Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2
Samsung’s second attempt at the smart tracker is a solid one. The Galaxy SmartTag 2 boasts vast improvements over its predecessor and competes with the best this marketplace offers thanks to an IP67 rating, 700-day battery life, and UWB support.
Chipolo One
The Chipolo One is a small smart tracker that can easily fit into whatever use case you want, and it’ll look great thanks to the six bright colors it is available in. It works with any smartphone that has the Chipolo app installed.
Smart trackersare more popular than ever, especially since Apple introduced the AirTag in 2021. Samsung has been making trackers for just as long, and this year, it updated the lineup with theGalaxy SmartTag 2, which features a radical redesign over the original and more included features. But how does it stack up to other trackers, like the Chipolo One?
Price, availability, and specs
The Galaxy SmartTag 2 is available for $30 and can be bought directly from Samsung and select retailers. The Chipolo One is $25 and can be purchased directly from Chipolo and selected retailers.
The price difference is marginal, and the specs reflect that:
Design, build, and battery life
The Galaxy SmartTag 2’s design is quite a departure from the original. This slimmer design fits in better with keyrings and the like. Despite the less bulky design, this new generation lasts up to 700 days on a battery instead of the 300 the original model promised. It also sees an upgrade to its durability, rated at IP67 instead of IP53. That means the Galaxy SmartTag 2 should be able to survive rain and some immersion. The SmartTag 2 is available in either black or white, but a host of third-party accessories from companies like Spigen can add a splash of color.
The Chipolo One is a more traditional little puck, and it looks fantastic in all six of the vibrant colors available. Like the SmartTag 2, it promises around two years of battery life before replacing the battery. The plastics used are solid, but the SmartTag 2 looks and feels slightly better built. Sadly, the durability rating lags behind. Instead of an IP67 rating, the Chipolo One only has an IPX5 rating. That means it should hold up to rain and minor splashes, but there’s no rated dust protection.
The Galaxy SmartTag 2 has Bluetooth and UWB connectivity. If you have a smartphone with a UWB chip, like an S23 Ultra or Z Fold 5, you’re able to find its precise location when in range, with the phone able to tell you what direction the tracker is in and how far away.
The SmartTag 2 fits perfectly into Samsung’s ecosystem, which is both a strength and a weakness. On the plus side, it can report its location as long as any Samsung device is nearby, and given the size of Samsung’s market share, that’s a solid network. This comes at the cost of interoperability with other smartphone brands. If you own a Google Pixel, an iPhone, or anything else that doesn’t have the Samsung logo, you won’t be able to use the SmartTag 2.
The Chipolo One has inverted strengths and weaknesses. Any Android or iOS device can download the app, so it isn’t limited to Samsung devices. The downside is that it can only report its location if a phone or tablet with the Chipolo app installed is nearby, so there’s a much smaller network of devices here. It also lacks a UWB chip, so there’s no precise guidance when in range. Chipolo does have a new version of the One planned that will use Google’s upcoming Find My Device network once it launches. When that’s available, it’ll likely be a more attractive product.
Which should you buy?
The answer comes down to whether you own a Samsung phone or not. If you do, the Galaxy SmartTag 2 is one of the best smart trackers around today. The UWB support makes it easy to find when in range, and its ability to report its location across the network of nearly every Samsung smart device in the world means you’re far more likely to find this than the Chipolio One.
Benefits from integration with Samsung’s family of products
If you don’t use Samsung products, the Chipolo One is your only choice of these two trackers. It’s still a great little tracker, but suffers from a more limited device network. That’s set to change when the updated model launches alongside Google’s Find My Device network, allowing it to communicate with any modern Android device to report its location, Samsung phones included — but the version we’re talking about here, the one you’re able to buy today, is more limited.
Android or iPhone, this works with everything
