Gadget Weekly
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The SwitchBot Wallet Finder Card made its debut at IFA 2024. Initially, I had dismissed it as your everyday run-of-the-mill Bluetooth tracker. Don’t make the same mistake I made at first because there’s more to this wallet-finding tracker.
SwitchBot is a brand dedicated to smartening up the dumb things in your home and integrating them all together to create a cohesive ecosystem. I have used many of the brand’s smart home accessories over the years and they never disappoint, both in terms of quality and price.
The company makes everything IoT, from smart locks and hubs to universal remotes and hygrometers. Once you set up your smart home system via the SwitchBot app and every item can communicate with each other, that’s when the magic happens.
Here’s how well the amicably priced SwitchBot Wallet Finder Card held up in my testing.
Not your average Bluetooth tracker
There are plenty of unique aspects of the slim and trim SwitchBot Wallet Finder Card. But first, let’s evaluate its functionality as a regular old Bluetooth tracker, as this is its primary purpose.
Like any Bluetooth tracking device worth its salt, the Wallet Finder Card can be tracked via an app on your phone. There’s no Google Find My Device support, so for now, you can only use Apple’s Find My network on iOS. Android users can still use the tracker using the SwitchBot app for Android.
You can save the Wallet Finder Card under the name of your choice within the app, which is also where you can track the card. You can also use the card to find your phone by clicking the button twice. It has a physical QR code sticker on the back as a failsafe when it gets lost. Anyone can scan it and alert you of its location. SwitchBot also has anti-tracking measures in place for the safety of the public.
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The speaker on the tracker rings nice and loud at 78dB, much like the Tile Slim that I reviewed a while back. Notably, the newer Tile Slim has a louder 104dB volume. Just like the best Tile trackers, you get robust IP67 water and dust-proofing on the SwitchBot Wallet Finder Card. When I put the two cards next to each other, the SwitchBot one was noticeably lighter and thinner.
Compared to the latest Tile by Life360 Slim (2024)’s 350ft range, the Switchbot tracker’s 300ft Bluetooth range is still not bad at all. Considering the previous-gen Tile Slim had a 250ft range, and this is SwitchBot’s first tracker, that’s impressive.
Finally, there’s no replaceable battery on the Wallet Finder Card, but you get three years of battery life. As a Bluetooth tracker alone, it’s an excellent product that delivers value for money.
A more integrated smart home than ever before
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On to the unconventional aspects. The SwitchBot Wallet Finder Card has two very unusual features. The first is that it has NFC support.
Why would you even need NFC on a Bluetooth tracker? Well, SwitchBot added a nifty integration with its smart locks, so you can tap the Wallet Finder Card on a SwitchBot Lock and use it to unlock your door.
The second unique and most enticing feature of the SwitchBot Wallet Finder Card is smart home integration. There are two main automations that are specific to the tracking card within the SwitchBot app: Return Home and Leave Home.
For example, you could set an automation where as soon as your Wallet Finder Card enters within range of the hub at home, the smart home devices like air conditioner and lights in your house turn on.
This option requires you to have a SwitchBot hub, but the final result is well worth the extra buy. Since the SwitchBot hub comes with an IR blaster built-in, you can “teach” it to learn commands to operate non-smart devices in your home as well. This, along with your Wallet Finder Card, can be used to make incredibly intelligent routines within the SwitchBot app.
The sky’s the limit with these smart home automations.
And if you get the Matter-enabled Hub 2, it gets even better. You could interconnect devices that support Alexa, Samsung SmartThings, Google Assistant, and other smart home ecosystems to create a single unified smart home setup.
Since the Hub 2 can interact with smart and dumb electronics via IR, the possibilities are limitless. You could pre-soak a one-pot rice dish in your smart cooker and integrate that into your Return Home routine. If you have the SwitchBot Curtain Opener, you could instruct your Leave Home automations to close the curtains and turn off all electronics at home.
The sky’s the limit with these automations; you really have access to boundless potential with the right mix of smart and dumb electronics at home.
Despite all that, the SwitchBot Wallet Finder Card only costs $24.99, with frequent sales slashing that price to an even lower $19.99 price tag. It’s a great buy overall, even if you don’t end up using the smart home integration as much.
SwitchBot Wallet Finder Card
Automate your life
SwitchBot took your average Bluetooth tracker and improved upon it with the sleek Wallet Finder Card. Add it to your smart home setup and create automations, in addition to tracking your wallet.
Smarter with Matter
For the best smart home automation experience in tandem with the Wallet Finder Card, I highly recommend the Matter-enabled SwitchBot Hub 2.