Tile puts replaceable batteries in its Mate and Sport trackers

Tile has more or less defined the category "personal object tracking" with its range of Bluetooth followers that you attach or attach to various items (such as house keys) to prevent them from being misplaced. By connecting these tags to an iOS or Android device, you can easily find your stuff by "ringing" them. However, the Achilles' heel of the devices is that they stop working because their batteries are not replaceable.

Now, Tile can say goodbye to this weakness. The Tile Mate and Tile Pro, announced this morning, have user replaceable batteries. (Tile retains its respective prices of $ 25 and $ 35 and will place orders today.)

The upgrade corrects the main problem that users will not have to buy a new tile every time they die. A watch battery (CR1632 or CR2032) now powers the tile and these are widely available. It is also better for the environment since each tile will not be ejected when the battery is discharged.

I met Simon Fleming-Wood, director of the Tile experience, and he told me that setting up a battery required several tests. Eventually, the team decided to incorporate a sliding door so as not to need a tool to open it and that the battery does not fall by accident. The battery in the box is guaranteed to last one year.

The range of audio and Bluetooth connectivity has also been improved. Both models have a louder speaker, and you can also customize the volume in the application. The Mate has a 150-foot connection, and the Pro now has a 300-foot range. Despite these three new features, the price remains the same and the devices are not bigger.

Along with the new hardware, Tile introduces a subscription service. Tile Premium is designed to provide peace of mind, dedicated support and better alerts. The service costs $ 2.99 per month or $ 29.99 for a full year. Subscribers will receive an automatic replacement battery before the end of the current battery, with the battery and shipping costs covered. They will also have a 30-day location history for each mosaic device (including third-party products). In addition to the traditional support by e-mail or by chat, they will also have a number to send by SMS.

Smart alerts, as well as battery replacement, are probably the most important benefit. You can now activate alerts to be notified if you leave your home without a specific mosaic. It always uses the same Bluetooth technology to track a mosaic, but in this case, you set up a geographical fence around your house. With this configuration, if you leave without your keys that have a Tile Mate on it, it can ping you. Fortunately, you can activate it for some mosaics because you may not want to take everything with you. Geofence is a beta feature for all premium users.

We will do a deep dive in Tile Premium, as well as in the new Mate and Pro, in a comprehensive report that will arrive soon.