Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 3 Works With iPhone But Leaves Another Popular Phone In The Dust

Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy SmartTag 3, the next generation of its Bluetooth tracker. It's the first one to make the jump to iPhone, which is a huge deal considering that SmartTags have only ever worked with Samsung devices. However, before you get too excited about Samsung finally opening things up, there's one very important group of users that will still be left out: other Android users.

Yep, you read that correctly. Despite Samsung making the SmartTag 3 work with the iPhone, the company is still leaving other Android devices, including Google's latest Pixel 11, out to dry. It's a strange decision, and one that doesn't make any sense at all when you really think about it — especially with Google's upcoming Pixel Tag slated to work with any phone running Android 9 or later. So what does Samsung's option get you?

Well, for starters, the SmartTag 3 will launch with a design that's around 35% smaller and 33% lighter than the SmartTag 2, as well as a battery that can last up to 550 days. It can also point you toward a lost item from almost 200 feet away, which is around three times farther than the last model, and there are new alerts that let you know when a tagged item moves or leaves an area you've set.

The biggest feature you can look forward to on the Galaxy SmartTag 3 is Samsung's upgraded Compass View. This will help you see how far away a tag is and even point you in the right direction to reach it. The SmartTag 3 will use Bluetooth 6.0, allowing it to be detectable from up to 196 feet away, which is around three times farther than the SmartTag 2. That increased range will only work on four phones right now — the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Z Fold 8, S26 Ultra, and S26 Plus — though Samsung says it may expand to other devices in the future.

Samsung has also added a few new alerts, like Place Notification, which will let you set an area and then be pinged when a tagged item enters or leaves it. The new Movement Detection Alert will let you know when the tag is moved while away from your phone, and improved Location History will allow you to look back at where the tag has been over the past seven days. Features like the Left Behind Alert are still included as well, so your phone will tell you if you walk off and leave anything, so long as you have a tracker connected to it.

The rest of the SmartTag features are sticking around, too. Lost Mode lets anybody who finds your tag scan it with their phone to see the contact info or message you've left for them. You can also set the button on the tag to trigger SmartThings routines for your smart home devices. And if you want the battery to last even longer, Power Saving Mode will stretch it from 550 days to 790, though you'll lose Compass View while it's on.

If you have a Samsung device, then the SmartTag 3 will likely continue the SmartTag 2's reputation of being one of the best Bluetooth trackers you can buy right now. Thanks to the new features, improved battery life, and the reduced size, it's almost a no-brainer for Galaxy users. But just how good will it be for iPhone users?

While you will be able to track and share the location of the tag with friends and family, the other features built into the device, such as the Left Behind Alerts, Compass View, and even Ring Phone, aren't going to be available on iOS. These are pretty crucial features to miss out on, especially when Apple's own AirTags are sitting right there.

Even then, using a SmartTag 3 with an iOS device will still require it to feed off the Galaxy Find Network. That means only Galaxy devices near the tag will pick up its location when it moves away from your paired device. That's not a huge deal, since the company claims a network of more than 900 million Galaxy devices to ping off of, but it is something to keep in mind. The other major thing to be aware of is how the SmartTag 3 actually finds your stuff. While Samsung will use its Samsung Find app on supported Galaxy devices, iOS users will need to track items through Samsung's SmartThings app. Exactly how versatile or easy that will be remains to be seen.