Chipolo Pop, Chipolo Loop, Chipolo Card – Tracking tags that can do more

Chipolo is refreshingly innovative. Here we test their three different tracking tags, each of which offers a great deal we don’t find with the competition. We see it directly in the form, because here there are both the card format and those with a loop that you can easily attach to your key chain or bag.

What all three have in common is that they work with either Apple’s Find network or Google’s equivalent. Google’s Hitta network in particular had a shaky start, but we have already noted that major improvements have taken place and now gadgets are found about as quickly both with Apple and with Google’s network. The secret is simply that all iPhone and Apple gadget users are jointly helped to find tags and correspondingly that all Android users, regardless of the brand they use, are helped to find Google’s connected gadgets. Both networks have so many active users now that they are superior to competitors like Tile and Samsung Smart Tag.

So it doesn’t really matter which network you use for the function. It’s just a matter of which phone you use and that the flexibility of the tiles allows you to change networks when you feel like it, for example if you were to change phone brands in the future. No risk of locking yourself into a certain manufacturer’s ecosystem, then. However, you cannot connect the tiles to both networks at the same time, you have to choose one and if you later want to switch, you have to factory reset the device and pair it with a phone again.

Performs excellently when it needs to be found, regardless of network

Precisely when it comes to the basic function, finding the gadget that the tile is attached to, the Chipolo tiles perform excellently. In recent weeks, I have both hidden them near the office in Stockholm and observed how often they are found by someone passing by. It never took long. And I have also carried the trays during several flights, always with the result that during stopovers and when I landed and waited at the baggage belt, I had updated information on where the luggage was. I’ve noticed some minor differences between Chipolo connected to Apple’s Find network and Apple’s own Airtags. You see the position of both types of tag directly in Apple’s Find app, but often when I open that app the Airtags already have a position saved a couple of minutes old. For the Chipolo stuff, I instead have to wait a few seconds so that the position has time to update before I can see where they are. It’s not a big or decisive difference, but noticeable.

In addition to being found in Google’s Find Hub on the Android phone or on the iPhone in Apple’s Find app, Chipolo also has its own app. It adds some extra features, especially if you use Android. For example, you can then use the tray as a remote trigger when you take a picture with your phone, and the app also adds a function to signal if you leave your tag in a place and leave. That alert feature is integrated into Apple’s Find service, but is missing from Android’s equivalent.

In terms of price, the three different tags from Chipolo cost between SEK 350 and 450, so a little more expensive than, for example, Apple’s Airtags, but you get more here as well. The clearest example is with the Chipolo Loop and Chipolo Card which are both chargeable. Normally, trackers like this have a replaceable button battery that you change yourself, but here you don’t have to. The card has wireless charging so you put it on a charger when the battery starts to run out and the Loop has a standard usb-c connector for charging. Here you avoid recurring battery changes, which alone allows you to save on the slightly higher price by not having to buy batteries during the lifetime of the trays. A clear advantage.