Smart Pro
  • 2 months ago
Transcript
00:00G'day, I'm Paul. So, if you own old cars like I do, or even have new cars that don't have GPS tracking,
00:06maybe you've considered buying one of these to stick inside the car so you can track it.
00:10It's the Apple AirTag and the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag Plus.
00:14How well do they actually work though at tracking your car if it's stolen? That's what we're going to find out today.
00:19We're comparing both of these against a device that's specifically built for tracking your car.
00:24This has GPS inside it and an LTE connection, also has an emergency mode,
00:28so it can give you fairly real-time updates on where your car's located.
00:32Now, if you haven't done so already, make sure you subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon,
00:36so you can find out every single time we do one of these car tech slash explainer videos, but let's get started.
00:42Now, before we go for a drive and test all of this stuff out,
00:45I just wanted to explain how this technology works.
00:47Regardless of whether you go for the Apple or the Samsung device, both of them use what's called ultra wideband technology.
00:52Now, this isn't new, it's been around since the early 2000s,
00:56and it transmits data across a wide radio bandwidth.
00:59It sends pulses every other nanosecond, and it can use a bandwidth between 500 megahertz and several gigahertz depending on the device,
01:06and that helps it avoid interference. It's also inherently secure. Ultra wideband has the ability to encrypt data.
01:11It also has the ability to do random number generation and cryptography as well. Let's start off with the Apple AirTag.
01:17I'll explain how this works. So inside this is an Apple U1 chip plus a small battery.
01:22The idea behind this is as you're walking around or driving around,
01:26this is able to use other Apple devices to transmit your location.
01:30So this doesn't have GPS or anything inside it.
01:32All it does is when an Apple device goes past, it detects one of these and it transmits the exact GPS location
01:39back to Apple's servers securely, and then the person that owns this device, and only the person that owns this device, can see where its
01:46last location was. That means you're opening yourself up to a network of around one and a half billion Apple devices globally that can transmit the
01:53location of one of these devices. So you can see here that this is incredibly scalable, and
01:58the concept behind this is really smart because this doesn't use a great deal of power, and then any Apple device that's near it can
02:04actually help locate this, which in turn will locate your car. Now, what about the Samsung device?
02:09Well, this operates pretty much in the same way as the Apple device, except where the Apple device can only be found by Apple devices,
02:16this one here can actually be found by Samsung devices and only Samsung devices.
02:20So that means that you will use a network of Android devices,
02:24Samsung Galaxies, to find the location of this item, and then it transmits the data to Google servers,
02:29and it comes back down to you, so you can find the precise location of your device.
02:33This one's slightly different, though. A double tap of this allows you to locate your phone as well,
02:37so it works kind of in reverse. Now, finally, this one here, the GPS device. Inside this,
02:42there's a GPS unit plus LTE.
02:45So this can use 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G to relay the exact GPS location to a server.
02:51It then comes down to an interface. Now, this is extra handy because if it doesn't have a GPS signal,
02:57so if you're in a tunnel or some other location where the GPS signal is stopped, it can actually use cell triangulation,
03:02and that means that you do get a more approximate location.
03:05It's not quite as exact as GPS,
03:07but when it is in emergency mode, it sends extra pulses so that the location is more precise, and it's transmitted more regularly.
03:14So I've explained how the devices work. How is our test going to work?
03:18I think I've come up with something that covers all bases, and I've enlisted my colleague Scott.
03:22Hello. Yes, he's quite tall.
03:24Scott is going to be driving about 40 kilometers away from the Melbourne CBD,
03:29which is where our office is and where we're located now. Along the way, he's going to pass a number of checkpoints.
03:34We've synced the vision in the car with the office upstairs.
03:38Scott's then going to check in with me as he passes those checkpoints, and as he passes those checkpoints,
03:43we're going to see how accurate each device is at tracking the location.
03:48So that should mean that we'll be able to get a better idea of which device works well,
03:52and whether they work at all. His final destination is going to be a spot where there is no phone reception.
03:57So that's ultimately going to see exactly how our GPS device works,
04:01and how accurate the rest of the devices are when they run out of phone reception and a, I guess, network to relay through them.
04:08We've mounted all the devices on the dashboard of the car here, just for the purpose of simplicity.
04:13I think if you were going to hide these in your car, if it ever got stolen,
04:17you'd want to put them into a clever location.
04:19But just for simplicity, they're up along the dashboard there. And a caveat as well,
04:23Scott is an Apple user, and we don't want to influence the accuracy of the AirTag
04:28by using Scott's phone to relay its location constantly.
04:31So we've disabled Scott's ability to relay AirTag locations.
