Jiobit Next Review

We tested the Jiobit GPS tracker on a cat and found that it’s easy to use, reliable, and customizable.
Best battery life
Jiobit
  • pro
    10-day battery
  • pro
    Good indoor tracking
  • pro
    Learns routines
Plan length
Price
Cancellation fee
2-year contract25% of remaining cost
6-month contract25% of remaining cost
No contractNone
pro

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Alina Bradford
Feb 27, 2023
Icon Time To Read7 min read
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Jiobit currently unavailable

Unfortunately, Jiobit is temporarily unavailable. However, we have a handful of other awesome trackers to recommend on our Best GPS Trackers for Kids and Best GPS Trackers lineups. 

A versatile GPS tracker for kids and pets alike, the Jiobit offers an incredible 10-day battery life and the best indoor tracking technology we've seen so far. It’s tiny, easy to use, reliable, and customizable.

Even more important, it’s durable and difficult to remove if you need it to stay hooked to a belt loop or backpack strap. We loved that you need a special tool to remove it—tiny humans won’t be able to ditch Jiobit when they want to give you the slip.

After trying Jiobit out on a reluctant test subject (hint: he meows), we can confidently say this tracker is a great pick for human- and fur-baby parents alike. 

pro
Pros
pro Multiple tracking features
pro Adjustable alerts
pro Locking pin
pro Affordable
pro 30-day risk-free trial
con
Cons
con No two-way talk

Jiobit vs. other kids GPS trackers and wearables

Amazon.com price as of post date. Read full disclaimer.

Video: Jiobit GPS Tracker Review

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What's in the box

Jiobit equipment
  • Jiobit Next Location Monitor 
  • Charging dock
  • USB charging cable
  • Secure Loop, Hem Lock Clip, Integrated Loop, and Strap Clips

Jiobit cost

You’re required to sign up for a subscription plan when you buy a Jiobit. The subscription gives you access to a data plan that includes national US cellular data.

The price of the subscription plan depends on if you sign a contract or not and how long the contract lasts. With a two-year contract, you get the best deal at $8.99 per month. A six-month contract will snag you a monthly rate of $12.99.

If you hate contracts like we do, then opting out will cost you $14.99 per month in subscription fees. Even at the worst rate, Jiobit is still much cheaper than its biggest competitor AngelSense, which is a whopping $39.99 per month.

Cancellation fees

If you decide to cancel, Jiobit will charge you an early termination fee of 25% of the remaining contract. You can suspend your subscription for up to three months for free and $1.99 per month per device after that.

With the month-to-month subscription plan you can cancel whenever you like. Unfortunately, canceling terminates the SIM card in your Jiobit after six months, and it can’t be reactivated.

Easy setup

Setting up Jiobit is so easy your kid could probably do it. You just scan the QR code with your phone, click it into its charging base, and connect it to your Wi-Fi.

From there, you pick one of the four different clips it comes with and attach the Jiobit to a coat, backpack, pet collar . . . There's really almost no limit to where you can attach this tracker. 

Jiobit can be used on animals that are five pounds or more. We picked the collar of a cat named Milo for our Jiobit. Milo likes to roam, so we figured he would be the perfect test subject for our Jiobit review. Milo was curious about the new bobble on his collar but soon forgot about it.

Image: Alina Bradford, SafeWise

Light Bulb
Setup tip

Can’t get Jiobit to connect with your phone? Try restarting your phone. It worked for us in a pinch.

Customizable tracking

When it comes to tracking, Jiobit has everything we could ask for, including maps, directions to the missing tot, and customizable alerts. If you have a toddler that likes to disappear like fish-shaped cheese crackers during snack time, then you’ll love this device.

You can customize when you get alerts depending on how far the device is from your phone. You can also customize how far the Jiobit can travel outside of the trusted area, from 100 to 800 feet, with its geofence feature. If you like, you can get notifications when your child or pet arrives at trusted locations that you designate too.

The blue line on the dashboard of the Jiobit app gives you a visual indication of how far away the Jiobit is from your phone. When the line turns red, that means that the Jiobit, and your little one, have moved too far away. You can also see the location of the tracked tot on the dashboard map.

Finding the escape artist

After tracking Milo, we found that he stays close to home most of the time. A quick trip to visit his buddy in the neighbor's yard was about as far as he traveled outside his acre-sized yard.

If your sneaky kiddo likes to hide around the house or under clothing racks at the store, Jiobit can make an irritating buzzing noise. Just go into the app and tap the Ring Jiobit option. Think of it as a super stressful game of Marco Polo. Either you'll find the crafty kiddo by tracking the sound, or your kid will run to you begging for the alarm to be turned off. Either way, the missing child is found.

Milo didn’t necessarily hate the alarm, but he couldn’t figure out where the sound came from. The alarm made it easier to figure out if he hid under the bed or behind the dresser. Very helpful.

