PROTAG Duet Bluetooth Tracker - Retail Packaging - Red

I'm a professional technology writer for various Mac magazines (MacUser, MacFormat, etc.) and I am use to writing reviews of products that receive 3, 4, and 5-start ratings. Writing about anything less is frankly a waste of time as consumers want to know the best-of-the-best or at least on the upper end of the scale.But I was so disappointed with this product, that I had to write something on Amazon simply because this product is flawed in so many ways.How can I say this nicely...this product sucks (and I have NEVER written that in a review). I try to write reviews that at least have positive things to say about a product or service, but there is actually NO REDEEMING VALUE WHATSOEVER IN THIS PRODUCT. PERIOD.The support is awful in the box and online, there is no FAQ or general technical or problem-solving Q&A online, and the company responded to my questions with vague pre-written statements not even addressing the Bluetooth connection issues and ways to resolve it.The issues of reliable (and that is a key word here) Bluetooth connectivity are so rampant that this product is virtually un-usable. Sometimes it connects and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes (lots more often than not) it finds a device and then it doesn’t. You can blame that on Blueooth technology issues in general or you can blame this on the Protag people for not exploring ways to improve that reliability before coming to market.But the real issue of this product that goes to its heart is the manufacturing - the sole responsibility of the Protag people. The device's shabby and shoddy construction is core to its demise. Instead of making the backdoor of this device one-piece with a plastic hinge to ensure a snug, reliable connection of the battery, it relies on two, separate plastic pieces to simply ‘snap’ together. The result (at least on the two Protags I received) was a poor fit that wouldn't ensure a reliable battery connection. With the battery installed correctly and the back on, I had to physically press down on the back for it to come on! This is simply poor, poor manufacturing with little thought to functionality. Poor planning, poor testing, and no thought of reliability. It was as if the Protag people thought, “We got our Kickstarter crowdfunding money now. Let’s just get it out there.”With the issues of Bluetooth reliability already in question, not being able to reliably tell if the device is on throws a whole other issue into the mix. Is it the battery not being on that’s the problem, or Bluetooth issues? I can’t tell. What a mess!This product simply doesn’t deliver on its promise in a reliable fashion. When (and if) you lose your keys and you’re frustrated in finding them, the last thing you want is the product you bought and relied on to find them fail you at every corner. This product at least delivers on THAT promise.Portage Duet is no tracker. It’s not even close. What anyone wants is a product to deliver on its promise RELIABLY and CONSISTENTLY. You expect your car to deliver on that every day, don’t you, otherwise you’d fix it or get rid of it, right?! This is no different! Fact is, you can’t fix this because the technology, support and manufacturing all let each other down.If you buy this product then the chances are more than 80 percent that you’ll be sending it back for a refund. Is that worth buying for less than a 20 percent chance you’ll be happy?! That answer is a NO brainer.(Tested on an iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge)

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  Wish I never purchased this item. Would not recommend. When I first ordered the duet I used the app for android. It was constantly in the notification drawer. It was more of a nuisance than help so most of the time I had the app turned off. Probably used it for half a day before just not even opening the app. Used it as a keychain for a couple months until the first battery died then put the new battery in and installed the app on iPhone. Now the duet makes a constant, annoying ticking sound. Additionally, it alerted me that my phone and keys were separated from 2 feet away. App seems buggy and unfinished. Certain menus disappear while you're reading them. Really seems like a beta product, not something that should have been released. Oh yea and this thing will fall apart on you multiple times. Drop your keys once, expect to be chasing down the rolling battery and trying to find that tiny button that's supposed to ring your phone. Mine doesn't even have that button anymore because it's broken apart so many times I ended up losing it. What happened to screwing things together?

Terribile, poorly constructed item. Lid, continues to fall off. I've been lucky to find snap on cover in the street and driveway servral times.... Also if you have an energy savings device built-in to your phone, it must be turned off. Device kicks in shuts off Bluetooth and alarm goes off in the middle of the night.Wishing this was a better built unit, where maybe a screw of better snap was built to prevent the cover from coming off and than loosing the battery.

Update: after one month, still no help from support, even after posting directly to their facebook wall. Their home website is down. yet they are still selling these pieces of junk. Just got a pack of Tiles two weeks ago and although there are some features the duet had that they don't yet, MUCH happier. I so wish I could get my money back on this.My first negative review, but have to do it. This was beyond useless. It seemed to work ok, up until the time I actually needed it. I believe if you restart the phone you have to repair the tracker. When I had it, I frequently would find that it was not paired. Then came the day I lost it. The duet was in my wallet. The app reported that it was last seen 2 days ago, even though I had it with my phone for the entire day before, and that morning. I tried to get help from support but could not get a response until I posted a plea for help on their Facebook wall. And then all I got was "it is at that last location." For two days I looked. Finally I realized that every time I restarted the app it no longer showed as lost, so I would report it again (despite reporting lost at least 30 times it NEVER Aappeared in the Crowd feature, and despite several requests to support for an explanation why I have not gotten a single reply). Once I report it lost, within 10 minutes it reports as Seen again, even if I was 50 miles away. I did my research, thought that the Duet was the best option, but am going to try something else, hopefully with real support when needed.