It also includes daily activity information, which can be tailored to your pup’s age, breed, and weight. This includes notifications about leaving a pre-defined safe area, which piggybacks on your wi-fi connection and ensures that your dog is close to home at all times. This waterproof smart dog collar tracker utilizes AT&T’s cellular network to relay information back to your smartphone, which of course means that when your dog is away from wi-fi, that coverage will need to be present in your area. Opt for the Go Explore, though, to maximize your battery life. The longer battery life of the Fi makes it a better dog-minder and GPS tracker, but the app and flexibilty of the Whistle means it’s a better choice for monitoring your dog’s activity overall. If you’re the type to take your dog running or on frequent adventures, you’ll want that very relaible and data-rich tracking experience which does have a negative impact on battery life. If you’re already in the habit of tossing a smart watch on a charger and sync up the charge cycles with the Whistle, this should be no problem at all for you. I tested a Go Explore unit provided to me by the company on my relatively lazy blue nose pit and found myself recharging it about as often as my wife recharges her Apple Watch, about every two to three days on average. Both take about two hours to charge, but in practice, I find that the battery life is quite a lot shorter. The Whistle 3 had a maximum of seven days of battery life, while the Go base model can hit 15 and the Go Explore can get to over 20. While the 3 combined what was previously two different devices to cover the activity tracking and GPS capabilities, the primary focus of of the Go and Go Explore is extended battery life. The Whistle Go is part of a continuously-improving product line, the previous generations of which is the Whistle 3. The battery life is much shorter, but the app and data experience is far richer. In contrast to the Fi above, you’d opt for this smart dog collar is activity tracking is the primary focuse of your needs. Whistle Go Explore Health & Location Tracker for Pets There are some false starts now and again, but I’d rather be prompted to check on my dog than discover him missing without any warning.įind more Fi Smart Dog Collar information and reviews here. The step goal is set to 10,000 regardless of your dog’s breed or other needs, and you can’t manage your subscription – $99 a year and required for the safe zone notifications and activity history – from inside it, for some reason.Īll that said, the outstanding battery life and overall design make it worth it for me. It’s not very intuitive at all and isn’t customizable. It startled me a few times before I got used to knowing where the sensitive spots in my yard were. I have a very large house and an acre of land, so I don’t always have line of sight with my test pup, a young and extremely fast husky. You’ll also need to confirm that there’s good AT&T coverage where you are, since it requires their network. The nature of the LTE-M connection means it only pings when needed, but that can happen even with the collar in wi-fi range, which can sometimes cause pretty inaccurate map views and false notifications. There are definitely some kinks to be worked out. This also sets the centerpoint for the geofence, which will alert you when your dog leaves the area. When your dog is at home, it relies on this instead of the cell signal, which futher reduces strain on the battery. The base remains plugged in at all times, connected to wi-fi. The Fi achieves this using low-power AT&T LTE-M cellular networks, which is a vast improvement over most of the rest of this list, which either use dated and depreciating 2G networks or can only use Bluetooth or wi-fi. While the Whistle below functions more like an Apple Watch does for humans, with better, more detailed tracking of activity, it can’t come close to the three-month battery life of the Fi. The sleek design, modern connectivity, and long battery life make it the best choice going at the moment. In the nascent smart dog collar field, I think the Fi Smart Dog Collar stands out.
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