Phone Halo and ZOMM face-off to secure your phone

We all have our senior moments, and the older we get the less funny they become. Where did I leave my keys again? How did I forget my cellphone there? Why is that turtle wearing my dentures? Regardless of age or mental stability, leaving your phone behind unintentionally is no laughing matter -- nor is having it stolen. Today we'll take a look at two options that might help, the $79.99 ZOMM and the $59.99 Phone Halo. Which can best work to augment your memory, and is either worth the continual risk of accidental alarms? Read on to find out.

Phone Halo vs. ZOMM

ZOMM

You may be familiar with the ZOMM from our hands-on at CES a few months back, and not a lot has changed since then. It's a simple, poker chip-sized device with a single button on the front, a little speaker on the back, and a Bluetooth antenna inside. Pair it up with your smartphone (or anything else that can be paired over Bluetooth) and the thing will start to flash, vibrate, and ultimately give off a siren when moved too far away from whatever it is you're interested in protecting. Throw it on your keys, pair it to your phone, and it'll certainly let you know if you forget one or the other -- but forget both and you're SOL.

A quick tap of the button silences the alarm (handy for when you intentionally left your phone behind but forgot to turn off the ZOMM), or you can hold it down to enter panic mode, where it will connect to your phone and automatically dial a number that you've specified earlier -- possibly helpful for those at risk of being unable to get back to their phone in an emergency. Additionally, should a connected phone receive a call you can tap the button and answer it from the ZOMM, which acts like a little speakerphone.

It isn't a particularly good speakerphone, only picking up our voice when it was held within a foot of our mouth, but we could at least hear others reasonably well. Otherwise the ZOMM behaved exactly as advertised, pairing quickly and easily with whatever we tried it with, chirping and blinking reassuringly to let us know everything is connected, and reliably sounding the alarm whenever the two got separated.

ZOMM unboxing

Phone Halo

The Phone Halo is another device in the same vein as the ZOMM, but is a bit more sophisticated in some areas -- and a bit more remedial in others. Unlike the ZOMM, which for the most part simply establishes a Bluetooth connection and raises the alarm whenever that connection gets weak, the Phone Halo relies on a smartphone app to function (currently available on BlackBerry devices, with Android to follow). This makes it a two-way connection and, should the devices you connect get separated too far, both the Phone Halo and the phone itself will emit an alarm.

In this case we're not just talking about a single device. The Phone Halo can again easily hang from a keychain, but the app allows you to track other Bluetooth things as well, like a headset. Should that get separated the phone's alarm will again go off. That's great in theory, but in practice we found a few issues. The big problem is that the app can't tell the difference between a device going out of range and it simply getting turned off, which goes for the Phone Halo, too. Imagine leaving your phone on the charging stand, hanging up your keys on the wall, and going to sleep only to be woken up at 3:22am when the Phone Halo battery dies and your BlackBerry starts screaming bloody murder thinking a crook is making off with your car.

Of course, if you keep all your devices charged this won't be a problem, but given the lack of indicator lights on the deivce there's nothing to help you remember to keep it juiced up. And, while our minds are generally sharp, we certainly wouldn't trust ourselves to disable the app every night.

But, if you can dodge that sticky situation, the app is quite useful. You can not only specify the alarm itself but specify a range to trigger the alarm (close, far, or very far). You can tell the app to send an e-mail, SMS, or Tweet whenever the alarm goes off and, if your phone has GPS, that message can even include its location. Useful if your concern isn't so much leaving your phone behind as it having the thing walk off. Finally, the two-way communication comes in handy if you can't find either your keys or your phone, as you can cause the alarm to be triggered on the other remotely.

Phone Halo unboxing

Testing

Our back-to-back testing for the two devices was fairly straightforward: we paired them both to a BlackBerry Storm, enabled the Phone Halo app, and wandered off. However, we quickly found that the two seemed to be interfering with each other, triggering at random distances (or not at all) when held close together. So, we did it one at a time, and reliably found the ZOMM to trigger at about 30-feet, pulsing and vibrating for a few seconds before letting loose on its full alarm. When walking back to the phone the ZOMM would turn itself back off, but the distance that it would do so seemed rather less consistent -- sometimes popping off when about 10 feet away, sometimes not silencing until sitting next to the phone. We're guessing this is due to the phone taking more or less time to re-establish a connection.

But, it did at least reliably turn itself off, whereas the Phone Halo does not. Set on the "Very Far" distance the Phone Halo took about 50-feet to trigger its shrill alarm and, once triggered, it never shut up again. You have to push a very tiny button on the front to silence the thing, impossible to do without pulling it out of your pocket, and even then it's a bit of a challenge. The ZOMM, on the other hand, was easy to manually silence -- even while still pocketed.

Of course, when the Phone Halo is singing so too is the phone it's connected to, and, if the two have become disconnected, there's no way to silence that remotely. So, if you leave your phone at your desk and go to a meeting you can shush the Phone Halo in your pocket -- but your co-workers are liable to throw your handset out the window after it rings for 20 minutes straight. This is a situation you're especially likely to cause if when using the "Always Something There to Remind Me" ringtone...

Wrap-up

Ultimately both devices worked as advertised, but in testing them to verify that we came to the conclusion that working as advertised won't necessarily fit in with everyone's lifestyle. For those who simply want a way to get a warning when leaving their phone behind, the ZOMM fits the bill, and doubling as a speakerphone with the ability to make emergency calls also makes it a potential alternative to something like a LifeCall. (You know, the "I've fallen and I can't get up!" people.)

