4 Smart Accessories For Your Lanyard

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Although people might typically use a lanyard to hold an ID badge or keep keys, it has many more uses. That is because it also works for carrying other items, like palm-sized gadgets you didn't know you needed. For professionals who are jumping from a meeting to an event and then onto public transportation, a lanyard keeps technology close at hand without depending on bags.

There are several accessories you can attach to a lanyard to help in daily life. Small power banks, for example, can keep your phone juiced up, and even if the capacity is not as large as a traditional power bank, it can make a difference in an emergency. Others might connect the lanyard to a smart home routine via a programmable NFC tag. The point is, you can adapt it to different situations. Here then are four smart accessories for a lanyard, designed for anyone who likes to take their tech on the go.

If you're a person who regularly misplaces things, attaching a smart tracker to your lanyard can be a big help. This small accessory works with your smartphone and networks such as Apple's Find My or Google's Find Hub to view where it is in real time. So you can find your lanyard even if you forget where you placed it. Popular options include the Apple AirTag and Galaxy SmartTag2. 

There are cross-platform choices as well, such as the $12 MiLi Air Tracker Tag, which works well as a cheap alternative for daily life. With any smart Bluetooth tracker added to you lanyard, it's important to ensure the tracker app is properly connected to your phone, so that you receive alerts when you leave it behind. Some systems, like Apple's Find My, plays an audible alert from the tracker, making it easier to locate in a bag or crowded place.

When spending the day away from home, a portable power bank attached to a lanyard can be quite useful for a quick recharge of your phone before an important call. Among the best portable chargers, there are several good options, but in this case we're looking for something lightweight. One example is the Rolling Square TAU 2, which is designed to clip on to a keychain or lanyard. 

It weighs only 50 grams and is less than one inch thick, so you'll barely notice it. This compact power bank only has a 2,000MAh capacity, so it does not replace a traditional charger, but it is enough to help out in an emergency. The TAU 2 also has magnetic charging capability, avoiding the need to plug it in with a cable. The integrated NFC tag means that if you misplace the lanyard, whoever finds it can more easily return it.

For regularly transferring files, it's helpful to have a mini flash drive on your lanyard. The SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive is a good example, since it only weighs 12 grams and comes with a built-in keyring hole. Despite its compact size, the 64MB model offers a 400MB per second read speed. You can also buy models with as much as 2TB of storage. 

With this, you can have your main files close by, handy when you don't have internet access to your favorite cloud storage apps. Another point in favor of this type of storage for your lanyard is damage resistance. With no moving parts and low weight, USB flash drives are less likely to suffer damage from drops, versus other types of portable storage, which is important when it's hanging off your lanyard. For anyone who travels often or works in the field, having this physical backup device on hand at all times is hard to beat. 

An NFC tag lets you run actions on your smartphone with just one tap. It can be programmed to open a digital business card, share a Wi-Fi network, start a playlist, activate a smart home routine, and more. Since these tags are small and do not need a battery, they can live on your lanyard without adding much weight or requiring maintenance. Examples like the TimesKey NFC tag are affordable with a 10-pack available for $13. 

Each tag supports up to 504 bytes of memory and can be reprogrammed, so the same unit can serve different functions over time. Programming these tags only requires an app like Shortcuts on iPhone or Tasker on Android, without depending on the cloud or a subscription. In fact, there are several handy uses for an NFC tag at home, especially if you have automations or a routine already configured. Having one on a lanyard makes this easier as you can activate those automations quickly with the tag so close at hand.

There are many items you can integrate with a lanyard, but we limited the list to options with a layer of smart tech, like Bluetooth or NFC. We prioritized compact accessories, since wearing heavy objects for several hours can become uncomfortable. We also considered the usefulness of each accessory in common situations, such as working, commuting, and attending professional events. Overall, the selection is aimed at items that add functionality to the lanyard, without making it heavy or uncomfortable to use.