REVIEWED: Adero intelligent organizational system
This system of Bluetooth trackers for keeping valuables and luggage in sync is your new personal assistant for packing
Are you constantly patting that jacket pocket to check your passport is still there? If so you need the Adero smart bag system, which not only puts sensors on your bag, but also on small items and valuables. There’s no GPS here, so it’s more of a personal assistant than a system of trackers, and if something’s gone missing, it tells you right away.
Adero intelligent organizational system: overview
Adero (formerly known as TrackR) is a system of smart tags and taglets. Its ‘smart tags’ are for placing in a piece of luggage such as a backpack, suitcase or bag. Another good choice might be a jacket, especially if it’s one that you wear while traveling, and which is often home to various gadgets and valuables. The smaller ‘taglets’ are for attaching to valuables such as a wallet, a passport, a phone, a pair of headphones, or perhaps even a book. In fact, anything that you dare not leave anywhere. The underlying concept here is that all of your valuables are linked together via Bluetooth to your smartphone, and if one is missing when you start out on a trip, or at any stage during the trip, you will be alerted. You literally press a smart tag and it glows green if all your activated taglets are inside.
Adero intelligent organizational system: features
The ‘Starter Pack’ comes in a surprisingly large box, though it turns out mainly to be pointless packaging. However, the core products are superbly presented. The box opens in two halves, one saying ‘this is a smart tag’ and the other saying ‘this is a taglet’. All very easy to understand. The smart tags themselves can be used as keyrings (likely one of the most popular uses of this product despite its loftier intentions), though also in the box are three fabric zippers and three self-adhesive adapters for permanently attaching smart tags to the inside of bags and luggage. The three taglets are self-adhesive, so need to be physically stuck to things (like a passport or wallet). However, the glue that really keeps everything together is Bluetooth and the free Adero app.
Adero intelligent organizational system: performance
The app takes a little setting-up, with each tag requiring a name, but the biggest decision TravGear had to make was which valuables and bags were worthy of attaching a tag to. The app contains reminders and generally helps with organization as well as preventing you from losing things. For example, you can set it up to tell you 10 minutes before you’re due to leave on a trip that everything is in your ‘holiday bag’ or some such. It’s also a manual affair; you can look at the app anytime and at a glance see exactly what’s in your suitcase without having to physically check.
However, also in the box is that bane of any tech-savvy traveler, the dreaded recharger. Although the smart tags don’t need to be recharged very often, it’s a shame that the proprietary system supplied only works with Adero tags. Wouldn’t it be better if they just used regular Qi wireless charging pads that almost all new flagship smartphones are compatible with? That aside, Adero works really well, but there’s no GPS, so don’t expect to be able to track your checked-in luggage around airports.
Adero intelligent organizational system: conclusion
The Adero system is comprehensive, it’s easy to use, and it works well. It’s tempting to say that this product is perfect for those travelers who are particularly forgetful, though TravGear thinks that the target market is actually those travelers who are by their nature extremely organized. For the average traveler, Adero is overkill, but ‘personal assistants’ could become standard very quickly if the sensors were slightly smaller and less costly. TravGear reviewed the Starter Kit, but a ‘Deluxe’ kit with five smart tags and nine taglets is coming soon for US$199.99.
Price as reviewed: US$119.99 for a Starter Kit (3x Smart Tags and 3x Taglets)
Buy the Adero intelligent organizational system