15 for a single tracker or $29 for two (wow, a whole dollar off!).
Nonda iHere 3.0
You can pair up to 10 Nonda iHere trackers to the app on your iPhone and they're rechargeable, with a single charge lasting for several weeks. This discreet, white triangle tag takes up very little room on your keychain, while saving you that worrisome search every other morning.
Nonda iHere has a range of up to 150 feet and a clear alarm. The easy-to-use app includes a car finder feature, and can also be used if you've found your keys but misplaced your iPhone. The button on the tag also acts as a remote for picture-taking on your iPhone. This one's perfect if you want to try Bluetooth trackers but are on a budget, since it's only $10.
TrackR
At just under $20, the TrackR Pixel is a small but mighty bluetooth tracker. It features one of the brightest LED lights and loudest ringers we've seen in these tiny trackers. In fact, compared to its size (about the size of a quarter), it's pretty incredible how powerful this tracker (or is it TrackR?) is.
Like many of the bluetooth trackers on the list, TrackR works both ways — you can use the app on your phone to trigger an alert (for finding your keys, your wallet, your backpack) or you can use a button on the charm to trigger an alert on your phone — even if your phone is on silent.
TrackR features free battery replacement so you never have to worry about losing your stuff. When your battery runs low, you'll get an alert in the TrackR app that'll allow you to place an order for a free replacement.
The fun doesn't stop there, though! TrackR also packs in Amazon Alexa support — you can use your Alexa-enabled device to trigger an alert on your TrackR. "Alexa, I lost my phone again!" It also touts crowd location functionality. Even if you're outside of bluetooth range (~100 ft.), you can get a better idea of your missing item by leveraging the TrackR network of customers.
Never search again
Is there another Bluetooth tracker out there that's helping you keep your keys and your sanity? We'd like to hear about it in the comments below!
Updated January 2018: Added TrackR after a firmware update fixed some of the big issues!
