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If you have walked through an airport, a college campus, or a gym in America anytime in the last four years, you have heard it. That faint, high-pitched chirp-chirp coming from inside a backpack or a lost jacket.
The Apple AirTag has become the unofficial “peace of mind” token for anxious travelers and forgetful people everywhere. But here at the studio, we are naturally skeptical of tech that hasn’t been updated in years. With rumors of an AirTag 2 swirling for late 2025, the big question isn’t “Does it work?”, but rather: “Is it still worth buying the original right now?”
To find out, our team didn’t just read the spec sheet. We bought a fresh 4-pack. We put them in checked luggage flying from JFK to LAX, hid them in cars, attached them to dog collars (against Apple’s advice), and handed them to our most forgetful team members.
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*The video was converted from my blog and generated using NotebookLM
After months of collective testing in the real world of 2025, here is our brutally honest “Review by Buyer” of the Apple AirTag.
The “At A Glance” Verdict
Rating: 4.8/5 Stars
The Bottom Line: The Apple AirTag remains the undefeated champion of lost-and-found, not because it has the best hardware, but because it has the best army. By leveraging over one billion iPhones to silently scan for your lost stuff, it creates a safety net that Google and Tile still haven’t managed to replicate in the US. It is an essential purchase for iPhone users, especially travelers. Just be prepared to buy extra accessories, because out of the box, it’s remarkably hard to attach to anything.
- The Network: The “Find My” network is frighteningly effective in the US.
- Precision Finding: The UWB chip turns finding keys into a game of “Hot or Cold.”
- Set & Forget: 1+ year battery life with user-replaceable batteries.
- Airline Integration: New iOS features allow you to share location links directly with airlines.
- The “Accessory Tax”: No lanyard hole means you must buy a holder.
- Durability: The stainless steel scratches if you even look at it wrong.
- The “Bitter Battery” Flaw: It rejects certain child-safe batteries (more on this later).
- Privacy Double-Edged Sword: Anti-stalking features make it a poor anti-theft device for cars.
The Aesthetic & Build Quality
“Beautiful, until you put it in your pocket.”
When you unbox an AirTag, it feels like a premium piece of jewelry. It is a dense, white plastic puck with a polished stainless steel back that gleams under the light. It has that satisfying Apple “heft” to it.
However, that beauty is fleeting.
The Scratch Test: We put a brand new AirTag on a keychain with house keys. Within 48 hours, the stainless steel back looked like it had been through a garbage disposal. It scratches instantly.
- Does it matter? Functionally, no.
- Does it hurt your soul? A little.
- Our Advice: If you care about aesthetics, buy a holder that covers the whole device, or just accept that this is a tool, not a trophy.
The Design Flaw: Unlike its rival, the Tile Pro, the AirTag has no hole. You cannot just loop a string through it. It is a slippery pebble. This forces you to buy a keychain, a loop, or a mount. It is a classic Apple move to create a secondary market for accessories. While annoying, it has spawned an endless variety of holders—from $5 silicone loops on Amazon to $400 Hermès luggage tags.
Real World Performance: The “Find My” Network
“We tracked a bag across the country, and it was faster than the airline.”
All images in this blog post are sourced from the official website https://www.apple.com/
The magic of the AirTag isn’t the tag itself; it’s the billion iPhones walking around it. To test this in 2025, we placed an AirTag in a checked bag for a flight from New York to Los Angeles, with a layover in Chicago.
The Experience: While the airline app vaguely said “Bag Loaded,” our Find My app showed us the exact gate the bag was sitting at. When we landed in LAX, the airline carousel monitor said “Baggage Delayed.” Panic set in for most passengers. We opened the Find My app. We saw the bag icon moving across the tarmac toward Terminal 4. We knew it was safe. Ten minutes later, it appeared.
New Feature for 2025: Share Item Location This is a game-changer. With the iOS 18.2 update, Apple added the ability to generate a secure, temporary link to your item’s live location.
