In any case, my dog isn't training for a marathon, so I'm fine with trading off some imprecision in exchange for battery life.Fortunately, I didn't need to activate the lost pet mode for real, but I did some testing to see how the Whistle works if your pet is gone. Once it snaps in place, it's difficult to remove, as it should be. Click Add Human to send an invite to other pet parents or caregivers, like the dog walker or any friends enlisted in tracking down a missing/escaped canine. Even with that change, the battery stayed solid.Battery life is the main differentiator between the $130 Go Explore and the $100 Explore (the other is the Go Explore's light). The page includes a daily timeline of when your pet was active or snoozing.The Go Explore works with the free Whistle app for Android and iOS. And the built-in night light can help you better track your pet in the dark.The Whistle GO Explore is an improvement in almost every possible way upon the Whistle 3, with much longer battery life, easier charging, a better collar clip, more health info, and improved durability, among other useful upgrades. The tracker itself sits a little loose in the clip, but won't fall out without you pushing the spring-loaded button and twisting the device 90 degrees.Whistle GO devices attach to any collar, unlike the It should be noted that the GO Explore itself is usable by smaller dogs and even cats, though the health info is mainly for dogs.All Whistle products have a 90-day trial period during which you can return the device without question. I'll probably never need it — and that reality makes paying a monthly subscription fee a tough pill to swallow. The Whistle GO Explore pet tracker improves on the previous generation in nearly every way, while adding a few new tricks in the process.

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Whistle claims the battery can last as long as 30 days if your pet's a real couch potato, with an average life of around 20 days. So if you're looking to track your pet's whereabouts, as well as take a deep dive into its activity, the Whistle GO Explore earns our Editors' Choice.The Whistle GO Explore pet tracker improves on the previous generation in nearly every way, while adding a few new tricks in the process.PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. Click the Current, Daily, or Weekly links below the map to see a breakdown of your pet's locations for each time frame; click a left or right arrow when in Daily or Weekly to go back or forward in time for a heatmap of locations. Google promises better search results for recipes, jobs and shopping In comparison, the Fi Smart Collar took 3 minutes and 20 seconds for the initial notification.Once you do know the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, you can click the Track button and the device starts checking in with the GPS system every 15 seconds. The biggest changes from the Whistle 3 are better battery life and a micro USB port for charging; if you have a Whistle 3, its proprietary charger won't work with the new models. The same goes for the Whistle. For the extra $30, we think the GO Explore is the better bet.While it weighs the same 1.3 ounces (with the collar clip) as the Whistle 3, the GO Explore is pretty much the same size. If your dog is wearing it and gets away, you’ll be able to track her down, and that’s very valuable. All of the above will notify you of Family Trips, which is when the pet leaves the house accompanied by one of your pre-determined humans.Initial launch shows the current location of the Whistle GO Explore on a Google Map, which you can switch between normal mode or satellite or terrain. Day-to-day, it’s not an essential tool, but it’s a solid insurance policy against a lost pet. This is, sadly, standard with the competition as well. That address was usually accurate, but the alert took longer to arrive on my phone than I would have expected; we had gone a full block before the Whistle recognized she was out of the home zone.Once that alert came through, I checked the app to see where Ellie was located when it was sent and enabled the always-on tracking to see exactly where she was. But if you do, you'll be glad that you shelled out the money. Watch Elon Musk's Neuralink reveal live at 6PM ET So instead it combines accelerometer data with the GPS tracking from when you're out on a walk to pull together these estimates. Ellie got credit toward that daily goal when we went on walks, as well as for any more vigorous activity (like tearing around the house before dinner). That's double the rate of the Whistle 3's tracking, which makes real-time tracking much more effective. I had to replace the latter at one point because the rubber stretched and wouldn't bounce back after several months. The all-plastic clip likely will last longer, plus is nigh-impossible to get back off a collar once attached (I scratched mine all up trying to remove it). Unfortunately, this is one area where Whistle doesn't take top honors. He was on the founding staff of They can include updates on activity, achievements (meeting a step goal for example), and even nudges to get your pet moving more.