Testing 1 2 3: Cube

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/07/2018 (2726 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The product: Cube is a small Bluetooth tracker that connects with your cellphone via an app. Once paired up, you simply attach the tracker to whatever it is you’re likely to lose or misplace — keys, purse, knapsack, camera. Then, instead of wandering aimlessly through the house, opening up random drawers and muttering to yourself, you open the the app, hit “Find” and the tracker responds with a jaunty tune, while a blue light flashes.

It also works in reverse: press the Cube’s button quickly twice and your phone will identify itself with a different jaunty tune (even if the ringer is off).

The company is also planning a Cube Pro version, with a louder alert, longer range and a “crowd find” feature, which will allow you to mark your Cube as lost and notify you if another Cube owner walks within 30 metres of your lost item.

It’s available for US$24.95 atcubetracker.com.

Features: The black matte rubber-coated Cube is small (about four centimetres square and 0.5 cm thick) and light (nine grams) — a perfectly respectable size for a key chain. It has a one-year replacement warranty and comes with a replacement battery; it’s also waterproof (just don’t take it swimming with you). You can link multiple Cubes to the app — just take a picture of each one attached to whatever it is you want to track and label them. Click on the photo in the app, hit “Find” and Bob’s your uncle.

The alert is loud enough to hear a couple of rooms away (unless your keys are buried behind a sofa cushion or something) and the map feature keeps a record of your Cube’s last location.

It can also be linked to your camera so you can use the Cube’s botton as a shutter when taking selfies (if you’re into that sort of thing).

Failures: If you’re trying to find your cellphone with the Cube, but your phone’s Bluetooth function is turned off, you’re out of luck; since using Bluetooth is a huge battery drain, many people don’t leave it on as a default.

Also, while the $25 price tag seems reasonable, when you take into account the exchange and the hefty US$15 delivery charge, it comes up to about US$40 (more than C$50 at the current rate).

Buy or bye-bye?: Cube is a super-cool idea, easy to set up and works like a charm. Whether you want to fork out the dough will likely depend on how forgetful you are and how often you misplace things.

jill.wilson@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @dedaumier