[NJTechDiv] Fwd: [tech-vi Announce List] Tractive GPS Dog LTE Tracker Review | PCMag

[Mario Brusco]

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From: David Goldfield [mailto:david.goldfield at outlook.com]
Subject: [tech-vi Announce List] Tractive GPS Dog LTE Tracker Review | PCMag
Date: Monday, May 9, 2022, 7:17 AM
To: List <tech-vi at groups.io>
Tractive GPS Dog LTE Tracker Review | PCMag

https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/tractive-gps-dog-lte-tracker?taid=62741043243f5b0001b670b0&utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter 



   Tractive GPS Dog LTE Tracker Review

https://i.pcmag.com/imagery/reviews/01Q1IUZAIKa82d6kDzfRGmW-1.fit_scale.size_760x427.v1647014013.jpg

If you're in the market for a GPS pet tracker
<https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-pet-trackers-and-gps-dog-collars>, 
you probably want one that informs you as quickly as possible of your 
pet's escape. The $49.99 Tractive GPS Dog LTE Tracker offers the fastest 
escape alerts of any tracker we've tested, in a convenient design that 
securely attaches to your dog's existing collar with a rubber clip. We 
also like that a Basic subscription, which includes live location, 
activity, and sleep monitoring, is more affordable than you get with 
competitors. Although its battery life could be longer and we'd like to 
see more health and social features, the Tractive still offers top-notch 
GPS tracking for a resonable price, earning it our Editors' Choice award.


     Tractive vs. Fi Series 2

Tracktive sells two versions of its GPS and LTE pet tracker, one for 
dogs and one for cats, each of which costs $49.99 plus subscription 
fees. Both are IPX7 
<https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/dust-resistant-waterproof-making-sense-of-gadget-ratings> 
waterproof, shock resistant, and promise up to one week of battery life 
depending on usage. The canine version is meant for dogs that weigh at 
least 8.8 pounds; it's a better option for small pups than the Fi Smart 
Dog Collar Series 2 
<https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/fi-smart-dog-collar-series-2>, which has 
a minimum weight recommendation of 10 pounds.

You Can Trust Our Reviews

Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you 
make better buying decisions. (Read our editorial mission 
<https://www.pcmag.com/about/pcmagcom-mission-statement>.)
Tractive box

(Photo: Angela Moscaritolo)

Tractive offers two subscription options: Basic ($12 per month, $84 per 
year, or $120 every two years) and Premium ($96 per year, $144 every two 
years, or $300 every five years). Both plans include GPS tracking (in 
intervals between two and 60 minutes), unlimited Live tracking (in 
intervals between two and three seconds), and activity and sleep 
monitoring. The Premium plan also includes family and public sharing, 
worldwide coverage (in 175 countries), one year of location history, GPS 
data exports, and premium customer service. Fi charges $99 per year for 
its subscription plan.

For this review, the company sent me the canine tracker and set me up 
with a Premium account. I tested it with the help of my dog Bradley, a 
61-pound pit bull.


       Similar Products

4.0

Excellent


       Fi Smart Dog Collar Series 2

4.0

Excellent


       Whistle GO Explore

4.0

Excellent


       Apple AirTag

The dog tracker is slim and lightweight, measuring about 1.10 by 2.81 by 
0.75 inches (HWD) and weighing 1.2 ounces. It comes in navy blue, tan, 
or white, tan. Tractive's dog tracker is a bit thicker than the Fi 
Series 2 (1.4 by 2.6 by 0.5 inches, 1.4 ounces), but is still small 
enough that it doesn't seem to bother Bradley at all.

Tractive and Fi tracker side profiles

Top to bottom: Tractive, Fi Series 2 (Photo: Angela Moscaritolo)

The tracker attaches to your dog's collar (up to 1.1 inches wide) with a 
bright blue flexible rubber clip, so you shouldn't worry about it 
falling off. The Fi comes with a one-inch-wide collar that attaches to 
the tracker with metal clips. It's interchangeable, but only with 
Fi-compatible accessory bands <https://shop.tryfi.com/accessories> that 
start at around $29. The Fi seems a bit more durable because of its 
metal clips, armored aluminum faceplate, and superior IP68 rating.

