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Reliable and rechargeablePebblebee Card Universal
The Pebblebee Card Universal is a wallet-sized tracker that works with both Google’s new Find My Device and Apple’s Find My networks. However, despite the name, it no longer supports the company’s own tracking network. A rechargeable battery gives it unique longevity, but with 18 months on a single charge, you’ll rarely have to worry about it.
Pros- Rechargeable battery with 18-month life
- Quick and easy to set up and use
- IPX6 water resistance
Cons- Slightly thicker
- No ultra-wideband (UWB) support
- Held back by Google’s Find My Device network
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Slim and convenientChipolo Card Point
Chipolo’s Card Point is the tracking company’s Android-specific entry, solely supporting Google’s new Find My Device network. The slim design fits easily in any wallet or bag, although you’ll need to recycle it when the battery runs out in a couple of years.
Pros- Slim designs fits most wallets
- Quick and easy to set up and use
- Two-year battery life
Cons- No user-replaceable battery
- No ultra-wideband (UWB) support
- Google’s Find My Device network hampers performance
Bluetooth-based tracking tags have been around in various forms for over a decade. Tile released its first tags in 2013, but it wasn’t until Apple debuted its AirTags three years ago that the idea became mainstream.
In what was likely an attempt to head off antitrust controversy, Apple debuted a semi-open Find My Network and invited other manufacturers to the party a few weeks before it announced its own AirTags. It wasn’t long before Google announced similar plans, and after a false start earlier this year, the Android-based Find My Device network finally launched in April.
Thanks to prior experience with Apple’s network, many of the best smart tags were ready to go only a few weeks later. Chipolo, one of Apple’s first Find My partners, released its Point lineup in May, which was quickly joined by Pebblebee’s Tag for Android and Card for Android. These two brands have become the gold standard of wallet-based trackers for iPhone users, so they’re a welcome addition to Google’s Find My Devices network. Let’s dig in and see how they compare.
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Price, availability, and specs
The Pebblebee Card was launched earlier this year in an Android-specific version alongside its original Card for Apple’s Find My network. The company has since discontinued its platform-specific versions in favor of “Universal” versions that work with both platforms. The Pebblebee Card Universal costs $35 directly from Pebblebee and can also be found at other retailers like Amazon and Best Buy. It comes only in black.
Chipolo’s Card Point remains an Android-specific solution and sells for the same $35 from Chipolo, Amazon, and Best Buy. It comes in off-white, which is how the company distinguishes it from the black Chipolo Card Spot that’s designed for Apple users.
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Pebblebee Card Universal
- Material
- Plastic
- Connectivity
- Bluetooth
- Battery
- Rechargeable, Up to 18 months per charge
- Range
- Up to 500 feet
- Water Resistance
- IPX6
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Chipolo Card Point
- Material
- Plastic
- Connectivity
- Bluetooth
- Battery
- 2 years, internal battery
- Range
- 200 feet / 60m range to play sound
- Water Resistance
- IPX5
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Review: Pebblebee’s new Universal trackers still aren’t right for Android users
Pebblebee has given up on its network
Read our Review
Chipolo Card Point review: A smart tag to keep your wallet in check
Why on earth doesn’t Apple make an AirTag in the shape of a credit card?
Design
Just like two thicker credit cards
As you might expect from two products named “Card” that are designed to fit in your wallet, the Pebblebee Card Universal and Chipolo Card Point have a credit card-sized footprint but are about four times thicker to make room for the battery and other electronics inside.
That’s still pretty impressive considering what these two devices are capable of — and the fact that both offer battery life measured in months. The Chipolo One Point is slightly thinner, at 2.4mm, compared to the Pebblebee’s 2.8mm. However, the One Point uses a built-in non-replaceable battery, while Pebblebee’s is rechargeable with a pogo pin connector for attaching the included USB-C charger and a five-LED indicator to indicate the battery level.
If it matters for something that will likely remain hidden in your wallet or bag most of the time, the One Point comes only in off-white, while the Card Universal has a black finish.
Chipolo’s card features an IPX5 rating, making it splash-resistant but unsuitable for taking a dunk. Pebblebee’s card gets a slightly better IPX6 rating that will protect it against higher-pressure water jets, but it’s still unsuitable for immersion. These ratings are disappointing, considering they’re both sealed units without removable batteries. Still, they should be okay for most activities, and both will work fine when sealed inside a waterproof bag or pouch.
Performance
Google’s network needs some serious improvements
The Pebblebee Card Universal and Chipolo Card Point have strong Bluetooth radios, but sadly, those aren’t enough when the network used to locate them isn’t up to snuff. Since both companies have shown their prowess with Apple’s Find My network, it’s clear that Google is the real problem. The company has made some unfortunate decisions in how it has rolled things out.
Perhaps wary from the scads of bad press around Apple’s AirTags being used by amateur stalkers, Google decided to limit its Find My Device network for “privacy reasons.” By default, it works only in high-traffic areas, meaning that several Android devices are needed to find any tag that’s running on Google’s network before its location gets reported.
