Chipolo announced its CARD Spot at CES 2022 in January. It’s a tracker made to fit into wallets, but it can track many other items if you prefer. With its slim and credit card-shaped design, it’s the best device on the market to track your wallet. I’ve been using the Chipolo CARD Spot for a while now. Here is some notable information on the device and some of my thoughts.
How to set up your Chipolo CARD Spot
The Chipolo CARD Spot is easy and quick to set up. When ready, open the Find My app on your iPhone or iPad and choose the “Items” tab. Select “Add New Item” and then “Other Supported Item”. You’ll need to tap the button on the bottom left edge of the CARD Spot to turn on. Hit connect.
Additionally, you can name it whatever you’d like, I just stuck with Chipolo CARD Spot.
When finished setting up in Find My, place the device in your wallet or wherever else you prefer.
You can locate your Chipolo CARD Spot in the Find My app on your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Mac. Within Find My, you can locate your CARD Spot on the map, play a sound if it is near you, or enable Lost Mode so you can be notified when it’s found. Be sure to update your devices to the newest OS.
Physical features
The Chipolo CARD Spot is 0.09 inches thick. It is 3.35 inches tall and 2.11 inches wide. It has a speaker on the bottom right edge and a button on the bottom left. Here, you can see the device is very similar to the size of a gift card.
The CARD Spot is splash proof with a water resistance rating of IPX5.
How does it differ from AirTag?
Due to its credit card shape, the CARD Spot is noticeably easier to fit into wallets. There’s no extra bulk of the AirTag.
One of the biggest differences is that the CARD Spot doesn’t have precision finding. Precision finding is how Find My directs you to the exact location of the AirTag. Due to the CARD Spot not having a UI chip, it cannot do that.
However, it’s still a great tracker. When the item is not with you, Find My will give you the last known location of where the CARD Spot was left. Generally, if I have a general idea of where something I’ve lost is at, I can usually find it just fine.
Note: if you’ve used Chipolo products before, this one is not compatible with the Chipolo app. It’s exclusive to Apple’s Find My network.
It’s louder
My favorite feature of the Chipolo CARD Spot is that its ring is noticeably louder than AirTag. AirTags ring at 60dB out in the open while the CARD Spot rings at 105dB. I tested its sound while stored in my wallet inside of my purse and the sound was nearly 70db – still louder than AirTag.
When you accidentally leave your item behind, you’ll receive a notification called an out of range alert. Turn on the ‘Notify when left behind’ feature. You’ll get a notification when you leave behind the tracker. Additionally, it can be set up so it won’t alarm you if you leave it at home, as you may not always bring it with you.
Can someone track me with a Chipolo CARD Spot?
Chipolo keeps safety in mind when designing trackers. When your iPhone detects an unknown Chipolo CARD Spot with you, you’ll receive a notification. The device will play a sound so you can easily find it. It has a range of 200 feet and will be triggered when the CARD Spot is not connected to its owner’s device.
There’s a renewal program
Unfortunately, the CARD Spot does not have any replacement battery options. However, the battery lasts about two years compared to about one year with AirTag. Something great is that Chipolo sends you an email reminder in two years when your battery is almost diminished. If you’re ever curious, you can check its battery status in Find My.
When you are ready for a new CARD Spot, send it back to Chipolo to recycle. The company will give you 50% off a new CARD Spot when received.
Wrap up
I really like the Chipolo CARD Spot; it’s simple to set up and use – the two major items that stand out to me are that it is easier to fit in a wallet than an AirTag. My wallet is thin and couldn’t handle the thick, coin shaped design of the AirTag.
I also like that the CARD Spot is much louder than the AirTag. When buried away, I personally prefer a bit more obvious of a noise to help me locate what’s missing. This is super helpful, especially when trying to locate it in a noisy environment.
What I would recommend is that Chipolo drops the $35 price. It’s difficult to justify a $6 difference between this and the $29 AirTag.
Since AirTag is smaller, it works better for most items like keys, animal collars, etc. However, if you are looking for a tracker specifically for a wallet, it’s hard to beat the Chipolo CARD Spot. It will fit into most wallets and does a good job helping you to find it when lost.
The Chipolo CARD Spot is $35 for one or $60 for a pack of two when bought on its website. New pre-orders for the product will ship in April.
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