Pawfit 3 GPS Pet Tracker Review: Keeping Your Pet Safe & Secure
Quick Verdict
After extensively testing the Pawfit 3 Pet Tracker, we highly recommend it for pet owners seeking reliable GPS tracking with excellent battery life and comprehensive safety features.
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One of the biggest fears for pet owners is losing their beloved companion during a walk or when they get spooked and run off. While calling their name might work sometimes, a GPS (Global Positioning System) tracker offers a reliable way to pinpoint your pet's location before they get into trouble.
UK company Pawfit offers a GPS tracker specifically designed with your four-legged friend in mind. Lightweight, waterproof, and packed with cutting-edge features, we've thoroughly tested the Pawfit 3 to see if it lives up to the hype.
In this comprehensive review, you'll discover everything you need to know about the Pawfit 3 GPS Tracker. We'll share our assessment of its performance, design, app functionality, activity monitoring capabilities, geofence features, and subscription plans to help you decide if the Pawfit 3 is the right choice for you and your pet.
What We'll Cover
Key Features & Design
The Pawfit 3 Pet Tracker is developed by Latsen Technology, with the Pawfit 3 being their latest and most advanced model. It includes a fully embedded SIM card, impressive battery life, 4G technology, and a live tracking mode.
Collar Attachment
The dog-friendly design of the Pawfit 3 is immediately apparent. Weighing only 27g, it's incredibly lightweight – once attached to your pet's collar, they'll barely notice it's there.
Unlike many competitors that use simple rubber fastenings, Pawfit takes the design further with smart technology built into the attachment itself. The device comes with a separate tracker attachment base designed to fit securely on various collar and harness widths.
To remove the tracker, you simply push the orange buttons and lift it off. This secure locking mechanism prevents it from accidentally falling off your pet's collar or harness during active play or exploration.
Here's the clever part: once you've downloaded the companion app, you'll receive a notification if the device is ever removed from your pet's collar. This unique safety feature significantly sets the Pawfit 3 apart from its competitors.
Mobile App & Battery Life
Setting up the Pawfit 3 is straightforward. Simply charge the device using the included charger and download the app on your smartphone. Once fully charged, follow the instructions to pair the device with the app, and you're ready to go!
The battery can last up to 8 days (depending on usage), which is one of the best battery lives we've seen in pet GPS trackers. The device alerts you when the battery level drops below 15% – the tracker itself flashes, and you receive a low battery notification on your phone.
Throughout our testing, we found the companion app intuitive and user-friendly. Despite being feature-rich, it's easy to navigate and use.
Location Tracking Performance
The GPS tracking works in real-time with two update frequency options: Passive and Live mode.
Passive Mode
Depending on your pet's activity level, the Pawfit 3 automatically adjusts how frequently it updates their location. In Passive mode, location updates occur between 30 seconds and 2 hours – the more active your pet is, the more regularly the device updates the app.
If your pet is running around playing, the tracker will update every 1-2 minutes. With a premium subscription, you can increase this frequency to every 20 or 40 seconds.
Live Tracking Mode
When activated, Live Tracking increases location updates to every 5 seconds, providing the most accurate and up-to-date information about your pet's whereabouts.
To activate Live Tracking, select 'Find' at the bottom of the Map screen. This mode only lasts 10 minutes to preserve battery life, but you can re-enable it as needed.
We found that Passive mode accuracy was sufficient for regular walks, showing our pet's position while conserving battery life. Pawfit also offers options to add photos, videos, and mark key places on your route – features we found particularly useful for holidays and day trips when you might want a more detailed record of your walk.
In addition to 'Find', Pawfit has added two more features to help locate your pet: Light and Alarm tracking. Once the Alarm or Light tracking is enabled, the tracker sounds and/or flashes for 10 minutes. We found these additional alerts particularly useful for locating pets in the dark or when they're hiding in dense vegetation.
The final option, 'Voice', lets you record your voice or a command and play it through the device on your pet's collar. In our testing, this feature didn't work as well as we'd hoped – the sound from the device was somewhat muffled, and our dog seemed confused by it. However, having multiple location features at your disposal definitely makes for more confident walks.
Smart Features & Safety Alerts
Beyond the basics, the Pawfit 3 Tracker is packed with advanced features specifically designed for pets, from safe zone to activity monitoring and various alerts.
Safe Zone (Geofencing)
For those unfamiliar with safe zones, they are virtual safety boundaries that alert you when your pet enters or leaves a designated area. Like a real fence, they create a separation between that location and the surrounding area.
We tested this feature by creating a geofence around our home. When our dog left this area during a walk, we immediately received a notification. This feature provides peace of mind, especially if you're concerned about your pet escaping from your yard or a pet sitter's home.
The Pawfit 3 allows you to set up multiple safe zones, which is particularly useful if you regularly visit different locations with your pet, such as a relative's house or a favorite park. You can easily add, edit, or delete these virtual boundaries through the app.
Activity Monitoring
The Pawfit 3 doesn't just track your pet's location – it also monitors their activity levels, similar to a fitness tracker for humans. The device tracks your pet's daily steps, calories burned, active hours, and rest hours. You can set daily activity goals based on your pet's breed, age, and weight, and the app will provide insights into their overall well-being.
We found the activity monitoring to be a great addition, helping us ensure our dog was getting enough exercise and rest. The app presents this data in easy-to-understand graphs, making it simple to track trends over time.
Safety Alerts
Pawfit 3 offers several safety alerts to keep you informed:
- Removal Alert: Notifies you if the tracker is removed from the collar attachment.
- Temperature Alert: Warns you if the ambient temperature around the tracker becomes too high or too low (requires premium subscription).
- Low Battery Alert: Informs you when the battery is running low.
Subscription Plans & Pricing
Like most GPS pet trackers, the Pawfit 3 requires a subscription plan to cover the cost of the embedded SIM card and data usage. Pawfit offers several flexible subscription options:
£4.49 / month
Billed monthly, cancel anytime.
£3.99 / month
Billed annually (£47.88 total). Saves 11%.
£3.59 / month
Billed biennially (£86.16 total). Saves 20%.
There's also a Premium subscription available for an additional £1.00 per month, which unlocks features like more frequent location updates in Passive mode and temperature alerts. While the basic subscription is sufficient for most users, the Premium option offers added peace of mind for those who want the most comprehensive tracking and safety features.
Our Final Verdict
After extensive testing, we believe the Pawfit 3 GPS Tracker offers an excellent balance of features, performance, and value for pet owners. Its reliable tracking capabilities, combined with thoughtful safety features and activity monitoring, make it a standout choice in the pet GPS tracker market.
- Accurate and reliable GPS tracking
- Secure and comfortable collar attachment
- Excellent battery life (up to 8 days)
- User-friendly mobile app
- Effective geofencing and safety alerts
- Useful activity monitoring features
- Lightweight and waterproof (IP68)
- Requires a monthly subscription
- Not suitable for very small pets (under 4kg/8.8lbs)
- Voice command feature could be improved
- Premium features require an additional fee
The Pawfit 3 is an ideal solution for dog owners who want peace of mind knowing they can locate their pet quickly and easily. While the subscription cost is a factor to consider, the features and reliability offered by the Pawfit 3 make it a worthwhile investment for the safety and well-being of your furry friend.
Use discount code XANUVJ at checkout for an exclusive discount!