The Fi also has an advantage when it comes to battery life; it can last 
up to three months on a charge (if your dog stays at home all the time). 
That said, my Tractive unit exceeded the company's seven-day battery 
life estimate in testing, even though my dog is highly active. The 
tracker's rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery drained at a rate of 
about 7% per day, whereas the Fi's battery drained slightly slower at a 
rate of around 5% per day. After one full week of use, the Tractive 
still had more than 40% battery life left.

Tractive on a dog

(Photo: Angela Moscaritolo)

In terms of reliability, both products accurately track your pet's 
location, but the Tractive model sent escape alerts a bit quicker (I 
discuss this in more detail a bit later).

Both products track your pet's activity and sleep, and feature 
leaderboards so you can see how your pet stacks up against others. Fi 
tracks more health metrics than Tractive, however, including your pet's 
steps, distance traveled, and sleep interruptions. Its app is also more 
social, with a Discover tab that's basically Instagram for dogs, a 
feature you won't find on Tractive.


     Setting Up the Tractive GPS Dog LTE

GPS pet trackers can be a bit confusing to configure, but Tractive's app 
does a good job of walking you through the process. Start by charging 
the tracker via the USB cable that comes in the box. When charging, the 
indicator light shines red, and when it reaches a full charge, the light 
turns green. Tractive says to charge the device for at least two hours 
before using it for the first time. In the quick start guide, Tractive 
also cautions that a fast charger can damage the battery.

Tractive inside the box

(Photo: Angela Moscaritolo)

Note that the tracker turns on while it is charging, and stays on until 
you turn it off. To turn it on or off, press and hold the small silver 
power button on the side.

To check your tracker's status, quickly press the power button. The 
light blinks twice in either green (OK) or red (not connected) depending 
on the connection status. The first blink indicates its network status, 
and the second reveals its GPS status. If it blinks green twice, that 
means the network and GPS are both working.

Tractive charging

(Photo: Angela Moscaritolo)

While waiting for it to charge, download the Tractive GPS app (available 
for Android and iOS) and create an account. You can sign in with your 
email, or with an Apple, Google, or Facebook account. In addition to the 
app, you can sign in on Tractive's website to track your pet from your 
computer.

The app asks for permission to use Bluetooth, access your location, and 
send you notifications when your pet leaves or enters the Virtual Fence 
and when the tracker's battery is low. To activate your tracker and pair 
it with the app, simply enter the eight-character ID on the back of the 
device.

To complete the process, select a subscription plan, create a profile 
for your pet, and install any software updates. You must have an active 
subscription to use your Tractive device. If you purchased a plan when 
buying the tracker, you should have a prepaid activation code in your email.

Tractive app

When setting up an account for your pet, the app asks for its name, type 
(dog, cat, or other), breed, birthdate (I had to make an educated guess 
because Bradley was a stray), gender, weight, and height. You can 
optionally add a photo. For the height, the app instructs you to measure 
from the floor to the highest spot on your pet's shoulder blades. The 
app requires your pet's height, weight, and birthdate for activity 
monitoring.


     Using Tractive to Find Your Pet

If you have multiple pets, you can view their locations simultaneously 
in the Tractive GPS app, but you need a separate tracker and 
subscription plan for each one. The Tractive GPS app is well designed 
and easy to use, with the following tabs on the bottom: Map, History, 
Activity, Profile, and Account.

The Map tab serves as the home screen. Here, you can track your animal's 
location, enable Live and Find modes, check the tracker's battery life 
and GPS signal, and change the map settings.

When the device is on, tracking is always enabled. The map shows your 
pet's location and the time of the last update. By default, Tractive 
updates the location between every two and 60 minutes, depending on your 
pet's movement. If your pet isn't moving around much, the tracker won't 
update as frequently to save battery life.

Tractive app

If your dog wanders away, Live mode lets you track their every move. 
Just tap the blue Live button and Tractive updates your pet's GPS 
location every few seconds. Their real-time position is illustrated as a 
blue line on the map. Just keep in mind that Live mode drains the 
battery much quicker than the default tracking mode. To save battery, 
Live tracking automatically turns off after five minutes, but you can 
adjust this duration in the Profile tab.

