Locate the keys or bag with both iPhone and Android

Advantages:

compact

Slot for easy attachment to a key chain

Loud ringing

Works with both iPhone and Android

Replaceable battery

Disadvantages:

There is no ability to aim accurately

Tracking tags have been around for many years, but they’ve made their big breakthrough in recent years thanks to Apple’s AirTag and Samsung’s SmartTag. The problem with these two products is that each of them aims to work only with its own ecosystem and in the case of Samsung, you can’t even use Smart Tag with Android devices from Xiaomi or Nothing. This is where the Chipolo company, established in 2013 in Slovenia, comes into the picture.

Chipolo previously offered tracking tags that were adapted to work only in its tracking network (more details below), but recently it officially arrived in Israel with products that support Google and Apple’s tracking networks – Find My, so that with one tag you can work with all the smartphones on the market (you can only choose one network).

The networks of Apple and Google work on the same principle. All smartphones of the same company/operating system become passive locators for the devices. As soon as they pass by a tag, it communicates with them and sends an update of the location on a map.

The POP is one of the company’s first products to arrive in Israel. It is a circle-shaped tag that can be easily placed inside the bag or hung on the key chain or even on the case of the headphones. The tag already includes a hole for hanging on the product you are interested in. This is not a trivial thing, a hole in a tracking tag, ask the Airtag users.

The tag comes in four colors: blue, red, white and black and has one physical button located in the central part. The tag is also resistant to dust and water splashes in the IP55 standard.

I used POP with both iPhone and Android, when as soon as I opened it a message popped up offering to connect it to a smartphone.

The review here focuses on using the POP with an Android smartphone, where the usage capabilities should be the same, except for the ability to receive a notification on the smartphone that you have forgotten the POP. This is a notification that you receive on your smartphone when you move away from the tag.

In the Android application – “My device center”, I found the POP among the other devices I have, such as headphones and a tablet. You can see on a map the location of the tag and if it is close. See the last time it was located and also send a link to another person, who will be able to locate the same tag. Another feature is to mark the tag as lost and also receive a notification as soon as it is located.

What POP doesn’t have is targeting ability. This is an ability that allows you to get directions with an arrow to locate the item. Instead, you get a hot-cold spring game where a shape on the screen fills with color as you get closer to the tag and there is also a textual indication of this. The connection distance between the smartphone and the tag is 90 meters.

Apart from the Android or Apple locator app, you should also download the Chipolo app, because it allows you to do more with the tag, including firmware updates.

Among the options that exist in the application, is the ability to choose a ringtone for the tag. The sound the tag makes is loud (120 decibels) and easy to hear, even if something is covering the tag or it is in a bag.

Double clicking on the POP allows you to locate your smartphone, when it starts ringing. The double tap can also be used to take a photo with the smartphone camera, so the tag acts as a remote control.

The POP uses a CR2032 coin cell battery that should last for a year.

Price: NIS 90 per unit or NIS 350 for 4 units (price for Black Friday on the Bug network, after that, NIS 130 and NIS 400)

Bottom line, the market in Israel has until now been divided into two companies: Samsung and Apple with their tracking tags, but there wasn’t really a solution from a well-known company for owners of Xiaomi, OnePlus or Nothing smartphones, Chipolo’s tag provides this solution, alongside the fact that it is also active on the iPhone and Galaxy.

The POP offers the well-known capabilities of locating the suitcase or keys anywhere using the Google or Apple network, it has a loud ring and also the ability to make your smartphone ring, if you can’t find it at home