The average person wastes hours every month looking for lost items. Thankfully, this headache can now be remedied by Tile and its handy tracking devices.
The consumer electronics company provides small Bluetooth devices that can be attached to items such as keys, wallets, laptops, pet collars, and more. These Tiles offer a range of up to 400 ft and batteries with 1 to 3-year life spans. They also include voice activation and QR codes, and some trackers are even water-resistant. Tile’s attractive apps are available on Android, iOS, and Windows.
With Tile, users must purchase at least one device and separately subscribe to a plan. The biggest savings can be had with a bundle, which includes a set of four Tiles. This discount ends up making each tile only $19.99, plus every new user gets a 1-year premium subscription for free. Tile also offers a limited free-forever plan, free shipping on orders over $35, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Tile was rebranded as Life360 on 31st March 2025.
Tile offers attachable devices designed to help you track precious items, from pet collars to your laptop. The high-quality and water-resistant Tiles are elegant, modern, lightweight, yet sturdy. They come in four similarly small formats and numerous colors and designs.
Signing up for the service is straightforward. It’s best experienced on the go thanks to its easy-to-use mobile app, which is especially handy if you’ve stuck a Tile in your car and can’t remember where you parked. The Windows app is limited to basic functionalities, although this isn’t specified anywhere on its website.
Pairing Tiles takes no more than 20 seconds. Plus, even if the connection is lost, it can be restored as soon as you’re back within range of the device. Tile's location feature may not be as precise as some of its competitors, but it’s decent enough to aid any user in hunting down their items.
Additionally, the Tile app includes a convenient list of e-recycling centers, which promotes responsible battery disposal and helps users reduce landfill waste.
‘Find Nearby’ lets users ring their Tiles via a button on the app if they’re within a certain range. When Tiles are beyond this range, users can use ‘Find Far Away’, which provides a map with their Tile’s most recent location.
There’s also the possibility to do the reverse and find your phone using its paired Tiles. Users only have to double-tap their Tile button, and the associated smartphone will ring, even when in silent mode.
To ensure no items ever get lost in the first place, Tile provides additional features such as smart notifications whenever a Tile is left behind, 30-day location history, and unlimited sharing capabilities. When a Tile is shared, others can ring it and view its location history.
Three of Tile’s devices – Mate, Pro, and Slim – come equipped with a QR code. Users can associate an e-mail address, phone number, and message with it, which will appear when scanned. Additionally, it’s possible to buy ‘Lost and Found’ QR code stickers, which can be used much like a Tile device.
Tile’s network of users can also assist in the recovery of lost items. If another user happens to be near a lost Tile, the app will automatically update its location in the owner’s account. While Tile’s network has been growing, it’s still nowhere near the size of some of its competitors, such as Apple’s Find My app network.
Users can also track larger personal items and even their pets with Tile’s dedicated devices. For pets, there’s ‘Sticker’ with an accessory that attaches it to a collar, and for apparel, Tile offers ‘Mate’ with a carabiner, loop, flex ring, and pin lock.
To avoid any possible stalking or illegal tracking, there’s ‘Scan and Secure’. This allows users to search for nearby Tiles that may have been put on a user’s belongings without their consent.
However, it’s also possible to make your devices invisible to others with Tile’s anti-theft mode. This conceals a device from other Bluetooth scans in case a thief also uses the Tile app. To activate it, users must complete a multi-factor authentication and verify that it is being used as intended and not for illegal activities like stalking. Failure to comply with Tile’s guidelines may result in a fine of $1 million.
Tile offers a few integrations to help users find their belongings even quicker and easier. It supports voice assistance with Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant to simplify further how users can find their Tiles.
Moreover, many renowned brands offer products with Tiles built in, such as Bose, Sennheiser, ASUS, HP, Fitbit, and Dell. This means buying headphones or a laptop and tracking them with the app is possible. Users can check Tile’s website for a complete list of partnerships.
