PCMag supports Group Black and its mission to increase greater diversity in media voices and media ownerships. The Fi Smart Dog Collar tracks your pet's activity and location while offering unbeatable battery life. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. Nonetheless, the collar additionally has Wi-Fi and also Bluetooth modern technology. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. For $129 ($20 less than the original), you get the Fi Series 2 collar with a tracking unit attached, a charging base, a one-year warranty, and a 30-day GPS/LTE trial. The reason the Fi Collar needs to use a cellular network is because when your dog is lost, and out of reach of any Wi-Fi or owner's cell phone, it will use GPS to compute its location, and then use the LTE-M network to send that location to Fi systems (and your Fi App). Custom collars handmade to order from Biothane. We enjoyed the ability to see the specific route traveled during a walk (similar to human fitness apps). I think our solution is to get our pups an Apple Watch (or other reliable wearable with LTE). Check your email for magic link to sign-in. In the app, you can set a circular home "zone" as broad or confining as you prefer and request alerts when your dog leaves that area. In the Alert Settings menu, you can opt to get notifications via both push and text, or turn them off entirely. The only standout attribute is the GPS gadget. What follows is our review of a Series1 collar, along with reports of Series2 improvements from consumers in a Fi users group on Facebook, as well as from Fi. According to Fi, a collar that is always connected to its home base will last roughly three months before a charge, better than other smart collars. The Fi also uses your phone's Bluetooth connection as a safe zone, so if your dog is in Bluetooth range of the phone, it's considered safe. Input 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Im pretty disappointed in the Fi collar overall. In our test, Sabers reported step count was consistently close to double that of my steps, as reported by my FitBit. But! FEATURES. Ive emailed the company about this and they were so unhelpful. That functionality always felt like a gimmick to me regardless of whoever the collar manufacturer was. Thought of upgrading to series 3, but my friend's dog has one and the material construction is inferior plastic & jingles whenever he moves. In the Live tab, you'll see a card at the top showing your dog's current location, along with the tracker's battery level. All rights reserved. Typically that alert will also come with an address but if I click into the app, I can see exactly where he is thanks to the GPS and cellular antenna inside the collar, which updates the collars location every five minutes. Used to be good, fairly quick updates when my dogs left safe zone, location accurate on both iPhone & Android. Once the collar is out of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth range (such as when your dog is outside playing in the backyard, or with you on a walk when you don't have your phone), it uses GPS to acquire a location, and LTE-M, a low-power wide-area cellular network, to send the location to the app. To view your pet's task, simply click on feed' on the Fi application. We welcome your feedback. Under those circumstances, we'd expect similar if not better results from the Series 2. The Fi app also offers fun community features such as photo sharing with other Fi users, as well as activity rankings including overall, by breed, and within your state and city. The series 3 has be an extreme disappointment. Since fi 3 was released, neither of our fi 2 collars work as expected. If with the dog walker, Fi will notify you when your dog is picked up and returned. Whether or not you want that tap on the shoulder is up to you to decide. When they wander, I know where to find them. 10 million pet dogs are shed each year in the USA, and also only 15 percent of those without ID tags or integrated circuits ever before make it home. I don't know Bradley's actual birthday because he was a stray, but I adopted him on September 24, 2019, so I entered that date when setting up his account. Measuring about 1.4 by 2.6 by 0.5 inches (HWD), the actual tracker is about the size of a matchbox and thin enough not to bother my pooch. The signals of the LTE-M network reach about 30% farther than 3G, 4G, 5G, and LTE networks. -If you have good collar signal strength everywhere you go and are okay with rough estimates then this collar is for you. Yes The hardware however only lasts about a year, right when their warranty runs out. Ill post a 2 vs 3 review once the 3 shows up. Its slightly disappointing and seems to have false advertising but still does have a market. Hopefully, it helps prevent your dog from running off in the first place, but if they ever do escape, itll make it more likely whoever finds them can bring them safely home. It's the first dog collar to use the LTE-M cellular network, which reaches 30% farther than 3G/4G/5G/LTE. The Fi Smart Collar comes in four sizes (S, M, L, and XL); the smallest Fi fits a neck circumference as small as 111/2 inches (and is not recommended for tiny breeds). Fi Collar Series 2 From the menu in the upper right corner of this tab, you can edit and add Safe Zones, Wi-Fi networks, and charging bases, as well as invite other owners and dog walkers, adjust your alert settings, run a diagnostic test to ensure your collar is working correctly, and access Fi's useful Help Center. That kind of durability lets your buddy run free through the bush, water, and other . Tap the Edit Wi-Fi icon (looks like a pencil & paper) 5. Then an hour later I get a notification she is out without an owner?! The ability to monitor their step count to ensure they get sufficient exercise every day is a big bonus, and it gets me out the door too. It uses a base station for charging and creating a safe zone in your home, and will send an alert to your phone if your dog travels outside of it. To view the location on a map, just tap the Live card. I wish it was faster, but I tested against a Whistle 3, and the Fi generally came in first (though only by a few seconds). Finally, in the Profile tab, you can view and edit your pup's public Fi profile and access other settings. Setup in the app starts with creating a profile of your dog and attaching the base station to your home Wi-Fi. Enable Location Services: Why Does Fi Ask Me To Keep My Phone Location "Always On" vs. "When Using the App"? There's no web-based interface, so don't expect to check in on your pup's activity via desktop. Select