Silicone Band Bracelet Protective Case For Apple AirTag SBBPC0021

Airtag, as a product that has just been launched, has won thousands of eyeballs. The voice of praise is naturally overwhelming, and the voice of abuse and ridicule is also endless.Some people say that TA is an IQ tax, some say that TA will divulge privacy, while others say that TA is nothing.So, as the most advanced technology company in the world, will Apple really put on the shelves a product with numerous slots? Is it really so unbearable?

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Today’s out of the box evaluation and everyone to pick up the controversial existence of airtag, to see whether it is worth starting.Of course, I’m not a designer of airtag. All I can do is share with you what I think is right.If you find that the information is wrong, you are welcome to point it out in time!

Statement: the length of the article is very long. You can watch it according to your own needs.If there is any inconvenience, please forgive me!

What is airtag?

As we all know, airtag is an anti lost device.It can be hung anywhere you want, such as key chain, backpack, pet neck, luggage and so on.. The purpose is also very simple, is to prevent important things from being lost or forgotten. As early as 2019, the grapevine about Apple’s anti loss device airtag has not stopped.Apple also delayed its listing until 2021 for various reasons, including technical reasons, the impact of covid period, and the consideration of Apple’s ecological layout.After these two years of precipitation, airtag products have become more and more mature, and the devices supporting Apple U1 chip on the market are becoming more and more popular.Now that the time is ripe, it’s natural to introduce airtag to the public!

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Talking about airtag itself, it is a tracking device that integrates Bluetooth low power consumption (BT LE), ultra wideband pulse signal (UWB) and near field communication (NFC) to help detect lost items. If you dig deeper, airtag uses Nordic’s Bluetooth low-power SOC – nrf52832 – this system level chip and NFC control chip for near-field communication.As for UWB ultra wideband chip, I believe you all know that it comes from Apple’s U1 chip.In addition, airtag also carries Maxim’s class D audio output amplifier max98357b, which is understandable.With the audio amplifier, the audio signal I2S can be converted and amplified to the analog model, so as to make sound through the horn.In addition, there are several Texas Instruments (TI) DC-DC Buck Controller for chip power supply.

Here I mentioned three more important terms, Bluetooth, UWB and NFC.I believe everyone is familiar with Bluetooth le and NFC. What is UWB?What does it have to do with airtag?

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In order to better understand airtag, let’s take a look at what UWB is?

UWB is the abbreviation of ultra wideband , which is very famous in recent years Ultra wideband technology It’s a kind of pass through low power consumption But it can be realized High speed transmission Of Radio wave Technology.Different from the traditional sine wave propagation mode, UWB is transmitted through the Pulsed electromagnetic wave The way of transmission, with Strong anti-interference performance, fast transmission, high bandwidth, low output power And so on.In fact, the history of UWB is not short. In the 1960s, UWB technology has been applied in the military field. However, it has not been widely used in consumer electronic products until recent years.The most famous one is the U1 chip that Apple has carried on the iPhone 11 since 2019, which has made great contributions to the precise location and spatial awareness of Apple’s ecology.It can be said that apple is quietly playing the next big game. When there are more and more apple products carrying U1 chip on the earth, the whole ecosystem of Apple will not be limited to individuals, but will spread exponentially like mesh network.From the previous homepod mini to Apple watch 6 and now airtag, U1 chip may be adopted by more apple devices in the near future, and its influence will be more extensive.

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What’s the advantage of UWB?

The frequency range of UWB is very wide, up to 500MHz.Comparatively speaking, the frequency range of Wi Fi is much narrower, generally between 20 MHz and 80 MHz, while LTE is shorter, and the highest frequency range is only 20MHz.The wider the frequency range, the more obvious the natural benefits. If you still remember what you learned in high school physics, it’s not hard to understand why UWB can transmit pulsed electromagnetic waves at a very high speed.

Since UWB is transmitted by pulse signal, then flight time Time of flight – TOF Can be very good to achieve. When the two UWB devices are close, the two devices start ranging and calculate the relative distance between TA. In this process, TOF refers to the time taken for a pulse signal to travel from a position a to position B.If you remember the math formula of primary school (distance = time)×The specific distance between the two can be calculated.Of course, TOF is not as simple as I said. The calculation logic involved in accurate 2D or 3D positioning is very complicated.

