Jiobit Next Review

A versatile GPS tracker for kids and pets alike, the Jiobit offers an incredible 10-day battery life and the best indoor tracking technology we've seen so far. It’s tiny, easy to use, reliable, and customizable.

Even more important, it’s durable and difficult to remove if you need it to stay hooked to a belt loop or backpack strap. We loved that you need a special tool to remove it—tiny humans won’t be able to ditch Jiobit when they want to give you the slip.

After trying Jiobit out on a reluctant test subject (hint: he meows), we can confidently say this tracker is a great pick for human- and fur-baby parents alike. 

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• Jiobit Next Location Monitor 
• Charging dock
• USB charging cable
• Secure Loop, Hem Lock Clip, Integrated Loop, and Strap Clips

You’re required to sign up for a subscription plan when you buy a Jiobit. The subscription gives you access to a data plan that includes national US cellular data.

The price of the subscription plan depends on if you sign a contract or not and how long the contract lasts. With a two-year contract, you get the best deal at $8.99 per month. A six-month contract will snag you a monthly rate of $12.99.

If you hate contracts like we do, then opting out will cost you $14.99 per month in subscription fees. Even at the worst rate, Jiobit is still much cheaper than its biggest competitor AngelSense, which is a whopping $39.99 per month.

If you decide to cancel, Jiobit will charge you an early termination fee of 25% of the remaining contract. You can suspend your subscription for up to three months for free and $1.99 per month per device after that.

With the month-to-month subscription plan you can cancel whenever you like. Unfortunately, canceling terminates the SIM card in your Jiobit after six months, and it can’t be reactivated.

Setting up Jiobit is so easy your kid could probably do it. You just scan the QR code with your phone, click it into its charging base, and connect it to your Wi-Fi.

From there, you pick one of the four different clips it comes with and attach the Jiobit to a coat, backpack, pet collar . . . There's really almost no limit to where you can attach this tracker. 

Jiobit can be used on animals that are five pounds or more. We picked the collar of a cat named Milo for our Jiobit. Milo likes to roam, so we figured he would be the perfect test subject for our Jiobit review. Milo was curious about the new bobble on his collar but soon forgot about it.

When it comes to tracking, Jiobit has everything we could ask for, including maps, directions to the missing tot, and customizable alerts. If you have a toddler that likes to disappear like fish-shaped cheese crackers during snack time, then you’ll love this device.

You can customize when you get alerts depending on how far the device is from your phone. You can also customize how far the Jiobit can travel outside of the trusted area, from 100 to 800 feet, with its geofence feature. If you like, you can get notifications when your child or pet arrives at trusted locations that you designate too.

The blue line on the dashboard of the Jiobit app gives you a visual indication of how far away the Jiobit is from your phone. When the line turns red, that means that the Jiobit, and your little one, have moved too far away. You can also see the location of the tracked tot on the dashboard map.

After tracking Milo, we found that he stays close to home most of the time. A quick trip to visit his buddy in the neighbor's yard was about as far as he traveled outside his acre-sized yard.

If your sneaky kiddo likes to hide around the house or under clothing racks at the store, Jiobit can make an irritating buzzing noise. Just go into the app and tap the Ring Jiobit option. Think of it as a super stressful game of Marco Polo. Either you'll find the crafty kiddo by tracking the sound, or your kid will run to you begging for the alarm to be turned off. Either way, the missing child is found.

Milo didn’t necessarily hate the alarm, but he couldn’t figure out where the sound came from. The alarm made it easier to figure out if he hid under the bed or behind the dresser. Very helpful.

Still can’t find them? Tap the Directions option on the Jiobit app dashboard, and it will tell you exactly how many feet you are from your child or pet, along with a street address and how long it will take you to reach them.

If more than one person is in charge of the safety of your kiddo or pet, they can easily track Jiobit on their phone too. All you need to do is send them an invitation to join your child’s Care Team. All they need to do is accept and download the Jiobit app.

If your kid ever needs help, they can press the Alert Me button on the bottom of the Jiobit. If you’re afraid the button will trigger by accident, you can change how many presses the button needs before it sends an alert. You can change it to a double-click or triple-click. If your kid thinks it’s funny to alert you for no reason, you also have the option of turning the button off.

Alert button messages can be sent to everyone in your Care Team or just a few folks. It’s completely customizable and easy to change as often as you need. Just toggle the switch next to the Care Team person’s icon.

Is the Jiobit tracker easy to remove? Heck no. There’s no need to worry about your tike getting rid of their tracker and going on an excursion.

We tried to pry the clip off the collar (when it wasn't on Milo) and it wouldn't budge. Those clips are tough. We scuffed it up some, but no breaks. The only thing that worked at removing the Jiobit was the removal key that it comes with.

If you want the device to be easy to remove, don’t worry. There are different clips you can customize it with.

How long does Jiobit’s battery last? Well, that depends. Jiobit says the battery lasts up to 168 hours. We found that it varies from user to user.

The battery will last longer if the following happens:

• The pointy part points at the sky (it also gets a better signal this way).
• It's in a trusted place.
• The Bluetooth on your phone stays on when the Jiobit is close.
• Your Wi-Fi is strong.
• You don’t use Live View too much.

Plus, the longer you use Jiobit, the better it retains its charge. This is because it’s constantly using AI to learn your kid or fur baby's routines during the first week or so. During our first few hours of use, the battery went down around 5% and a total of 10% in the first 24 hours. So during the first week you may want to plan on charging it every couple of days.

We really like that Jiobit will alert you when the battery gets to 20%. Want alerts sooner? You can customize the alerts. Just toggle on the option to get alerts when the Jiobit battery is charged too.

Milo took his Jiobit in wet grass, drizzle, dirt, and who knows what else—and the device still worked perfectly. With an IPX8 rating, Jiobit works in up to five feet of water for up to 30 minutes. So it’s probably not the best pick for a day at the waterpark. 

Jiobit comes with a one-year warranty on workmanship defects. It won’t cover normal wear and tear or other more extreme cases like your dog chewing on Jiobit.

Jiobit Next is our favorite tiny GPS tracker. We love it for kids, pets, and seniors. Not only can it track those you love; they can also use it to get help with the press of a button. While we aren’t fans of contracts, we do like that the company at least offers the option of a month-to-month subscription, even if it costs twice as much.

Learn more about our other favorite GPS trackers.

• Best GPS Trackers
• 6 Ways You Can Help Your Kids Stay Safe at School
• What to Do When Your Child Goes Missing
• Smart Gadgets and Resources for Children with Autism