Siri sucks, but AirTags rock.
After seeing Siri’s failings getting miserably worse and worse from both John Gruber and Paul Kafasis, I found some hope for all you Apple fans out there. Even though Siri is still “doomed,” Apple’s AirTags are still the best trackers in the world.
Rita El Khoury from Android Authority did a comparison of AirTags versus Google’s AirTag competitors, and the AirTag was the hands-down winner of all the different tests she threw at them. Mind you this test was conducted in multiple countries, none of them being the United States, where Apple might be accused of having an unfair advantage.
Her quick summary in the beginning gives you the TLDR, but I suggest you give it a full read.
I’ve been testing Chipolo and Pebblebee’s Google-compatible trackers ever since Google first launched its Find My Device network in May 2024. For eight months now, I’ve lugged them around, plus a bunch of their competitors, on every flight, train ride, outing, and activity, hoping to find the absolute best Bluetooth tracker out there. What started as a fun exercise of, “Hey, let me see if I can track my husband through a busy area in Paris,” quickly turned into a nightmare because of the sheer logistics of testing these.
I often had at least two or three phones in my pocket — sometimes four — with a bunch of testing scenarios, features to check, and environments to test in. I also had to enlist my husband’s help very often because I had to be physically separated from the “lost” item without losing it for real. Overall, I’ve tried these trackers in the UK, France, UAE, Lebanon, Belgium, Albania, Italy, and Portugal. When all was said and done, I had to comb through over 150 screenshots and dozens of videos. I’ve also delayed this article time and again because I wanted to give Google more time to roll out its network and redeem its disappointing performance. But time’s running out, and if there’s one verdict you need to know, it’s this:
Under absolutely no circumstance should you rely on Google's Find My Device network... just yet.
After seeing Siri’s failings getting miserably worse and worse from both John Gruber and Paul Kafasis, I found some hope for all you Apple fans out there. Even though Siri is still “doomed,” Apple’s AirTags are still the best trackers in the world.
Rita El Khoury from Android Authority did a comparison of AirTags versus Google’s AirTag competitors, and the AirTag was the hands-down winner of all the different tests she threw at them. Mind you this test was conducted in multiple countries, none of them being the United States, where Apple might be accused of having an unfair advantage.
Her quick summary in the beginning gives you the TLDR, but I suggest you give it a full read.
I’ve been testing Chipolo and Pebblebee’s Google-compatible trackers ever since Google first launched its Find My Device network in May 2024. For eight months now, I’ve lugged them around, plus a bunch of their competitors, on every flight, train ride, outing, and activity, hoping to find the absolute best Bluetooth tracker out there. What started as a fun exercise of, “Hey, let me see if I can track my husband through a busy area in Paris,” quickly turned into a nightmare because of the sheer logistics of testing these.
I often had at least two or three phones in my pocket — sometimes four — with a bunch of testing scenarios, features to check, and environments to test in. I also had to enlist my husband’s help very often because I had to be physically separated from the “lost” item without losing it for real. Overall, I’ve tried these trackers in the UK, France, UAE, Lebanon, Belgium, Albania, Italy, and Portugal. When all was said and done, I had to comb through over 150 screenshots and dozens of videos. I’ve also delayed this article time and again because I wanted to give Google more time to roll out its network and redeem its disappointing performance. But time’s running out, and if there’s one verdict you need to know, it’s this:
Under absolutely no circumstance should you rely on Google's Find My Device network... just yet.