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I believe that some people will jump out and say, “what’s the trouble? Now Bluetooth is getting better and better. Isn’t it good to use Bluetooth to locate directly?” indeed, Bluetooth can use “positioning”, and the famous tile tracking device on the market estimates the position of objects by Bluetooth positioning, but there are still some limitations in accuracy.We ordinary people can think that apple must be far more thorough than we think.After realizing the limitation of Bluetooth positioning, UWB UWB technology is introduced to improve the positioning accuracy.After talking for a long time, what are the advantages of UWB?

• First of all, finding the location through Bluetooth is not as accurate as we think Between one meter and a few meters At the end of the day, you can only estimate a similar location, and then help the owner find the location of the object by making the anti loss device sound.(of course, this is not entirely accurate. In some cases, Bluetooth 5.1 can achieve the positioning accuracy similar to UWB, but it has very limitations.) After all, Bluetooth can’t measure specific coordinates. What Bluetooth can do is to infer whether the Bluetooth signal is stronger or weaker, and then estimate the position in disguise. The positioning function of UWB is much more powerful, and it can achieve accuracy error less than through flight time ranging 10mm The degree of.
• secondly, The working range of UWB is 3.1ghz to 10.6GHz And it works The energy spectrum density is very low. I know it’s too abstract to say so. Let’s put it another way.The unlimited signal transmission of modern science and technology is produced around us all the time. For example, GPS works at 1.6GHz, Bluetooth at 2.4GHz and Wi Fi at 5.0ghz.In order to prevent the interference between signals, engineers try to stagger the frequency band as much as possible, so as to enhance the EMC instructions(electro magnetic compatibility – EMC) capability. Because UWB has a large operating range, it can easily be staggered with other devices to prevent crosstalk. Moreover, because the energy density of UWB is very low, it is higher than the gray noise floor at the bottom of the figure, so the interference with other devices is not so fatal.

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This time, airtag is equipped with U1 chip of UWB technology, and its biggest selling point is its Precision finding Function. This is a multi sensory experience of hearing, touch and vision based on the internal arkit, accelerometer and gyroscope of Apple mobile phone combined with ultra wideband (UWB) technology. In other words, with the blessing of ultra wideband technology, the experience of looking for airtag anti lost artifact is very good. The iPhone is like a navigation map to help the owner find the lost items conveniently, directly and accurately step by step.

What devices does airtag need to be used with?

Obviously, only apple devices can communicate with airtag. Whether it’s iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or macbooks, just update the system to IOS 14.5.1 or ipados 14.5.1.

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When using airtag, you don’t need to download a new app. All functions related to airtag can be found in find my app.of course, Not all of the above Apple devices can support precision finding. At present, only mobile phones that support Apple’s ultra wideband U1 chip can support this function. I have written down all the models that support this feature:

• iPhone 11
• IPhone 11 pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max
• IPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini
• IPhone 12 pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max

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Although all iPad, MAC and other apple devices on the market can also match with airtag to search for airtag, it does not support the precise search function, because this is the exclusive benefit of devices equipped with U1 chip. By the way, it’s not only apple that has ultra wideband technology on its mobile phone. For example, Samsung note 20 ultra, S21 plus and S21 ultra also support UWB technology, but they don’t use Apple’s U1 chip.

What’s the price of airtag?

I believe you are most concerned about the price of airtag. The price of a single airtag anti loss device is $29. You can buy it from various channels.If you buy four of them at one time, you can choose four, and the price is $99. If you want to save money, you can choose to make orders together.

If you place an order on Apple’s official website, you can also enjoy free custom engraving service, any text or Emoji expression. Because airtag does not have any perforation design, it is unable to hang the key ring. Therefore, Apple also provides three key chains. It only costs “a little more” to have the official multi-functional rings customized by apple. There are leather, silica gel and Hermes customized version representing the identity symbol.

I believe that with the passage of time, there will be or have appeared all kinds of airtag hanging button replacement on the market. If you think the official version is too expensive, you can search the Internet for flat replacement!Of course, I don’t have a cold for these fancy things. I bought a leather buckle and tried it. The texture is good. I can afford the price.

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Airtag unpacking

The packaging of Apple products has always been famous for its simplicity. The packaging is never extravagant and wasteful. Naturally, this airtag is the same.Tear off the seal at the bottom and open it to find airtag.

