Samsung's New AirTags Rival Revealed, But It Still Has One Big Problem

Since the release of Apple's AirTag portable trackers in April of 2021, the other major tech companies have begun dabbling in the ultra wide band (or UWB) tracker department as well. Google is still quietly working on its own answer to the AirTags, alongside the Find My Device feature, while many other, smaller tracker brands like Tile have been looking to expand their compatibility and influence. Samsung, one of the biggest names in mobile tech, actually released its own tracking tag, the SmartTag, in January of 2021, scooping Apple by a good three months, but to substantially less fanfare. Since then, Samsung has been developing upgrades of its own, and is poised to take another crack at the tracker scene, though it may have missed a vital piece of the puzzle.

A new retail listing for the Samsung SmartTag 2 was uncovered this week on British mobile accessory storefront MobileFun. According to this listing, this revamped version of Samsung's Bluetooth-based tracking device features both Bluetooth and UWB tracking functionality. In a similar vein to Apple's Find My tracking system, the SmartTag 2 is designed to work with Samsung's own SmartThings Find system, allowing you to pinpoint the tag's current location via a Samsung smartphone.

While Samsung's SmartTag 2 and SmartThings Find system are attractive, eagle-eyed users have noticed a distinctive absence in the MobileFun listing. Specifically, there is no mention of compatibility with any other tag-tracking system.

Generic, third-party tracking tags like Tile can be used with just about any compatible mobile device will be compatible with Google's Find My Device feature, at least as soon as Google overcomes the delay of the ported version that was announced at the end of July. Samsung's SmartTags, however, appear to be within a completely self-contained environment. This means that the SmartThings Find system could only be used to track Samsung tags, and SmartTag 2s could only be tracked by Samsung-branded Android phones. This could prove problematic for the device's sales, as it would be effectively useless for users who aren't already using a Samsung smartphone.

At the time of writing, Samsung has not publicly commented on the rumors about the SmartTag 2 or the isolation of the SmartThings Find system. As for the release of the device, there is no concrete date yet, though rumors suggest somewhere in the ballpark of October 2023. The MobileFun listing has the device priced at £42.99, or about $55 USD.