Review of Tile Pro: Location Automation

The Tile Pro is an excellent location automation tool. It’s simple to setup and use and has among the longest distance ranges for detection. The only negatives for the Tile Pro worth mentioning are how sensitive the button on the front is and the poor warning when batteries stop functioning.

What is location automation

Nobody likes losing things, but there are tools to help you find them (location automation). Are location automation tools actually examples of home automation? In my opinion they are. Our Tile Pro review is based on 6 months of active use finding what once was lost.

A Location Automation Story

I found myself walking through an unlit baseball field at ~9 PM with my dog, Darwin. It was too dark to even see my feet without the light on my phone. The light also allowed me to make out the inquisitive look on my Golden Retriever’s face. He didn’t understand why we were walking through a field we had been in only 2 hours ago. 

The light on my phone was not bright enough to see my wallet that I had lost while playing with Darwin.  Thankfully, I had an application on my phone to help me find the wallet. I was staring at my phone and walking slowly when Darwin suddenly started pulling me toward something in the field. As I followed him, I started hearing the noise too; we walked up to my wallet with the attached Tile Pro playing a musical tone in deep right field. This was my first use of the Tile Pro I had purchased about 2 days earlier. 

How are location tools an example of automation?

I have to admit that I’m forgetful.  I misplace my keys and wallet so often, it is astonishing that I make it to anywhere on time.  

Before the Tile purchase, my morning routines were often disrupted and filled with expletives as I searched for missing things. My wife was the person who asked me if I wanted to buy something to hep me with my missing things. She was probably as sick and tired of the morning search ritual as I was. Untile her suggestion, it had not occurred to me that automated location tools existed.

Tools to help find things are clearly an example of automation. I no longer need to remember where lost things are or search forever til I find them. Today, I can usually find whatever I’m missing in a few seconds. I even get warnings when I move further than 400 feet away from something I always want with me when I leave the house or my job.

Why choose a Tile Pro as my location automation tool?

There are multiple location automation tools out there. I spent a little time trying to figure out which was the best one for me. I selected and purchased my first 2 Tile Pros because of the advertised range of 400 ft (impressive), replaceable battery, and the Tile Application. The app has the added capability to leverage other users with the app to find my lost stuff.

Is it easy to set up the Tile Pro?

I found it to be very easy to set up the Tile Pro. You simply install the Tile app on your phone or other device and follow the instructions. It took me about 10 seconds per Tile to add and activate them.

Steps to set up a Tile Pro using an iPhone 11

1. Select the + sign on the starting screen

2. Select the device to be tracked

3. Select the type of Tile device.

4. Follow the on screen prompts

5. Select your category (you can change it later)

6. Confirm the new Tile is on your screen.

My only cautionary tale is that you should check the battery life of the Tile Pro Battery if you want to be confident that it won’t stop working when you don’t expect it. More on that below.

How far can you track the Tile Pro?

Tile claims that you can track the Tile Pro from 400 ft away which is twice as far as the other Tiles.  Tile uses Bluetooth as the tracking signal so the device you connected though will probably impact that range. I used my iPhone 11 to track both keys and wallet which were at least 300 ft away from my phone and it quickly found them. 

Why not choose Tile Pro?

Tile uses Bluetooth technology to find your lost items. This means your item needs to be within 400 ft of your device with Bluetooth to find it. This is usually your phone, but it could be a home automation device or your computer.

If you like the Tile features but don’t like the Pro form factor there are multiple other Tile options you should check out:

The Tile Sticker is a small, waterproof sticker with a 150 ft range and built-in 3-year battery. This would be great for items that would primarily reside outdoors but that you want to keep track of. I could see it being useful for tracking sporting goods for a team or if you wanted one in a gym or swim bag.

While it looks like the Pro the Mate is smaller. That reduced form factor comes at a cost of a shorter 200 ft range and a 1-year replaceable battery.

The credit card shaped Slim has a 200 ft range, and a built-in 3-year battery. Obviously this is targeted for putting in your wallet or purse and being as out of the way in that use case a possible.

There are 2 Essentials packs with the first being 1 slim, 1 mate and 2 stickers.

The Essentials 2 pack has 2 slims and 2 mates.

If you are trying to track something that is likely going to be outside the 150-400 ft range, you should consider alternative tracking technologies. Most likely, it will leverage cellular tower triangulation and require some level of subscription. I don’t know what that right tool is but I would welcome suggestions.

The things I would most like change about my Tile Pro

The list is long as there are many little things I would change about the Pro if I could wave a magic wand and make it happen. With that said, I still think it’s a great product and has made my life better. The two biggest draw backs I found were the button sensitivity and the battery notification (or lack there of).

If the button was less sensitive or required a pattern to activate it this would be a significant improvement. As it currently stands I need to either deactivate it or utilize a 3D printed case which blocks it from accidental presses.

It would be excellent if there was a warning notification on my phone when the battery was about to die in a Tile. In my opinion this kind of function is basic and shouldn’t be a problem with an always connected app. If I was warned that the battery was low then I could replace it and have the Tile functioning the next time I misplaced it instead of discovering the battery was dead a a critical time.

If you have used a Tile or other location automation device in your daily or professional life and have sound similar or different results we would love to hear about them in the comments.