MobileTechTalk So when I was getting ready to pack for MWC a few weeks back, I was going through my emails and I found an email from the PR company for Tile, a set of Trackers for your stuff, and they offered to send me some over and I thought I could implement them into my MWC kit and do some content on them whilst I was there.
Disclaimer: Tile PR sent me both the Slim and the Mate for review, but due to scheduling constraints This quick review is all I can do. No money has exchanged hands and no one aside from MTT staff is reviewing this content before it is published. Tile have no editorial Control over this content.
Little Did I know just how useful they would be.
Starting off, Tile sent me the Slim and the Mate, they say what they think they can be used for on the box, but really, the sky’s the limit, but I ended up using the Mate for my Keys and the Slim for my luggage, both of them got more than their fair use this trip. Let’s get the dimensions out of the way first:
- Mate: 34mmx34mmx4.65mm at 6.1g
- Slim: 54mmx54mmx2.4mm at 9.3g
But if you can’t quite visualise that, here is a photo of a mate on my keys, and a Slim next to a 10p coin. Needless to say, they are indeed adequately sized for putting them on/in everything. Both Tiles have a custom engineered battery that is meant to last roughly a year on a charge. They aren’t replaceable or rechargeable though, so once that year is up, you’ll need a new one. All’s not lost, however, as these are not inexpensive investments, the ReTile program lets you trade in your old tile for a new one of your choice, the new ones come with a pre-paid shipping bag to recycle your old tile, and by doing this you could save up to 50%, a pretty generous discount if you ask me.
So we know how big they are, how long they last and where I put mine, so what do they do. Well, at the very base level, they are Bluetooth and GPS enabled trackers with a speaker in them. So now you know why i put one on my keys. Everyone loses their keys at some point, and with the Tile you can just click a button in the app and make the tile itself ring! And it isn’t a quiet ring either, at a somewhat ear piercing shriek 82 Decibel for the Slim and the Mate goes up to an even louder 88 Decibels, needless to say, you’ll hear the Tile when it is going off. And if you’re too far away to hear it (somehow) you can fire up the app to see where it is on a map, thanks to the built-in GPS, you can get close enough with the GPS to then fire up the alarm and find your keys.
Also worth noting, the Tiles have different ring tones for you to assign to them! Whilst you can’t upload your own song (that I can find at least) I think this is just because of the rudimentary speaker inside of it, they’re different and fun enough for me to change them once or twice.
So, how did the Tiles save my butt? Well, at MWC I Lost my AirBnB Keys and my luggage at the airport wasn’t at the right terminal so,
I used the GPS to get close enough to both and then rang them continuously until I found them and stopped having the mini heart attack I was having at the time. Seriously saved my arse multiple times, because otherwise I would have had to awkwardly call up my AirBnB host and also buy a lot of new clothes and equipment.
I Do apologise for not being able to give Tile a proper review (though I believe someone else on the Team is going to be doing that) I thought that it was worth at least enough to tell you that Tile saved my arse, and I’m really happy they decided to send them over.
Now, where are my keys?
