Tile Sticker (2021) Review
A decent tracker with some minor issues
Verdict
The Tile Sticker generally performs its key function very well, helping you keep an eye on your possessions, so it’s just a shame that the chime is a little on the quiet side and that the battery is not replaceable.
Pros
- Slim and unobtrusive format
- Strong adhesive
Cons
- Battery is not replaceable
- Quiet chime sound
Availability
- UKRRP: £24.99
- USARRP: $29.99
- EuropeRRP: €29.99
- CanadaTBC
- AustraliaTBC
Key Features
- 76m Bluetooth rangeYou can ring the Tile device when its within 76m of your location
- Water and dust resistantThis tracker has an IP67 rating, so should be resistant to water and dust ingress
- Discreet sizeThis little tracker can be stuck to many objects without being noticeable
Introduction
Losing something important is an experience we have all been through, and one which American company Tile is attempting to resolve for good. The firm produces a range of Bluetooth trackers with form factors for every situation – enter the Tile Sticker.
This little dot is designed to stick discreetly to anything you might need to track, no matter what that might be. But the promise of never losing something important is a big one to make, does the Sticker make good on its potential?
Features
- Can stick to pretty much everything
- Has a very strong adhesive back
The Tile Sticker is at once smaller and more robust than might first be expected. At 27mm x 7.8mm it is certainly sufficiently petite to make good on the promise of sticking to virtually anything, so long as the intended surface is flat.
Once placed on a surface it is roughly thin enough to avoid being a nuisance, and it bonds quickly once the removable plastic film is taken off. Fully bonding takes around a day, and the adhesive used is very strong.
Pairing with a smartphone is simple too, once the app is fired up it takes a long press of the single button to initiate communication.
Following that, everything is good to go, for the most part. Though the fault couldn’t be replicated on either an iPhone 13 or on Android devices, on an iPhone 11 I found that the app would refuse to communicate with the Sticker. This may be an isolated issue, however it is concerning nonetheless.
The functionality here is the same as the other basic Tile trackers and it lacks the higher-end skills like UWB (ultra wideband for far more precise tracking that you’ll find on the AirTags. However, the Tile ecosystem is large with many users across the globe. During the review process, the Sticker did a good at accurately allowing me to find items and it’s great for some added security to bags and the like.
Another concern is the battery on the Sticker, which is non-user replaceable. Though it is rated for three years, once the adhesive is applied the Sticker can’t easily be removed from what it is attached to, meaning that it will likely be there for longer. Tile offers battery replacements if the user takes out a subscription, however the inability to do so makes this device fairly disposable. At a time when e-waste is only becoming a bigger concern, the stance taken here is unfortunate.
When activated the Sticker is loud enough to hear in quiet environments, when there is noise however the situation changes. If you have children running around and screaming, you won’t hear the Sticker playing.
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Should you buy it?
If you regularly mislay your devices, this is a handy tool that you can use to find them again.
The non-replaceable battery is an environmental concern, and you might struggle to hear the chime with noisy surroundings.
Final Thoughts
The Tile Sticker is a device designed around one sole use case: sticking to things and playing a sound on demand. On these merits, it is a success, being discreet and generally useful. It is a shame then that the battery cannot be replaced by the user, and that the chime played is a little more quiet than we might have liked.
If you are the kind of person who regularly loses the remote control for their TV, this might be a godsend. For anyone else, it will be occasionally useful but rarely essential.
How we test
Unlike other sites, we test every rechargeable battery we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Tested in real-world scenarios
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FAQs
The manufacturer claims that the battery will last for three years
Yes, it is rated at IP67
It is available in white or black
Jargon buster
IP rating
An abbreviation for ‘Ingress Protection Code’, which lets you know to what extent a device might be waterproof or dustproof.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
