Nomad today announced the launch of the Tracking Card, an ultra-slim Find My-enabled card designed to be carried in a wallet so it can be tracked via an iPhone.
The tracking card is about the thickness of two credit cards (2mm), so it doesn’t take up much space in a wallet. It’s also credit card sized, which means it can be carried alongside other cards. There are several Find My cards on the market now and 2mm is the thinnest available. Eufy SmartTrack, Chipolo CARD Spot, and Tile Slim are all a bit thicker.
One side of the black plastic card is pretty plain without a logo, and the other side has a second subtle Nomad logo with light gray lines representing the hardware inside the card. It’s not as identifiable as a ‘Find My’ tracking card, so if someone steals your wallet, it won’t immediately tell the thief it’s trackable. It actually looks a lot like a key card.
The card has a hidden button that is pressed to add it to ‘Find My’ and adding to the app is as simple as opening it, pressing the “+” button and then holding down the pairing button on the tracking card. From there, it can be given a name and an icon and is trackable alongside other Find My items as well as Apple devices with Find My.
Nomad’s tracking card connects to the iPhone via Bluetooth, but it’s also able to take advantage of the full Find My network using nearby Apple devices if you’re out of range of your own iPhone. Find My provides the current location if it’s with you, or the last known location of the tracking card if it’s with the Find My network.
When nearby, the tracking card can play a sound with ‘Find My’, which is helpful in locating your wallet if it’s misplaced at home or around. There’s no precision search like Apple devices, so the ‘Find My’ app can’t take you directly to the tracking card. In most cases the beep is not loud enough to be heard from another room, especially if it is buried in sofa cushions or similarly hidden, but it should be loud enough if you are in the same room as the card.
You can set the tracking card to notify you if it’s lagging behind, meaning it sends an alert when your iPhone moves out of range. This is probably the most useful feature of the ‘Find My’ network as it lets you know immediately if you’ve misplaced or left something out.
The Find My app has options to get directions to the tracking card, you can also share it with family members so they can track it, and Lost Mode is available to add your contact information if your wallet is lost. As with other ‘Find My’ accessories, the Nomad is capable of providing firmware updates when new software is needed.
Perhaps the best feature of the tracking card is the battery. The internal battery can be recharged by placing the card in a Qi-based charger, and the markings on the card show alignment. I tested the card with several Qi/MagSafe chargers and they were all able to provide power with charging indicated by a small red LED on the card. The light turns green when fully charged and turns off when the charger is not connected. There’s a small amount of metal inside, but enough that it’s able to connect to upright chargers as well as flat chargers. The card does not have magnets so it will not affect the magnetic stripe on credit and debit cards.
According to Nomad, a single charge should last about five months, so it doesn’t need to be charged very often. Nomad says IPX7 waterproofing is included, so if the card gets wet, it will survive.
Many wallet-sized Bluetooth trackers on the market don’t have a rechargeable or replaceable battery inside, so it’s great that Nomad designed the tracking card over the years. With the Chipolo Card Spot or Ufi SmartTrack, the entire device must be thrown away when the built-in battery dies.
At $40, the Nomads Tracking Card is about $10 more expensive than some competing products from well-known companies like Chipolo, but it has built-in wireless charging and a slimmer design. Amazon has some Find My Wallet tracking cards with the same Qi technology for about $10 to $15 less, so Qi charging for trackers isn’t an entirely new idea. Of course, these aren’t known to Apple accessory makers so quality and performance haven’t been verified, plus reviews are mixed, but there are other options out there.
Note that like all ‘Find My’ Bluetooth tracking accessories, Nomad’s tracking card only works with Apple devices. It cannot be used on Android platform.
Nomad Tracking Cards can be purchased from the Nomad website from today.
Note: Nomad provided MacRumors with a tracking card for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.