To use Tile, users must purchase at least one device, register an account and sign up for a plan. There are four different Tiles to choose from that vary in color, range, battery life, size, alarm volume, and the presence of a keyring hole. ‘Mate’ is a compact square Tile and the most affordable Tile at $24.99.
The round ‘Sticker’ is the smallest Tile and can be stuck anywhere with its button on the side instead of in the center. ‘Slim’ is Tile’s largest device and is designed to resemble a credit card. Finally, ‘Pro’ is a larger version of ‘Mate’ but comes with a replaceable battery, more extensive range, and louder alarm.
There are plenty of ways to save with Tile, such as buying a pack that comes with two or four of the same Tile and cuts the cost by up to 27%. Alternatively, there’s the Mate Essentials bundle, which includes two ‘Mate’ tiles, one ‘Sticker’, and one ‘Slim’. Opting for this option gets users the most cost-effective solution at $79.99. This saves users $34.97 compared to purchasing each of these Tiles individually. The cherry on top is that all new Tile users get access to a 1-year premium subscription and a 30-day returns policy.
Standard is Tile’s most simple subscription and is free. It only includes the more basic features, such as Tile and phone ringing, and map location, but these features are enough for users to get a fulfilling tracking experience.
However, adding unlimited sharing, a 3-year warranty, smart notifications, and a $100 reimbursement to your subscription is worthwhile – especially when these perks come at $2.50 per month with an annual billing cycle. Finally, the top-tier Premium Protect plan offers all the same features but with reimbursements of up to $1,000 – all for $8.33 per month with annual billing.
If any problem arises, Tile’s customer support can be contacted by chat or ticket submission. The chatbot quickly transfers the user to a care agent if the issue hasn’t been resolved. It’s also possible to use a general contact form that allows attachments, and while the company guarantees a response within 24 hours, in reality, our experience was more like 48 hours.
Besides direct contact, Tile has a dedicated help page with how-to tutorials, blogs, a troubleshooting section, accounts and subscription information, and more. Tile is present on the usual social media networks, but this is not the best way to get support.
Tile offers a fantastic service for anyone looking to keep track of their items with its numerous Tiles that come in various shapes, sizes, and colors. Although Tile’s network may be less extensive and its location accuracy not as precise as some of its competitors, its range of features and security is more than sufficient to provide any user with peace of mind.
Tile offers great deals and discounts, such as a year’s worth of its premium plan to new users, along with a free-forever plan. Fundamentally, even its most pricey plan, at $8.33 per month, can be considered priceless when weighed up against the loss of precious items – especially when the company offers $1,000 reimbursements.
The Best Reviews team researches and tests all products first-hand. We've been reviewing products and services since 2012 and are proud to only publish human-created content.
November 2024
I have been being tracked by my ex-husband with one of these. I have scanned results showing the device (and the maker of the device) is on my car somewhere but I cannot find it and the company refuses to do anything about it even though it clearly states in their policy that they prohibit use of their products to be used to track someone without their concent.
September 2024
I’m not a huge fan of Tile. The pricing and features are good if you use a paid plan. The most important feature of a Tile is being able to locate your device, wallet, keyts, etc. I’ve used 3 different Tiles: the original one, the updated version, and the credit card-sized Tile. The original Tile worked great, but the later two were not reliable. For example, this morning, I was looking for my wallet. According to Tile, I left it at work. I drove to work, but it wasn’t there, even though Tile still showed it was there. When I came home for lunch, I found it under a piece of paper where I had been looking for it earlier. Tile still indicated it was in my office until my Tile came close to my phone. This is hardly the first time something like this happened. The battery was still good. If a tracking device can’t accurately locate a lost item or shows it in the wrong place, then what’s the point? AirTags are also not perfect, but I’ve found them to be more reliable. I also don’t like the Tile app, and it’s difficult to remove Tiles you no longer have or need. Not the worst, just not for me.
Share your thoughts, ask questions, and connect with other users. Your feedback helps our community make better decisions.
©2012-2025 Best Reviews, a clovio brand –
All rights
reserved