Still can’t find them? Tap the Directions option on the Jiobit app dashboard, and it will tell you exactly how many feet you are from your child or pet, along with a street address and how long it will take you to reach them.

Useful “Care Team” feature

If more than one person is in charge of the safety of your kiddo or pet, they can easily track Jiobit on their phone too. All you need to do is send them an invitation to join your child’s Care Team. All they need to do is accept and download the Jiobit app.

Handy alert button to call for help

Jiobit Alert Button

Image: Jiobit

If your kid ever needs help, they can press the Alert Me button on the bottom of the Jiobit. If you’re afraid the button will trigger by accident, you can change how many presses the button needs before it sends an alert. You can change it to a double-click or triple-click. If your kid thinks it’s funny to alert you for no reason, you also have the option of turning the button off.

Alert button messages can be sent to everyone in your Care Team or just a few folks. It’s completely customizable and easy to change as often as you need. Just toggle the switch next to the Care Team person’s icon.

No escape from this device

Is the Jiobit tracker easy to remove? Heck no. There’s no need to worry about your tike getting rid of their tracker and going on an excursion.

We tried to pry the clip off the collar (when it wasn't on Milo) and it wouldn't budge. Those clips are tough. We scuffed it up some, but no breaks. The only thing that worked at removing the Jiobit was the removal key that it comes with.

If you want the device to be easy to remove, don’t worry. There are different clips you can customize it with.

Thumbs Up
Great for caretakers and seniors

We’ve mentioned how great Jiobit is for pets and kids, but we also wholeheartedly recommend it for tracking seniors with dementia.

Varied battery life

How long does Jiobit’s battery last? Well, that depends. Jiobit says the battery lasts up to 168 hours. We found that it varies from user to user.

The battery will last longer if the following happens:

  • The pointy part points at the sky (it also gets a better signal this way).
  • It's in a trusted place.
  • The Bluetooth on your phone stays on when the Jiobit is close.
  • Your Wi-Fi is strong.
  • You don’t use Live View too much.

Plus, the longer you use Jiobit, the better it retains its charge. This is because it’s constantly using AI to learn your kid or fur baby's routines during the first week or so. During our first few hours of use, the battery went down around 5% and a total of 10% in the first 24 hours. So during the first week you may want to plan on charging it every couple of days.

We really like that Jiobit will alert you when the battery gets to 20%. Want alerts sooner? You can customize the alerts. Just toggle on the option to get alerts when the Jiobit battery is charged too.

Strong durability and weak warranty

Milo took his Jiobit in wet grass, drizzle, dirt, and who knows what else—and the device still worked perfectly. With an IPX8 rating, Jiobit works in up to five feet of water for up to 30 minutes. So it’s probably not the best pick for a day at the waterpark. 

Jiobit comes with a one-year warranty on workmanship defects. It won’t cover normal wear and tear or other more extreme cases like your dog chewing on Jiobit.

Final word

Jiobit Next is our favorite tiny GPS tracker. We love it for kids, pets, and seniors. Not only can it track those you love; they can also use it to get help with the press of a button. While we aren’t fans of contracts, we do like that the company at least offers the option of a month-to-month subscription, even if it costs twice as much.

Learn more about our other favorite GPS trackers.

How we reviewed Jiobit Next

Image: Katie McEntire, SafeWise

For our Jiobit review, we knew it was important to try out this kid tracking device first-hand. We spent hours tracking a not-quite-one-year-old cat named Milo to see how well the device worked in real-life situations. 

In addition to hands-on testing, we also scoured user reviews and professional reviews, and relied on our many years of experience as safety experts to determine the usefulness of this product.

To learn more about how we test products, check out our Safewise methodology page.

Jiobit FAQ

Not at the moment. According to a Jiobit/Life360 press release from 2021—when Life360 bought Jiobit—Life360 intends to integrate Jiobit products into its app. But that hasn't happened yet. 

Simply send an email to support@jiobit.com.

It’s water resistant, so it can hold up to splashes or getting caught in the rain. Don’t wear it swimming unless it’s a quick dip in a shallow pool. It can be used in water up to 5 feet for just 30 minutes.

Jiobit’s Live Mode updates every few seconds.

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Disclaimer

*Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product. Safewise.com utilizes paid Amazon links.

Certain content that appears on this site comes from Amazon. This content is provided “as is” and is subject to change or removal at any time.

Alina Bradford
Written by
Alina is a safety and security expert that has contributed her insights to CNET, CBS, Digital Trends, MTV, Top Ten Reviews, and many others. Her goal is to make safety and security gadgets less mystifying one article at a time. In the early 2000s, Alina worked as a volunteer firefighter, earning her first responder certification and paving the way to her current career. Her activities aren’t nearly as dangerous today. Her hobbies include fixing up her 100-year-old house, doing artsy stuff, and going to the lake with her family.

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