Find mode can help you locate your pet in places with a weak GPS signal. 
When your phone is within Bluetooth range of the tracker, a pet icon 
appears above the Live button; tap it and a blue bullseye appears around 
your pet's profile photo. As you get closer to your pet, more of the 
rings turn blue.

The Tracker features a small LED light and can ring an audible alarm, 
both of which you can enable alongside Live and Find modes to help you 
locate your pet.

Tractive app

To extend battery life, Tractive lets you connect the tracker with up to 
five Wi-Fi networks in safe spaces where your pet spends a lot of time, 
like at home or a pet day care. When your pet is in one of these Power 
Saving Zones, you see a small Wi-Fi icon next to their profile photo on 
the map. The Fi Smart Dog Collar offers a similar feature, but lets you 
connect to up to six networks at a time.

In Power Saving Zones, the Live tracking feature isn't available and the 
device no longer reports your pet's GPS location. Instead, it checks 
every few minutes to make sure your pet is still within range of that 
trusted Wi-Fi network. When your pet leaves that zone, the tracker 
automatically switches to tracking via GPS and gives you the option to 
activate Live tracking, if necessary.

Tractive app

Tractive also lets you create Virtual Fences and alerts you when your 
pet wanders away from these areas. To set one up, go to Profile > 
Tracker > Virtual Fences > Add Virtual Fence. You can create up to five 
Virtual Fences, and label them as either a Safe Zone or No-Go Zone. When 
your pet leaves or enters the perimeter of a Virtual Fence, you and 
anyone with whom you have shared the tracker receive a notification.

Tractive Virtual Fences can be circular, rectangular, or a custom shape. 
Circular ones can have a minimum radius of 150 feet and rectangular ones 
can be as small as 350-by-350 feet. The company doesn't specify a 
minimum size for custom-shaped fences, but the app lets you know if it's 
too small to provide accurate notifications. The Fi Series 2, by 
comparison, lets you set up circular Safe Zones with a radius as small 
as 60 feet, and polygon-shaped ones with a minimum area of 11,309 square 
feet.

Tractive app

In testing, Tractive reliably sent a notification to my phone when 
Bradley exited and entered a Safe Zone. The tracker typically took about 
one minute to deliver an alert in those cases; that's at least a full 
minute faster than the Fi Series 2, which usually took anywhere from two 
to three minutes to send an escape alert in testing. The Whistle Go 
Explore <https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/whistle-go-explore> was the 
slowest in our tests, taking around four-and-a-half minutes to send a 
notification, which as many pet owners know, is plenty of time for a 
determined doggo to ditch you.


     Tractive Activity Tracking and Premium Features

The first time you visit the Activity tab, the app prompts you to set a 
daily goal for your pet. For Bradley, it recommended between 110 and 210 
minutes of exercise per day, so I went with 140 minutes.

Atop the Activity section is a ring that shows your pet's progress 
toward its goal, in addition to a graph of its activity throughout the 
day. Below that, the app shows your pet's active minutes, calories 
burned, calm time, and sleep time that day, alongside a 90-day average 
for each metric.

Tractive app

To check your pet's leaderboard position, visit Profile > Leaderboard. 
Here, you can see how they rank among their breed, among friends, 
globally, and locally. To find friends on the platform, Tractive gives 
you the option to connect your Facebook account or tap a button to 
generate an invitation link you can share via text.

Tractive's Premium family sharing feature lets you give trusted 
individuals the ability to track your pet's location and activity. You 
can invite as many people as you like, including friends and pet 
sitters, as well as share access for 24 hours, one week, or 
indefinitely. After receiving an invite, the family member must create a 
Tractive GPS account if they don't already have one. Family members 
won't see your subscription, account, or payment details, and can't make 
any changes to your Virtual Fences (you can also revoke access at any 
time). To invite family members, visit Profile > Family > Invite New.

