Trusted Bluetooth Devices

[Distorted Loop]

I?ve been impresses with the Cobra Tag.* Got it last Wednesday, and it?s still on its original charge (reporting 30% remaining).* It?s a bit large compared to the LBT-505, but it?s useable on a keychain, where the 505?s little string attachment wasn?t trustworthy to me.* The app for it is pretty nice too.* Good system.* The Cobra also has much greater range than the LBT-505, probably double in my house.* The InSite?s using the BT Phone profile didn?t bother me too much, but the Cobra doesn?t block anything else I use from connecting, so that?s a win.

*

That greater range may lead to the only other potential negative for the device vs the 505:* there seems to be a greater battery drain on the phone using the Cobra.* It?s overall negligible, but I did notice less percent battery at the end of the day since switching to the Cobra.* Don?t get me wrong, it?s overall negligible drain in my mind but it?s more than the InSite device had?maybe 50% more based on casual observation without testing.

*

I?m kind of done with searching for Trusted BT devices now, the Cobra?s the best choice in my mind.* My only regret is that I didn?t grab the $12 deal you guys did; I paid full price.* I?ve almost spent as much on BT devices chasing down the best Trusted BlueTooth as I did on the phone:

*

$40 ? InSite 505

$40 ? InSite 809

$40 ? Cobra Tag

$100 ? Withings Pulse (which sucks compared to a FitBit, by the way)



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[kckadow]

Got 3+ days on my last Cobra charge. My phone was close or very close to the tag 90% of the time. I'm thinking there is some correlation to distance from the tag and battery life after all. That being said, 3+ days vs 2+ days is not worth changing too many things in my daily routine to keep it close by all the time. It only took me 2 hours to charge it at work today.

Distorted Loop, agree on the search for the perfect trusted BT device. The Cobra does just fine for now. I'm thinking there will be something out soon that uses BT LE / ANT+ that I'll want to keep with me for other reasons like a Google watch or some fitness that works well.

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[Distorted Loop]

Got 3+ days on my last Cobra charge. My phone was close or very close to the tag 90% of the time. I'm thinking there is some correlation to distance from the tag and battery life after all. That being said, 3+ days vs 2+ days is not worth changing too many things in my daily routine to keep it close by all the time. It only took me 2 hours to charge it at work today.

Distorted Loop, agree on the search for the perfect trusted BT device. The Cobra does just fine for now. I'm thinking there will be something out soon that uses BT LE / ANT+ that I'll want to keep with me for other reasons like a Google watch or some fitness that works well.

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I think there's something wrong with your battery. I'm coming up on the end of my 5th day and still have 30% charge left on my Cobra. I'm often "far" from mine.

Was yours from Groupon? Maybe weak batteries was the reason for the deep discount.

Does our phone do Ant+? I have some Ant HRM stuff.




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[Chiplg]

OK, I got it a week ago today. It had a full charge Monday night, and Friday night it told me it needed to be charged. 4 full days total. It went to 50% within a day, but then slowly went down. I kept it on the other side of the house at night because my keys hang by the garage. Friday night I went to spend the weekend with family, and it was charged and sat next to my phone that night. Next day, it hit 50% again. Saturday, again it was next to my keys all day and that night. Right now it is at 30%. In a couple of hours it will be 3 full days since the last charge. I assume when I get home tomorrow it will want another charge. 4 days again.

From this preliminary test it appears that distance is not a major factor in the battery life of this device. It probably transmits at one level and does not increase the gain (or minimally increases it) for a poor signal. That would make sense for a device that targets long battery life, and is designed to be located after being lost. It would suck if it boosted the gain and drained the battery while it was lost.

The quick drop in battery life reported is probably because the firmware on the device does not know how to read the battery correctly. I don't see any firmware listed on the sight, and would not expect to anyway. I doubt they will provide user installable firmware updates, even though it has USB. I just checked and it does list the firmware version on the app. Perhaps they can update it through the app, which I doubt, but it really isn't a big deal. The firmware version is 201106280000. That looks like a date code if I ever saw one. It's old. They don't refine their firmware at all, or Groupon got hold of a really old batch of tags. No big deal. This thing works well despite the battery level not being reported correctly.

It keeps my phone unlocked, and the phone does not display any negative behaviors from the tag. And eventually, I will lose my phone or keys and need to find it/them. I suppose I will charge my FitBit and CobraTag together as planned. 4 days is not bad. The FitBit lasts longer, but I like having them on the same schedule.

