Is the Fi Collar Worth Buying?
After thorough testing and comparison, we found that the Tractive Collar delivers better performance at just one-third of the subscription cost of the Fi Collar.
A great pet tracker should connect quickly to the GPS signal and give you fast, accurate location updates. Its battery should also stay charged long enough for you to reunite with your furry runaway.
But while these devices continue to improve, none of them are perfect—their technology depends on satellites, cell signals, smartphones, app algorithms, and even the clouds in the sky. It’s a wonder they work as well as they do.
After a month of testing and comparisons, we think the Tractive GPS Tracker for Dogs and the Fi GPS Collar is the most accurate and reliable devices for when your dog stages a breakout. But Tractive does it even better!
Detailed Review and Comparison:
Runner-up: Fi Series 3 Smart Dog Collar
Fi GPS Collar
Fi Series 3 Dog Collar offers great location accuracy in a small package, but there are a few sacrifices.
on TryFi
If you prefer a tracker with a smaller physical profile and great location accuracy, or if the Tractive isn’t available, the Fi Series 3 Smart Dog Collar is a good runner-up model. This device shares many features with the Tractive, but in a slimmer, sleeker package. However, its size comes with a few trade-offs, and it’s more expensive than our top pick. It’s easy to set up, and it comes with a base that helps preserve battery life.
For such a small device, it does a lot. The stainless steel–encased Fi device weighs 0.95 ounces without the collar, nearly half an ounce less than the Tractive. Compared with the Tractive, this device measures almost an inch less in length and nearly a quarter-inch less in depth. The sizer on Fi’s website goes as low as 5 pounds (and 9.5 inches for the collar diameter), compared with Tractive’s 9-pound minimum for dogs. Also, the Fi can’t be attached to just any collar—you either have to use the one it comes with or buy one of the many available third-party options (one of which might better suit your style).
Fi takes a creative approach to preserving battery life. Unlike any other tracker we tested, the Fi comes with a separate base that helps maximize battery life. When the collar moves too far from the base (roughly a radius of up to 200 feet, depending on the environment), it will jump onto your home’s Wi-Fi instead, which is slightly less power-efficient. Similarly, if the Fi app is running, the collar can connect to your phone via Bluetooth. But once the dog disconnects from all of those “safe” signals, the algorithm considers it an escape and starts looking for the more-battery-intensive GPS signal. In our testing, we found the battery life of the Fi to be nearly as good as that of the Tractive: After a dozen outings of roughly 30 minutes each over six days, the Fi still had 45% of juice left, only 5% lower than the Tractive’s result. The base also serves as a wireless charger, using magnetic induction.
It delivers mostly accurate location updates. The Fi’s location accuracy was close to the Tractive’s most of the time during live tracking, which Fi calls “Lost Dog Mode”. But the pathway it displayed wasn’t always as precise. The Fi’s path trace often appeared as a series of zig-zags that occasionally cut through buildings or showed part of a trail that never happened. The Fi relies on only one cellular network, AT&T, versus Tractive’s minimum of three, so the signal might be weaker or absent in more places. But in general, when I was looking for the dog in Lost Dog Mode, the Fi stayed up-to-date and pointed me in the right direction. And while the Fi map’s location pointer is a transparent fan, which we found harder to use than the Tractive’s arrow, the Fi’s satellite view was much brighter and easier to see.
It’s waterproof. With an IP68 waterproof rating, the Fi can be submerged in up to 1.5 meters of water for up to 30 minutes; this is better than the Tractive’s IPX7 rating. So if your dog loves to swim and dive in the deep end, the Fi might be the better option.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
It’s slower to activate live tracking. The biggest problem we had with the Fi was how long it sometimes took to activate live tracking. As we were writing this guide, the company pushed out a firmware update that drastically improved this timing, but it was still slower than the Tractive and not as consistent. It took the Fi between roughly 14 seconds, at its fastest, and 80 seconds, at its slowest, to activate Lost Dog Mode. In a situation where every second matters, that higher end can feel like a very long time, especially compared with the steady six-second average it took the Tractive to start live tracking.
Save Up to $70 on Fi Collar
Don't forget to use our exclusive promo code “SPOIL” to Save Up to $70!
Only Today!
Try risk-free: 30-day Money-Back Guarantee
Top Pick for dogs: Tractive GPS Tracker for Dogs
Tractive GPS Collar
Tractive GPS Trackerr provides excellent accuracy, connectivity, and battery life, as well as flexible subscription options.
on Tractive
The Tractive GPS Tracker for Dogs had the most reliable location accuracy and escape alerts of all the models we tested. It also had the longest battery life. It easily attaches to a dog’s collar, and the app has an intuitive map interface that makes it simple to follow your dog’s path, even when you’re panicking. It offers multiple subscription options, costing as little as $5 a month, it costs just one-third of the Fi Collar's price.