your Safe Place 4. Ive tested the Fi 3 collar for a short time. All of your furry close friend's information will be readily available there for you. Fi explains that this is because the collar communicates with a low-power, wide-area LTE-M network every few minutes, but otherwise doesn't use the battery. In my tests, the fastest response I received after leaving the safe zone was around 3.5 minutes. A couple of times a day, Ill get a notification on my phone saying my partner took the dog for a walk, and if I check the app, Ill see both my dog and partner paired up together nothing to worry about. The first-generation model relied on Bluetooth alonevia the Fi charging base, your phone, or another designated owner's phonefor tracking your dog indoors, where GPS is unreliable. The Fi collar lasts a standard of three months on a single fee when in day-to-day use mode. Seems like a money grab to me. The 3 potential buyers: If I don't have the Series 2 then it's an expensive collar, maybe it's worth it but I'll look around elsewhere first to see what else there is. Reception is bad where I hike so miles are rarely tracked and steps are often very inaccurate. Finally, to activate the collar, you simply place it on the charging base. Out of cell range, the collar still tracks your dog's steps, but occasionally mileage is lost if Google Maps doesn't register the full distance. We wanted the Fi Collar to be as small and light as possible (which means small battery) - in order to comfortably fit on your dog - and to only connect to the cellular network when needed in order to save battery. Collar sizes range from S (13 inches) to XL (34.5 inches) and currently come in gray or bright yellow, though more colors are promised for the future (for $29 each). With this device, you can track your dog's location right on your phone using their app. Not great. When my battery life seemed too short, or my dogs were showing up in the woods behind my house even while not at home, Fi's customer service was exceptional and helped me troubleshoot. You can click on a dog's profile to see all their photos and follow them. With a GPS pet dog collar, you can take your pet dog's place right into your own hands. I keep reading about how it's on back order. Why Is It Important to Keep My Fi App Running at All Times? Good luck. It's such a great tool that we're sticking with it indefinitely. I never cared for the ability to track our walks to the exact inch or cared about how many steps he's taking. I would only use it if I was on a walk without a leash and then very minimal. A subscription gives you access to the full capabilities of your dog's Fi collar - allowing for remote access to your dog's location and activity. The collar, which has a GPS-enabled brick on a replaceable woven collar, pairs with Fi's app to show you where your dog is at all times. But it's community-focused and user-friendly with excellent battery life. I agree with a previous review that something on their backend is broken. Fi claims on its website that it provides the fastest, most accurate way to be notified when your dog escapes. We found it to be faster than the FitBark, but not nearly as fast as the Whistle Go Explore, which prompted an alert on the phone app within one minute of Sabers escape.. But at home or anywhere where you do have cell service, the accuracy has proven plenty accurate to track your pup down. I've continued to use Fi collar because of its reliability, the ability to track my dogs whether they are by my side or not, and the company's excellent customer service. A minimum of 4 satellites is required for any positioning, but often to get an accurate position a GPS receiver will need to see as many as 20 satellites with a clear line of sight! Tap the Human icon 2. can use the signals to determine their own location. We loved the series 1. Tap Confirm Whistle Fit or Health Devices: To add a new network: 1. Its also designed with an armored aluminum face plate and reinforced internal metal armor to help protect against gnashing teeth during bitey-face play. Why Is My App Showing "Searching For Network"? The collar literally saved my dogs life when he had his foot caught in a bear trap over a mile from home. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. Pair the collar with the charging base you plug in at home. The update is at best 60 SECONDS! It is absolute garbage when it comes to tracking, Ill give it a 8/10 for holding dog tags though. And the WiFi integration on the Series 2 collar is said to produce even better overall battery life. Its like your belt: A strap of fabric thats as much for show as it serves a practical purpose. Everyone's orders keep getting bounced due to supply chain issues, yet, everyone has been charged. Fi manufactures a selection of dog collars, which can do a couple of things. With around 290,000 steps at the time of this writing, Bradley ranks within the top 49% of Fi dogs overall, but is nowhere near the top of the pack: The current number one Fi dog, a Pembroke Welsh Corgi named Kuz Kuz, has more than four million steps! It also adds Wi-Fi support, which helps save battery life when your dog is outside the limited Bluetooth range of your phone or the Fi charging base, making it a better option for dogs who travel often and/or live in large houses. Thanks so much! I buy these collars because I want the peace of mind knowing that I can see where he is if he runs off or if he gets stolen. With an active subscription/membership, the Fi Collar uses AT&T's LTE-M cellular network and acts as its own cellular device. As long as you have an active subscription, the data is saved for comparison. It even activates an LED flashing light on the dog collar itself. Ryan Wilchelns / Input It starts by setting up the collar's "home". Since then, the tracker has been draining about 5% per day, which would give us around 20 days of juice. Advanced fitness systems, like GPS smartwatches, have their own cartographic data. Like it was a 10 minute drive to the nearest "town" and it only had a post office and a gas station. GPS is a global positioning system determined by a network of satellites that orbit the earth. The Series 2 can now withstand 300 lbs of pull force and directly connects to any Wifi Network - which saves energy and extends battery life. In the beginning glance, the Fi collar looks much like any various other dog collar. Create your pet's profile, select its breed (pure or mixed), weight, and age, and set a daily step goal. It isn't perfect with some of the other stuff it says it does but in my opinion it's not a deal-breaker.