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Review: Geozilla GPS tracker – It’s like LoJack but for your kids

Or anything else you can stick it to, really.

Geozilla gps tracker held in fingers
Image: Joe Rice-Jones / KnowTechie
The Good
Accurate position tracking
Small enough to hide
Good SOS function
The Bad
Do we really need to LoJack our kids? Sheesh
Battery could be bigger
8.6
Overall

We’ve written about GeoZilla before, the popular GPS-tracking service that lets you keep an eye on where your family is at all times. I mean, nobody wants to be unprepared if the phone rings and someone says they have your daughter, for example.

Now, the company has a new way to LoJack your loved ones, with the standalone GeoZilla GPS Tracker. This $50 little device uses GPS and Cell ID tech to triangulate its position, and report back to the GeoZilla app. Nifty. Know where your kids are at all times, if the dog is doing his business on the neighbor’s lawn (again), or even if Bob from down the street never returned your lawnmower last month.

Track all the things!

Geozilla gps tracker on backpack

Image: Joe Rice-Jones / KnowTechie

Okay, so the GeoZilla Tracker is about the size of a squashed walnut. I mean, if you could squash a walnut without it splintering into a billion pieces, but I digress. It uses a combination of GPS and Cell ID tech to triangulate its position to within a few feet. That’s the same tech used in your phone to run your maps apps. It’s got a 6-day minimum battery life when in standby, with a few days of charge when on.

It’s also got three buttons that you can assign to send pre-set messages to trusted contacts, all managed through the GeoZilla app. There’s a handy lanyard in the box, as well as a soft pouch with velcro, and a hard case that might be more suitable for use in your kid’s backpack. That hard case also has a button that can trigger the SOS function when pressed.

The tracker comes with a month of free service, and after that, you’ll need to buy a subscription to GeoZilla’s plan. That’s $5 per month, per device, or $50 if you buy a year at one time. For that, you get all the tracking functions, the ability to send SOS messages and the ability to set things like geofenced areas, to send you alerts if the tracker goes outside or goes into one of these areas once set.

Never get caught by surprise by your kids coming home early, or by your pet pretending to run away only to come back home days later. Now you’ll know where they are, and how much trouble they’ll be in when they get back.

App happy

Geozilla app screenshots

Image: Joe Rice-Jones / KnowTechie

The first thing you need to do when you open the box is charge the tracker for 12 hours. After that, going outside and turning it on for 15 minutes will let the tracker sync up with the GPS signals. Then it’s just a case of figuring out who/what/where to track, and what additional settings you want.

The tracker is actually slightly more accurate than the GPS on my phone, putting my location within feet instead of occasionally saying I was outside. Pretty impressive from a low-cost, low-size GPS device.

So, should I buy it?

Got kids? Worry about where they are at all hours of the day? Don’t want to pick up the phone to call like an anxious parent? Maybe stashing a GeoZilla Tracker in their belongings will help ease your worries. Just… tell them you’re doing it beforehand, okay? The last thing we want is for you to get into trouble.

A sample unit was provided for the purpose of this review.

Editors’ Recommendations:

The Good
Accurate position tracking
Small enough to hide
Good SOS function
The Bad
Do we really need to LoJack our kids? Sheesh
Battery could be bigger
8.6
Overall

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Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere. His hobbies include photography, animation, and hoarding Reddit gold.

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