My dedication to tech reviews knows no bounds. I’ll claim I lost my keys last week on purpose, all in the name of giving the Chipolo Loop tracker a proper review. I’ll be lying, but I’ll claim it. What the experience taught me, is that having a tracker on your keys or in your wallet is one of the best investments you’re ever likely to me.
What is the Chipolo Tracker?
Chipolo is a Slovenian company that makes trackable products very similar to Apple AirTags. They work with both Apple’s Find My network and Android’s Find Hub. If you lose your keys or your wallet, and you have a Chipolo tracker, you can open an app and in seconds see the last place your lost item was.
This might sound pretty neat, but the really cool part is that network element. If I’ve lost my keys across town, and someone who has the Find My or Find Hub installed on their phone walks by them, the network gets updated. That means you don’t need to be near your lost item to know where it is.
This is what saved my keys.
I lost my keys – Chipolo found them
I don’t know how this happened because I never lost my keys in my life – until I did. I’ve been using Chipolo for years, but it was to find my keys or my wallet at home while running out the door. But last week, I went to unlock my scooter lock only to realise I had no keys. After checking my 100 pockets 100 times, I accepted my fate.
Opening the Find Hub app on my phone, my heart sank. My keys were miles away. After a couple of refreshes, I could see they weren’t moving, and they were on the route I just scooted on. Fortunately, these trackers will technically work over any distance. You’ll see the last time your device was with you and up to date locations as long as someone else is near your lost item.
There was hope.
I walked, at considerable pace, towards the location. I couldn’t see my keys anywhere. Using the app I could zero in on their location, but still – no sign. Fortunately, I had one more Chipolo trick up my sleeve. In the Find Hub, now that I was connected to my Chipolo Loop, I could trigger an alarm to play. I could hear playing in a nearby shop; the Crest and Arms.
Sure enough, Adrian who owns the place, had rushed out into the street shortly after I dropped my keys and took them into his care.
Just 20 minutes after realising my keys were lost, I was reunited with them.
Is the Chipolo Loop as Good as AirTag?
Honestly, the latest Chipolo trackers are far superior to Apple’s AirTags, for two main reasons.
First of all, Chipolo’s latest trackers, the Loop and Card, are rechargeable. Apple’s AirTags require replacement batteries. The Chipolo Loop can simple be recharged using USB-C and the Chipolo Card can be charged using wireless charging.
Second of all, Chipolo’s trackers work with both iPhone and Android, but just one at a time. By that, I mean if you’re using your Chipolo tracker with an iPhone and the Find My network, it won’t show up on the Android’s Find Hub.
But this isn’t new or unusual, just worth noting for clarity after mentioning the trackers are operating system agnostic.
Given the trackers do the very same as AirTag, and offer more flexibility, I’m rating them as better.
For under €50, it can save you a small fortune, too.
Chipolo also makes the Card for your wallet which is wirelessly rechargeable.
