Tile introduces its first new Bluetooth trackers in years
They boast an extended range, updated colors and a handy SOS alert button.
It’s been around three years since Tile has offered a serious refresh for its popular line of Bluetooth trackers. Since that time, the company was bought by Life360 and Apple began dominating the field with its AirTag trackers. Now, Tile is back with four new trackers to help people find stuff.
The Bluetooth range has been extended across the full lineup, but the big news here is the SOS alert button. The system will send out a notification and user location to designated emergency contacts when pressing the button three times. This feature is available to anyone with a free Life360 account, but a premium membership will allow users to send notifications to emergency dispatch services.
The Tile Mate ($25) is the standard “everything tracker” with a built-in key ring. This makes it a good choice for keys, backpacks, purses and anything else that can accommodate a key ring. The Bluetooth range is around 350 feet and it features an IP68 water resistance rating and a non-replaceable battery that lasts three years. Orders are open right now.
The Tile Pro ($35) is an amped-up version of the Mate. It looks the same, but it boasts a longer range, up to 500 feet, and a louder ring. The battery is also user-replaceable. This one won’t be available until October.
The Tile Slim ($30) is designed primarily for wallets, luggage and other items with plenty of nooks and crannies. The range maxes out at 350 feet and each tracker includes a non-replaceable battery that lasts three years. The Tile Sticker ($25) is being advertised as the “smallest Bluetooth tracker on the market” and it’s absolutely tiny. It also includes a sticker that adheres to items. This makes it a great choice for TV remotes and headphones. The range maxes out at 250 feet. Both the Slim and Sticker are available to order right now.
There are, as previously mentioned, snazzy new colors to choose from. The Tile Mate and Slim come in six colors, including black, white, blue, pink, green and yellow. The Tile Pro will be available in both black and white, while the Sticker is only available in black.
It’s worth noting that Tile experienced a hack a couple of months back in which customer information was accessed. There’s nothing in the promotional materials to indicate that these new trackers have been outfitted with updated security measures to prevent that kind of thing from happening again. However, the company told us that the "incident from earlier this year affected Tile's customer support platform. It had nothing to do with and did not affect our Tile service platform."