As highly as we wish we might maintain our pet dogs with us 24/7, daily life has a routine of hindering. The collar costs $149 and tracks steps, sleep, and location. With these upgrades, the Fi Series 2 remains our Editors' Choice winner for smart dog collars. The only disadvantage is when you're setting it up, you need to utilize a circle-shape to establish the safe-zone. I have been waiting 5 days for help from customer service to set up my collar. However, as they collect more data, the system improves. There's no web-based interface, so don't expect to check in on your pup's activity via desktop. The Fi collar is a high-tech gadget " built for dogs and made for pet parents ," as the manufacturer claims. The reason the Fi Collar needs to use a cellular network is because when your dog is lost, and out of reach of any Wi-Fi or owner's cell phone, it will use GPS to compute its location, and then use the LTE-M network to send that location to Fi systems (and your Fi App). It then walks you through the Wi-Fi setup process so you can connect the charging base to your home network. When I leave them with a sitter, I know if they are getting their steps in. The Whistle Switch is currently up for $179, vs the Fi series 2 which is $49. However, the fact that the Fi Collar lasted even that long is worth major kudos. You can pinch-zoom in or out to increase or decrease a zone's area. Unlike the other devices we tested, Fi will record and report the dogs physical activity (not location) without a paid service plan. Adding a 13-inch collar brings the total weight to 4.3 ounces. 1996-2023 Ziff Davis, LLC., a Ziff Davis company. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. However, the recent app update doesn't allow you to see steps from previous days - you can only see the current day's steps. When I got my dog, I lived in the middle of nowhere with very poor cellular reception. Things we like: The battery life is impressive. The update is at best 60 SECONDS! All Rights Reserved. Fi explains that this is because the collar communicates with a low-power, wide-area LTE-M network every few minutes, but otherwise doesn't use the battery. Whereas the Whistle and FitBark products we reviewed combine GPS tracking capabilities with a variety of health and activity insights, Fi says its tracker is designed first and foremost to be a lost-dog device that gives owners the best chance of being reunited with their dogs. It comes in four colors and sizes. And in addition to monitoring your dog's daily activity, the Series 2 tracks its sleep, which can potentially help you identify health issues. The rest of the article below refers to the old collar style. According to Fi, a collar that is always connected to its home base will last roughly three months before a charge, better than other smart collars. It helps you know where your dog is at all times, while also acting as a canine exercise tracker. In this case, a dog collar gives you something to hold onto and attach your tags to. The 3 potential buyers: If I don't have the Series 2 then it's an expensive collar, maybe it's worth it but I'll look around elsewhere first to see what else there is. Click it and the collar starts connecting to the LTE-M towers every minute so you're getting much quicker updates. They do not have any live support. The Fi collar is a wise canine collar that tracks your pet's location as well as activity 24 hr a day, with modern technology that allows you to get online updates right from your smartphone. I understand my situation is very niche and not many will agree with me but the Fi Series 2 does what I NEED it to. I originally bought a Findster Duo + which had a huge selling point: it was non-subscription based. And the WiFi integration on the Series 2 collar is said to produce even better overall battery life. Under those circumstances, we'd expect similar if not better results from the Series 2. Fi Series 2 is built on our original value: empowering parents to give their dogs their best lives.. Fi Series 2 comes with a 400% improvement in antenna signal sensitivity, for more reliable network connection. Im keeping it for lost dog purpose since I run a dog adventure hiking business and I can put it on my new dogs when they start with me. Your subscription has been confirmed. Is That Growth on the Dogs Nose a Polyp? In the app, you can set a circular home "zone" as broad or confining as you prefer and request alerts when your dog leaves that area. The tracker's best feature is its stunning battery life. Im pretty disappointed in the Fi collar overall. For this review, Fi sent me a large yellow collar for my pitbull Bradley, who has an 18.5-inch neck, and it fit perfectly. Ive been waiting for Black Friday to try one of these but your very candid review is making me have second thoughts. GPS is a global positioning system determined by a network of satellites that orbit the earth. Your pricing is just bad. In testing, the Series 2 typically took around two to three minutes to send me an escape alert after Bradley exited the Safe Zone. Upgraded to series 2 and have had nothing but headaches. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. We bought and began testing Fi's Series 1 collar . If your dog exits a designated Safe Zone without you, the Fi app will send you a push notification. More than once hes jumped a fence after a deer, only to be returned by a neighbor. Having purchased the Series 1 collar, and with our review of its major competitors already in print, we asked Fi if theyd send us a Series 2 for review. Like the Whistle 3, the Fi Collar uses AT&T's towers for GPS positioning, which means you'll want to look elsewhere if you live somewhere with zero AT&T coverage. A collar is useless until someone finds your best friend, checks their collar, and then gives you a call. If I want, I can always check the app to see that hes where hes supposed to be. The Fi Series 3 is a record setting, power-efficient smart collar that you can put on your dog and forget about for weeks. The humble dog collar is a staple of pooches everywhere and is about as simple as it gets in terms of the accessories it takes to keep a living breathing creature, like a dog, alive. I also know both dogs' exercise