The Premium public sharing feature generates a link that lets anyone, 
even those without a Tractive GPS account, see your pet's current 
location on a map. This feature can be useful if your pet goes missing 
and you urgently need help finding them. To use public sharing, visit 
Profile > Tracker, scroll down and tap Options next to Location, and 
finally tap Share Tracking Link.

Tractive app

The location history feature lets you check your pet's travel distance 
and where they have been during a certain time frame. Premium members 
can view their pet's location history over the last year. With a Basic 
subscription, location history data is limited to the last 24 hours. To 
access this data, visit the History tab, choose a starting and ending 
time frame, and optionally enable the Trace and Heatmap features.

The Trace option shows your pet's route with a blue line. Gaps in your 
pet's location history (when the tracker was not reporting) are shown as 
dashed lines. The Heatmap is a colorful illustration that represents the 
amount of time your pet stayed in a certain place.

To share an image of your pet's location history for a certain time 
frame, visit History, then tap the Share icon in the top right corner of 
the app. If you're a Premium member, you can export your pet's location 
history as a .gpx or .kml file via Tractive's website (visit History, 
then press the Export button).


     Accurate GPS Pet Tracking on a Budget

At $49.99 (plus subscription fees), the Tractive GPS Dog LTE Tracker is 
one of the most affordable and best-performing pet trackers we've 
tested. It clips onto your pet's existing collar, accurately tracks 
their whereabouts at all times, quickly notifies you if they escape your 
Virtual Fence, and keeps tabs on their activity, sleep, and calories 
burned. We also like how the leaderboards motivate you to spend more 
time with your pooch and take them for another walk. The Fi Smart Dog 
Collar Series 2 is more durable and has longer battery life, but the 
Tractive costs $100 less and excels where it matters most with faster 
escape alerts, earning it our Editors' Choice award for GPS pet trackers.

Tractive GPS Dog LTE Tracker

4.0

Editors' Choice

Tractive GPS Dog LTE Tracker Image 
<https://cc.pcmag.com/v1/otc/01r1WRIAJykbQgN4oGQ8FSi?merchant=05kie42h3YvHwjr4G1w80Qq&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FTractive-LTE-GPS-Dog-Tracker%2Fdp%2FB08M6H284G&t=review-page&m=product-cards&e=product-card&i=image&p=1&el=&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcmag.com%2Freviews%2Ftractive-gps-dog-lte-tracker%3Ftaid%3D62741043243f5b0001b670b0%26utm_campaign%3DtrueAnthem%253A%2520Trending%2520Content%26utm_medium%3DtrueAnthem%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&cd2=StandardReview&cd61=review&cd62=01Q1IUZAIKa82d6kDzfRGmW&cd63=065cjUEJfVpuxbrI4TXCmZz>

See It

$34.27 at Amazon

<https://cc.pcmag.com/v1/otc/01r1WRIAJykbQgN4oGQ8FSi?merchant=05kie42h3YvHwjr4G1w80Qq&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FTractive-LTE-GPS-Dog-Tracker%2Fdp%2FB08M6H284G&t=review-page&m=product-cards&e=product-card&i=buy-button&p=1&el=See+It+%2434.27+at+Amazon&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcmag.com%2Freviews%2Ftractive-gps-dog-lte-tracker%3Ftaid%3D62741043243f5b0001b670b0%26utm_campaign%3DtrueAnthem%253A%2520Trending%2520Content%26utm_medium%3DtrueAnthem%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&cd2=StandardReview&cd61=review&cd62=01Q1IUZAIKa82d6kDzfRGmW&cd63=065cjUEJfVpuxbrI4TXCmZz> 


MSRP $49.99

Pros

   *

     Fast escape alerts

   *

     Attaches to your pet's existing collar

   *

     Tracks activity, sleep, and calories

View More

Cons

   *

     Minimal social features

   *

     Doesn't track steps or sleep interruptions

The Bottom Line

The Tractive GPS Dog LTE Tracker accurately monitors your pet's location 
and offers faster escape alerts than pricier models.


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       David Goldfield
Assistive Technology Specialist

Feel free to visit my Web site
WWW.DavidGoldfield.info