aside from the batteries, my Tile devices just straight up do not activate most of the time when I actually need them. I'll be a few feet away and they won't make any sound // won't connect when I try to ping them. AirTags have been FAR more reliable, and the direction finding is next-level.
I'm a tile user, and indeed they seem a bit unreliable. I got one for my wife to keep in a known location because she misplaces her phone, and it works to signal the phone maybe 4 out of 5 times.
I have one on my dog's collar, in a 3D printed enclosure. He got out a few weekends ago and ran all around town, and there weren't any breadcrumbs on the app. It's one of the mid-range models rather than the high-end ones, though.
I have the high-end ones in our cars, and there's plenty of activity in the app.
While I pay for the premium service, it's too much hassle to deal with the "free" battery replacements. I just buy bulk packs of coin cells on Amazon for $0.10 each.
> I'm a tile user, and indeed they seem a bit unreliable. I got one for my wife to keep in a known location because she misplaces her phone, and it works to signal the phone maybe 4 out of 5 times.
Mobile is hard.
Google's Find My Phone fails to wake up my pixel 7 about half the time I used it, even if I am staring at the phone. Sometimes the alert goes off half an hour later.
My fitbit's "find your phone" feature also works less than half the time.
I am genuinely surprised that my wife's apple watch can locate her phone every time she asks it to.
Find My Phone has always worked reliably for me, at least. I suspect the Tile's reliability issues come down to inconsistencies across all Android versions, and perhaps a relative level of cheesiness within the Tile app compared to Apple's stack.
What platform are you on and what models? We in general have stats that show we are the most reliable product from a connectivity standpoint but I know there are still issues. Apologies you are in that bucket.