Which is the Better Pet Tracker: Tile Pro v Galaxy SmartTag

 

 

If you have a pet cat or a dog, you know these bundles of joy are a part of your family. You love them unconditionally and would do anything for their well-being. 

However, pets can easily get lost, stolen, or even run away when not properly monitored. It’s especially hard to find them if they wander off outside your home into unknown territories.  

Most people live hectic lives, and the last thing they want is to worry about their pet’s whereabouts constantly. The best way to keep your pet safe is by having a tracking device for it. 

Sounds simple, right? Just get a cheap tracker and hook it up to your dog’s collar?

But then you open a marketplace, and your screen is flooded with tons of different products, each blowing their horn and claiming to be the best of the best. Sigh.

I faced a similar dilemma when looking for a tracker to protect my fluffy bun. Riddled with decision fatigue after a long day of work, I decided to buy the products from two of the biggest brands in terms of popularity and customer reviews off a local eCommerce store. 

I bought Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag (spoiler alert: It isn’t exactly “smart”) and the Tile Tracker Pro. 

So let’s take a look at each one in more depth so that you can decide what’s right for your furry friend!

There are so many different aspects to consider when looking at tracker tech, so I’ll divide my review into the following six sections discussing each individual feature:

1. Size and Weight
2. Tracking Range
3. Product Design
4. Trace Accuracy
5. Battery Life
6. Common Features 

 

Size and Weight

 

A pet tracker must be as small and as light as possible. It should not bother your pet by its size or burden it by its weight. 

The Tile Pro has dimensions of 1.64 x 1.64 x 0.26 inches and weighs at a mere 0.5 ounces. These are good specs for a pet tracker and will easily work with both large and small pets.

The Galaxy SmartTag isn’t behind in this race either. With dimensions of 1.6 x 1.6 x 0.4 inches and a weight of 0.5 ounces, the Samsung SmartTag also represents one of the ideal specs your tracker can have without bothering you or your pet.

Winner: Tie

Although both devices have the same weight, the Samsung SmartTag has a slight difference of 0.33 cubic inches of extra volume. This difference may not be evident just by looking at the dimensions, but our math checks out!

Nonetheless, both these trackers have excellent dimensions and weight for your pet so there is no harm in declaring this one a tie.

 

Tracking Range

 

Range is arguably the most important factor in determining the worth of a pet tracker. Trackers can have tons of fancy gimmicks and features, but if it doesn’t have the basic range to track your furry little monster a few 100 feet away, it will never be worth your time.

The Galaxy tag ranges around 390 feet in the open air; this translates to around 118 meters. This is a good range for a device running primarily on Bluetooth and is sufficient for indoor tracking.

However, Tile Pro enjoys a front seat at this contest with a whopping range of 420 feet(120 meters) in the open air. 

Winner: Tile Pro

Although these ranges vary slightly depending on your surroundings and how many obstructions are present between you and your small criminal, the Tile Pro is the clear winner in this scenario. That’s 2-0 in favor of Tile Pro.

PS: Both these trackers have a crowdsourcing feature that can be used when your pet might be out of your range, but if it is in range of any other Galaxy SmartTag or Tile user, it will ping you the location. The accessibility of this feature varies according to the number of SmartTag or tile users in your local area, which is why I have not compared this feature to the tracker range.

 

Product Design

 

We are always told never to judge a book by its cover. I say, why not?

Is the book even worth reading if the author didn’t bother dressing it up eloquently? My opinion is obviously flawed in the literary world, but it does hold in the Tech industry. A product is only ever as good as it is packaged. 

Even though the products are nearly identical in size and weight, the Tile Pro has a squarish shape with relatively sharper edges.

The Galaxy SmartTag has curvy edges, almost as if it’s a spherical bubble. Its pitch-black color and sleek design show a futuristic look that you can’t ignore. It feels light yet strong when held and emits a positive vibe about itself.

Winner: Galaxy SmartTag

This is probably the most subjective part of my review, but I think that the Galaxy SmartTag looks and feels a lot better than the Tile Pro. The simple outlook with a sober design makes me almost want to keep the tracker in a treasure chest.