history, including monthly steps and miles, and the days they didn't make their steps. The collar can withstand 300 pounds of static pull force, three times that of the original model, making it a better option for strong leash pullers like my dog Bradley. as well as other partner offers and accept our, Berne Broudy, an avid hiker, biker, swimmer, and skier, is an expert on outdoor, fitness and travel gear, trends, people and news. Any updates on how you like it/dislike it? For a little under 3 months, I've been testing the Fi . It even activates an LED flashing light on the dog collar itself. However, up to two days means when starting with a fully charged battery. The app automatically sets a step goal for your pup (Bradley's is 13,500 steps per day, 94,500 per week, or 418,500 per month). Before becoming an analyst in 2020, I spent eight years as a reporter covering consumer tech news. I keep reading about how it's on back order. But at home or anywhere where you do have cell service, the accuracy has proven plenty accurate to track your pup down. Fi says you need to recharge it every three months if the dog is always home, every two months if you go on walks, and every three weeks if your dog is quite active. And when I contacted several retailers they told me if you are in a remote area that cannot ping off cell phone towers, it does not work anyway. Activity is reported in three categories: Time spent and steps taken in a designated safe zone; time spent, steps taken, and distance traveled on a walk; and time spent and steps taken during play. You can also set up different safe zones at places where they spend their time, like a relatives house or doggy daycare, so that if theyre within that perimeter, you wont be alerted. I can give an honest review of the fi 2. Much more on battery life later. The smartest pet parents choose Fi. Fi explains, "LTE-M is a new technology for low power, long distances communications. Not great. Escape detection is said to be another area of improvement with the Series 2 Fi Smart Collar. At least as long as your paying a subscription you dont have to worry about the hardware issues , or at least thats what they are saying now. These statistics most likely make you much more eager to place a monitoring tool on your pet dog, and naturally so. It is a clean, durable, design that is advertised as water proof, and dog proof. The connection operation requires a lot of data exchange, and so disconnecting/reconnecting to the network uses as much battery as basically staying connected to the network! If with the dog walker, Fi will notify you when your dog is picked up and returned. So I think I'm in a similar situation as OP. Not helpful if the dog were actually lost. Prior to purchase, we recommend first checking to ensure there is LTE-M coverage around your home or in any other area where your dog may spend time. The clasps are a major alloy metal that will certainly be sure to endure years of wear. Your subscription has been confirmed. However, my renewal would also be $190 even though I already own the collar. If your pet runs away the backyard or makes it off the leash, you can track exactly where he is in actual time via the GPS locator. I looked in the app; it had her at her doggy daycare from the previous day. I easily found Saber strolling with my neighbor about two blocks away from home. Keep an eye on your inbox! Seems like a money grab to me. Enable Location Services: Why Does Fi Ask Me To Keep My Phone Location "Always On" vs. "When Using the App"? The advantage, says a Fi representative, is that when the tracker is connected to a base unit or associated mobile device, it doesnt need to access GPS location data via the tracker, which improves overall battery performance. I will also share my experience with it after a couple/few weeks. The box also includes a charger block, a mini USB cable, and a base station (similar to the size of the tracker, and which doubles as a charger). I think our solution is to get our pups an Apple Watch (or other reliable wearable with LTE). "If your dog ever gets out, the Fi Collar will use all network signals to provide the fastest and most reliable notification of their escape," the company says. Sign up for our newsletter to get honest reviews on top products & services delivered weekly to your inbox. The application keeps an eye on your canine's day-to-day, regular, and month-to-month actions, even permitting you to establish step objectives and also complete versus various other puppies in the location. I got this collar so I'd always know where my dogs are. It's certainly the strongest competition to the Whistle we've seen, and with continued updates, we're confident it will only get better. Here you can also view hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly graphs of their sleep. A portion of sales go to rescues. Steps can be displayed on an hour-by-hour basis, adding up to cumulative daily, weekly, and monthly counts. Fi claims that for a dog at home, that seldom goes out and never gets lost, the battery can last as long as three months. The Fi Smart Dog Collar pairs with a WiFi- and Bluetooth-connected base in your home, which doubles as a charging cradle. I watched Saber leave and waited for notification that hed left the safe zone which took a full three minutes. The Fi also uses your phone's Bluetooth connection as a safe zone, so if your dog is in Bluetooth range of the phone, it's considered safe. Not surprisingly, a GPS connection kills the battery much quicker than a phone or base connection. The profile creation only allows you to pick one breed, rather than multiple breeds for a mix, but there are some interesting mixes already included (like Labrabull). The Fi collar's style includes several attributes that assist monitor your pet dog's location and well-being. But for some owners, the peace of mind that comes from knowing you can find your pet if they run off, might be worth also knowing a little too much about their sleep habits. A sudden decrease in your pet's activity level, or an increase in sleep interruptions, can be a red flag that something's amiss. Why Is My App Showing "Searching For Network"? I care more about my dogs and just put a longer leash on them instead of subjecting them to wifi. