Review – this winter, my gloved hands, dark skies and a noisy snow blower meant I didn’t know I was dropping my keys. With the Chipolo One Bluetooth Tracker, I could have known that they had been lost and I would have had help to find them. Now I have to check one out. Read on to see what I think!

What is it?

The Chipolo ONE is the recent Bluetooth Tracker of Fob type from Chipolo. The Chipolo ONE uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to establish a virtual connection between a mobile device and the Tracker. While the mobile device and the Tracker have established a Bluetooth connection, the mobile device can be used to trigger a piezoelectric buzzer in the Tracker to play a song. The device can also be used for the mobile device to play a sound as long as there is a BLE connection between the devices. If the BLE connection is lost, the Tracker and the mobile device can optionally warn that the connection has been lost and that a device has been “left behind”.

I have already reviewed the Chipolo Plus Bluetooth Tracker and I have made several comparisons with the Chipolo plus in this review.

What’s in the box?

• Chipolo Tracker
• Instructions for use
• Technical Specifications
• Material specifications

Safety requirements

iOS devices (from Version 10.0) with Bluetooth 4.0.
Android devices (Version 5.0 and above) with Bluetooth 4.0.
List of supported devices, available at www.chipolo.net/devices
Structure and functions

Unboxing

The Chipolo ONE comes in a matchbox-style cardboard box. The top of the inner box is covered with instructions and specification brochures wrapped in a cardboard lid. The Chipolo is certainly surrounded by a foam packaging. The Chipolo plus comes with a keychain, but the Chipolo ONE does not include a ring.

Material

The Chipolo ONE is similar in size, function and appearance to the Chipolo plus, but the design has been redesigned to offer the possibility of changing the battery. The Chipolo ONE has a printed circuit soldered into a flexible plastic shell, similar to the design of the Chipolo plus, but the new Chipolo ONE also has an external battery compartment held by the edges and protected from torsion by four teeth that fit on the back.

The lid has a soft seal, similar to styrene. The battery is the only thing exposed, but the circular outline of the buzzer is visible when the battery cover is off. You can see it under the font on the black half. It does not seem larger than the one used on the Chipolo plus, but it is rated at 120 dB against 100 dB. Personally, I never thought that the sound would be four times louder when comparing the two. Chipolo rebuilt the buzzer connector of the Chipolo to remove a slot on the side of the disc instead of the large flat side where it was on the Chipolo plus. This design can reduce the risk of jamming the joint, since the shape of the unit is flatter on the flat side than on the round edge.

From the pictures below, it seems that the plastic absorbs some scratches and scuffs. I also noticed that the tile trackers used my keys to record traces of wear scratches. I usually carry my keys in my front pocket. In almost three weeks of use, I have never had the Tracker that accidentally made my phone play its tune “Find me”. Even if the Tracker is held between the buttons, it was not accidentally triggered.

The Chipolo ONE is not 100% waterproof, but it shouldn’t fail just because it gets wet. In fact, I bet my keychain would stop working before this Tracker did.

It is available in yellow, red, blue, green, white and black.

Configuration

The Chipolo ONE is ready to use, but the configuration with your phone is still necessary. Note that the mobile application you use to connect your Chipolo to your phone only works on iOS and Android mobile devices. Pairing the Chipolo with the mobile is easy because you press a button in the application and press the Chipolo when prompted.

You can rename the tag to which it is attached. It helps when used in combination with the Google Assistant on Android or the Alexa app. Instead of asking Google or Alexa to find your chip, you can ask these services to find your keys, wallet or whatever you track.

You can also change the image icon to one of the following options:

Another option is to set out-of-range alerts. I think the idea behind this is that the application is supposed to warn you if the Signal between the mobile and the tracked item is bad or lost, and this should give an indication that the item has been left behind. I’ve gotten mixed results with this and it’s definitely something I would expect to see more tweaks and customizations available. The implementation I see is that the function only works when the connection is interrupted, but this may go too far for some elements. It would be great to be able to adjust the alarm threshold of the signal and how long the Signal is at this level before a notification occurs. Even if it was an “advanced setting”, it would be great to see.

It is also possible to share the Chipolo between different users. This feature allows several mobile devices to connect to the Chipolo one by one and several users to monitor the location of the beacon.

The third main feature of the Chipolo ONE is that the device can be programmed to play different melodies when activated. There are seven options – about half are melodies, and half are trills. The melodies are all Christmas themed, and I decided to let Deck The Halls play because it has the longest notes as part of the melodies and is easier to hear on other sounds. There is also a Morse code Version that spells Chipolo.

The last important feature is that the Chipolo can be used as a Bluetooth remote shutter release for your cell phone camera. The images are taken in the Chipolo application and have dimensions different from the native dimensions of the device.

The Chipolo ONE supports some of the same features as the Chipolo plus. This includes the ability to find the Tracker and the phone with which it is paired on the Internet at https://app.Chipolo.net/signin . when you mark a lost item using the application or on the Internet, anyone running the Chipolo application can be an access point to find a lost Chipolo. When the lost Chipolo establishes a Bluetooth connection with a phone running the Chipolo application, the owner is informed of the approximate location of his lost Bluetooth beacon.

Power

I tested the range of the key by dropping it outside and saw how far I could hear it and how far the BLE connection was. I dropped my keys on the side of the road and started using the Chipolo app at a normal pace. I could say that the connection was interrupted at 205 feet. I stepped back about 10 feet and the connection was restored. I started playing the sounds on the Finder, but I couldn’t hear them until I was about 130 feet away. The line of sight BLE connection was much stronger than the Chipolo plus, which was tested under the same conditions (but with a different phone).

Final Thoughts

The Chipolo ONE and its competitors could soon find fierce competition from Apple if the rumors are true. The ultimate success of these trackers in the market will be how each implementation will meet all the needs of the buyer. At the moment, Chipolo ONE meets most of my needs. A more waterproof or rugged device with a better out-of-reach fit would be great, but for now, I’m glad I kept my keys in the driveway and where I know they’re safe.