Review: Tile Bluetooth tag (verdict: Great)

Summary: After almost a year since it started taking orders, Tile is finally shipping. It's like having 'Find My iPhone' for your keys.

Tile(@TheTileApp)is a small square Bluetooth LE device that can be attached to keys (or just about anything) and be located via Bluetooth when you're close enough, and via a crowdsourced community of users and people that install the app. The use case is attaching the square device to your keyring and using the free iOS app to locate Tile when you misplace your keys.

For background, I recommend that you read my original Tile article (from a year ago)and my follow-up interview(from May 15, 2014)with Tile Co-founder Mike Farley.

I backed Tile on June 21, 2013, received my address confirmation email on May 22, 2014and my Tiles shipped on June 2, 2014. (I alsoreceiveda Tile press unit on May31, 2014.) So it took just under a year to get my Tiles, which is a long time by any standard, but not completely unheard of for a startup.

Tile has shipped over 20,000 units to early backers, but, when will you get yours?Tile has published the followingshipping schedule:

So, how well does Tile work? In about a week of testing my units, I'm comfortable saying that Tile works as advertised. It's pretty simple, really: you activate a Tile by pressing and holding the "e" then pair it to your iPhone via the Tile app (free, App Store), then attach the Tile to your keychain, MacBook or kid and forget about it.

When you inevitablymisplace your keys or MacBook (but hopefully not your kid!) just launch the Tile app and use it to find the missing Tile. Since it's based on Bluetooth 4.0 (a.k.a. Bluetooth LE) you'll need to be within 50-150 feet of the Tile. If you're not within range, the Tile app will display where it was last seen on a map. The app uses a proximity indicator to show when you're getting closer to the Tile. Pressing the "Find" button in app makes your Tile play a little tune that helps to locate it. Some have complained about the volume level of the Find sound, but it hasn't been a problem for me.

You can watch a video demo of the Tile iOS apphere.

Where Tile gets interesting is in its community tracking features. Like other Bluetooth trackers on the market Tile uses a crowdsourced model to help find your Tiles when you're not within range.Each phone running the Tile app is capable of picking up the location of any Tile, regardless of its owner. Tile allows other community members to anonymously and unknowingly report the location of a lost item. For example, if you lose your bike and another Tile user happens to be in the area of the Tile on your bike, that user will anonymously and securely update its location.

My wife and I recently took an overnight trip to Philadelphia to celebrate our wedding anniversary. To test my eight Tiles, I attached two to our keys, two to our bags, two to a pair of MacBooks, and I gave two to our kids. Via the app I'm able to easily track all eight Tiles and see their location at any given time. When I want to know a Tile's exact location I simply touch an icon to see it on a map, and I can use the Find button if it's lost.

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Review: Tile Bluetooth tag (verdict: Great)