 

Trace Accuracy

 

As far as indoor pets are concerned, knowing approximate location rarely helps you find your pet. There are a thousand places in a single room where a cat can hide in plain sight, so location accuracy becomes vital.

Tile has a dedicated app found on the Apple store or Play store for Android and IOS to tackle this issue. It has a user-friendly interface and can connect to your tracker within a few minutes. The app has a ring alert tone installed, which will start beeping on your tracker whenever you press the alert button on your smartphone.

Samsung also has a dedicated app available for the SmartTag, but this application is only available for Samsung phones and can’t be used with other phone brands. This limits the userbase for the SmartTag and was the main reason I had to later return this tracker because of its incompatibility with other phone brands, which was a bit frustrating. Nonetheless, I tested their app on a Samsung phone, and it essentially functions in the same way as Tile’s app.

Winner: Tie

Even though Samsung has limited its accessibility, as far as accuracy is concerned, both the trackers do a wonderful job at ringing and allowing us to spot our pets accurately. So it’s a tie between the two here.

 

Battery Life

 

A dead tracker is as good as no tracker. When purchasing a tracker, considering the battery life of your product is extremely important. Trackers have to run 24/7/365, and this can be very draining on batteries and can lead to regular replacement of the battery. This not only brings an extra weight on your wallet but also adds to your list of chores to regularly check the batteries and replace them. 

Fortunately, Samsung and Tile anticipated this problem and have taken measures to tackle them. The Tile pro comes with a simple CR2032 battery with a guaranteed life of one year.

While the Samsung SmartTag also has a disposable CR2032 battery, it usually lasts around 5-6 months of moderate use. These batteries are cheaply available at your regular general store.

Winner: Tile Pro

Tile once again ragdolls Samsung in terms of battery life. Tile’s long battery life guarantee also keeps any anxiety about your battery abruptly draining out at bay, and you can be tension-free about your pupper for at least a year!

 

Common Features

 

Now that we have compared some of the key features, let’s look over the common features both these trackers can provide.

• Geofencing

Geo-fencing is a feature being increasingly used in pet tracking devices. It places a virtual boundary around your home or any location you want. You can set this boundary within the limits of the tracker’s range.

This device will alert you if your pet goes outside the designated virtual boundary, so you don’t have to worry about them wandering off and getting lost. 

With this feature, we can rest assured that we won’t have a run-away pup on our hands!

• Crowdsourced Tracking

This is a really interesting feature present in both Tile and Smartag. Since these trackers run on Bluetooth, they will always have a limited range, and whenever your pet leaves this range, it becomes virtually impossible to trace them down. 

Crowdsourced tracking overcomes this issue by connecting your tracker to other Tile or Samsung users in the area. The app will then ping you your pet’s location as soon as an outside user detects it, This can help cover a larger area, but it works on the assumption that you have other Tile/Samsung users in your area.

• Water Resistance

There isn’t anything cuter than a good boy splashing around in the water on a sunny day. But electronics are usually not receptive to water and can get damaged. However, both these trackers are water-resistant to around 1 meter of water, so unless your pup is a deep-sea swimmer, you are clear in this area!

 

The Final Verdict: Tile Pro

 

Looking at all things fair and square, and considering all features of both products, the new Tile Pro knocks the SmartTag out of the park in the majority of the features. It is easily the best Bluetooth tracker currently available in the market in its price range. 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

1. Can we use these trackers to track something else?

Yes!  In fact, these are multi-purpose trackers, and you can use them to track down from your keys to your bags to your ID and important documents.

2. Is there any risk of privacy or security when using the crowdsourcing function?

Samsung and Tile have built safeguards against any security breach through the crowdsource function. So privacy is not a concern with this feature.

3. Can we change the ringtone in the trackers?

Yes, if you find the default ringtone irritating (like I did), you can very easily switch it over to one of many different ringtones available in either app.

4. Can I use one of these trackers for my outdoor pet?

These products work on Bluetooth technology and are designed to keep your pets close by. If you have an outdoor pet, using either of these products will be impractical due to their limited range, and you are better off trying out GPS technology.

Still confused?

For a deeper dive into pet tracker technology, you can read more of my blog here and check out our comprehensive table comparing industry-wide trackers.