GEAR: Best Wearables For Keeping Track of Kids, Seniors and Stuff
In this day and age, parents are becoming increasingly concerned abput the safety and well-being of their children when away from home.
Did they make the bus? Where did they leave their backpack. Where are they?
Thanks to rapid advancements in the size of GPS enabled wearables as well as big improvements in cost, there are now a handful of tiny GPS enabled wearables that are perfect for keeping your family safe.
Maybe you’re a ‘helicopter mom’ who needs to be reassured that your child is where they are supposed to be. Or you might be an adult trapped in the ‘sandwich generation’ with an aging parent who gets a little foggy at times.
Or maybe, just maybe, you have stuff. Expensive stuff. Stuff that needs the benefit of being trackable.
Enter the current generation of wearables. Small, GPS enabled, subscription based sim-card connected and cheap. How cheap? Most are under $100 + a modest annual sim-card plan. But the peace of mind they offer is huge compared to the cost.
Not all of these GPS trackers are available yet (one is being crowd-sourced) but they are all worth looking at if you have people or things to keep secure.
iTraq3 Global GSM GPS Tracker $129 (includes 1st year subscription)
iTraq looks like an oversized Tile that can clip to just about anything. But unlike Tile, which is really just a Bluetooth proximity sensor, the iTraq is a fully featured GPS device that utilizes a global 3G GSM sim-to send out pre-scheduled updates on it’s location in real time.
Using the settings you can set up the frequency with which iTraq3 pings it’s location, so battery life varies accordingly. Setting a once per day report means the iTraq3 lasts about 4 months on a single charge.
Weighing in at 50 grams (about the same as half a deck of playing cards) iTraq is almost unnoticeable in a pocket, backpack or clipped to your gear. The annual GSM subscription rate comes in at $59 per year, making for some very inexpensive insurance. And the iTraq is built with the same simplicity that Tile put into their tracker, so when you aren’t using it to track a child you can easily use it anywhere else you need the comfort and peace of mind it provides.. Think of iTraq as the “global” GPS enabled version of Tile.
Trax $99
Trax is another device born of the need to track children, the elderly and pets. Using T-Mobile’s 2G GSM network (which T-Mobile says will be live until at least 2020), Trax is another example of simple, easy-to-use GPS tracking in action.
One of the really cool features of Trax is that it let’s you pre-set a “Geofence”, so it will automatically start tracking if your device leaves the pre-set area. So your yard, your parent’s residence or even the resort you’re staying at.
Trax is one of the smallest trackers, but don’t let that fool you. With battery life up to 3 days and weighing only 24 gram (about the same as 1 AA battery) it is a powerful little device.
Trax has IP65 Water Resistance and is also shockproof. It’s an ideals solution for people, pets and gear.
SPOT Trace $99
Just stick the SPOT Trace on any vehicle or object with the SPOT logo pointed skyward and you’ve done 50% of the setup. The other half, online using the SPOT Trace app, lets you set the frequency of notifications and customize any additional alerts you may want. At just under $100, SPOT Trace is both economical and simple to use. Like all trackers, an annual subscription applies and it’s either $99.99 per year or $9.99 per month depending on your plan.
With the ‘Basic Subscription’, SPOT Trace automatically sends a SMS text/email with your asset’s GPS coordinates once movement has been detected. View the GPS coordinates anytime online or via the App. Basic service allows you to customize your Trace to track every 5, 10, 30 or 60 minutes. And you can customize your device’s dock mode, movement alert, status, low battery and power off settings.
Step up to the Extreme Tracking Upgrade and enjoy all the features of Basic Service, with the added benefit of being able to track your asset’s GPS coordinates every 2½ minutes.
SPOT Trace is the heaviest on the list so far at 3.1 ounces (about a deck of cards). It’s available at Amazon.com with FREE Shipping.
Ping is the latest crowd-funded piece of tech that’s exactly what we’ve been looking for. Combining all of the best features of the drone trackers above, it packs them into the smallest package of all. Weighing in at just 1 ounce, and about the size of a 50 cent piece, Ping’s weight is negligible.
Ping is waterproof to 10 meters and works on the HSPA/GSM 3G cellular network. First year data plan is included in the $99 price (the more Pings you purchase, the less they cost) and data is $36 per year after the initial year for coverage in Canada, Mexico and the USA. For an extra $10 at activitation you have coverage in 157 additional countries.
Ping is currently being crowdfunded at indiegogo, with the intention to begin shipments in July 2017.
We absolutely love the multi-dimensional uses for Ping and it’s compact size. The low cost of the annual subscription and extra features are the icing on the cake. Can’t wait for Ping!
Yepzon One Personal GPS Locator $129
Yepson is a highly rated GPS locator that, like most of the above, can be attached to just about anyone or anything. Adjustable settings in the App allow you update location as frequently as every 10 seconds, and it works with any mobile device.
Depending on settings, Yepson battery can last for months off of one charge because when not in movement the locator enters snooze mode. Yepson also has one of the lowest cost subscriptions, at just $4.95 per month and no contract to sign.
Yepson One Personal GPS Locator is available at Amazon.
[turbo_widget widget-prefix=text&obj-class=WP_Widget_Text&widget-text–title=&widget-text–text=%3Cscript+type%3D%22text%2Fjavascript%22%3E%0Aamzn_assoc_placement+%3D+%22adunit0%22%3B%0Aamzn_assoc_search_bar+%3D+%22true%22%3B%0Aamzn_assoc_tracking_id+%3D+%22djileakscom-20%22%3B%0Aamzn_assoc_ad_mode+%3D+%22manual%22%3B%0Aamzn_assoc_ad_type+%3D+%22smart%22%3B%0Aamzn_assoc_marketplace+%3D+%22amazon%22%3B%0Aamzn_assoc_region+%3D+%22US%22%3B%0Aamzn_assoc_title+%3D+%22Shop+Related+Products%22%3B%0Aamzn_assoc_linkid+%3D+%22b5600e09387a0bc2ab2a4ce6c6d51fc7%22%3B%0Aamzn_assoc_asins+%3D+%22B00JG8KCLO%2CB01L3VEC08%2CB01MZDZP0H%2CB00U7G2S70%22%3B%0A%3C%2Fscript%3E%0A%3Cscript+src%3D%22%2F%2Fz-na.amazon-adsystem.com%2Fwidgets%2Fonejs%3FMarketPlace%3DUS%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E&widget-text–filter=false]
