Some people are natural early birds; others need a quart of coffee, written directions, and a GPS just to get ready in the morning. Coffee is definitely one area where these poor souls have a lot of options.

Now, in what will surely be a great relief to them as well as those family members, carpool buddies, and colleagues who are always waiting on them, they can also have a GPS-like contraption to lead them to their phones, wallets, and car keys.

Has Anyone Seen My…

Ideally, you’ll always put all of these items down in the same place, but this isn’t always possible. You don’t want to keep a ton of junk in your pockets while relaxing at a friend’s house.

Small children love to fish interesting objects out of purses, too, and then suffer amnesia about the whole thing two minutes later. And honestly, morning me is not responsible for anything tired me did, including leaving my keys in the refrigerator for some reason.

This little gadget neatly solves all of these problems. Shaped either like a tag you can clip onto your keyring or a credit card to slip into your wallet, it pairs with your phone as well as Alexa and Google Assistant. When you can’t find something, simply use the app to make it emit a ringing tone.

Should your phone be missing, just tap the Tile and the phone will ring, assuming that the app is running and Bluetooth is enabled. There are also compact, waterproof sticker tags available to track items that can’t accommodate the regular Tile comfortably.

Not All Roses

Some similar products work by responding to a whistle or a handclap, but are often triggered by other sounds or don’t work in certain rooms or with some people.

Using Bluetooth is a much better idea, but of course comes with its own set of problems. Pairing a tag or sticker is pretty straightforward, but this does not mean that the 150 to 400 feet nominal range (depending on which model you’re using) should be taken at face value.

Then, there’s the question of price. These tags don’t come cheap, but then again you’ll presumably use them only for things that will cost you much more in terms of time and money to replace.

premiukm Finder

You can also choose a “Premium” version of the app, costing about $30/month. This, among other things, alerts you when you’re leaving something behind and can show you where it was last in contact with some tag. This sounds useful, but it feels a lot like paying for insurance – you’ll have to decide for yourself if a recurring fee is justified.

The tags also have no battery meter. These are supposed to last 3 years for the waterproof Sticker and 12 months in the case of the Tile, which has a replaceable battery. How reliable this estimate will be in your case depends on things like temperature and how frequently each has to connect to Bluetooth.