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Tag: uwb

  • Moto Tag 2 Goes on Sale with UWB Support and 600-Day Battery Life

    Moto Tag 2 Goes on Sale with UWB Support and 600-Day Battery Life

    Announced earlier this year, the Moto Tag 2 has quietly gone on sale in select regions, bringing UWB-powered precise tracking to Android Find Hub along with a significantly improved battery life.

    The Android Find Hub tracker market is well-stocked at this point, with plenty of options to choose from. What set the original Moto Tag apart from the crowd — and what carries over to the sequel — is UWB support for precise, directional tracking. That capability remains rare among Find Hub trackers, with virtually no competing options offering it.

    moto tag 2 e1778643967478

    That said, UWB was already available on the original Tag, which raises a fair question: what actually makes the Moto Tag 2 worth upgrading to?

    moto tag 2 on amazon

    Motorola Moto Tag 2

    Easy to set up and locate on any Android phone: Just attach moto tag to your belongings, and use your Android phone to locate anything with pinpoint precision, anywhere in the world.

    $42Amazon

    Beyond a new orange colorway, the headline improvement is battery life. Motorola is touting “over 600 days on a single battery” using a standard CR2032 cell — a substantial leap over its predecessor and a strong practical argument for the newer model.

    Motorola has opened sales in select markets over the past few weeks. In the UK, the Moto Tag 2 is available for £29.99, while German buyers can pick one up for €40. The US launch hasn’t been officially announced yet, but the tracker is already appearing on Amazon through third-party sellers at $119.99 for a 4-pack — which works out to roughly $29 per unit, consistent with standard retail pricing. Early buyers have confirmed these are genuine products, and the listings don’t raise any obvious concerns — all are fulfilled by Amazon.

    There’s currently no single-unit option available in the US, so the 4-pack is the only route for American buyers at the moment.

  • First ruggedized Android smartphone with UWB – Blackview BV8900 Pro

    First ruggedized Android smartphone with UWB – Blackview BV8900 Pro

    Recently, I have been testing a lot of Android phones, but one feature that I feel is really missing from these phones is UWB support. UWB, or ultra-wideband, is a low-energy, short-range radio technology that has been around for a few decades (it was formerly known as “pulse radio”).

    UWB uses extremely fast signal pulses, up to a billion per second, sent across a broad spectrum of radio frequencies (from 500MHz to several gigahertz).

    Because of this feature, UWB can be used for more than just applications like locating other UWB devices. It can also withstand interference problems that Wi-Fi and Bluetooth cannot handle.

    The most well-known use of UWB is probably AirTags, but that is only available to iPhone users. Support for UWB on Android is still limited, but it is improving gradually.

    Here, I look at Blackview’s BV8900 Pro, which is the world’s first ruggedized smartphone to feature UWB. 

    Blackview BV8900 Pro tech specs

    • OS: Doke OS 3.1, based on Android 13
    • Display: 6.5-inch, 1080×2408 FHD+, 405 pixels-per-inch, low-blue-light certified, Corning Gorilla Glass 7
    • RAM: 8GB (+ 8GB virtual RAM)
    • ROM: 256GB
    • Processor: MediaTek Helios P90, octa-core, 2.2GHz
    • Rear cameras: 64-megapixel, 8-megapixel, and 2-megapixel
    • Front camera: 16-megapixel
    • Battery: 10000mAh, with 33W fast charging
    • SIM: Dual SIM support
    • Biometric: Fingerprint and face recognition
    • Water/dustproofing: IP68, IP69K, and MIL-STD-810H
    • Finishes: Black, orange, and green 

    The BV8900 Pro appears to be similar to many of the other Blackview smartphones that I have tested and reviewed. It is a large smartphone with a toughened glass display and a black rubber casing.

    The 10000mAh battery and rubber add bulk to the device, but in exchange, the battery provides approximately 13 hours of video watching time and more than a month of standby time.

    The device is designed to be dropped and abused, and water, dirt, dust, mud, or high/low temperatures are no match for it. There’s even a lanyard loop built into the handset, so you don’t lose it in the jungle or over the side of a boat while you’re being battered by storms.

    img 8021

    The phone has a powerful Helios P90 chip that keeps everything running smoothly without draining your battery life. It has 8GB of RAM that is backed up by another 8GB of virtual RAM. The phone also has reverse charging, so you can use it as a power bank and send power to other devices. I had no lag or stuttering issues at all when using this phone.

    In addition, the BV8900 Pro has UWB support, which does not mean much right now given the current state of support for UWB on Android; however, I expect this situation to change over the coming months as Google deploys its rival to Apple’s Find My network and UWB locater tags for Android, which are similar to AirTags.

    Ruggedized handsets can, by virtue of being encased in rubber, cause the processor to overheat and be throttled; however, the cooling system—which consists of silicon and graphite heatsinks, and an array of copper cooling pipes—keeps the chip cool, even under heavy loads.

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    However, to get you going, the BV8900 Pro comes with a UWB tracking tile that you can attach to your keys, pet dog, or whatever else you want to keep an eye on.

    At $216, the Blackview BV8900 Pro is a reasonably priced option for those seeking a robust smartphone with an enormous battery capacity and future-proof design thanks to its integrated UWB technology.