GoKawiilis a senior reporter who’s been covering and reviewing the latest gadgets and tech since 2006, but has loved all things electronic since he was a kid.
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After expanding the functionality of its Clip location tracker last year with a panic alarm that sends messages and your location to trusted contacts, Pebblebee has announced a new tracker with even more personal safety features. The Halo is brighter and louder than the Clip and features an easier-to-trigger alert.
Available starting today for $59.99 through Pebblebee’s online store and on Amazon starting on April 20th, Halo is at its core still a location tracker. It’s compatible with either Apple’s Find My tracking network or Google’s Find Hub, but not both at the same time, and small enough to be stashed in a bag or clipped to your keys to help locate them. But the Halo is much larger than an Apple AirTag or Pebblebee’s Clip tracker — about the size of a pair of AA batteries — because it packs additional functionality.
The Halo also functions as a keychain flashlight. Image: Pebblebee
The first addition is a built-in flashlight powered by the tracker’s rechargeable battery, which is supposed to be good for a year of use. (Pebblebee didn’t specify how frequent flashlight use would affect it.) The second is a pull-apart design that immediately triggers a 150-lumen strobe light and a 130-decibel siren. That’s louder than the 97-decibel siren on the Pebblebee Clip.
While those features function as both an immediate deterrent to an attacker and a way to signal to others nearby, the Halo also works with Pebblebee’s connected safety features, similar to the Clip. The free Safety Circle feature sends a preselected trusted contact an SMS message with a secure link to the location where you triggered the alert. The Halo also supports Pebblebee’s Alert Live functionality, which instead shares the tracker’s live location with up to five trusted contacts. The new tracker comes with a 12-month subscription to Alert Live, but after that the service is $24.99 per year.
For emergency situations where discretion is a safer alternative, the Halo also offers a silent trigger option that activates the Safety Circle or Alert Live features without the audible siren or flashing strobe light.