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Tear off the protective film and pull out the plastic strip that you want to touch the button battery, airtag will make a sound and start working.

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Take a closer look at airtag itself. This little thing is a white plastic “button” with a diameter of 31.9mm. The back design is made of stainless steel (P.S. this material is easy to scratch) that Apple likes. The overall thickness is 8mm and the weight is 11g. It is a very lightweight electronic product.

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Airtag is rich in magnetic force, as can be seen from the figure below.Apple pencil 2 can be easily adsorbed with airtag, so it is no problem to attach airtag to the surface of refrigerator.Of course, magnetic adsorption is not the original design intention of airtag, but because the magnetic force comes from the inner horn magnetic core of airtag. The function of magnetic core is to generate an opposite electromagnetic field, thus driving the diaphragm to produce vibration and sound.Because airtag is very small in size, the white plastic case in the magnetic core is very close, which is why airtag is attached with magnetic force.

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How to set airtag matching?

Step 1: take out your Apple device. The airtag device will be detected immediately on the screen. If the system version is too low, you will be automatically reminded to update the system first.

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Step 2: after updating, click to start setting interface automatically.

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Step 3: click Connect, select an airtag name, and then match the Apple ID to register with it.

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How does airtag work?

The first thing to say is, Airtag is neither GPS nor Wi Fi, but uses Bluetooth and UWB technology to locate lost items. Unlike the traditional anti loss devices, airtag not only uses the more advanced UWB ultra wideband technology to accurately locate, but also relies on the help of tens of thousands of other apple devices around to help locate the lost airtag.That is to say, the more apple devices (iPhones, iPads, MACS) are located in the area where the lost airtag is located, the more accurate and faster the airtag is located, which is not comparable to traditional tracking devices.

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As for how airtag works, let’s give a simple example.Xiao Wang is a forgetful person. After going to the school library for self-study, he accidentally pulled his schoolbag in a corner of the library. Fortunately, his schoolbag was bound with Apple’s new airtag.In order to get his schoolbag back as soon as possible, Xiao Wang took out the iPhone 12 Pro he had saved for a long time. After opening find my app, he found the coordinates left by airtag communication.Xiao Wang knows that there is a distance limit between airtag and mobile phone Bluetooth communication, so the coordinates left in find my app are the last coordinate update left before Bluetooth communication is lost.If it was not taken away by others, Xiao Wang’s schoolbag should still be in its original position.

On his way to the school library, Xiao Wang found that the coordinate display of airtag was updated and moved.Little Wang Dun’s heart is tight, it is obvious that others found his schoolbag and moved it to other places.Xiao Wang didn’t think much about it. He quickened his pace and rushed to the new coordinate position.As the distance gets closer and closer, because Xiao Wang’s iPhone 12 is equipped with U1 ultra wideband chip, the precise search function is activated. According to the direction in the app, it is easy to find the coordinates of the lost schoolbag.

When he arrived, Xiao Wang suddenly realized that the new coordinate was the position of the front desk of the library, and Xiao Wang found his forgotten schoolbag at the front desk.It seems that someone found the lost schoolbag and put it in the front desk of the library.After confirming with the front desk sister, Xiao Wang successfully took back his schoolbag.And Xiao Wang accidentally found that the phone of the little sister on the front desk was Apple’s iPhone X. after thinking about it, Xiao Wang immediately understood why the coordinates of the mobile phone prompt were updated, because Xiaowang’s lost airtag informed the little sister’s iPhone of its location.The Apple phone of little sister transmits the updated coordinates of airtag to the apple server and updates it on Xiao Wang’s find my app.

After looking at this case, let’s review the whole process again.

• After the airtag is lost, the owner can find the location of the last airtag communication in find my app.
• If there is someone else’s Apple device nearby, airtag will inform other people’s Apple device of the coordinates by one-way Bluetooth broadcasting and help update to icloud, so that the owner can locate the coordinates of the lost items as accurately as possible.
• When the distance to the lost airtag gets closer and closer, the device will reconstruct the Bluetooth connection with airtag. At this time, the mobile phone can roughly locate the rough position of airtag through Bluetooth technology.
• If Apple’s device is the iPhone 11 or the new iPhone 12, it can support more advanced precision finding functions.Of course, other models of Apple phones can still find the location of airtag through Bluetooth, but Bluetooth positioning will have a large accuracy error, which can not be as accurate as UWB.
• Of course, even if it supports the precise search function, according to speculation, the Apple phone did not enter this mode from the beginning.In most cases, UWB UWB communication will intervene only when the distance with airtag is close to a certain extent (it has been tested several times, about a few meters, but the distance is not fixed each time, and it will change with the strength of the signal). After entering this mode, we can more accurately locate the specific location of the lost airtag.
  