- Why it matters: If an airline loses your bag, you no longer have to just say, “It’s in Denver.” You can generate a link and email it to the airline’s customer service, allowing them to see the bag on a map. We tested this with a “lost” backpack in our office, sharing the link with a non-Apple user, and it worked flawlessly via a web browser.
Precision Finding: The “Superpower” If you have an iPhone 11 or newer, you get access to Precision Finding. This uses the U1 Ultra Wideband chip. We hid a set of keys in the deepest crevice of our office couch.
- The Old Way: You make the tracker beep and hope you can hear it.
- The AirTag Way: Your phone screen turns into a compass. It says “12 feet to your left.” Then “5 feet.” Then “Here.” It guides you with haptic feedback (vibrations) that get stronger as you get closer. It feels like magic every time.
The “Pain Points”
We believe a review isn’t useful unless it discusses the flaws. Here are the three major issues our team encountered during long-term testing.
The Issue: Many premium CR2032 batteries (like Duracell) now have a non-toxic bitter coating to protect children. However, this coating is often non-conductive.
The Fail: Because AirTag contacts are precise, coated batteries often won’t work. We’ve seen users think their AirTag was broken simply because they used a high-end coated battery.
The Issue: AirTags are heavily returned. We’ve seen reports of “New” packs being resealed returns. When pairing, the phone says: “AirTag is linked to another Apple ID.”
The Reality: Once linked, an AirTag is useless to anyone else. It cannot be factory reset by a second user.
The Update: iOS 17 finally allows sharing AirTags (e.g., car keys with a spouse).
The Experience: It works mostly, but “guest” users often see location data that is 15-20 minutes older than the owner. The network prioritizes the primary owner to save battery.
The Competition: Why Not Google or Tile?
In 2025, the landscape has changed, but the winner hasn’t.
We really wanted to love Google’s new network. We tested a Pebblebee tracker (which uses Google’s network) alongside the AirTag.
Apple forces every iPhone to be part of the network by default. Google made it an “opt-in” for high-traffic areas in many settings, crippling the network’s density in the US. Until Google fixes this, AirTag is vastly superior.
Tile has a lanyard hole and works on Android.
It relies on people having the Tile App installed. In 2025, that user base is shrinking compared to the billion iPhones powering AirTag.
“If you lose a Tile in a rural area, it’s gone. If you lose an AirTag, as long as one FedEx driver with an iPhone drives past it, you’ll get a ping.”
FAQ: The Unconventional Uses
FAQ: The Unconventional Uses
Can I use it to track my dog?
Reality says: Yes, but know the limits. We strapped one to a Golden Retriever named “Barnaby.” In the suburbs, it worked great. We could see when he was at the neighbor’s house. However, when we took him hiking in a remote trail (no people, no cell towers), the AirTag was useless. It is not a GPS tracker. It needs other iPhones nearby to work. Use it as a backup, not a primary safety device.
Can I use it to track my car if it’s stolen?
Buying Advice
Should You Wait for AirTag 2?
Our Take: Do not wait. The current AirTag is mature, reliable, and cheap. The core functionality—telling you where your stuff is—won’t change drastically. Losing your wallet tomorrow because you were waiting for a slightly better tracker next year is a bad trade-off.
Final Verdict: Who Is This For?
After extensive testing, our team has concluded that the Apple AirTag is the single best accessory you can buy for the Apple ecosystem.
We Highly Recommend This For:
- Travelers: Put one in every checked bag. Period.
- The “Scatterbrained”: If you lose your keys once a week, this pays for itself in a month.
- Parents: Stick one in your kid’s backpack or jacket for peace of mind at Disney World or the park.
We Do Not Recommend This For:
- Android Users: It is literally a paperweight for you.
- Wilderness Tracking: It needs a crowd to work.
Pro Tip: Buy the 4-Pack. You will think you only need one, but once you set it up, you will immediately find three other things you want to track. The price per unit is significantly lower in the bundle.
You can see more Electric reviews. And we think you might also like: JBL Tune 510BT headphones Review , MacBook Pro M5 2025 Review
Have you used the AirTag to find something crazy? Or did you get hit with the bitter battery issue? Let our team know in the comments.
