Fi Series 3 Smart Collar Review: Track Your Dog Like Never Before
Retail price: $19/mo
Disclaimer: Fi sent us a unit of the Series 3 free of charge to review, but all thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are our own and were not discussed with the company prior to publishing.
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Three years ago, Alex and I adopted our two dogs from South Korea through a Los Angeles based rescue called DoVE Project. As part of the adoption process, we were introduced to Fi and received their Series 1 collars that were gifted to us with our new pups. We’ve used them for our dogs ever since, and have upgraded one of them to the Series 2 with our own funds. Fi recently reached out to us asking if we wanted to check out their new Series 3 collar which we were extremely excited to learn more about as long time Fi owners.
Howl’s It Lookin?
There’s actually quite a variety of “smart” collars out there in the pet market today and it’s overwhelming when you first start looking at what to purchase. Fi is unique in this aspect and different from e-collars because it doesn’t emit a vibration or sound, it simply functions as a GPS tracking collar. By using LTE, Fi is able to connect to your app that you can then set boundaries around a base and detect when your dog is outside its assigned radius. This means you can live track your dog and set it to different modes like lost mode on your phone while even tracking your dog’s steps and sleep. It’s basically a smartwatch for your dog.
Since we have two dogs, we assigned the Series 3 to our Labrador mix, Simone, and kept the Series 2 for our Jindo, Serena. Noticeable straight out of the box, the Series 3 is significantly thinner than its predecessor, with a depth of 11.5 mm and a weight of only 28 grams. The stainless steel body has a height of 28 mm and a width of 50.6 mm. It’s also IP68 and IP66K certified for dogs that love to swim. According to Fi, the Series 3 is also industrial-strength grade and can sustain 400 lbs of static force.
Because the Fi connects to multiple satellite connections, you must have a subscription in order to reap full advantage of the benefits that come with the tracking collar. I’ll touch more on this later.
Fi Series 2 (Pink) side by side with the Fi Series 3 (Yellow)
app benefits
Simone is not the most gentle dog and her Series 1 was actually pretty scratched up by the time we retired it. She also participates in outdoor sports like barn hunt and we take her out for walks twice a day. While she’s not the most active dog out there, her gear does take a beating over time and so far, I’ve been impressed with how scratch resistant the Series 3 has been. There’s fewer visible knicks and it has a sleek matte design that looks modern and clean. She’s also had a history of being an escape artist, having shrugged out of her harness twice when out and while she thankfully hasn’t done it in a while, this was primarily why we decided to keep a tracking collar on her.
Easily one of the best benefits of Fi is the app and its easy usability. I’ve downloaded this app many times now, across both Android and iOS and on every device I’ve used it on, it’s been reliable and consistent. Within the app, you can see a live view of where your dog is and take advantage of live tracking. We live in suburban Los Angeles where our network connectivity has been reliable so far, but this may vary depending on your exact location. If you find your dog is in a place outside of the radius you set, Fi sends you a notification and you can activate lost dog mode which hones in on your dog’s location for more precise tracking. I use the location view fairly frequently as we work with a neighborhood dog walker who takes the girls out when we’re out of town. With Fi, I can honestly say that I have more peace of mind knowing exactly when my dogs leave the house and return and where they went on their walk. The app also records the route your dog was on during a walk and will report back on its distance and step count.
Other benefits to Fi include step tracking where owners can customize goals and step counts for their dogs similar to how humans can through their own activity trackers. While this is nice data to have, I’ve taken less advantage of this feature and use it to just make sure at a glance that our dogs are getting proper exercise regularly. Additionally, you can also monitor your dog’s sleep as well and understand her patterns. Similar to the step count, while this is interesting data, it hasn’t been necessary data for the health our our dogs and can just be used to help monitor your pet’s overall daily routines as needed. Sleep tracking is available in both Series 2 and Series 3 Fi collars.
The Fi Series 3 light activated for nighttime walks
Within the app, you can also turn on the LED light indicator to flash on or off when you’re walking your dog in the dark. We’ve used this pretty regularly, especially in the winter when it gets dark earlier. You can sift through seven different light options and the Fi light strip will blink accordingly. I really appreciate this feature and think it’s great that Fi has continued to keep this through its evolution.