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In addition, when the airtag is lost, the owner can open lost mode and set his contact information or leave a message.

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When this function is turned on, when someone else finds your lost airtag, whether it is an Apple phone or an Android phone, as long as it is a mobile phone that supports NFC function, you can query the contact information and other information left by the owner when you close it to airtag.In the figure below, after the NFC function is turned on with an Android phone, a webpage will automatically pop up on airtag to display the contact information left by the owner of airtag. Of course, the contact information will also be closed after the lost mode is turned off.

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Is airtag dustproof and waterproof?

Airtag can achieve IP67 dust and water-proof level, of which 6 represents airtag meeting the highest dust-proof level, which means that it can completely prevent dust from entering into airtag.And 7 means airtag can be immersed in water and still work normally, but it can stay in water for no more than 30 minutes, and the deepest water depth is no more than 1 meter. This means that airtag can take a shower in the rain during normal use, as long as it is not immersed in water for a long time. If you want to know more about the IP dustproof and waterproof grade standard, you can click here Check out the related articles I wrote earlier.

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How many airtags can each person have at most?

If you are a local tyrant, you can buy as many airtags as you like;However, each Apple ID can only bind up to 16 airtags, which naturally means that we can manage up to 16 airtags at the same time.It is worth mentioning that each airtag can only be bound to one Apple ID at most, which means that only one person has the right to query the location of airtag. This function cannot be shared with other people, so it is impossible for multiple people to jointly monitor the location information of the same airtag.

How to replace airtag battery?

Airtag uses the most traditional CR2032 button battery. Many car keys we use use use this type of battery.In general, the working voltage of this kind of battery is 3V, and the battery capacity is about 220mah.

According to Apple’s official website, a button battery normally works for a year.When there is a low battery condition, our Apple device will pop up a notice saying that the battery needs to be replaced.The method to replace the battery is also very simple, 2 fingers press the bottom, twist the back cover can be unscrewed, take out the old battery and replace it with a new one, which is very simple!

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Is airtag really rumored to have privacy leaks and other security risks?

Security and privacy may be one of the most concerned issues. Of course, after reading the working principle of airtag I mentioned earlier, I believe you also have a better understanding of it.Airtag is a small pendant with simple and direct logic functions, Only two-way communication will take place on the matching Apple device (that is, the host) At this time, other apple devices can’t do anything about it.It’s like everyone has a Bluetooth headset, but you don’t have to worry that your Bluetooth headset will match someone else’s phone.When airtag is in a “lost connection” state, airtag will only perform a simple and crude one-way broadcast operation, just like when we used to play MMORPG online games Nearby channel The cry is similar to: “I’m lost, my baby’s name is XXX. I’m at coordinate XX, please contact my host to find me!” if other apple devices are close enough to the “baby”, he will hear the call and send it to the apple “headquarters” intact, and then the apple “headquarters” will inform the “baby” family members of its specific location through icloud.All operations are encrypted anonymously. What’s more, the information is meaningless to other users. There is no such situation that airtag follows “others run away”, because airtag will only conduct two-way communication with the matching Apple device!Unless the owner opens lost mode in find my network, it is impossible for other users to know any information about the owner.

If you are not at ease and don’t want to help others find airtag, it’s easy. You can turn off this function in the settings.Of course, you won’t help others to find the device after shutting down, and at the same time, you have refused to help others find equipment for you.As the saying goes, I am for everyone, everyone for me.Only if you help others because of your reasons, others will help you. I have to say that apple is fair and just in this respect.

