Tile connected keychain test |igeneration

Tile is a very small white square capable of connecting to a smartphone and especially to be detected by a smartphone.It works like a connected keychain, but not only: compared to its multiple competitors, this square can be associated with everything and anything.The remote control that you lose all the time under the cushions, the bag which contains essential elements or even your computer: this tile must allow you to lose nothing.And in case of loss, any user can identify the lost object and report your position!

There is no shortage of connected keychain, but the tile offers some original options.Is it a good formula?Answer in our test !

Handling

The tile is a physically very simple product.This 37 mm side square barely exceeds 5 mm and it does not even weigh 40 g.It is almost entirely white, with the exception of the company's logo on one side and some inevitable technical inscriptions on the other side.

In the upper left corner, a large hole allows it to hang it, for example at a keychain.In this case, it can be used as a connected keychain and thus no longer lose your keys.Here we stay very close to the Elgato smartkey that we tested last year.But the peculiarity of this model is that it was not only designed for key trousseaux.

The manufacturer does not provide the tile with stickers without reason.The product has been designed to be placed in a bag or clothing, but also glued to any object, whether it is a computer (or its charger) or even the television remote control that you lose all the time.We have not tested this configuration, however, because even if the device is small, it is not small enough to our taste to leave it permanently on another object.

Whether on a Mac or a remote control, the tile may have a little trouble being forgotten, but it's up to you and we appreciate the presence in the package of the necessary sticker.On his blog, the manufacturer multiplies the accounts of its customers and thus proves that the product can be used in a large number of configurations.Some go so far as to place it on a snowboard board or on an aerial drone, which is made possible by the design of the sensor.

Indeed, the tile was designed to be very resistant, which goes through a simple idea: there is absolutely no opening in the product.There is no USB connector to load it, since it is powered by a battery.Even more radical, there is no opening to change the battery: the device is delivered with an element that must last a year and after that ... it is good for the breakage.Finally, not quite: the manufacturer is committed to launching a replacement program with recovery of the old in exchange for a new one at a reduced price.

While waiting to know the exact terms of this offer - when we write this test, it is not online on the site -, point out that each tile is guaranteed for a year.If the battery empties before the end of the first year, you can get new for free.This is the minimum and we must recognize that this idea of a disposable device bothers us a little.We understand the arguments in his favor and all the connected keychain that we have been able to test until then which required being loaded regularly were much worse.

The fact remains that we don't really buy the tile, we rather praise it and we will have to go back to the cash register every year.Basic, the device is cheap in the sector, since it is announced at $ 25 one, or $ 17.5 one if you buy four.Even by adding the shipping costs, we remain around € 18 for a copy, compared to the Elgato smartkey which is always buying more than € 40.Except that from the second year, the latter finds colors since it is enough to change the integrated standard battery without having to buy a new device.

The owner's tour is really fast, but we could still point out that the tile hides a button which is used to stop the ringing when activated.The main thing is inside, essentially with a Bluetooth 4 chip to communicate with the smartphone and components to make the ringtone heard.We would still have liked to find a ring in the package to hang the device directly to a keychain, you will have to add it yourself.

In use

Like all connected devices, the tile is not very interest without a smartphone and the appropriate application.Besides, to configure the product, the first step is to download the Tile application [1.0.11 - US - free - Tile, Inc.] on your Android iPhone or device.It is it which allows you to activate the different tiles that you will have at your disposal and especially to associate them with an object.

When you receive the product, you must first press the letter "E" until you hear a sound.Even if this is not seen, this letter hides in fact a button which is used to interact with the tile, in particular to confirm that you have found it.When you receive it, it is also the way of activating the device ... and therefore its battery.From this moment, you can count on the autonomy year promised by the manufacturer.

If you order several, you can avoid activating them immediately.Unfortunately, the internal battery is probably used despite everything, at least partially.In any case, the one -year warranty proposed by the manufacturer applies from the date of receipt, not the activation.Better to buy the number of tiles necessary rather than making stocks, and renewing them when they are empty.

The company that created the Tile has thought of its product in a context where each user can operate several devices at the same time.To avoid errors, we finish activating a sensor by putting it directly on the screen of the smartphone used.And to recognize them, the application proposes not only to name each element, but also to take the sensor in its context, that is to say associated with the object it will follow.

Once this configuration step has been carried out, the tile operates as expected and it actually allows you to position on a card each object monitored, or to find one inside a accommodation.In the first case, the application will activate regularly to check if a tile is nearby and, if necessary, record its own position to associate it with the sensor.On the map displayed in the application, we have the latest known positions of all the trackers associated with its account, which makes it possible to ensure that the car is always in the right place, or to check if we have forgotten its keysat home.