It’s great at tracking your animal’s location. Of all the devices we tested, the Tractive provided the most consistently accurate location updates during live tracking. Tractive is the only company we’re aware of that uses multiple cell-service providers, including AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, among others, connecting to whichever one has the strongest available signal. During live tracking, the device updates every 2-3 seconds under good conditions, but it can sometimes take longer than that, depending on the environment. In our testing, the dog’s location wasn’t always pinpointed perfectly, but it was usually off by only a few yards.
The Tractive connects to the device quickly for live tracking. When switching to live tracking, the Tractive consistently connected to the collar and updated the dog’s location after roughly 6 seconds, on average. No other tracker we tested came close. The Fi, after a recent firmware update, took an average of 38 seconds to activate live tracking, and the times were inconsistent. The Whistle usually took close to a minute, if not longer.
The Tractive has the fastest escape alerts. Every tracker we tested had a lag between the animal leaving the safe zone and the escape alert, but the Tractive had the shortest delay. On average, it pushed an alert to my phone roughly 90 seconds after the dog crossed out of the safe-zone boundary. I contacted Tractive customer service and they told me: “This slower speed is a trade-off to preserve battery life. The more frequently it’s checking to see if it’s outside of the safe zone, the faster the drag on the battery. And so we can dial that up and the battery depletes faster or we can dial it down, the battery lasts longer but that alert is more delayed.”
The battery lasted longer than the rest. After the first dozen outings of at least 30 minutes each—about 6 hours total, over six days—the Tractive still had 50% left on its battery, the best performance among all of the batteries in trackers we tested. The Fi’s battery came in a close second place, with 45% battery life. The Tractive comes with a separate clip-on charger and cable that you can plug into a USB power block (not included). This is an extra piece to keep track of, but we found that it charged the device relatively quickly, within a couple of hours. Tractive also offers an XL version of its dog tracker, which is larger than the main dog tracker, it’s very similar to this version, yet it has a bigger battery and a more-robust casing, to withstand the stronger jaws of larger dogs.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
The light is small, and the sound is fairly quiet. The light on this tracker is extremely small, so it’s not useful when you’re trying to find an animal in the dark. Likewise, the jingle it plays is very quiet, with no adjustment for volume, so if there’s a lot of road noise or wind, you may never hear it. It has an IPX7 waterproof rating, which means it can be submerged in up to 1 meter for up to 30 minutes, but this is lower than that of the Fi.
Get Up to 30% Off on Tractive
Right now, Tractive’s Winter Deals is live. By purchasing through their promo page, you can get up to 30% off this week.
Try risk-free: 30-day Money-Back Guarantee
Price comparison – Tractive can save you a lot of money.
With dogs living up to 18 years, high annual subscription fees can add up to a significant expense over time. Compared to the Fi Collar, Tractive offers a much more affordable subscription plan, starting at just $5 per month—only one-third of the Fi Collar's lowest subscription cost. In the long run, Tractive can help you save a substantial amount of money.
| Collar Price | Subscription fee: | |
| Fi Series 3 | Free | 1 year: 192$ (16$ per Month) 2 years: 336$ (14$ per Month) |
| Tractive | 34.99$ (Get 30% Off from this link) | 1 year: 96$ 2 years: 144$ (6$ per Month) 5 years: $300$ (5$ per Month) |
Conclusion
Among the dog collars I tested, Fi and Tractive stood out as the top options. Both can meet the needs of most dog owners, but I personally lean toward Tractive. It offers a more affordable subscription plan—nearly a third of Fi’s cost—while outperforming Fi in connection reliability, tracking accuracy, and battery life.
On the other hand, Fi is more stylish, lighter in weight, and has better waterproofing, making it a great choice for smaller dogs or those that love swimming.
If you are really still on the fence, keep in mind that both Tractive and Fi Collar offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. This means you can try both collars, test them for a few weeks, and simply return the one you’re not satisfied with for a refund.
Whichever collar you decide to go for, be sure to get the best price via the discounts below:
Visit Tractive's Promo Page>> (Get 30% Off, Only This Week)
Visit Fi's Promo Page >> (Get Up to 70$ Off with the code “SPOIL“, Only Today!
Never experience the heartbreak of losing your beloved dog —choose the right GPS collar for your furry friend!