 

[Chiplg]

I think there's something wrong with your battery. I'm coming up on the end of my 5th day and still have 30% charge left on my Cobra. I'm often "far" from mine.

Was yours from Groupon? Maybe weak batteries was the reason for the deep discount.

Does our phone do Ant+? I have some Ant HRM stuff.




Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

This might fit with my theory that the Groupon tags are old stock. The firmware version on mine is dated for 2011. Now, they may never refine their firmware, or the Groupon tags are old. Could those of you with NON-Groupon tags report your firmware version?

It is also possible that there was a bad batch of batteries, or old stock batteries were used in tags and sold to Groupon on the cheap. It makes perfect sense that manufacturers would unload less than perfect merchandise through Groupon. I'm not complaining at all. Not one bit. I'd never have paid full price for this tag, and it is worth quite a bit more than I did pay. If it dies in a few months, no big deal. I'll move on. As long as it does not die the day I actually lose my keys.

 

[bregol]

For all you using trusted bluetooth, I'm wondering if you have been encountering any pocket dialing problems. With a bluetooth device always on you keeping the screen unlocked, doesn't that mean that if you bump the home button in your pocket or if you accidentally swipe the lock on the active display, the phone will be free to pocket dial? It would make more sense to me if a trusted bluetooth caused it to change from a pin/pattern/password to simply having a swipe keyguard to help prevent this from happening, but alas that option doesn't exist.

 

[kckadow]

201106280000 is my firmware version. Mine is a Groupon purchase. Could very well be a bad batch of batteries.

I've only been charging until the red light turns blue (2 hours or so). I might try an overnight charge and see if I get different results.

Either way, I don't mind charging it more often.

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[kckadow]

For all you using trusted bluetooth, I'm wondering if you have been encountering any pocket dialing problems. With a bluetooth device always on you keeping the screen unlocked, doesn't that mean that if you bump the home button in your pocket or if you accidentally swipe the lock on the active display, the phone will be free to pocket dial? It would make more sense to me if a trusted bluetooth caused it to change from a pin/pattern/password to simply having a swipe keyguard to help prevent this from happening, but alas that option doesn't exist.

Have not had an issue with pocket dialing. It would be hard to swipe the keyguard through your pocket in my opinion. I could seeaccidentally hitting the power button and unlocking. I've got a case on it so it makes the buttons harder to press. Maybe with no case, but not a problem so far.

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[tdizzel]

I pulled my tag of the charger Sunday morning. Its sitting at 50% right now. Maybe it just take a few cycles to figure out how the battery works.

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[Distorted Loop]

My Cobra battery died last night. It lasted from Wednesday to Tuesday. Six days. Not quite what they advertise, but good enough.

My list of trusted Bluetooth devices is getting extremely long. 8 devices, including the OBD2 dongle in my car.

Sent from my Droid Maxx, the bigger, better, longer lasting cousin of the Moto X.

 

[bregol]

Have not had an issue with pocket dialing. It would be hard to swipe the keyguard through your pocket in my opinion. I could seeaccidentally hitting the power button and unlocking. I've got a case on it so it makes the buttons harder to press. Maybe with no case, but not a problem so far.

I suppose I could use Tasker + WidgetLocker to have an extra swipe screen activate when the trusted bluetooth is connected. If it works, it would provide extra protection from pocket dialing without preventing "OK Google Now" from requiring the screen unlocking.

My whole line of thinking came out of the hopes that the trusted bluetooth would work similar to an app I used for trusted wifi zones. On my previous phone, the app would set the pin to null, making the lockscreen fall back to just being a swipe. It was nice in that I could have trusted zones where I didn't need to keep using a passcode, yet still have protection from pocket dialing. Unfortunately, it seems these trusted wifi apps do not work properly on the Maxx - when it sets the pin blank, it doesnt fall back to a swipe screen - it just has a pin screen still where i press OK without entering anything in. This means that the "OK Google Now" still sees a pin screen rather than working without any touch needed.

So I was hoping to find a way to have the baked-in trusted bluetooth concept work like the trusted wifi did on my previous phone. Tasker + WidgetLocker should hopefully get me close. I really want there to be some protection from pocket dialing - I don't use cases and I've accidentally called someone once already... though the more I think about it, the more I wonder if it is my own fault... not being used to Active Display, I may have reflexively seen something on the screen and hit the power button (thus actually turning the screen on) before putting in my pocket, LOL.

