Fi Series 3 Smart Dog Collar - GPS Dog Tracker and Activity & Health Monitor, Waterproof, LED Light, Escape Alerts, Nationwide Coverage [Free 1 Year Membership] (Yellow, Small)

My husband and I rescued our dog Charlie 4 months ago. He’d been badly treated as a puppy and so sadly was still very anxious and skittish. We have been training him and he’s got better but at the start any sudden sounds or noises would trigger him, and he would immediately try to bolt.We live in the suburbs, but have a good sized property. Our yard is fenced all the way round, and all the dogs we’ve ever had have always loved it as they can roam off leash. That is except for Charlie…..who just tries to escape.A couple of close calls later, we realized that no doors could be left open, and someone would always need to keep an eye on him when he’s outside. I was still so worried that I looked into what we could use to track him so that I could have more peace of mind.We wanted to make sure that we got this decision right. So, we tested 3 of the best ones against each other: Tractive, Whistle, and Fi. I don’t typically leave reviews, but my husband said we should as it may help save another dog one day!We tested them over the course of 2 weeks, and focused on the following areas:1. Location Tracking Accuracy2. Escape Alerts (when your dog gets out)3. Devices (size, weight, and comfort)4. App (ease of use and other features)1. Location Tracking AccuracyWe really wanted a tracker that we could trust, so this was very important to us. We had to make sure that if Charlie was to get out unexpectedly, we would know exactly where he was to go get him. To test this, we did several walks with each of them where me or my husband would take Charlie on a walk away from the property and I would watch it on my phone to see where they were going. Some of these walks were around our neighborhood, and some were on hiking trails that were a bit more rural.Overall, there was some variation in the tracking, with the biggest difference being that the Fi and the Tractive are the only two that offer live location tracking, Whistle does not. Another thing we did learn about all of them though is that they will only be able to work in real time with cell service. We talked to support about this and it turns out that’s how they send the GPS location back to your phone.We thought this was important, and so focused on testing hikes that had spotty coverage to see which tracker would respond best. Fi was the only one that would give updates throughout the walk, even if they were intermittent. It seems that it repeatedly tries to ping the location back to your phone, whereas the others were only able to send some reports later on once we were fully in a cell service area.2. Escape AlertsThis was a quick one. I had my husband leave with Charlie and without his phone and I timed how long before I got a notification that he had left. We were trying to recreate a potential ‘escape situation’. This was the order we got our notifications:1. Fi - 1 minute 29 seconds2. Tractive - 3 minutes 47 seconds3. Whistle - 4 minutes 13 seconds3. DevicesThis is getting very long as I type it so I’m attaching some pictures of them alongside each other instead!The Tractive is the only one that attaches to your own collar and you don’t need to swap your collar out for, but the Fi is by far the smallest and lightest of the group. Whistle’s surprised us as we didn’t expect it to go so far back into the dog’s neck.4. AppWe actually hadn’t thought about including this section when we first started testing, but after using them all for a few weeks we wanted to include it as they each have some cool features.All these companies did a good job with set up. They all took under 10 minutes to get up and running and were straightforward processes. Running through each of them in more detail below:Fi - tracks their location, activity, health and sleep. This is the only one to track sleep which was really cool to see. It’s also the only one with a built in LED light which was a great add for our nightime walks. It also had the longest battery life of all of them and was the only one that we didn’t need to charge over the 2 week period.Tractive - tracks their location and activity. Mainly focused on location but has a couple of neat activity features. Battery didn’t last very long.Whistle - tracks their location, activity and health. Definitely the most focused on health, and tracks things like scratching and licking. Didn’t find these that accurate though.Hope this helps some other dog moms. After the testing we decided to keep our Fi and return the others and are still very happy with our decision.

Quality material used for the cooler and tracking device; super easy to assemble and set up tracking. I love seeing the activity and nap time data. So far it seems like a fully charged battery lasts days (two days wearing and at 90%).It took me awhile to purchase because of the price and subscription, but totally worth it for peace of mind (and seeing my dogs stats are fun, now we both have step goals 🙂 🐶)

These collars are life savers. Literally and figuratively. We adopted a husky mix 1 year ago and she is an escape artist. Being able to track her and see her location in real time when she is on the move has helped us locate her quickly. We also love seeing how many steps she is getting everyday, and how much she is sleeping. The collar itself is very durable and she has taken it swimming multiple times and it has remained waterproof! Works great. Highly recommend.

Works very well.Downside: Lost Pet Tracker is slow to connect and spotty. On freezing winter days, it was frustrating walking toward his reported location only to have the location of my dog jump 1/4 mile back in the direction I came from. Sometimes it's really accurate and sometimes it's all over the place. I live in suburban Columbus Ohio so it's not a GPS coverage issue.Tip: The distance between the dog and the base station makes a HUGE difference in battery life. At the start, I had the base station up in my bedroom, and the dog stays downstairs. I had to charge the collar every 3-4 days. I moved the base station into the room where the dog sleeps, and now I only charge it every 2-3 WEEKS.

My yorkie has used two generations of Fi collars and Whistle before that. Had to purchase another for my new frise mix who’s a bit loony. Love Fi because the battery goes on for weeks, there’s lots of third party collar options out there, the LED is awesome at night, and it doesn’t look like something added to a collar as much as other brands do or adding an AirTag does. The Fi was a life saver when my yorkie was younger and ran off after squirrels; but luckily learned to listen and to return home by him self; but still love the collar because of the fitness tracking. I recently had an AirTag on my frise mix; which worked most of the time; but the Fi is just more reliable and as already mentioned - love the added LED light when walking the dogs at night. It’s not a strong light that’s meant to replace a flashlight; but it’s more to know where they are, help people spot them, and hopefully avoid bicycles or even cars from hitting them. As a bonus - there’s an option to choose from a few light colors. If one of the doggies go missing, the Fi can be put into lost mode, which causes the light to flash red (so I don’t like using the red light to avoid confusion if others know about the collar).The Fi collar is definitely worth it if you worry about your dog running off and/or their daily workout. There is somewhat of a social network built into the app where you can post and other like other pics of dogs and connect with other dog owners; but I don’t use it much and the app isn’t built around a social network which I’m thankful for. I will agree that pricing can be high compared to just using an AirTag and/or options from some carriers that offer similar trackers now; but bundling for a year or two seem to help reduce the cost (although it has to be paid upfront at once). …maybe Fi should consider allowing people to use those new financing options that allow for 4-bi-weekly payments interest free (just a suggestion).I also do wish the collar could play a sound when in lost mode; but at the same time I can see that causing some dogs to panic and God forbid, possibly run into traffic or get injured somehow.Anyways - love the collars and definitely look into the third part Sexy Dog Beast collars if you want something more premium and quality made for your furry friend.