Put a Prox PRD on your keychain or in your purse and you’ll always be alerted when start to leave without your iPhone. It’s not an AirTag or a tracker, and doesn’t collect any info about you. The device simply makes sure you don’t walk off without your handset.
I’ve tested the Prox PRD for weeks. Here’s why I’m satisfied with it. This post contains .
may earn a commission when you use our links to buy items. AirTag is great — if you go off without your purse or backpack, Apple’s tracker tag will alert you. But it can’t warn you that you’ve left your iPhone behind.
That’s where the Prox PRD — Phone Reminder Device — comes in handy. It’ll start ringing if you carry it too far away from your iPhone (or Android. ) I literally can’t remember the last time I left my iPhone at home because I use it as the GPS in my car.
But I do sometimes forget the handset on the dash of the car. When I do, Prox’s device rings to warn me. And it does so without tracking me in any way.
Keychain-ready design As it’s designed to go on a keychain, the Prox PRD is just 1. 75 inches square and 0. 25 inches thick.
The hardware includes a polished aluminum outer frame, with the rest of the housing made of white plastic. There’s a built-in loop to make clipping it to your keychain a breeze. Press a recessed area on the top to perform various functions, like turn the PRD on or deactive it.
A blue LED lights up to show the device is working. The top panel can be removed to replace the battery. Does exactly what it promises The Prox PRD follows a basic rule: “Do one thing, and do it well.
” I put it through weeks off real-world testing. I started by making a Bluetooth connection between my iPhone and the device, then attaching the gadget to my keys. Thereafter, when the PRD and iPhone get so far apart that their Bluetooth connection is broken, an alarm goes off on the PRD.
But it’s a little more complicated than that, and that’s the secret of Prox’s success. I was initially concerned the device would go off every time I took my iPhone to the far end of my house. Nope.
That’s because the gadget has a built-in motion sensor. When my keys are sitting by my sidedoor, the Phone Reminder Device doesn’t pay any attention to my iPhone. Only when I pick up my keys with the gadget attached does it start watching to be sure my iPhone is nearby.
Prox’s device works quite well, as noted. Of course, I experimented with deliberately leaving the house without my iPhone and I always got an alert on the PRD. And I was pleased to get a warning the couple of times I actually left my iPhone in my car over the month of real-world testing.
The very few times I’ve gotten a false alarm have come because I did something to slightly jostle my keys — the motion sensor is quite sensitive. You can adjust the sensitivity of the Bluetooth receiver, but I never needed to. I suspect that feature is mostly for cheap Android handsets with sucky Bluetooth.
A year of battery life The battery is replaceable, and Prox says one will last about a year. But that depends heavily on how much it gets used. Frequently setting off the alarm is a drain on power.
And constantly moving the PRD is another — that keeps the device in perpetual Bluetooth communication with your iPhone. Leaving the gadget sitting by your door is the best-case scenario. Prox says that, at worst, you’ll need a new battery maybe every six months.
My testing went on for about a month, and the battery still reports it’s at 100%, so don’t be concerned you’ll need to constantly replace the battery. Bonus feature: Remote camera button But wait … there’s more. Open your iPhone Camera app and double-press the function button on the top of the Prox PRD to take a picture.
If the Camera app is in video mode, a double-press starts recording while a second double-press stops it. It’s a nice addition to the featureset. You can set up your iPhone on a stand pointing toward you and a group and snap a picture without having to set a timer.
Next version should be an AirTag, too One of the benefits of Prox PRD is that it’s not a tracker. It doesn’t know the location of anything. You can use it with the assurance that the gadget won’t invade your privacy in any way.
That said, attaching the device to a keychain that already has a AirTag on it is more than I really prefer to carry around. I’d like a Prox PRD that also functions like an AirTag. That’s a possibility — both Chipolo and Pebblebee make tracker tags that use Apple’s Find My system, just as AirTag does.
Then the gadget would let me find my keys, or warn me if I’m leaving them behind, in addition to alerting me that I’ve forgotten my handset. Prox PRD final thoughts Prox’s Phone Reminder Device isn’t an AirTag, but it does something Apple’s item tracker doesn’t: warn you that you’re leaving your iPhone behind. It seems a simple job but a poor design would have turned this gadget into a source of irritation.
Instead, it performs quite well. I like this product, but the price pushed my rating down slightly. Pricing The Prox PRD costs $57.
95. To be clear, there are no subscription fees. Buy it from: or The price is a bit high if you don’t frequently forget your iPhone.
But if you regularly walk off without it, the Phone Reminder Device seems a good investment. Cult of Mac.
From: cultofmac
URL: https://www.cultofmac.com/842976/prox-prd-review-iphone-phone-reminder-not-tracker/
