The Galaxy SmartTag 2 is one of the best object location trackers around in terms of hardware and technology. It is compact, has a built-in key attachment ring, features UWB for ultra-precision finding, and lasts up to 500 days on a single charge. However, an object tracker is only as good as its network, and that's where Samsung needs to improve.
Time is ripe for Samsung to bring integration with Google's Find My Device network
Galaxy SmartTags are currently limited to the Samsung Find network, which means it is missing out on a vast network of non-Samsung Android phones. Moreover, SmartTags aren't even compatible with non-Samsung Android phones, making them unusable for a lot of people.
Samsung sells anywhere between 200 million and 300 million smartphones annually, and some reports indicate there are around 1.03 billion active Galaxy smartphone users. So, Galaxy SmartTags can take the help of the 1 billion strong smartphone network to find lost objects using Galaxy SmartTags.
In comparison, there are over 3 billion active Android smartphone users worldwide. That is 3x larger than the entire Galaxy smartphone user base. And this is why I think Samsung should integrate its Samsung Find network with Google's upcoming Find My Device network. And this is not something that's unheard of. Google and Samsung have collaborated on several projects, including Google Home-SmartThings integration and the recent Nearby Share-Quick Share merger.
It is being reported that Google could launch its Google Find My Device network after Apple releases the iOS 17.5 update in the coming months. iOS 17.5 features unknown location tracking alerts for non-AirTag object trackers. Samsung is already backing the unknown location tracking alerts standard, but it needs to go further.
If Google and Samsung collaborate for Find My Device and Samsung Find integration, the Galaxy SmartTag lineup could be a smash hit and a standard option for object location trackers for Android users who want to track their belongings. Samsung should also consider opening up Galaxy SmartTags for non-Galaxy Android smartphone users, even if it keeps some SmartThings features exclusive to Galaxy phones.