As for some people who worry about whether airtag stores location data and historical records, we don’t have to worry about it.Airtag does not have any internal storage flash, the reason is also very simple, because it does not need.Airtag just needs to broadcast the current location data. Everything else is dead, so there is no possibility of upgrading and updating in the future.The purpose of doing this can also greatly reduce the unnecessary calculation, reduce the complexity of the system, and greatly increase the battery life.There are a lot of people with big brain holes on the Internet who want to put their airtag into other people’s backpacks to track others. In fact, it is futile to do so, because Apple has long prevented people from thinking of this. When someone else’s airtag moves with your iPhone, and the airtag’s original host device is not nearby, Apple will think that someone has put airtag next to you to monitor your coordinates.When this condition is met, your iPhone will receive a system prompt to tell you that there is a strange airtag around you. If you still can’t find the “tracking” of your airtag, you don’t have to panic. You can make the airtag sound through find my app, so you can easily find the location of the “tracker”. So if you borrow someone else’s car key and the key has airtag on it, after a while, your iPhone may tell you that airtag is tracking you, and the culprit is the AI tag on the key,

I hope you can pay attention to this! Don’t worry if it’s not an Apple phone, because the strange airtag will automatically play the sound after a period of time. As for how long it takes to make a sound, I personally don’t know. I checked the public opinion on the Internet. Some people say that the end of the day will make a sound, and some say that it will make a sound in three days. If you have any information, please leave a message in the comment area.As for the possibility of false triggering of airtag in a complex environment, if there are multiple airtags in the local space, as long as the airtag is not far away from the original owner, airtag will not have any reaction. Therefore, we need not worry about the situation of “fighting” in the airtag of multiple people.

So, is airtag absolutely safe?Obviously, there are no flawless products in the world. Airtag was cracked 10 days after it was launched.Through the reverse engineering decoding of airtag, airtag can be kept in the state of loss.In addition, it can release the binding between airtag and the original owner, so as to find some communication information of the device holder.Of course, cracking belongs to cracking, the real operation is still very difficult, unless it is an expert in this field, normal people are very difficult to crack easily.No one is free to crack other people’s airtag. It can only be said that Apple needs to strengthen its anti cracking scheme in this respect in the next generation of products.Even if you can actually crack airtag, the user information you can get is very limited. In my opinion, it’s too arbitrary to conclude that airtag can’t be used.After all, mobile phones can also be cracked these days. Don’t you need mobile phones?

Can airtag’s precise search function be used anywhere?

Having said so much, I believe you have learned the convenience brought by UWB ultra wideband technology, but there is bad news. This feature is not allowed in all countries So if you take airtag to the following countries, even if your iPhone is equipped with U1 ultra wideband chip, you can still only find the location through the ordinary Bluetooth mode, not the more advanced UWB precise search function.The following countries do not allow the use of some functions in the equipment that involve ultra wideband technology, such as the precise search function of airtag or the positioning function of homepod Mini:

• Argentina
• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• Belarus (Belarus)
• Indonesia
• Kazakhstan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Nepal
• Pakistan
• Paraguay
• Russia
• Solomon Islands
• Tajikistan
• Turkmenistan
• Ukraine
• Uzbekistan

How about airtag?Is there any deficiency?

From the product itself, airtag is not a product that changes the world, and there is no special black technology, and as the first generation of products, its own defects are very obvious. All of airtag is to reduce the power consumption and prolong the battery life under the premise of normal operation The working logic of the whole product is very simple and crude.To put it bluntly, airtag itself is not intelligent at all, and it does not have any ability to process storage and computation, and UWB can only intervene when airtag is close enough to the new iPhone to achieve the purpose of accurate search.In addition, since the interaction between the mobile phone and airtag is not high-frequency real-time, it is only when the airtag itself does not move that the accurate search can be achieved.Once the airtag is tied to the animal and is in a moving state, it is told that it cannot be located.

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  Of course, to clarify here, it is impossible to locate at this time, but the specific arrow position of the object can not be displayed. However, after testing, the distance between the mobile phone and airtag can still be displayed in the lower left corner, but airtag can not achieve better real-time direction detection at this stage. Although it is worth improving, there is no need for online sprayers to grasp this point. After all, it is easier for human eyes to find moving objects at such a close distance, or making airtag sound can also help confirm the location. In the final analysis, airtag is just a tool, and it is the most important to help people achieve their goals.

