Apple’s competition to Tile and Chipolo is here with AirTag. AirTag is a little device that you can put on your keys or in your bag and you can track it in the find my app on your iOS device. At £30, AirTag is priced reasonably against the competition.
The box for AirTag is extremely compact, featuring little more than the AirTag itself and some documentation. There are a range of accessories such as keychains and loops available to attach the AirTag to a bag or your keys, but these will come at an additional cost. Without these, you’ll need to find somewhere where you can securely store the AirTag on your item, there is no keychain hole build into the product so an accessory will likely be a must-buy for many consumers. These accessories are quite pricey, however, starting at around £10 and can go up to £40 or even hundreds of pounds for designer brand options.
Apple AirTag
The AirTag device is very compact, with a size that is a little larger than a coin in diameter but quite a bit thicker as it accommodates a replaceable battery underneath the shiny metal backplate that features some device information and an Apple logo. The rest of the device is a glossy white plastic that can be personalised with some engraving when ordered directly from Apple.
When setting up the AirTag, you’ll need to make sure you’re running iOS 14.5 or later and then it’s as simple as holding the AirTag next to your device and press Connect. You can then name the device and connect it to your Apple ID so it can be used within the Find My app. The Find My app is where you’ll be looking if you want to use the AirTag, allowing you to locate it on a map, make the AirTag ring, customise it further or put it into Lost Mode. When in lost mode, you can provide contact information and a message for the tag which will be available over NFC when it is scanned.
An advantage of AirTags in comparison to the competition is that they can utilise the Find My network of around 1 billion iOS devices to be able to share their location and be able to track your item wherever it may be. So, if you do happen to lose an item that has an AirTag attached, it shouldn’t be too far away from an iOS device to be able to connect to the Find My network.
AirTag feature’s Apple’s ultra-wideband chip, allowing the iPhone 11 and newer to precisely locate the AirTag. To test out this feature, I placed the AirTag in my rucksack and opened up the Find feature in the Find My app. The feature works well, although you will need to be in the vicinity of the item for the precise tracking to be most effective. The interface tells you how far away you are from the AirTag as well as an arrow to point you in the right direction.
I think AirTag is quite a nifty product if you’re prone to losing your keys or your bag. It’s quite compact so you should be able to fit it where you need to and it is compatibly priced in comparison to the competition from Chipolo and Tile. Of course, I do think the accessories are a little pricey but if you’re only going to be getting a couple of these then the accessories shouldn’t add up in price too much. However, I do think a keychain hole on the AirTag would have been a beneficial addition so you could tie it around a loop or add it to a keyring – a feature which the competition does offer in some of their designs.
Apple’s AirTag item tracker is available to purchase on Amazon.