 

[Charles Az]

I suppose I could use Tasker + WidgetLocker to have an extra swipe screen activate when the trusted bluetooth is connected. If it works, it would provide extra protection from pocket dialing without preventing "OK Google Now" from requiring the screen unlocking.

My whole line of thinking came out of the hopes that the trusted bluetooth would work similar to an app I used for trusted wifi zones. On my previous phone, the app would set the pin to null, making the lockscreen fall back to just being a swipe. It was nice in that I could have trusted zones where I didn't need to keep using a passcode, yet still have protection from pocket dialing. Unfortunately, it seems these trusted wifi apps do not work properly on the Maxx - when it sets the pin blank, it doesnt fall back to a swipe screen - it just has a pin screen still where i press OK without entering anything in. This means that the "OK Google Now" still sees a pin screen rather than working without any touch needed.

So I was hoping to find a way to have the baked-in trusted bluetooth concept work like the trusted wifi did on my previous phone. Tasker + WidgetLocker should hopefully get me close. I really want there to be some protection from pocket dialing - I don't use cases and I've accidentally called someone once already... though the more I think about it, the more I wonder if it is my own fault... not being used to Active Display, I may have reflexively seen something on the screen and hit the power button (thus actually turning the screen on) before putting in my pocket, LOL.

I've made 2 calls from my pocket, but I'm pretty sure they were both my fault. Im pretty sure I did exactly what you're saying you might have done, I saw the active notification on my screen, and just hit the power button (thinking I was turning the screen off) and dropped the phone into my pocket.


As far as I know, the active notifications turn off when the phone is in your pocket (I guess it uses either the light sensor or proximity) so you don't have to worry about unlocking your phone from the active notification if it's in your pocket.

 

[dfox]

For all you using trusted bluetooth, I'm wondering if you have been encountering any pocket dialing problems. With a bluetooth device always on you keeping the screen unlocked, doesn't that mean that if you bump the home button in your pocket or if you accidentally swipe the lock on the active display, the phone will be free to pocket dial? It would make more sense to me if a trusted bluetooth caused it to change from a pin/pattern/password to simply having a swipe keyguard to help prevent this from happening, but alas that option doesn't exist.

I've done this a couple of times. Only when I'm not using the case. I think the case keeps the power button from being pressed. Supposedly the phone knows when it's in my pocket, so why can't it keep the phone from dialing when it's in my pocket?

 

[kckadow]

Well, my Cobra Tag is dead. A week or so ago, the plastic around the brass ring broke (maybe from dropping keys). Then it stopped holding a charge for very long at all (1/2 day). Then the red light wouldn't come on when charging. Then it just stopped charging altogether. Worth the $15 experiment, but the Groupon batch must have been bad. Back to my Insite until I decide what to try next....Google Watch hopefully.

 

[clankfu]

I wonder if this would work. $20 but, unfortunately, it's not shipping out until January.

Gecko - Make your smart phone SMARTER | Indiegogo

 

[nitedmn]

Has anyone tried the stick-n-find stickers yet (https://www.sticknfind.com/)? I like the idea of a long lasting battery and their small size. Do they stay connected constantly when in range? I would just buy a few and try them but I'm a little short on money right now.

If these work I could put on on my keys and another one near my bed (I keep my keys on the other side of the house).

 

[RivertonPaul]

I am very satisfied with my Pebble watch.

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[teslapod]

Has anyone tried one of these? Misfit Wearables

Will this work as a trusted bluetooth device for the droids and moto x? There is an app for this device now on the Play Store.

 

[Savvra]

I use the LBT505 at work (because I can't wear a watch) and my Pebble for everywhere else.

If you can pull together the price of a Pebble I would highly recommend it. Doesn't affect my phone use like the LBT505 and I can't lose it because it's literally strapped to my wrist. Of course there's also everything else the Pebble does.

Droid Maxx

 

[hongdb]

the iHome speakers I've tried do not work and/or play well ith 4.4 (KitKat) Moto X. The Moto X's volume controls will not work with most BT audio devices (iHome included); the IHome speakers I've tried have no controls of their own; and if you try to un-check the "use this device for media" box in the Moto X BT settings for the devices, they immediately disconnect (same for headsets and "use this device for phone audio). I've ordered the Cobra Tag and Insite proximity alarms and can report-in again in about a week (Yes! I'm with OP and would pay dearly for a simple, cheap "trusted device" BT chip)