Ugreen FineTrack 2
pros and cons
- Half the price of an AirTag.
- Good for five to seven years.
- The non-replaceable battery makes it much harder to disable.
- iOS only.
- Bulky.
- The inserts aren’t glow-in-the-dark.
- Masses of documentation for something so small.
on Google.
I’ve written a lot about my love of Apple AirTags, a finder tag that breaks the mold and brings some fresh ideas to a market that feels somewhat stagnant.
Submersion is no problem for the FineTrack 2.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
The one-piece design also makes the FineTrack 2 pretty tough, and harder for a would-be bad guy to disable the tag so they can do a runner with your stuff. AirTags, unless they are in a secure mount — like the ones that Elevation Lab makes — can be rendered useless in a matter of seconds by removing the battery.
Non-replaceable battery
To combat this issue, the FineTrack 2 doesn’t have a replaceable battery.
I know, that sounds crazy in this day and age, and to be honest, I thought that was an issue too when I first heard about it. However, there is some sense to this approach. Rather than compromise the design, Ugreen has kitted the FineTrack 2 with a battery that’s good for five to seven years. That capability means less waste from replaceable batteries, reduced risk of serious injury from kids and pets ingesting a battery, and the removal of a big ingress point for dirt, water, and other schmoo.
Also: The only lithium button battery brand I recommend now, for serious safety reasons
Is this approach an environmental disaster? Ugreen says no, suggesting the design is carbon neutral. In my mind, if I get five years or more out of a tag, it’s done well, especially if it cost me $15 to buy and I didn’t have to buy any replacement batteries along the way (a handful of decent CR2032 batteries