Wearable options
When you purchase a Fi, you select the size according to your pet and pick a color of the buckled collar you want. While we have used both the buckle and martingale versions of the included Fi collars, a benefit to owning Fi is actually the variety of third-party collars you can mix and match with it. There’s quite a few third-party Fi Makers that create different types of collars that will fit your design of choice. Serena is currently using a customized Stunt Puppy version while Simone uses the included Fi brand collar. We have used both collars connected to leads for emergency or quick transfer situations, but for the most part, prefer to keep their collars separate from their harnesses that attach to their lead. In the past we walked the dogs leashed to their collars and I do have confidence that the metal ring on the included Fi collars can withstand even the heaviest dog pulls.
Pawsitively Better battery life
The battery life of the Series 3 is noticeably improved. While Fi advertises up to 3 months, we’ve been able to get a little over 1 and a half months off just one charge. This is a noticeable improvement from the Series 2 which we calculated on our end loses about 20% battery life more quickly in that same span of time. Charging is also incredibly easy with Fi as you’re given an included charging cradle that you simply put the Fi on and a blue indicator light lets you know it’s charging. We typically do this overnight so that the collars are ready for use again by the morning. Once again, it’s a doggy smartwatch setup.
Doggone It!
While we’ve found the Fi to mostly fit what we wanted in a smart collar, there’s still room for improvement overall. The Series 3 is a great size for our medium sized dogs and also for large dogs, but in my opinion, is still not the most conducive for smaller dogs that weigh less than 20 pounds. Given its width and the required collar size that has to accommodate the tracker, I personally find it a little comical picturing it on one of our family member’s Shih-tzu or Maltipoo breeds. The Fi is definitely geared for larger dogs who may be outdoors regularly. The Series 3 is a big step forward in making the product more compact and I don’t think we’re that many generations off from seeing a much more compact collar.
Additionally, the Series 3 is pretty darn close to accurate on location tracking because of its AT&T LTE-M network and GPS satellites. It won’t harness its full accuracy unless you have lost dog mode activated, which may wear down your Fi’s battery more quickly. This means that on a regular basis when that mode isn’t on, you may have slightly less accuracy while tracking your pet. While I personally still trust Fi to be close to its reporting, I still see notifications when my dogs come and go on their walks with some mild delay and incorrect addresses.
Updated subscription
Perhaps the largest barrier to entry on Fi is its subscription package. To purchase a Series 3, you must select a membership on the Fi website. You can prepay over a certain period with a few options or pay monthly. In this business model, your new Series 3 collar is included with your membership subscription. In full transparency, there is a significant price hike in the Series 3 compared to its predecessors. The Series 1 and 2 collars were a one-time purchase with an annual subscription of somewhere around $100 for the network. With the Series 3 (as of this review), you’re paying $192 annually or $336 on the two-year prepay plan. If you choose to just pay monthly without an upfront payment, it will cost $19/month for a total of $228 annually. This means if you lock in for a longer period of time, you do save some money. Unlike its former iterations, since you aren’t buying the hardware and you’re essentially subscribing for the software, the Series 3 membership allows owners to upgrade to the latest hardware when a new model is released.
Fi is approaching this similar to how we do trade-ins in today’s smartphone market, but this means I have conflicting opinions about its business model. While the Series 3 is a noticeable improvement in terms of hardware and is a fantastic product overall, I found it really hard to justify the price increase when my Series 2 did almost the same exact features. Hopefully Fi considers this note in the future and is able to offer more accessible membership options for more owners to be able to keep their pets safe.
should you buy it?
At the end of the day, the best part about Fi is its app experience. Considering we’ve been Fi subscribers long before they reached out to us for this review, it’s pretty fair to say we really do enjoy our Fi and believe in the hardware. If you are looking for an accurate tracking collar for your dog, I really do think Fi stands out amongst the rest. That being said, I don’t necessarily think an upgrade from Series 2 is worth it at this point. Series 3 is half the size, has better battery life, and offers real-time GPS tracking for a lost dog. Are those additions worth the added costs? It might be for some, yet it might not be for Series 1 and 2 owners. However, if you’re not yet in the Fi ecosystem, a Fi membership may make sense, especially since you’d be eligible for upgrades as they create new versions.
Lida
Always the number cruncher, the former narrative journalist turned data scientist, can’t help but find herself bursting with excitement with each new generation of tech gadgets. After all, predicting future trends is Lida’s forte. Any gadget that survives Lida’s torturous, adult working woman itinerary of over 700 notifications a day deserves praise!