Tile Sticker Review

Our Verdict

The Tile Sticker is a promising tracker that tin can attach to a wider assortment of objects than other Tile products. But its promise isn't every bit undecayed as what we've come to look from Tile.

For

Tin stick to a multifariousness of objects
Compact design
Ii-way find feature for phones
Waterproof

Against

Erratic functioning
Express range versus other trackers
Alert tin can be difficult to hear

Tom's Guide Verdict

The Tile Sticker is a promising tracker that can adhere to a wider assortment of objects than other Tile products. Merely its promise isn't as undecayed as what we've come to expect from Tile.

Pros

+
Can stick to a diverseness of objects
+
Compact design
+
Ii-style find characteristic for phones
+
Waterproof

Cons

-
Erratic operation
-
Limited range versus other trackers
-
Warning tin be hard to hear

Tile'south key finders are first-class solutions for when you're tracking things you tin latch on to — say, a set of keys. But for objects with smoother surfaces, y'all don't have many options for connecting a traditional Tile tracker.

That's where the $40 Tile Sticker comes in. It has the same functionality as the Tile Pro and Tile Mate key finders, simply it'south packed into a circular tracker with an adhesive dorsum, then you can stick information technology onto apartment surfaces. That makes the Tile Sticker ideal for tracking things like laptops, tablets, luggage, passports and annihilation else that otherwise tin't hook up with the loops on the Mate or the Pro.

Information technology's a good thought in theory, but in practice, the Tile Sticker very much comes across as a brand-new production without the polish of Tile's more established key finders, which unremarkably rank high in our best key finder picks.

Tile Sticker specs

Price	$40
Size	1.ane ten 0.28 inches
Listed range	Upwardly to 150 feet
Tested range	Up to seventy feet (30 to 40 feet on average)
Water resistance?	Yes
Battery	Not replaceable (3 year bombardment life)
Colors	Blackness

Tile Sticker: Design and features

The Tile Sticker is the smallest device in the Tile family — a picayune less than one.1 inches in circumference and a little more 0.28 inches tall. Stack 4 quarters on top of each other, and you've pretty much re-created the size of the all-black tracker.

A design that compact doesn't leave a lot of room for a replaceable battery, and as a result, yous can't replace the one that powers the Tile Sticker. Tile says the device should last three years, which, coincidentally, is likewise how long the adhesive back developed by 3M is supposed to final. Information technology sticks to some surfaces meliorate than others — the Sticker has stayed in place on my passport, but I had less luck with my gym bag when the Sticker hit the side of a locker and came flying off.

On some objects, the Tile Sticker fits right in — it blends seamlessly with my gym bag (at to the lowest degree when information technology stayed on). But on objects with a more distinct pattern — a sleek MacBook Air, for example — it's like slapping a very noticeable black knob onto something. Some people won't heed the aesthetic trade-off, only to me, information technology sticks out like a pimple on some objects. The adhesive on the Sticker isn't built for detaching and reattaching, and then in one case you've stuck information technology onto something, you accept to go out information technology at that place.

Normally, I don't address the setup process for Tile's cardinal finders when I review the visitor's products, because it's extremely painless. But on every Sticker I set — and I've tried out four of them — I kept running into an result where the Tile app (Android, iOS) would recognize the Sticker, only to immediately declare that it was out of range, even with the Sticker sitting nearby. Quitting and relaunching the app unremarkably fixed the upshot, but that'due south not something I've needed to practice with any other Tile tracker. It'southward a minor annoyance, only it speaks to the general lack of smoothen I experienced with the Sticker.

Tile Sticker: How it performs

It may be smaller than other Tile devics, just the Tile Sticker offers the same features. Printing the tiny Tile logo on the Sticker twice, and yous can launch a ii-mode discover feature that makes your telephone play a tune to make it easier to find. From the Tile app, you can besides make the Sticker buzz, helping you track down any object you lot've attached the device to.

Tile concedes that the warning on the Tile Sticker isn't every bit loud as what y'all'll find on other devices. I constitute it very difficult to hear the alarm, fifty-fifty nether ideal circumstances. When I buried the Sticker in a pile of laundry, I could hear the alarm but when I was in the same room. The Sticker on my gym bag was audible from within my closet when I was 25 feet away in my dining room, only only barely. Out in a public park, I had a difficult time hearing the Sticker as I got more than than 40 feet away from the device.

You tin expect less range from the Sticker than from other Tile key finders. In my testing, I got upwards to 70 anxiety from the Sticker before losing my connectedness. Even so, distances of xxx to 40 feet were more typical. Regaining a connection was inconsistent; sometimes I could walk 15 anxiety before reconnecting with the Sticker, and other times, I needed to be right virtually the device for it to reappear in the app.

I should note that one Sticker I tested stopped working entirely subsequently less than a week of use. First, the alarm would piece of work only sporadically, and so it would drop connections repeatedly. It'south currently marked as lost, even though I'm holding the Sticker next to my iPhone. The other iii Stickers I've used have worked without whatever like problems, and so chances are, I only happened to get 1 lemon. But information technology'due south not something I've experienced in 4 years of testing Tile'due south dissimilar trackers.

Tile has a Premium service that costs $iii a month or $30 annually. You don't actually need the service to go a lot of use out of Tile's trackers. So unless features similar location history and smart alerts appeal to you, I'd requite Tile Premium a pass. (Smart alerts could be useful, but the notifications that appear when you get out a preset location without your Tile Sticker in tow don't announced apace enough to be of much use. The Chipolo One, in contrast, delivers much more useful out-of-range alerts, and that feature is part of the key finder's $25 price.)

Lesser line

The Tile Sticker has a lot of promise, particularly if you'd like to see the functionality of Tile's other trackers in a device that tin attach to a wider range of objects. The agglutinative coating on the back of the Sticker gets the job done, and Tile packed a lot of functionality into a very compact design that stays out of the way, at least when fastened to well-nigh objects.

Just the alarm needs to be louder, and the performance needs to be more dependable. The Sticker does a solid job at everything but the tracking part, and that's what Tile has to ameliorate most on hereafter versions.

Philip Michaels is a senior editor at Tom'southward Guide. He has strong opinions nearly Apple, the Oakland Athletics and old movies. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.