Which smart tracker should you buy?

• 

  Tile Pro (2022)

  Feature-rich and effective

  The Pro is Tile’s most powerful Bluetooth tracker with a long Bluetooth range and a replaceable battery. There’s even a handy cutout for easy attachment to your most important belongings.
   

  Pros

  • Long Bluetooth range
  • User-replaceable battery
  • Louder built-in speaker

• 

  Tile Mate (2022)

  Affordable alternative

  The Tile Mate is the company’s most affordable smart tracker. It’s tiny and easily attaches to keys, pets, luggage, and more by a handy cutout. Though the battery isn’t replaceable, it’ll last for up to three years.
   

  Pros

  • Slim design
  • Uses the same tag network as the Pro
  • Cheaper

The Tile Pro and the Tile Mate are two of the best smart trackers backed by one of the biggest tag networks, ensuring important items are easy to find if they’re lost. They are also platform-agnostic and can work with Android and iOS devices, so they’re suitable for pretty much everyone. But as the Mate and Pro differ in Bluetooth range, design, and pricing, which is better for you? Let’s find out.

Price, availability, and specifications

The Tile Pro, which sits at the top of Tile’s tracker portfolio, is pricier than the Mate. It costs $35 for a single unit, while the Mate will set you back $25 for one. However, you can pick a two- or four-pack to save money to track multiple belongings. The two smart tags are also often discounted. So you won’t necessarily need to pay the list price.

The Pro and Mate are also widely available in the US via physical and online retailers. You can buy the Mate in black, white, and a rotating selection of limited edition colors, whereas the Pro is only available in black and white variants.

Before we delve deeper, here’s a quick look at the raw specifications of the two Bluetooth trackers.

• 	Tile Pro (2022)	Tile Mate (2022)
  Brand	Tile	Tile
  Connectivity	Bluetooth LE	Bluetooth LE
  Battery	Up to one year, user-replaceable User-replaceable CR2032 coin cell battery	Up to three years
  Range	Up to 120m	Up to 76m
  Water Resistance	IP67	IP67

Design, build, and battery

Bigger means better

The Tile Mate is the company’s original smart tracker and has seen multiple iterations over the years. Its current design is square with a small circular cutout to attach key rings and other objects. Although the construction is plastic, it’s still reasonably durable and even has an IP67 dust and water resistance.

The Pro, however, has a metal and plastic build with a rectangular design and rounder edges than the Mate. There is also a circular cutout, but as it’s present in the metal part of the tracker, it’s more durable and better for securing important objects. The device also has the same IP67 rating as the Mate for dust and water resistance.

Though similar design-wise, the battery differentiates the two Bluetooth trackers. While the Tile Mate has a non-removable built-in battery that can last up to three years, the Pro’s CR2032 battery is user-replaceable and has a runtime of about a year. The non-removable nature of the Mate’s battery turns the smart tag into e-waste after the battery’s lifetime, forcing you to buy a replacement at an additional cost. However, the Pro can continue to be used, as long as the device remains in good condition, and you replace the battery when needed.

Features

Free-range

The Tile Mate and Pro differ in features, as they do their batteries. This time they vary in terms of Bluetooth range. The Pro has a claimed range of 400 feet compared to the Mate’s 250-foot range. While you won’t get the full claimed range with either of the smart tags in real life, the Pro’s extended Bluetooth range capacity will still serve users better.

As far as trackers go, Bluetooth range is important and should be a consideration when you’re making a smart tag selection. Bluetooth range matters because tags rely on Bluetooth for initial and close-range communication. The better the Bluetooth range, the easier it’ll be to find your object’s exact location without deferring to the smart tag’s network. Should the tracker exceed the range, the tag’s network is utilized to help determine a tagged item’s rough location.

Speaking of tag networks, both Tile smart trackers are even matched in this regard, as the two use the same network. The Tile network is millions of devices strong as it uses the Tile app install base on Android and iOS devices.

Apart from a longer Bluetooth range, the Pro houses a slightly louder built-in speaker, which will help when looking for lost belongings.

Beyond these features, the Tile Pro and the Mate are pretty similar and have the same features, such as support for voice assistants. You can use voice assistants, such as Alexa, Google, and Siri on your phone or smart speakers to locate both trackers. Plus, you can use your Tile tracker to find your phone. All you have to do is press the button on the tracker, and your phone will ring.

While the features mentioned so far are free for everyone, Tile also provides several additional features that are locked behind a premium subscription. One of the most useful subscription-based Tile features is Smart Alerts. This notifies you every time you leave a tagged item behind. You also get a 30-day location history and Tile sharing, among other premium benefits. These premium features are available for both smart trackers.

Which is the right smart tracker for you?

Tile has long produced some of the best smart trackers on the market, and its Pro and Mate offerings live up to the brand’s reputation. Both are fundamentally excellent smart tags, but the Tile Pro is easily the better smart tracker. The Pro has a longer Bluetooth range, a user-replaceable battery, and a louder speaker, giving it a significant edge over the Mate. But, of course, you will have to shell out more for it.

On the flip side, the Tile Mate could be a suitable choice for someone who wants to save money and doesn’t necessarily need a smart tracker to last a lifetime. Since it uses the same Tile network, any item lost outside the Bluetooth range has the same chance of being found as the Pro. It’s also smaller, lightweight, and often available in a rotating selection of limited-edition colors and patterns.