Tile (Gen 2) Review

Editors' Note: The second-generation Tile is no longer available. Check out our reviews of the Tile Mate and the Tile Slim.

Few things are more infuriating than misplacing important items. Like, say, keys. Or a wallet. Or, heaven forbid, your phone. Enter the Tile, a white, square-shaped gadget that can help you find just about anything you've lost. We've already looked at the original Tile, back when it was iOS-only. The new, second-generation Tile works with Android devices as well, plus it comes with a few extra features that boost its usefulness. For example, you can now use it to find your lost phone. It still lacks a removable battery, so you'll have to buy a new one every year, but for $25 (or less if you buy in bulk), it's a great gadget for the absent minded.

Design
The Tile itself is a small and lightweight plastic square with rounded corners, measuring 1.45 by 1.45 by 0.24 inches (HWD) and weighing just a third of an ounce. A pinky-sized keychain hole can be found in the upper left corner, with a Tile logo inlaid on the front surface. The "e" in Tile is a hidden button you use to pair it with your phone of choice. The Tile works with Bluetooth 4.0 devices running Android 4.4 or higher and iOS 7 or higher. I paired a Samsung Galaxy S6 ($215.99 at Amazon) to the device using the sleek, well-designed Tile app with no problems.

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Features and Performance
To test the Tile, I recruited a lovely assistant to hide my Tile-attached keys somewhere in the large garden behind my Weehawken, NJ apartment. I went on a quest to find them using the free Tile app's proximity feature, which is a circle with eight sections; the more sections that light up, the closer you are to the Tile. Alternatively, you can tap the Find button and make the Tile beep a melodious little tune. I found my keys in a bird bath in a couple of seconds. On a second try, I found the Tile nestled in some potting soil in the ground beneath the leaves of a rhododendron plant. Unlike the first-generation Tile, I didn't notice much lag between my position and the proximity feedback the app showed me, so I was easily able to pinpoint the location of my keys thanks to the device's musical chirps.

While helpful, it would be great if the next iteration of Tile uses an adhesive surface or a similar solution so it can be used for more than just key rings. You can can certainly get creative with the Tile's loop hole, so long as you have strong-enough yarn and know how to tie a sailor's knot. Equipped with that, you should be able to attach the Tile to any number of things like bicycles, cars, or whatever else you can wrap it around.

Tile claims the device has a range up to 100 feet, which is about as far as you can go on a Bluetooth signal. Even though I was out of range at first while searching for my keys, the app quickly began searching for the Tile as soon as I got close enough to connect. For those with sensitive hearing, fear not: the tiny Tile is surprisingly loud. It lets out a 90-decibel tune to make sure you hear it, whether it's buried under laundry or buried beneath the dirt. It's about three times louder than the first-generation Tile. The new Tile is also water-resistant, rated IP5, so rain and splashes won't harm it, but don't take it for a swim.

Also new to the second-generation Tile, you can now find a phone within Bluetooth range by double-tapping the "e" button on the device. I rang my phone from about 100 feet away, to the dismay of my PCMag colleagues. The cool thing is, it can make the phone ring even when it's set to vibrate, which helps greatly improve your chances of finding it.

You can connect up to eight different Tiles to one account, and you can share access to your Tiles with other peoples' phones, too. This way, if your phone and/or Tiles go missing, you can use a trusted friend's phone to find them. A Tile-based community feature also allows strangers with the Tile app to anonymously ping your phone or lost Tile if it so happen to be in proximity. An alert will notify you if anyone has found your missing item.

Conclusions
The Tile's non-removable battery is said to last a year, and it will send you a reminder when it runs low. At that point, you will be offered the chance to order a new Tile. I wish it were possible to simply replace the battery like you can with any old wristwatch, but $25 a year doesn't seem like too steep a price if you've ever lost your phone before.

Battery quibbles aside, the Tile accomplishes its mission objective, which is to help you find the things you lost in a quick and efficient manner. It doesn't deliver notifications like the Simple Matters Ditto , but it only costs half the price, and it's a lot better at helping you find what you've lost. The Tile stays connected to your phone reliably, and the new second-generation model can find even help you find your phone itself should you ever happen to lose it. That should make it worth the price of admission for the forgetful.

Tile (Gen 2)

4.0

See It

$20.00 at Tile

MSRP $25.00

Pros

• Helps you find misplaced items.
• New Find Your Phone functionality.
• Small and lightweight.
• Simple, well-designed app.

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Cons

• Non-removable battery.
• Mainly for key rings.

The Bottom Line

The second-generation Tile improves upon the first with support for Android devices and the ability to find your lost phone, in addition to any other belongings you attach it to.