04:35So that'll mean we're relying simply on the public for the Apple device, and also the Samsung device.
04:39And then finally, the GPS device has its own LTE SIM card, so that should be able to work on its own.
04:45So let's get started. Scott, you can head off. I'm going to run back upstairs, and we will check in with you shortly.
04:51Let's do it.
04:58So we're back at the office. We've got our first checkpoint, which is inside the tunnel,
05:02because I want to get a better idea of whether these devices are going to work when they're inside the tunnel.
05:07So Scott is on the phone to me now. Scott, are you about to pass our checkpoint?
05:11I am just about to pass your checkpoint, yes.
05:13Okay, cool. I'm going to refresh all of our devices here, and let's have a look at what they're all saying.
05:21Okay, okay, perfect. So at the moment, we have the Samsung that's detected his exact location,
05:28which is just on the edge of the tunnel as he drives out of it.
05:31We've got our GPS unit that's detected his location on the outside of the tunnel, plus his speed.
05:36But the Apple device here hasn't located anything. It's still showing that he's inside the tunnel.
05:41I'm going to try and just refresh that, just to see if we can get a better idea of where he is.
05:48Just to see if we can get a better idea of that.
05:51So it looks like the Samsung device is up to date, but the Apple device is out.
05:55It's 10 minutes ago was the last update, and that was at the entrance of the tunnel.
05:59So it is interesting to see that this doesn't seem to have as much accuracy.
06:03Scott, we'll chat to you again when we get to our next checkpoint.
06:06Yeah, I'm here, guys.
06:07Okay, so it was a little bit surprising that the Apple device didn't update for something like 15 minutes.
06:12It's finally got an update now, and the Samsung has been updating the entire way along.
06:16Potentially, Scott has, I don't know, someone with a Samsung driving next to him or something like that.
06:21We have noticed, though, with our GPS unit, the one that we bought, it's playing up.
06:25It's not really being entirely accurate.
06:27So we're still running that inside the car, and it's running in the background here.
06:30But what we've also got running is the car's in-built tracking, which is connected drive.
06:35It uses the same principle as the GPS module that we have.
06:38So it uses the car's GPS plus the car's LTE service to locate the car.
06:43And you can see that the location of this is very accurate.
06:46So let's see what it's like at the next check-in with Scott.
06:57Okay, time for our next checkpoint.
06:58I've got Scott on the phone here.
06:59So we've discovered here that the GPS unit that we bought is updating every 10 minutes or so, which isn't enough accuracy.
07:05We've kept it running, but connected drive is updating live.
07:08So I'll refresh that.
07:10Scott, can you let me know when you are about to pass our waypoint?
07:25Perfect. Okay.
07:26So our devices are all updating at the moment.
07:28We can see here the Apple last got an update five minutes ago and the Samsung four minutes ago.
07:33We'll do a refresh there just to see if we have anything new.
07:37And we'll refresh this.
07:38There we go.
07:39So the Samsung has just received an update, which is showing exactly where its location is.
07:45The Apple is still out of date, so six minutes ago.
07:48And you can see here the locations are the exact same with the car's live GPS and the Samsung.
07:53So, I don't know, the Apple just continues to disappoint here, which is really surprising.
07:57I would have thought we'd see a little bit more accuracy there.
07:59It's doing one more update now.
08:00We'll see if that changes.
08:01No, still six minutes ago.
08:02So, Scott, we will let you keep driving until we hear from you at our next waypoint.
08:08Perfect, guys.
08:09Speak to you soon.
08:15Righto, time for our next checkpoint update.
08:17Scott's a little more remote now, so there's less phones around and it also means less reception.
08:23Scott, can you let me know when you're about to pass our checkpoint?
08:25I have just come past our checkpoint.
08:28I've also just been beat by a man and a run over guard, so tick and tick.
08:31Perfect.
08:32Alright, I'm going to just refresh our screens here just to see where we are at.
08:37Refresh the BMW one and also our slightly dodgy GPS one.
08:42Okay, so BMW refreshing.
08:44So, according to the iPhone, our last update was about six minutes ago, which is quite a distance from where you are now.
08:51The BMW has found exactly where you're located and the Samsung is updating at the moment with its last update seven minutes ago.
09:01Let's see if it's found anything extra there.
09:03Okay, so that's still working.
09:05So, what we're seeing so far is that, yes, it works quite well when you're in and around.
09:09Actually, hold on, there you go.
09:10The Samsung just updated and that's actually exactly where you are.
09:13So, what we're seeing here is the GPS is quite reliable in terms of getting the information that it needs as long as it has LTE.
09:20The Apple stays sort of the least reliable method of tracking a car and the Samsung the most reliable without having to go down the path of GPS.
