Chip off the old
block.
Keys, tablet, wallet; these are things that, when you’re in
a hurry, seem to want to hide themselves about your home.
Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to open an app on your phone, tap a button,
and then listen out for a ringing sound that gives up the location of your
precious item. Now that is possible, and it’s all thanks to a tiny little
gadget called Chipolo.
Coming in nine colours, the Chipolo is wonderfully light and
easy to use. Set up is as simple as downloading the app (available for iOS,
Android AND Windows Phone 8.1 – yes, it works on Windows Phone!) dropping the
Chipolo on to the screen to connect with your phone, and then naming it with
whatever thing you will be attaching it too. This means that you can have multiple
Chipolos attached to multiple important things, and Chipolo wants to help you to
do this by offering discounts for bulk orders on their website.
Running off a slim-line battery, you can expect to get six
months of use from the Chipolo before a change is required. Fortunately you
also get a replacement battery included in the box, so each Chipolo is set for
a whole year. Changing the battery is a simple case of prising the smooth
plastic casing open, so no need for that Mechanical Engineering manual. You also
get a little key chain hoop included, to make it even easier to attach to your
most lost possessions, your keys.
That’s just what we did with the car keys, an item bound to
suddenly disappear just as you need to leave the house. On the key chain the
Chipolo is unassuming and subtle (despite ours being bright orange) and once it
is on and synced to your Chipolo app, you really do forget it is there. The 60
metre search range is perfect for most homes (unless you are royalty and live
in an expansive palace) and once summoned the Chipolo responds in seconds with
an audible (but too loud) chirp.
As well as being located by the sound it emits, Chipolo can
also be found by using your phone’s location service. A map will spring to life
inside the app, pinpointing the Chipolo in question’s exact position. This is
very handy if you’ve lost your item in a noisy environment, such as out in
public, or if it is so completely buried within a bag or under clothing that
you wouldn’t be able to hear that cheeky chirp. Either way, we found that the
location finder worked fairly well, with it usually displaying the Chipolo’s
position to within about five metres – enough to then hear the noise being
emitted.
We really love Chipolo and have, even in the brief time it
has been with us, used it several times and found it extremely useful.
Basically we’ve got that panicked five minutes of car key searching time back
each morning. Thanks for that.
£27 each
Visit www.chipolo.net
