If you have a habit of losing track of your things, you might be looking to get a tracker tag. Apple’s AirTag is a safe bet, provided you use an iPhone. Things are less straight-forward in the Android world, but Motorola’s Moto Tag hopes to be the AirTag for Android.
The Moto Tag is a Bluetooth tag that makes use of Google’s Find My Device (FMD) network, which is the equivalent of Apple’s Find My network. The former, of course, is newer and perhaps has less ubiquitous coverage. The Google FMD originally begun way back in 2013, but it is only in April this year that FMD expanded to use Android device crowdsourcing to locate devices and support 3rd party tracker tags.
Google’s FMD and Apple’s Find My networks are not compatible, and devices are typically made for one or the other. There are several tracker tags for FMD, including from Chipolo and Pebblebee. These mostly work only only Bluetooth. The Moto Tag also supports Ultra Wideband (UWB), a technology that helps to very precisely locate a device with distance and direction information.
Unfortunately, Google’s FMD doesn’t seem to support UWB, though there are indications that the Find My Device app will have that support soon. That means, while today the Moto Tag is probably not much better than other Android tracker tags, it will have some distinct advantages once the FMD app rolls out UWB support, and, your Android phone has UWB hardware.
The Moto Tag sort of resembles the Apple AirTag. It doesn’t have a hole to attach a hook, so you would need to use some case. The good news is that you can use an AirTag case with the Moto Tag.
There’s just a single button on the Moto Tag which can be used to silence the beeping sound when the tag rings. You can also press the button to ring your phone, e.g. to find your missing phone when you have the tag.
I found that the ringer on the Moto Tag somewhat soft. Even at the loudest setting, the tag might be a little hard to locate in a noisy environment.
The back cover is removable, so that you can replace the CR2032 battery which is rated to last about one year.
With only Bluetooth support available right now in the Google FMD app, locating the Moto Tag in a lost-item scenario is not unlike it will be with other Bluetooth trackers. It’s not going to be easy, nor highly accurate. There is an indication of how close you might be to the tag, though the definition of “nearness” is neither definitive, accurate, nor reliable, but certainly better than having no indication at all. I really can’t way for UWB support to arrive.
Also, I find that there’s also limited practical value in truly locating lost items especially in a built-up urban area. Let’s say I lost the tag. Google FMD might tell me it was last seen in a shopping mall, maybe Paragon for purpose of this example. If it was a simple case that I had forgotten my item and it was simply left behind at a restaurant I dined at, I could be reminded about it and head there to pick up the item. However, if the item was actually lost, and I had no clue where it really would be, having FMD giving me a pin drop in a huge mall with many floors is not going to be very helpful.
In a lost luggage scenario, perhaps I could tell the airline which airport my luggage is. I certainly hope the airline does already know which airport my luggage is at! I don’t think FMD will be very much help actually locating the luggage within the airport!
All these isn’t really the fault of the Moto Tag per se. That’s what it is with the technology that Bluetooth trackers are able to offer.
What is missing in the Moto Tag is the simple ability to notify me that I have walked off and left my tagged item behind. There is no device separation alarm. AirTags can do this. Pebblebee can do this. I hope Motorola will add this feature.
I find that Moto Tags are still useful if you have a simple problem of perpetually losing keys at home or in the office. You just need simple sound alerts and it perhaps suffices to have fairly coarse proximity alerts.
Moto Tags are not so easily available to buy in Singapore, but I did find them on Amazon.sg, at a fair price of $140-ish for a 4-pack bundle. It officially retails at US$29.99 in the US.
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