Ian Norris

Airbolt GPS – Anyone thinking of buying this product, I’d suggest that you do a lot of in-depth research, by creating an account & reading information only available with an account to understand the issues with this devise before parting with your hard-earned cash. I bought this device to track my luggage when travelling (anyone who has had an airline misplace their luggage will understand this) & secondly to use for day-to-day items like keys. The slick advertising states that it tracks anywhere, anytime, including placing in bags & attaching to keys. “Don’t be a loser” was the claim on the now removed video. From my experience, which I will give a brief summary of below, it simply doesn’t do this. A couple of brief points which are important to note: The device only operates with a mobile network coverage subscription. The sim card is built in so you cannot use a different, more accurate, cheaper network. Airbolts network is not cheap & gives limited ‘Pings’ depending on your chosen plan. Although Airbolt claim that this has advantages, I suspect that this setup is a money-making scheme for them. As I understand it from the information I’ve read on the website (whilst trying to get this device to work), The device is supposed to pick up a GPS signal to give precise, accurate location. If it cannot do this then the cellular network will triangulate the signal and give its ‘best guess’ as to the location. It doesn’t pick up the GPS signal indoors, or from my experience inside a bag. To pick up the signal it needs a clear line of sight facing upwards so don’t drop your keys, or anything else its attached to, with the device facing downwards. Not sure how it will get the signal in water, which they also claim. The battery doesn’t last anywhere near the 12 months which is claimed. 5 days after activation I was alerted that the battery needed charging. This was from a full charge. If you click on the coverage map link on their website, it will show all the countries that it (supposedly) works in. Only by checking further will you find that the device has LIMITED COVERAGE in several countries. They don’t state how limited the coverage is, but from my experience in the UK the coverage is next to non-existent – very odd when Google tracks my phone location & sends me an email each month showing the places I’ve visited, including shops, restaurants etc & yet this purpose-built device for tracking doesn’t do this! My experience in summary: I activated the device for a trip from the UK to New York. Upon activation it showed locations in various places in surrounding streets to my home. The most common was 15 houses away, although the pin on the map showed it in a farmer’s field even further away. On my journey, I put the device in the top of my bag. As I waited for a train, the device showed me at a couple of locations in the town, but not at the train station & I had not visited any of the locations shown. Arrived at a hotel where I was staying the night before my flight. At no time did the device show the hotel I was at. It either showed another hotel further along the road, on the opposite side or at a road junction about a third of a mile away. Much the same thing in New York where the device showed me a block or so away from the correct location. On my return to the UK the device showed me still at JFK airport several days after my return, despite me having the device in my rear garden for several hours at one point, trying to get it to pick up the signal. I contacted the customer service team explaining that my device wasn’t doing what they claimed, detailing my experience. I got a response of ‘Ensure your firmware’ is up to date & several links to try other things & advising me that the coverage in the UK was LIMITED. My firmware was the latest version & I’d played around with the settings during my test of the product, to no avail. I suspect that this product isnt suitable for use in the UK (or elsewhere where the coverage is limited) & so I asked for a refund. This request was ignored despite it clearly breaching trade descriptions by not doing what they claim. From recently reading many other reviews which say the same thing, they are aware of the issue & shouldn’t be selling the product in the UK & should be acting responsibly and refunding loyal customers who have been mis-sold.