We can see how that may help prevent a device from being used to stalk someone — a location won’t be reported if the only device in range belongs to a potential victim — but it makes it considerably less helpful for finding your stuff. That’s not just because a critical mass of devices is required before a location is reported (Google hasn’t disclosed an actual number beyond “multiple”), but because it results in an aggregate location that’s often woefully inadequate.
To help things along, Google’s algorithm doesn’t require multiple devices to triangulate a tracker by pinging it simultaneously. They merely have to pick up its location within a reasonably short time of each other. This means you end up with an “average” location. In our testing, that was often as wide as a 250-meter circle, even in relatively dense and commercial areas where dozens of Android devices should have been picking our devices up. In a typical urban center, that can encompass a lot of coffee shops, restaurants, and other venues where you may have left your wallet or bag behind.
This “high-traffic” setting is only one of two modes, but the problem is that it’s the default. The strength of a crowdsourced item tracking network is that devices help find lost items, even when their owners aren’t aware of it. That’s why Apple’s AirTags quickly surpassed Tile tags since the latter are only findable by others who have the Tile app installed. Tile’s acquisition by Life360 has dramatically improved its reach, but the trackers can still only be found by those who have the app installed. That’s estimated to be around 70 million devices, plus those on Amazon’s Sidewalk network. However, it’s still a tiny fraction of the 1.5 billion iPhones out there, hundreds of millions of which can report the location of an AirTag or other Find My-enabled device.
Google’s Find My Device network promised even greater reach, as the number of Android devices wandering the globe is an order of magnitude larger. It also works as far back as Android 9, which gives it a retroactive three-year head start on Apple’s network, which requires iOS 14.5 or later.
Sadly, Google’s overabundance of caution has forced it to squander what could have been an incredible leap ahead of Apple to become the largest crowdsourced item-tracking network on the planet. Few Android users will even think of manually opting into the “in all areas” setting that would make Google’s network work as well as Apple’s, which uses this behavior by default on every iPhone and iPad released in the last few years.
All this is to say that Pebblebee and Chipolo are in the same boat as every other tracker that relies on Google’s Find My Device network. Every Android Bluetooth tracker will be hampered by these settings, as it’s entirely up to Android phones to pick them up and report their locations according to Google’s rules. This means that both response time and precision will suffer greatly no matter which tracker you’re using.
Despite the “Universal” moniker, Pebblebee’s Card no longer supports the company’s own app and tracking network, which suggests the company is likely planning to sunset in the near future. We’re not sure if that’s relevant in a world where Apple and Android offer much larger networks, but it’s worth mentioning for those considering upgrading from an older Pebblebee device. Chipolo’s tags have always been network-specific, so the Card Point is Android-only; the company sells an entirely different model for those who want to use its own app.
Battery life
One is rechargeable, the other is disposable
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that neither of these thin, card-sized trackers offers user-replaceable batteries. Unlike the Chipolo One Point tag, there’s simply no room to fit one in.
However, Pebblebee and Chipolo take entirely different approaches to battery management. The Pebblebee Card Universal has a rechargeable cell that promises 18 months of battery life. That’s long enough that the greater concern might be forgetting where you stored the charger.
By comparison, Chipolo’s Card Point is effectively disposable once its two-year battery life is up. With the company’s Recycle and Renew program, a replacement card is only half-price if you send your old card in for recycling. It’s an additional expense and hassle, but it’s designed to let you order a new one before sending the old one back, so you don’t have to live without it. Plus, the “replacement” is whatever Chipolo is selling in that product line at the time, so you could end up with an upgrade.
Which is right for you?
In the iPhone world, the Chipolo Spot Card and Pebblebee Card are the best wallet-based trackers you can buy. Their reputation had many Android users excited when the two products announced support for Google’s Find My Device network. Sadly, the reality has been much more complicated, and that’s entirely the result of Google’s design choices.
The good news is that these are entirely software problems — and they exist on the Android side, not in Pebblebee’s or Chipolo’s firmware. We remain hopeful that Google will improve its Find My Device network to address these issues and make it more useful.
If you’re similarly optimistic and willing to live with the current limitations while waiting for Google’s network to improve, Pebblebee and Chipolo still make the two best wallet card trackers you can buy. Both are good choices, but the Pebblebee Card Universal edges Chipolo out here thanks to its rechargeable battery. It also offers equal compatibility with Apple’s Find My network should you ever decide to change sides or hand it off to an iPhone-toting friend or family member.
Pebblebee Card Universal
Longevity despite network limitations
The Pebblebee Card Universal has better staying power than most wallet trackers thanks to its 18-month rechargeable battery. However, it’s sadly held back by the state of Google’s Find My Device network.
Nevertheless, Chipolo’s Card Point is a great alternative, especially if you can find it at a lower price. You’ll be locked into the Android ecosystem with it, but that’s not a bad thing. And while you’ll have to recycle it in a couple of years, you’ll get a half-price upgrade to the latest model.
Chipolo Card Point
Good, slightly slimmer alternative
The Chipolo Card Point suffers from the same limitations as other Google Find My Device trackers right now, and you’ll have to replace it every two years when the battery runs out, but its slightly slimmer design makes it a bit more versatile.