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In my opinion, the biggest problem with airtag is that when airtag falls in a remote place and there are not many people passing by, it is relatively difficult to rely on the owner’s mobile phone to find the lost airtag without the help of other apple devices.Especially in the rural areas where there is no one person on the road in the United States, even if there is an iPhone in the vehicle passing by and enters the Bluetooth matching range of airtag at a certain moment, it may not receive the Bluetooth broadcast of airtag, thus missing the help of locating and uploading the location.This may not be a problem in big cities. After all, there will be a large number of Apple users passing by every day in crowded places, and there are always Apple devices that can detect the lost airtag. However, in sparsely populated places, airtag is a little inadequate.In my opinion, the best solution is to further improve the matching range of Bluetooth and UWB, or to increase the frequency of airtag Bluetooth broadcasting in the state of loss. Either of these two solutions is difficult to achieve at this stage. The former is a technical bottleneck, while adopting the latter will greatly reduce the battery life.

• Let’s talk about the former, Bluetooth and UWB ultra wideband technology limitations. Although Bluetooth technology is changing rapidly, the matching distance can reach more than 100 meters.For Bluetooth headset audio or other Bluetooth devices, the matching distance may not be so important, after all, there are few opportunities to listen to music so far away.However, the matching distance becomes extremely important for anti loss equipment.Although the 100m is not short, considering the complex terrain factors, the real effective matching distance may be greatly reduced.However, in order to accurately find the Apple phone and airtag, the UWB can only be involved at a relatively close distance. Generally, the UWB is within a few meters, but the communication is not stable, and often can not be detected.
  

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• And the latter comes from the limitation of battery life. It can be said that battery life is the eternal pain of all electronic products. The development of electronic products is changing with each passing day, but the breakthrough of battery is extremely slow.To put it bluntly, the so-called fast charging technology of mobile phones is a curvilinear rescue strategy adopted when the battery’s endurance can’t be effectively handled. If the battery life is not good, charge it faster.Of course, this is far away. Back to airtag itself, the CR2032 button battery itself has a capacity of only 200MAH.
  

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  We assume that the power consumption of airtag under full load is 20mA (of course, this assumption is not true, just for example). Theoretically, a CR2032 button battery can only support 10 hours, and there are many factors that can affect the battery life, such as output current, temperature, battery failure and so on..According to Apple officials, a battery can last for more than a year if you play four sounds a day and do a precise search.Based on this statement, it is not difficult to find that airtag can not issue communication signals with high frequency.Otherwise, let alone use a year, a few months can not stand.We assume that after airtag is lost, a broadcast signal is issued every 5 seconds. If the object tied to the airtag is in motion, the position of the broadcast signal received by the mobile phone 5 seconds ago and the position received again after 5 seconds may have changed greatly. Even the object may move too fast and exceed the maximum distance that Bluetooth can accept, so it cannot be located.This situation is very likely to happen. For example, if airtag is hung on a bicycle, the displacement in 5 seconds may be very long.Once the matching distance of Bluetooth within airtag is exceeded, airtag can’t help it.The most effective way to solve this problem is to increase the frequency of Bluetooth broadcasting. It was originally called once every few seconds, but it was changed to “roar” several times every second, or “roar” louder each time, so that more people can hear your “help”. However, this will greatly reduce the battery life, which is considered by tradeoff.Fortunately, apple is very aggressive to use the “curve to save the country” strategy, an apple device can not detect it doesn’t matter.We have 1 billion Apple devices all over the world. If the quality is not good, we should stack them with quantity. If one can’t be found, there are ten nearby, and one of them can be detected!Apple has the strength and ability to deal with such a domineering solution. No one in other companies has the courage to do so. Friends can only shake their heads after seeing it. However, it has to be said that this kind of solution does not solve the root cause of the problem.

How does airtag compare with other similar products?

When it comes to the more famous anti loss devices on the market, we have to mention tile pro, Samsung’s SmartTag and Apple’s airtag.Although tile’s anti loss products on the market include mate, slim, sticker and pro, I will compare pro with Samsung SmartTag and apple airtag. After all, tile Pro is most similar to these two similar products in size and function.I will use the?The representative is the best,?It stands for the general, but?It’s a representation of dissatisfaction.

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1. Compatibility:

Samsung’s SmartTag can only be used with Samsung devices, and the corresponding apple airtag can only be used with apple devices. As a third-party product, tile Pro naturally supports both apple and Android systems.Therefore, in terms of adaptability, tile is the most friendly. Apple users should not consider using Samsung’s SmartTag, and Samsung users should not consider using Apple’s airtag.

