Google’s answer to Apple’s AirTag, the Google Pixel Tag, goes on sale starting Tuesday, allowing Android users to track items like their keys, wallet, or bag using their smartphone’s built-in Find Hub.
First announced in August, the $29.99 device takes cues from the AirTag and other lost-item finders by offering connectivitys Android device owners, including Pixel Watch wearers, locate their missing items using a combination of visual distance and directional guidance
Plus, the tag has a built-in speaker to play a chime that helps you locate your item if nearby. (Or, if you’ve lost your phone, you can press the button on the Pixel Tag twice to ring it, too.) You can choose between three different levels of loudness in the settings within the Find Hub, with the maximum volume around 80 decibels.
Though the Pixel Tag serves the same purpose as an AirTag, Google has opted for a different design. Instead of a small, round device, like Apple’s, the Pixel Tag is slimmer and more elongated.
Spec-by-spec, the Pixel Tag is 1.1-inches wide, compared to the AirTag’s 1.26 inches. As the Pixel Tag is oval-shaped, it’s 1.8-inches high from top to bottom. Thickness-wise, the Pixel Tag clocks in at a depth of 0.2 inches, compared with the AirTag’s 0.31 inches (which Apple calls its height). The slimness of the device might make it more appealing for some, particularly if they’re adding the tag to a small item, like a keychain.
The device weighs just 0.4 oz, with the battery included.
Unlike Apple, Google opted for a physical button you can press on the tag, which makes it more obvious how it’s meant to work.
Google didn’t originally say that the Pixel Tag included NFC when it announced the device in August. NFC is used by Apple’s AirTag to aid people who find lost items, as they can tap the side of the tag to launch a webpage that displays the owner’s contact information. Google uses the tap gesture to instead connect the user to the device’s settings.
Meanwhile, for lost items that are not nearby, the Pixel Tag relies on Google’s crowdsourced network of over a billion Android devices globally. The network, similar to competitive offerings from Apple and Tile, taps into the connectivity provided by other Android devices, which can identify and share the location of the lost item back to its owner. This location information is displayed on a map inside the Find Hub app.
While the person who found the item can’t tap it, as with NFC-enabled devices, Pixel Tags that are put into “Lost” mode will be able to share the owner’s email, number, and a short message so the person who finds the tag can contact you. When the tag comes back into range of the user’s phone, the item is automatically marked as found.
The Pixel Tag’s location can also be shared with up to 10 people in the Find Hub app, which could be useful for shared items like the family car keys, which multiple people might rely on.
Like AirTag, the Pixel Tag is powered by a user-replaceable coin cell battery (the CR2032), which makes the device reusable for the long term. (Google claims the device has up to one year of battery life to start.)
Meanwhile, the device itself is made from stainless steel and features IP67 water and dust resistance (maximum depth of 1 meter up to 30 minutes). It pairs with devices running Android 9 or newer
The Pixel Tag comes in two shades: silver and a pale green, and can be bought individually or in a four-pack for $99.99.
Alongside the launch, the company Bellroy is debuting its own keychain cases in a variety of colors and styles, which will also be sold on the Google Store.
Post updated after publication to note that the Pixel Tag now supports NFC, which was a surprise addition not mentioned at the time of its announcement.