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider I have 3 dogs with Fi collars and I'm very happy with the tracking. I've been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally for 30 years, more than half of that time withPCMag. If you click the phone icon at the top, you can connect directly to the Fi Emergency Line to get some more assistance with finding your lost pup. I wish it was faster, but I tested against a Whistle 3, and the Fi generally came in first (though only by a few seconds). It's the first dog collar to use the LTE-M cellular network, which reaches 30% farther than 3G/4G/5G/LTE. There are leaderboards for overall rank, breed rank, your state, and your city. It uses a base station for charging and creating a safe zone in your home, and will send an alert to your phone if your dog travels outside of it. When the lost-dog mode is engaged, Fi uses three constellations of satellites combined with AT&Ts LTE-M network coverage to triangulate position and send data to the user via a mobile-device app.The Fi app reports the distance traveled, steps taken by your dog, and time take to walk your dog. Sign up for Lab Report to get the latest reviews and top product advice delivered right to your inbox. Ill admit that when I set out to walk twice a day, it was fun to watch Sabers rank climb to the top 15% of all Fi-wearing dogs. Fingers still crossed . These Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections also help preserve battery life, since GPS/LTE uses a lot of power. From the menu in the upper right corner of this tab, you can edit and add Safe Zones, Wi-Fi networks, and charging bases, as well as invite other owners and dog walkers, adjust your alert settings, run a diagnostic test to ensure your collar is working correctly, and access Fi's useful Help Center. I noticed they are really pushing the Series 3, I've had a Series 2 for a bit now and eligible for a $32 credit. The tracking device itself can be removed from this collar, but it can be used only on Fi-compatible collars. Appreciate! and will often rebound on hard surfaces, meaning indoor positionings are much more difficult to report. When we first got the collars, Cedar managed to peel the metal nameplate off his Fi. Finally, to activate the collar, you simply place it on the charging base. One complaint I do have that I haven't seen mentioned is how it just places your dog at the location of the base if it's connected to wi-fi. Thankfully in the month that my dog has worn the Fi Smart Dog Collar, we havent had any real escapes, but after that much testing, I feel pretty good about the outcome if we did. As to the Fi3, Im gonna wait for some hands on reviews as well. You have the option to forego the subscription and only use the Fi for activity tracking, but it won't save past health activity for comparison. There are options to monitor their activity levels and step count too, but their focus is on GPS tracking. Why Is My Dog's Location Incorrect in the Live Card? The app shows me where they are in real-time, and I can scroll through their recent walks to see where they've been. The developer provided this information and may update it over time. The collar comes in four color options: blue, gray, pink ombre, or yellow, and is interchangeable, so you can easily swap it out for a new one if it gets dirty or your dog grows out of it. This app may share these data types with third parties. I did not get an alert that she was away from home until an hour later. Thought of upgrading to series 3, but my friend's dog has one and the material construction is inferior plastic & jingles whenever he moves. A mobile device that meets our minimum requirements: Android 6.0+ aka Android M or newer iPhone - iOS 14 ( iPhone 6s & 6 + and higher, including iPhone SE 1st generation) Access to a Wi-Fi Network. Create your pet's profile, select its breed (pure or mixed), weight, and age, and set a daily step goal. Cell phones need to always be reachable and are very heavy and big in size (which means they can have a large battery inside). I'm PCMag's expert on fitness and smart home technology, and I've written more than 6,000 articles and reviews in the 10-plus years I've been here. https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/fi-smart-dog-collar. Prepare for word vomit. Expect the battery to last two days with GPS. The Fi Smart Dog Collar tracks your pet's activity and location while offering unbeatable battery life. Welcome back! If I buy a Fi 3, Im paying ~$190 for both the collar and the subscription together. How is it compared to the 2? All rights reserved. One frustrating issue is the frequency with which Fi registers car rides as walks. It goes for $99 per year, $186 for two years, or $248 for three years. You can purchase syndication rights to this story here. Select the pet you are pairing to Wi-Fi 6. All of these featuresand especially the fact that it delivered the fastest escape alerts in testingmakes the Fi Series 2 our new Editors' Choice winner. I wouldn't mind skipping the base station and using home Wi-Fi for a safe zone like Whistle 3 does, but at least the base also doubles as a charger. You can't currently buy extra base stations separately, but Fi claims most users won't need one, as your phone also works as its own mini safe zone (more on this in a bit). The Fi Smart Dog Collar has a nicer, more streamlined design than much of the competition, with a slightly high $149 price to match. Select your Safe Place 4. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology. For instance - if the receiver was on for 45 seconds and does not have enough data yet to send an accurate reportwould an extra 25 seconds make enough of a difference?Weve optimized the Fi Collar for these exact operations - Fi uses GPS (US satellites) as well as GALILEO (EU satellites) and GLONASS (Russian satellites) to try to infer its own location as fast as possible and help your find your pup. Losing my dog is one of my biggest fears. Fi says the Series 2 offers a longer battery life, reinforced hardware (to address reports by Series 1 users of D-ring failures), and an upgraded antenna for improved tracking in remote locations.