Tile Mate (2022) review: A lower-cost key finder sees big improvements

Our Verdict

Get the Tile Mate (2022) if you want a primal finder with 200 feet or so of range and a good set of features but y'all don't want to pay $35 for the Tile Pro. iPhone users may appreciate the Ultra Wideband connectivity offered by Apple'due south AirTag, but the Tile Mate offers a lower price without too many compromises.

For

• Costs less than many comparable key finders
• Better range than previous edition
• Two-way finding feature for locating your phone
• Easy-to-utilise app

Against

• Bombardment isn't replaceable
• No Ultra Wideband connectivity

Tom'due south Guide Verdict

Get the Tile Mate (2022) if you lot want a key finder with 200 feet or so of range and a good set of features merely yous don't want to pay $35 for the Tile Pro. iPhone users may appreciate the Ultra Wideband connectivity offered by Apple's AirTag, but the Tile Mate offers a lower price without as well many compromises.

Pros

• +

  Costs less than many comparable fundamental finders

• +

  Amend range than previous edition

• +

  2-way finding characteristic for locating your phone

• +

  Easy-to-employ app

Cons

• -

  Battery isn't replaceable

• -

  No Ultra Wideband connectivity

Tile Mate 2022 specs

Size: one.5 ten 1.5 x 0.3 inches
Listed range: Up to 250 feet
Tested range: 200 feet
Water resistance? IP67
Battery: Non-replaceable/iii years
Colors: Black, white

The previous version of the Tile Mate felt like a big step dorsum for the visitor's lower-priced key finder. But the new Tile Mate (2022) rights all the wrongs, while taking things a pace further by increasing range and calculation better h2o resistance.

The Tile Pro (2022) remains the best fundamental finder around, simply if yous don't want to pay $35 for that device, the $25 Tile Mate is a cracking alternative, given all the improvements made in this 2022 edition.

Tile Mate review: Price and availability

At $25, the Tile Mate costs $10 less than the Tile Pro, with the principal trade-offs being range — the Tile Pro can stay continued to your phone upward to 400 feet, while the Mate tops out at 250 feet — and the loudness of the alert. For many users, those trade-offs will be worth saving the $10, though some may balk at the non-replaceable battery that powers the Mate. (More on that in a moment.)

The Tile Mate's $25 price likewise compares favorably to other height key finders. Samsung's Milky way SmartTag starts at $30, which is the same price as Apple'south AirTag. Apple'due south key finder includes Ultra Wideband connectivity for more than precise finding — a feature defective from Tile's trackers until the Tile Ultra arrives in 2022.

Tile Mate review: Pattern and features

Unlike the Tile Pro, which gets a design revamp for its 2022 edition, the Tile Mate (2022) looks a lot like its predecessor. You get the same square blueprint as before, though the newer Mate is a picayune bigger all around. Tile has tried to unify the look of its central finders, which means a Tile logo in the middle of the Tile Mate that you can press if you ever need to find your telephone. (Which volition happen frequently if y'all're like me.)

From left to right, Tile Mate (2022) and Tile Pro (2022) (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Easily the biggest change to the Tile Mate (2022) is Tile's decision to practice away with the replaceable battery on this model. Instead, like the latest versions of the Tile Slim and Tile Sticker, the Mate runs on a non-replaceable bombardment that should final for three years. (Our Tile Pro vs. Tile Mate vs. Tile Slim vs. Tile Sticker face-off has a full expect at the differences in these various trackers.) That's going to enhance the hackles of environmentally minded users who won't care for the thought of replacing their tracker in three year's fourth dimension, though the Tile app can point you to e-waste material locations where you lot tin dispose of one-time Tiles.

If it's any comfort, the Tile Mate at present offers IP67 h2o resistance, subsequently the previous edition could merely withstand splashes. That makes the new Mate more than durable and puts it on par with the rest of the Tile lineup.

(Prototype credit: Tom's Guide)

Using the new Tile Mate is the aforementioned as before. You attach the tracker to any you want to monitor and pair the device with your Android phone or iPhone over Bluetooth. The Tile app lets you manage your Tile Mate, with a button for sounding an alarm when yous can't find your keys (or whatever it is you lot've attached to your Tile). As noted, Tile's trackers accept a two-manner find characteristic that let yous buzz your phone — a capability missing from Apple's AirTag, we should add together.

Tile Mate review: Performance

The Tile Pro (2022) is the tracker to go for if you want Tile'south loudest alarm. Only the alarm on the Mate is yet loud plenty in most cases. I could hear the fundamental finder's warning when it was stashed in a glaze pocket inside a closet from a room away in my house. In a public park with a lot of ambience noise, the Tile Mate's alarm was still every audible upwardly until I was more than than 100 feet abroad. For context, I could still hear the Tile Pro at around 150 feet.

As for range, Tile has increased the distance y'all can stay connected to the new Tile Mate, boosting its listed range from 200 feet to 250 anxiety. When testing the Tile Mate (2022), I was able to get 200 feet away with no trouble, which is a definite improvement over the previous Tile Mate, where I struggled to achieve 100 feet. It's worth noting that operation can vary based on concrete obstructions and point interference. I besides tested the Tile Mate (2022) at a nearby ferry depot, where range was significantly shorter for the key finder. Of course, that was the case for all the key finders I tested there, which says more about the vagaries of Bluetooth connectivity than information technology does the Tile Mate.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Like the other new editions of Tile's trackers, the Mate has a QR lawmaking embedded on its back that's supposed to make information technology easier for other people to relay your Tile Mate'south location should you lose it. (They scan the code and tin can transport a message to you via the contact info you shop in Tile's app.) A Scan and Secure characteristic aimed at detecting unfamiliar Tiles trying to track your location is coming in 2022.

Tile continues to offer a $2.99/month subscription service that tacks on extra features like alerts when you lot leave your home without your Tile Mate and the ability to share the tracker with an unlimited number of people. But the Tile Mate'south core features don't crave a subscription, and I call back you can get the most out of the device without paying up for Tile Premium.

Tile Mate review: Verdict

While there'southward no matching the Tile Pro's range, you could brand the argument that a 400-human foot range is a prissy-to-have, not a must-take. The 250 feet the Tile Mate (2022) promises will be plenty range for most people and the alarm is loud enough to exist heard at a distance. Those are some pretty adequate trade-offs for a $x discount, particularly if you're not troubled by the lack of a replaceable battery.

Apple's AirTag offers more features for but $5 more than the Tile Mate, and the Chipolo One sports a more colorful wait and a disposable bombardment at the aforementioned price as the Mate. But information technology's hard to top the value the Tile Mate delivers given the improvements to this latest version.

Philip Michaels is a senior editor at Tom's Guide. He has strong opinions nearly Apple tree, the Oakland Athletics and former movies. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/tile-mate-2022

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