Apple AirTag: Great for iPhone Users

You’ll never lose your keys in the couch cushions again.

- SASCHA SEGAN

Apple’s AirTag leverages tight iOS integration and the world’s huge network of iOS devices to create Bluetooth trackers that are uncommonly easy to set up, use, and locate—especially compared with Tile, the current giant of the industry. For those with an iPhone or an iPad, the AirTag is a sleek and delightful way to track your lost devices, and that makes it worthy of our Editors’ Choice award.

ITEM TRACKERS

There’s a decent industry of trackers for people, vehicles, and stuff. Samsung has the SmartTag and SmartTag+ for owners of Samsung phones and tablets. For iPhone and iPad users, the AirTag really competes against one giant of the industry, Tile, which has made its entire brand on low-cost Bluetooth trackers that let you beep them when you lose your keys.

(A quick note: The AirTag is compatible with any iPhone or iPad running iOS or iPadOS 14.5 or later. We refer to iPhones throughout this review for the sake of simplicity, but any up-to-date iPad will work just as well for pairing with and finding AirTags.)

AirTags are easier to set up than Tiles, have better directional finding powers, and can be found from farther away. Tiles come in more form factors than AirTags do, and you can summon your phone from the Tile as well as the other way around. But their range maxes out at about 30 feet, and the range on AirTags is functionally infinite as long as there’s someone with an iPhone nearby.