2. Price:

In terms of price, the single price of SmartTag is $30, airtag is $29, and tile Pro is $35.Airtag is the cheapest in terms of price alone.If you buy the airtag four pack, the price will drop to $25 (the partners who want to make a list can move it!) of course, these are the original prices. Sometimes there are promotional prices. You can pay attention to them.

3. Dustproof and waterproof capacity:

In terms of waterproof ability, airtag is the most excellent IP67 level, and SmartTag is IP53 (hardly waterproof), while tile Pro is better than SmartTag and can be waterproofed and splashed. Of course, long-time rain is not good.

4. Volume contrast:

It is not difficult to imagine that when something is lost, we often need to make it sound so as to help us find the lost object. Therefore, the sound intensity of the tracker is more important.In terms of sound production ability, Samsung’s SmartTag is the loudest, tile pro’s is medium and light, and airtag is the lightest.Although this can’t all blame airtag, after all, in order to achieve IP67 waterproof, airtag does not have any horn hole, and the sound can be understood if it is too hard to transmit.In fact, the class D audio amplifier max98357b carried by airtag can support up to 2.5W and maintain the output level of thd + n of 1%. However, considering the battery life and speaker design, apple can’t make this amplifier chip work at full power, and the enclosed design will also limit the performance of sensitivity (SPL).Of course, although Samsung’s SmartTag has the loudest sound, its waterproof ability is not enough. We can only say that each has its own choice.

5. Tracking ability:

In terms of high-tech anti loss technology, apple airtag uses UWB ultra wideband technology for precise positioning, while SmartTag and tile Pro still use Bluetooth Le positioning.Of course, Samsung is not willing to lag behind apple in this regard. It will launch a SmartTag + product that also uses UWB and AR to achieve precise positioning in the near future.For tile pro, Bluetooth Le (low energy) is still used for object positioning at this stage. However, it has been reported that the next generation tile products will also adopt UWB technology with AR to enhance its market competitiveness.Although airtag is slightly better than tile pro and SmartTag in precise positioning, it is found that airtag is the weakest in long-distance matching according to the comparative test of various online deities.

The picture is from @ Vincent, the best. The copyright belongs to the original author

If the distance between the mobile phone and airtag is more than 90 meters in an open environment, find my app will display the signal loss and ask to try another location.At the same distance, both SmartTag and tile Pro can match distant mobile phones.Only when the distance is close, the Bluetooth connection of airtag will be stable and the position will be displayed.Although it seems that the matching ability of airtag is not satisfactory, don’t forget that airtag can rely on Apple Devices nearby to report the location, so the disadvantage of Bluetooth matching is not so important for the owner.In any case, airtag is superior to the other two in its comprehensive tracking capability, at least for the moment.

6. Functional comparison:

Airtag is designed to save power as much as possible under the required conditions, so it can be said that airtag has no other functions.Different from the simple and crude design concept of airtag, tile pro and SmartTag have more optional functions than airtag. Different ring tones can be selected through corresponding selection. There is a physical button on SmartTag that can be used for remote control of smart home, and even in turn can let mobile phones that can’t be found for a moment play sound.Similarly, tile Pro can also search for a matching phone by pressing the key, which Apple’s airtag can’t do.

The picture is from @ Vincent, the best. The copyright belongs to the original author

Of course, airtag is not worthless. When airtag is “lost”, the built-in NFC chip will inform other people’s mobile phones about the owner’s contact information, so as to help recover the lost items. The same Samsung SmartTag also has NFC function, but tile Pro does not have it.

7. Comparison of endurance capability:

As for the battery life, airtag is the best one in my opinion because airtag pursues its endurance very much. Other products need to replace button batteries after a few months of use.By the way, the batteries of the three anti loss products are CR2032 button batteries of the same specification.As far as my personal use is concerned, I am not worried about the lack of battery life.I have bought my SmartTag for a while. During this period, SmartTag has been hanging with my car key. In other cases, I don’t need to use this anti loss device at all, and the frequency of use is very small.

8. Monthly service fee:

For tile users, if they want to use all the features, they need to pay extra to subscribe to the subscription plan.

