It's probably already happened to each of you to want to leave, and there at the last moment, not to find his car keys, his wallet or any other small object that can easily go astray at home. Sometimes it even puts us behind s
chedule. It is to remedy this problem, that I decided to test the TrackR Bravo Phone which is a sensor that keeps track of its stuff. This device is connected to a dedicated app to locate its lost object.
Content of the box and technical characteristics
1x TrackR br
avo1x Key door ring
1x double face1x manu
al use manual (including French, English)
- Diameter: 31mm
- Thickness: 3.5mm
- Battery type: CR1616
- Maximum battery life: one year
- Bluetooth: 4.0
- Bluetooth range: up to 100 feet
- Gps Wear: World-Wide
- Volume: up to 85dB
- Materials: Anodized Aluminium, Plastic
- Safe for animals: yes
- Works all over the world: yes
The test
The TrackR bravo is small, thin and very light, ideal for slipping it into a wallet, a bag, a key chain. With its circular shape and silver color (exists in different colors), it is rather aesthetic. To use it, it's simple, you have to download the TrackR app for Android or iOS on your smartphone and enable Bluetooth. The app starts with a small listing of features, then asks you to choose the model you own and for what object you want it (key, bag, wallet, etc. because you can have several and so to look for the right one, if you lost something afterwards). On the TrackR, a single button for pairing with the smartphone, if it works, there is a beep emitted by the device.
Now that everything is in place, let's see the prac
tice. At the scale of an apartment or a house, the Bluetooth device works rather well. What is most practical is that it works both ways. If you have your smartphone in your pocket, but you have lost your keys on which a TrackR is hung, just go on the app, there a signal level tells you if you are getting closer or far the distance of your keys, obviously it remains the Bluetooth so not a perfect accuracy, but enough to know whic
h way to go. If that's not enough to find them, you can press a speaker drawn on the same window and the TrackR will whistle to locate it accurately. In the opposite case, you have your keys but lost the smartphone, nothing could be simpler, press the track only button and the phone will start to beep, even if you're silent. A silent mode also indicates whether or not your TrackR bravos are separated from your smartphone. For example, if you forget your purse in the car, once out of reach, your phone will tell you that you have forgotten something, but in other cases, the separation may be wanted.
If you have lost your object on a larger scale, for example in a means of transport, it is possible to track it by GPS, however this function is not 100% safe and depends in particular on the size of the community that owns this type of device. Indeed, the TrackR bravo does not have GPS, however it can indicate its presence via other smartphone with the app installed and Bluetooth and GPS enabled. Therefore, if your bravo trackR doesn't cross paths with someone who also has a trackR with the app enabled, it won't be able to tell you where it
is. To have the chance to find your object via GPS, you must first register on an online service.
Conclusion
This small object is very practical in everyday life, especially for people who are stunned. It's easy to use and allows you to find the trackR (and therefore the object you attached it to) or your smartphone depending on the situation. It also helps to remind you if you forget something by walking away from it. Its weak point remains for "long distance" losses where there you will be dependent on other users and therefore the amount of person who owns one. But since this product has been the subject of Crowdfunding Indiegogo, and that of the $20,000 requested, they have raised $1,700,000, with currently tens of thousands of users worldwide. In large cities, the likelihood of successfully using the GPS position becomes honest and will surely increase in the coming years.