09:30Our next update is going to be when Scott gets to a location with no LTE.
09:34So, this will ultimately be the last known point that it's able to pick up so that we can find out exactly where those cars are.
09:39We will talk to you shortly, Scott.
09:41Sounds good. Thanks, guys.
09:50Okay, so Scott has just called me, but he has run out of reception and that call is going to drop out.
09:55He can't, there it is, it's dead.
09:57So, he's currently reached a spot where there is no more phone reception.
10:00I've just refreshed all of these screens so we can see the final locations for each of these devices.
10:05In the centre here, we have the GPS.
10:07The GPS has located him to within a few hundred metres of where the last known phone reception is.
10:12We know that this spot just here is where there's no phone reception and you can see here that it's located at pretty much down to the final few metres.
10:20The Apple, last location was 10 minutes ago.
10:22If I zoom that out, that's still ages from where Scott is.
10:26Scott's sort of around here somewhere.
10:27The Samsung, on the other hand, three minutes ago, is just down the road from where Scott is.
10:32So, Scott's right there.
10:33So, what we can see here is that the Samsung is going to be the best device to have in the car if you don't want to invest in a GPS unit.
10:41The Apple is surprisingly not very good.
10:43I would have thought in Australia, at the very least, there wasn't like a proportionally larger number of Samsung devices than Apple devices.
10:50So, that kind of makes me believe that the implementation of the hardware potentially isn't as good in the Apple devices as it is in the Samsung devices.
10:59But this reigns supreme.
11:00If you do really want car tracking in your car, it seems like the GPS with LTE is the best way to go simply because you have a precise GPS module and you have LTE as a backup to relay it all the time.
11:11Okay, there's Scott calling now.
11:12I'll just pop him on speaker.
11:13Scott, can you hear us?
11:15I've got you guys.
11:16I've found some reception.
11:17Okay, perfect.
11:18So, you dropped out.
11:20We got the final location of the devices.
11:22What I want you to do now is just come back to the city park somewhere near the office and shoot me a text when you get here.
11:28We're going to then try and find you.
11:30Perfect.
11:31All right.
11:32I will see you guys in a secret location soon.
11:34Okay, bye.
11:35Excellent.
11:36He's on the way to the city, so when he gets here, we will try and find him with our devices.
11:48So, we're in the Car Expert Garage.
11:49Scott has just texted.
11:50He is somewhere near here.
11:52I've got the two phones.
11:53I've got the Android and I have my Apple.
11:55We're going to walk towards the location where it says that he is or where it last saw him.
12:00We'll see if he's actually there.
12:18May I have my car back, Mr. Thief?
12:31I'm sorry, but this is my car now.
12:33I'm the captain.
12:34There we go.
12:35So, it has found our stolen car, finally.
12:38Can we get a lift back?
12:40Yes, you can.
12:42So, to answer the question, can you use these things to track your stolen car and just keep
12:47track of where it is, yes and no.
12:50So, we've seen that, yes, they do work as a tracker, but they entirely rely on you being
12:55able to get a decent connection with another phone that passes by, so whether it's an Apple
13:00or a Samsung phone.
13:01The second you don't have any of that stuff, these things kind of become useless.
13:05And we saw with the Apple as well, that even on the freeway where you would assume there
13:08would be stacks of Apple devices, it really wasn't picking up any other signals to help
13:12relay its location.
13:13So, it's a little bit disappointing that this can't really be used for its intended purpose
13:17where the Samsung version actually works quite good.
13:20It's an inexpensive way to keep track of your car, and if you're happy to just set and forget,
13:24put it inside a glove box and just pretend it never existed again until you need to use
13:28it, then I think it's a good asset.
13:29But, ultimately, if you do want a system that is going to be entirely foolproof, you want
13:34something like this, which is a GPS with LTE.
13:37Obviously not this one, but the one that's built into the car works really well, and
13:41you can get aftermarket systems that are more reliable than this that you can hide inside
13:45the car and ensure that when it does get lost, you will be able to track it down easily.
13:49Ultimately, though, if you are a clever thief, you can use a GPS jammer, and then you'll
13:53also be able to make sure these don't work either by blocking their signal as well.
13:58So, if somebody wants to steal your car, they are going to steal your car.
14:01But, at least by having these inside there, it'll give you a fighting chance to recover
14:05it when you need to.
14:06Now, let me know in the comments section below, did we miss anything?
14:08Did we stuff anything up?
14:09We're always really keen for your feedback.
14:11Also, let us know if there's any other videos like this that you want shot, that you want
14:15a bit more detail on, whether they're tech-oriented or entirely related to cars.
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14:27But, until next time, take it easy.