Chipolo ONE Spot Review

Item: ONE Spot
Rating: 73
Author: tfk, the5krunner

The Chipolo One Spot Bluetooth tracker has Apple Find My certification and it’s a cheaper alternative to the Apple AirTag, especially as no extra holder is needed. But all is not as it seems, here’s why…

Chipolo ONE Spot vs Apple AirTag Comparison – What’s New? & What’s Different

The ONE Spot looks like many previous Chipolo’s trackers but works differently. Don’t get confused, buy the right Chipolo

The Chipolo ONE Spot does NOT work on the Chipolo app. It only works on the Apple Find My network…just like the AirTag
The Chipolo ONE Spot has an eyelet – apparently trivial but this will save you buying an accessory holder…UNlike the AirTag
Chipolo ONE Spot appears to be approximately the same price as the AirTag, however, its true cost is lower as there is no need to buy an accessory holder.
Chipolo ONE Spot does not support Apple Find My’s precision finding with UWB (iPhone 11 and later, Apple Watch 6 support soon, not SE)
The audio ‘lost’ alarm is better and clearer than that on the AirTag.

Chipolo ONE Spot Verdict

73%

Verdict: The cheapest and most usable item finder but lacks 2 important features.

The Chipolo ONE Spot is not so similar to the Apple AirTags as you may have thought. My hopes were dashed when I discovered that ONE Spot does not support the Chipolo app and so just can’t work on Android. They were further dashed when I discovered that Precision Finding with Find My is not supported.

Those are two big shortcomings when compared to the Apple AirTag.

However! ONE Spot is cheaper to buy, even cheaper as a 4-pack and cheaper-still because you don’t have to buy an accessory holder. They still work with the global Apple Find My network and if you have an iPhone X or older, then you wouldn’t be able to use Precision Finding in any case!

A One SPOT Finder can be easily added and named within Find My on your iPhone. If you call it ‘My Keys’ then simply say “Siri where’s my keys” and you should hear them ringing in your coat pocket or bag.

After a couple of weeks of use, you start to notice the silly things…my AirTags are scratched like crazy and don’t look so good but the rugged plastic of the ONE Spot looks better.

Pros

Full support for the global Apple Find My network…it’s HUGE
The eyelet makes it easy and free to attach to key rings
Good, clear audio to find it over short distances (better than AirTAG)
Good detection range from your iPhone (same or better than AirTAG)

Cons

Audio-find mode is the only way to find chipolo over short distances when mislaid
No support for the Android Chipolo app network
Can be stolen…just press and hold for 30secs when found to fully reset.

Chipolo Direct

Chipolo ONE Spot – Where’s the problem?

So long as you realise what you are buying you will be happy with the ONE Spot. If your ONE Spot is in the car or in the garden and out of audible range then you might have problems finding it quickly – owners of iPhone 11 and newer should be visually directed to their AirTag in such situations although if you are out of Bluetooth range (absolute max of 30m, realistically 10m) then you either have to move around or rely on the Find My network to ping your device.

Chipolo ONE Setup

Hey, you’ve bought electronic devices. It’s easy. You will already have the Find My app on your iPhone just open up, pair and name…you know what to do.

Chipolo ONE Lost Mode

The only other feature that’s not obvious is ‘Lost Mode’.

When you are in the Find My app you will find your ONE Spot listed as an ‘Item’. If it’s out of range then you can mark it as lost and optionally add a name and contact phone number which only the finder will be able to see when they tap your Chipolo with the NFC on their phone (I couldn’t get the finding part to work with my partner’s iPhone 11).

Chipolo ONE (2020) vs Chipolo ONE Spot (2021, Apple Find My)

The ONE and ONE SPOT are two totally different products.

Chipolo ONE works with Chipolo’s app and has some pretty cool features including family sharing, however, it just doesn’t work on the Apple Find My network and so the ‘finding network’ you have available is ‘only’ the Chipolo app network which, admittedly, includes some devices on Android but which is massively smaller than Apple Find My network.