The Phone Halo, on the other hand, offers rather more functionality and does so at a lower price but, potentially, rather more annoyances too thanks to having not one but two alarms to accidentally set off. The hardware design leaves a bit to be desired compared to the ZOMM, but its software suite is quite comprehensive, making this a solid alternative for anyone wishing they could get a premium phone tracking app like Find My iPhone on their BlackBerry or Android device.

Which would we buy? Well, looking back at the Nio from a few months ago, neither of these exactly compares despite similar prices: again, the ZOMM will set you back $79.99, while the Phone Halo is $20 less at $59.99. For the ZOMM you're paying for a nice design and the voice capabilities; for the Phone Halo you're buying simpler hardware and a solid app. You'll have to decide which, if either, makes sense for you and your particular brand of absent-mindedness. For us, we'll be sticking with Post-its and bits of string tied on fingers -- no risk of accidental alarms there.

[7 Posted Apr 2nd 2010 12:10PM]

Somebody at engadget drives a late 90's / early 2000's subaru. Same fob as my 99 legacy.

[Z Posted Apr 2nd 2010 12:56PM]

@7
Look at the key...If you ever lost it, you could use a screwdriver to start the ignition!

[TimStevens Posted Apr 2nd 2010 12:58PM]

@7 One of each, actually.

[7 Posted Apr 2nd 2010 2:53PM]

@Z My key has a slightly narrower profile than that, but it wouldn't be possible to get a screwdriver in the ignition unless it was carved with the proper grooves. Still, it is a non-chipped key, so I see your point.

[samisax Posted Apr 2nd 2010 12:31PM]

this seems like a bad idea..

wouldn't leaving these two devices paired via bluetooth all day drain a phone's battery? especially considering that they are blackberry devices (the halo especially), which means that these phones' batteries are already being drained by the almost uninterrupted data transfer, media playback, and whatnot..

just a thought

[shoxite Posted Apr 2nd 2010 1:05PM]

I was skipping through the whole video. This is definitely a crap gadget. There has to be an alternative, something less annoying.

[jimlivingston Posted Apr 2nd 2010 1:35PM]

Okay Engadget, I will keep it relevant. Will there be an app for the JooJoo, like there is for the iPhone/iPad?

[TimStevens Posted Apr 2nd 2010 1:35PM]

@jimlivingston Still not exactly relevant, but I'll bite. Frankly at this point we don't know enough about the JooJoo app ecosphere to say either way.

[bjsguess Posted Apr 2nd 2010 1:25PM]

Thought the review was great. Thanks. Not something that I need but for people that are constantly losing their phone OR have extremely sensitive information on their phone I could see this as a god send.

[To Hell Posted Apr 2nd 2010 1:45PM]

After reading the reviews i think i'd drop the extra twenty and get the Zomm...
zOMG!

[Slaarg Posted Apr 2nd 2010 2:05PM]

Useless.
Also, NSFW shadow on the first image.

[appszilla Posted Apr 2nd 2010 2:05PM]

Nothing is perfect. This would work well for my wife. She is always forgetting her phone.

[cgherb Posted Apr 2nd 2010 2:58PM]

@appszilla My girlfriend loses her phone on an hourly basis. I'll be taking the Phone Halo.

[kP008 Posted Apr 2nd 2010 3:24PM]

I don't think I like the speaker phone thing in zoom.. true useful but what if I loose that?? Its like Bluetooth headset.. if you loose it or if it is stolen people can access my phone with it.. I DON'T want that!! Phone halo will be my choice.. it can't me more annoying than my neighbor's kids and dog.. How can I buy this Phone Halo thing??

[TimStevens Posted Apr 2nd 2010 3:25PM]

@kP008 You can get a Phone Halo at www.phonehalo.com, or a ZOMM at www.ZOMM.com.

[tfkaehler Posted Apr 2nd 2010 3:39PM]

Is that Zomm thing pretty much just a remote for your phone? Phones aren't that big anyways, sounds stupid. On the other hand that GPS tracking capability of the phone halo sounds really cool, can find out which bar you left your phone at the next day

[midiwall Posted Apr 2nd 2010 3:46PM]

Got Android? Get this:
http://www.androidtapp.com/wheres-my-android/

It'll do a couple of things, including sending you an email with the GPS coords of your phone - and a link to a map showing where the phone is.

[Warzone Posted Apr 2nd 2010 6:07PM]

To be honest, a bluetooth implant would be an ideal solution which shocks you or something to alert you that you have forgotten one of your personal devices but I think that would be somewhat in the future.

[MTkixbutt Posted Apr 3rd 2010 1:51AM]

WELL- the zomm clearly is a bit 'prettier' but I'm sorry to say, Phone Halo just has a lot more options. I'll definitely be going that route...

[NOJBKIXBUTT Posted Apr 3rd 2010 6:51PM]

The Phone Halo clearly has more features. The article mentions the possibility of the Halo being annoying but silencing either the keys or the phone turns off both. While the Zomm is certainly 'prettier' the Phone Halo is a much more useful product. It's on my list of must haves. They also have a list of Halo products being released like a money clip and such.

[TimStevens Posted Apr 3rd 2010 6:51PM]

@NOJBKIXBUTT This is not the case when the Phone Halo is out of range of the phone. The alarm will continue on the phone even if the Phone Halo is silenced.