Second case: you have lost an object - keys, for example - in your accommodation or near you.The card is no longer useful, since the tile will be indicated in your position, however you can ring the connected keychain to find them.In the application, you can activate the ringer of the tracker and thus find it at the noise.By default, we have only very vague indications (the object is at hand, or a few steps), but by tapping the logo, we can have a visual indicator which is used to know if we are inapproach or move away from the "target".

This visual indicator is highly appreciated, because the ringing used is not very strong.In a quiet room, we hear it quite well, but it only takes a little background noise, or to cover the tile, so that it is difficult to distinguish the origin of the noise.We hear the ringtone, but know if it comes from a bunch of right clothes, or from the sofa on the left can quickly be more difficult than expected.And we end up wasting time to search everything, what we would have done anyway without the product.On the other hand, the visual indicator works without the ringtone: it is very practical to find something without making noise.

Like all connected keychain, the tile depends on Bluetooth and its range to be found.If you are too far away, the device will not receive the phone order and you will not be able to ring it.The manufacturer indicates that under 10 meters, we should have no problem.Beyond that, Bluetooth 4.0 has a theoretical range of 30 meters, but it will only be in a clear environment, without obstacle between your phone and the tile.The application displays a green circle when the terminal is close enough to the sensor to activate it.

When you have found the tile, you can confirm that everything is fine in the application, but not by pressing the button (under the letter E), unfortunately.Overall, the function is very satisfactory however and it will allow the most distracted to find their portfolio or any other object.

On the other hand, the tile does not work in the other direction.Some competing products can also allow you to find your smartphone from your keychain, the Bluetooth command operating in the other direction.This device remains as simple as possible and it is probably for this reason that you can only look for a tile, but not use a tile to look for your smartphone.

If we can do without it, we would have appreciated an option to receive an alert as soon as a tile is no longer connected to your smartphone.This function, also proposed by all competitors, is very useful to avoid forgetting its keys - or something else - when leaving.As it stands, in case of forgetting, we can only see it a posteriori, when it is probably too late.

In return, the tile is the only one to offer a function to find a lost object.If a sensor is not detected by the smartphone, you can declare it as lost in the application.From that moment, if another user passes near your declared tile lost, his smartphone will send the GPS position to the company's servers.And you will receive a notification informing you of this position.

This way of exploiting other users to find an object is rather well seen, especially since there is nothing to do.Everything works in the background and the person who will miss your tile will help you find it without even knowing it.The fact remains that this function makes no sense if there is no other user in the surroundings, and this is probably the case today.Let us add that if someone finds a copy in the street, he must install the application and create an account so that he can report it: we would have liked a simpler process.

Success should be enormous before this function takes on its full meaning, and nothing says that it will be one day.Not to mention that geolocation has no interest if the object is on the move: you will have only one idea of its location at a time T, hardly more.However, let's not be too severe: this function can be very practical in a family setting.If several people use tiles, we can know where an object is without having to ask the question and simply by declaring it lost in the application.

To conclude

The tile is added to the long list of connected keychain, but it does it with some original ideas.They are not all good, because even if we understand the arguments put forward by the manufacturer in favor of a battery that the user cannot change, the fact remains that this product is disposable.Even by counting on the renewal at a reduced price, but a price that remains unknown, we are on the model of the subscription rather than the purchase.

In total, the tile may be displayed half cheaper than some of its competitors, the price goes up quickly over the years and it will be quickly better to buy Elgato's smartkey, or another model.That said, it must also be recognized that the product is very well finished, that it is small enough to slip without problem in a keychain or at the bottom of a bag-we are more skeptical to hang it on the back of'A Mac or another computer however - and that it is very solidly designed.We can make him face the vagaries of life without worry, it's solid and nothing moves.

Its simplicity is undoubtedly its strong point.There is a button on the tile, but it is useless, or almost.It is an essentially static sensor, all the intelligence has been deported to the smartphone that is responsible for detecting the device and then saving its position.It is also he who triggers and stops the integrated alarm and it is he who serves the function which allows to declare a lost object.

This idea is pretty good, and it is unique in the category, but it is also its defect.Before users of the tile are numerous enough to create a fairly fine search grid, it will have a good time.And nothing says that the day you need it, the system will be reactive enough to be effective.Not to mention that in the event of theft, withdraw the sensor should be quite easy ...