Alexa and Google Home compatibility for these smart trackers too
Tile has announced its anticipated rival to Apple’s AirTags. It’s called Tile Ultra and uses the same UWB communication standard as Apple’s key-finding marvel.
UWB lets you find trackers with pinpoint accuracy, handy for retrieving items lost under the sofa rather than ones left on a bus.
Tile Ultra will work with Android and iOS devices, giving it the all-embracing angle missing in Apple AirTags, which only communicate with Androids to a limited extent over NFC.
You can use Alexa or the Google Assistant to locate your Tile devices too, which is obviously a massive draw for those interested in the best of smart home tech.
However, we have bad news. The Tile Ultra isn’t going to be around until “early 2022”. Tile offers us a bunch of upgrades to its existing series to keep us keen and interested until then.

Tile upgrades
The Tile Pro has been redesigned. It looks a bit more like a car key fob this time, not a classic Tile square.
Its features are similar, though. The new Tile Pro has range of up to 400 feet, uses a replaceable battery that lasts around a year and is IP67 water resistant.
Tile’s Mate, Sticker and Slim get more substantive feature upgrades.
All three now have 250ft range. That is an additional 50ft for the Mate and Slim, a gigantic 100ft extra for the Tile Sticker.
Their “ring” sound is louder in this generation and the Tile Mate’s battery life has been increased from once year to three years. However, it’s now a non-replaceable unit, not a CR1632 coin battery.
A little disappointed? Us too. But this sealed design is likely what makes the new Tile Mate’s IP67 water resistance possible. It means the tracker can handle submersion in water of a depth of at least 1m for 30 minutes, where the old Mate was just splash-proof.
All three models have been given a slight design refresh, but there are no dramatic changes in style or shape here.
Lost and Found
The Tile Pro, Mate and Slim do have something new on the back. There’s a QR code that people can scan to retrieve your contact details.
You could likely setup an email address just for your Tile-related woes if you don’t like the idea of someone getting your phone number or an address you actually use. Tile calls this Lost and Found.
Another new feature called Unwanted Tracking should help allay fears of the Tile system being misused too, from one perspective anyway.
It lets someone check for any “unknown” Tile trackers nearby, even if they don’t have a Tile account themselves. It was created “with guidance from an advocacy organization that are experts in this area,” according to Tile.
The Tile Pro is available now in white and black, for £29.99. Tile’s new Mate also comes in white and black, for £19.99, and the Tile Sticker in white or black is £24.99. The Tile Slim is the one all-black hold out, and costs £29.99.