Picture from@https://www.thetileapp.com/en-us/get-premium, the copyright belongs to the original author

Apple’s airtag and Samsung’s SmartTag don’t need it, and the reason is simple.Because the two mobile phone giants are trying their best to promote their ecological development, airtag means you have to use Apple products, and SmartTag means you have to use Samsung products.Because of this interconnected ecosystem, Apple users can always choose apple system instead of turning to Android camp, because the cost is too high. In the photography industry, we call this kind of behavior “killing the door” – selling all camera lenses and other related equipment of a certain brand and replacing them with other brands.

9. Comparison and summary:

Generally speaking, each of the three has its own advantages and disadvantages.If you are an Apple user or a Samsung user, it is recommended to purchase the corresponding airtag and SmartTag.If you are an Android user of other brands, tile pro, an old brand in the field of anti loss device, must be the best choice at present. Although the things that tile prides itself on are becoming more and more uncompetitive, I am even worried about tile’s future,After all, the launch of Apple’s airtag is bound to make many people abandon tile products and buy Apple’s anti loss products.

Who is the right person to buy airtag?

• If you are a Loyal fans of Apple products , and Very curious about new things So, airtag is a very novel gadget.
  

  The picture is from @ Vincent, the best. The copyright belongs to the original author
  • Of course, if you’re a Lost Apple users Airtag can help you to some extent.Of course, this help has limitations.Airtag’s positioning is to help the owner find the lost items, which means that the lost items can’t be moved at will.If airtag is in a mobile state, although we can update the coordinates periodically with the help of everyone, it still takes a lot of effort to find it.also, Airtag itself is a kind of design to prevent the gentleman from the villain 。If the goods bound by airtag are stolen rather than dropped in a certain place, the thief can directly choose to throw the airtag away, and the owner has no way to deal with it.If the thief is more greedy and takes out the button battery in airtag, airtag will stop working immediately.And the way to format airtag is also very easy. You only need to take out / install the battery five times.It’s user-friendly, it’s also friendly to thieves!
  • As for pets or children at home, is it recommended to buy them? This varies from person to person.Hanging up an airtag can still help you to some extent ， Especially when traveling together.Although airtag has limited ability to accurately locate moving objects, it is better than none.Airtag just can’t locate the moving object accurately in real time, but the approximate location can be provided.When it comes to accurate positioning, pets or children have been around you for several meters. I believe you can see their location at a glance. In my opinion, it’s recommended to buy one. If you can’t find it, airtag can provide you with more clues.
  • Car owners 。 People often can’t find a car when they go shopping in the mall, so some people may consider putting an airtag in the car to check the location of the vehicle. The measured results are not ideal After all, the shielding of cars is very good now. The signal attenuation of airtag is very serious when airtag is placed in the car. It is usually necessary to detect the location of airtag only when the distance is very close.If you really want to put airtag in the car, I don’t recommend putting it in the center armrest compartment as shown in the figure below. It may be better to put it in the trunk. Of course, the situation of each car is different. You can try it yourself.

The picture is from @ Vincent, the best. The copyright belongs to the original author

• As for those online who are worried that their target is “Sea King”, it is meaningless to put one on their body or in their bags, because your target will soon know that he / she has been monitored, especially if your target is also using an Apple phone. When an unfamiliar airtag gets around, it’s easy for apple to detect its presence, so monitoring doesn’t work.As for whether the target is using an Apple phone or not, it may not get through in a short period of time.But as time goes on, the airtag mechanism will trigger and make a sound sooner or later, and your object will still find the tracker.

After airtag came into the market, the Internet was full of complaints that “the value of airtag itself is more expensive than what it wants to protect!” “airtag is so expensive that it still sells so much. Apple has never let people down in terms of disappointments!” however, if you recall, in the past decade or so, Apple has always had a variety of anti ridicule and spray demons when it releases new products,Steve Jobs’s first iPhone completely abandoned physical buttons, as did the airbod when it was first launched.However, all of this can not escape the true fragrance law, these once spurted useless Apple products now it seems that which is not the sales champion.

In my opinion, the first generation of airtag has such and such unsatisfactory places.For example, if you can’t accurately locate the moving object, and if you don’t design a keyhole to force you to buy additional airtag rings, I don’t like this kind of forced bundling.However, as the first generation of products, there is infinite room for improvement, and airtag really popularizes UWB technology. I believe this is a development direction.With more and more electronic products supporting UWB Technology on the market, UWB technology itself is becoming more and more mature, and the ecology is becoming more and more perfect.Is there any possibility that UWB will completely replace Bluetooth or Wi Fi in the future?