Tile puts replaceable batteries into its Mate and Sport trackers

Tile has more or less defined the “personal object tracking” category with its range of Bluetooth trackers that you clip or attach to various things (like house keys) to keep from misplacing them. By connecting these beacons with an iOS or Android device, you can easily find your things by “ringing” them. However, its Achilles’ heel of the devices is that they eventually stop working because their batteries aren’t replaceable.

Now Tile can say goodbye to that weakness. The Tile Mate and Tile Pro, announced this morning, have user-replaceable batteries. (Tile is keeping its $25 and $35 price points, respectively, and will kick off orders today.)

The upgrade fixes the main issue that users won’t have to buy a new Tile each time one dies. A watch battery (CR1632 or CR2032) now powers the Tile, and those are widely available. This is also better for the environment since every Tile won’t be thrown out when the battery dies. 

I met with Simon Fleming-Wood, the chief experience officer at Tile, and he told me that the implementation of a battery took several tries. Eventually, the team decided to incorporate a sliding door in way so you won’t need a tool to open it, and the battery won’t fall out by accident. The battery in the box is guaranteed to last for one year.

Sound and Bluetooth connectivity range has also been improved. Both models have a louder speaker, and you can also customize the volume within the app. The Mate has a 150-foot connection, and the Pro now has a range of 300 feet. Despite these three new features, the price stays the same, and the devices aren’t any bigger.

Along with the new hardware, Tile is introducing a subscription service. Tile Premium is meant to provide peace of mind, dedicated support, and better alerts. The service is $2.99 a month or $29.99 for a full year. Subscribers will get an automatic replacement battery to arrive before the current battery dies, with the battery and shipping cost covered. They’ll also get an 30-day  location history for each Tile device (including third-party products). In addition to traditional email or chat support, they’ll get a number to text as well.

Smart Alerts, along with the battery replacements, are probably the most significant benefit. You can now switch on alerts to be notified if you leave your home without a specific Tile. It still uses the same Bluetooth technology to track a Tile, but in this case, you set up a geofence around your home. With it set up, if you leave without your keys that have a Tile Mate on them, it can ping you. Luckily you can turn this on for select Tiles since you might not want to bring everything with you. The geofence is a beta feature for all premium users. 

We’ll be doing a deep dive into Tile Premium, as well as the new Mate and Pro, in a full review arriving soon.