Phone Halo is a compact rechargeable bluetooth device (approx. 1.5”L x 1”W x .5”D) that pairs with your smartphone to prevent you from losing your device or item. Phone Halo is currently available on Android and Blackberry and is promised for iOS soon. The device is $59.95 the phone applications are free to download.
Setting up Phone Halo is simple and straightforward. After charging the bluetooth device and installing the mobile application you enter your wireless settings and turn on Bluetooth on your phone. Scan for new bluetooth devices and then pair the application with the device by entering “0000” or “1234” when prompted for a pairing code. On the Android version of the mobile application “0000” paired the device successfully.
After the device is paired you attach the Phone Halo device to the item you want to protect, keys, computer bag, wallet, purse etc. Then when the tagged items are separated from your smartphone by a preset range inside 35 feet, the smartphone and Phone Halo tag will beep alerting the user the protected item(s) are being left behind or in the process of being stolen. Users can choose to automatically lock the device and display a user defined message on the smartphone screen. Optionally users can configure the application to automatically notify contacts by email, Facebook, or Twitter when the device is lost or stolen. The application will send a message with a Google Map attachment showing the last known location for the device.
In theory the Phone Halo device is a great concept. In the past I have on occasion left my smartphone charging on the desk in my home office and haven’t noticed it missing until I had already arrived at work. I thought attaching my phone halo tag to my keys would be a perfect way to insure that I remembered to grab my smartphone before heading out to work.
I say in theory because I’m having the following problems with my phone halo device:I can’t get the phone halo device to activate reliably sometimes the phone alarm will ring with the phone on my belt and the keys in my pocket. Other times I can walk away down the block several houses away from my phone and the alarm won’t go off on the phone halo device or the phone. I have tried walking away and leaving one then the other device behind.
The phone halo device alarm is barely audible (I want the alarm in the demo video below) when stuffed in a pocket or purse, never mind underneath the couch cushions in the next room. defeating the purpose of having the device.
The application menu appears to be different from the Android on-line manual. I can’t find where to set the distance parameter within the application in the Android application.
At this point I’m not sure if I have a defective phone halo device or if there is some other issue with the software or hardware. I’ve had to turn off the phone halo device and deactivate the software on the smarphone because it was randomly setting off the phone alarm despite the smartphone and the phone halo tag being in close proximity of each other.
I’ve reached out to the phone halo tech support and will update the post when I have a definitive answer to share with you.
