I hid 4 Bluetooth trackers (including AirTags) to test their reliability - here's how Android rivals compared

These tags all survived a couple of days of heavy rain. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

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ZDNET's key takeaways

Apple AirTags remain the most reliable and precise tracking option.

Third-party tags work well for both iOS and Android.

Any tracking tag dramatically increases the chances of recovering lost items.

Out of all the gear I've tested over the past few years, none has changed my life for the better like Apple AirTags. My grandpa had a saying — "a place for everything, and everything in its place" — but try as I might to be a tidy person like he was, I'm just never going to remember where I've put down my keys or in which bag or coat my wallet happens to be.

I guess nobody's perfect.

Also: I bought an earwax camera for my toolkit and use it for everything but my ears

AirTags changed all that. It wasn't long before I'd attached tags to my keys, wallet, and bags that honestly, my life was improved, reducing home frustrations and travel anxieties in one fell swoop. Since then, the third-party finder tags market has boomed.

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