Trusted Bluetooth Keychain Device

[thedude502]

A few weeks ago, I picked up the Cobra Tag from Groupon. At $12 shipped, I figured it was worth the experimenting with. So what I discovered, is that I love the idea of a Bluetooth device on my keychain. I loved being able to keep my phone unlocked and I being able to phone/keys using the leash function.

But I really did not care too much for the Cobra Tag. It was pretty temperamental. The button on the device was frequently pressed by accident in my pocket (causing my phone to beep). Plus, I really didn't care for the Cobra app (I dislike extraneous icons in my status bar) and that I had to use the app in order to connect to the Cobra Tag.The leash function distances I found were either too near (false alarms) or too far. But in the end, the Cobra Tag broke on me. The top of the device where it attaches to the key ring broke. In my attempt to repair it, I used LockTite flexible adhesive that ended up eating away at the plastic casing (Live and learn, I suppose).

So in my search to replace I found this from Phone Halo

Anyone have any thoughts on Phone Halo's Trackr line? Their tech powered the Cobra Tag, but this new generation seems to check off all the boxes, Bluetooth 4.0, small, versatile, and yearlong battery life. But does it work? Any other suggestions?

Thanks guys!

 

[snoking]

I would wait for the "Tile" or one of the others coming first quarter 14. Chris

Sent from my A200 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[thedude502]

Tile looks pretty darn cool. It looks exactly like what I 'm looking for. But at this point, the earliest I could get one is this summer if I ordered it now.

And I just noticed that, for moment at least, it's iOS only...

 

[SiliconFiend]

So in my search to replace I found this from Phone Halo

Hmm... The WalletTrackr.com site shows: "The Wallet TrackR works with iPhone 4S, the iPhone 5 and iPad 3rd generation, 4th generation, iPad mini, Samsung Galaxy S3, Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy Note 2." Just like Tile. However, the StickrTrackr.com site shows: "iPhone 4s & Later, iPad 3rd Generation & later, Samsung Galaxy S3, Note 2, S4, and Android 4.3 devices & later." So maybe they've updated their app to use the new built-in Android Bluetooth 4.0 stack.

Check out this other thread from the Droid MAXX forum: http://forums.androidcentral.com/motorola-droid-maxx/306674-trusted-bluetooth-devices-6.html#post3344336 One forum member did some legwork with the Bluetooth device manufacturers and got some good answers. I pre-ordered the Gecko which looks like it should work for this purpose. There's a bunch of these Bluetooth LE devices on the way in 2014 and one of them should get it right in terms of functionality, price, durability, etc. In terms of Bluetooth LE devices, I've looked at Stick-N-Find, GearTag, Chipolo, Pally, Tile, Gecko, and probably 3 or 4 others that I can't remember.