If you have a problem misplacing your wallet and need to be reminded that it’s not in your pocket but on your nightstand, then you should really check out the ORBIT Card.
Personal identification, receipts, cash, you name it is something that we all carry day in and day out in our wallets and purses, and the Orbit Card wants to make sure that you never forget any of those things. The premise of the Orbit Card is pretty simple: it’s a Bluetooth tracker about the size of a traditional credit card that stores in your wallet and allows you to (up to 100 feet) track your purse, wallet or bag. Over the course of a month, I’ve been using the Orbit in my wallet to make sure that I never leave the house forgetting my IDs and credit cards.
Orbit considers their card the world’s thinnest Bluetooth tracker, and you’d be hard-pressed not to agree. Compared to the Tile Slim that I’ve reviewed previously, it certainly is thinner, although not smaller in overall size. But the underlying question you might have is: How well does it actually track your things? In practice, I received a mixed bag.
Setting up the Orbit card was pretty simple. What I ended up doing was actually downloading the companion app that’s available for free on both Android or iOS devices first, then adding the Orbit card to my device by holding down on the fingerprint icon on the card itself until you are notified that the card has paired with your device. Orbit one-ups Tile in terms of practicability as well, including a charging cable that is unique in its own right, allowing you to recharge the card every few months to make sure that it doesn’t die on you, making this a one-time purchase, instead of having to go to Amazon every 6-8 months like you would a Tile product (depending on usage).
During usage, if you do walk too far away from your wallet, your smartphone will let out an alert letting you know that you’ve gone 100 feet or further away from the last known location that the Orbit Card is when sitting in your wallet which I think is nice. In the event you tend to leave your wallet in a locker or at home while you go for a run, the Orbit app has a “Safe Zone” option that allows you to leave your Orbit Card and the wallet in a space that you feel comfortable returning to and it will still be there.
There are so many things to love the Orbit Card, but if you needed one more, how about the fact that you can actually take selfies by simply tapping the card while in camera mode? With its own built-in selfie remote, you don’t have to worry about ever using a selfie stick again.
Now there are some quirks that I dislike about the Orbit Card, mainly being the connectivity. When searching through the app, it will ping the last known location, but in practice, it’s had a hard time finding the device 20 meters or so. On top of that, you can use the Orbit card to find your phone by pressing the home button which works fine, most of the time. There was a slight delay in pressing the find button on the Orbit and having my phone beep which should be a bit faster. Despite that though, it’s about a third of the size of the Tile Slim, and might I say just fits perfectly in the wallet.
Overall, I have to say I really suggest the Orbit Card, dare I say I suggest it over the Tile Slim merely due to size. It easily sits behind that grocery card we all have in our purse or wallet, and won’t add additional bulk to what exists in your front or back pocket. At $49.95, it’s on par with the competition, while being thinner in size, and rechargeable as well.
For more information on the Orbit Card, you can head over to Orbit’s site directly.
Source: Manufacturer supplied review unit
What I Like: Rechargeable: Thin enough to fit behind a credit card in your wallet; Alerts you when you’re more than 100 feet from your wallet
What Needs Improvement: Connectivity issues
