We Tried Fi's GPS Collar And It's So Worth The Price Tag

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Nothing is scarier than the thought of your dog slipping out of his leash or getting past your fence.

You don’t want to think about him being out in the world without you, especially if you have no way to actively track him down.

While there are several GPS collars on the market, they usually come with a big price tag, and it’s a scary investment if you don’t know if they’ll actually work. 

So The Dodo decided to test the Fi Series 2 GPS Smart Dog Collar on our own pups, so you don’t have to. 

And it totally blew us away. Here’s why it earned our Dodo dogs’ Paw of Approval. 

The Fi Smart Dog Collar includes a GPS tracker that attaches to your pup, so you can always keep track of your dog’s location and activity levels.

You can even set boundaries so the collar will notify you if your pup ever escapes your yard.

It comes in several colors and sizes, and is also chew-proof and waterproof (so you won’t need to take it off at the beach). 

We picked three office pups whose parents wanted to keep a close eye on them.

Our pet parents were really impressed with just how thoroughly the collar monitored their dogs — from tracking their daily walks and activity levels, to warning owners when their pups may be in trouble.

“I was shocked by how accurate the app was at tracking Darcy’s steps, and the map showed exactly where she was. After our walk, a map of our route was saved on the app.” — Lily F.

“The app sends notifications when he leaves and returns to the house, and if he is far from or ‘not with’ an owner." — Lauren A.

While most people are drawn to the security of having a GPS tracker in case of emergency, our testers were also very impressed with all the fitness features the collar offers.

“The reason we wanted this collar in the first place is because we're having our first baby this summer, and we want to make sure our dog gets the same amount of exercise as he did before. This collar helped us set a baseline for how much exercise he normally gets per day.” — Audrey S.

“The app also tracks where Darcy stands on her daily goal of 11,000 steps, and how she ranked compared to other dogs using it.” — Lily F.

“The fitness tracker and mapping is awesome! It’s cool to see that he is almost doubling his daily fitness needs.” — Lauren A.

Overall, despite the high sticker price, you’re getting a lot of important features in a single product.

“They seemed to have thought of everything, from tracking your dog’s steps and activity goals, alerting you of your dog’s location and coordinates at all times, mapping your dog’s walk, a social interface to link with other Fi collar users and Instagram, a ‘lost’ button in case the worst happens and more.” — Lily F.

Getting your dog to wear something new can sometimes be a struggle. (Raise your hand if you feel personally victimized when your pup rips off the new bandana you just got him.)

But when it comes to the Fi collar, our dogs honestly didn’t even notice it.

“Since it's a basic collar, Krembo is used to it and didn't have much of a reaction.” — Audrey S.

“Darcy didn’t seem to treat this dog collar any differently than her regular one. However, the more we used it, the more excited she became when I put it on her, because she knew she’d be getting a nice, long walk.” — Lily F.

“I think he has no clue he’s wearing it!” — Lauren A.

There’s nothing like that sweet sigh of relief when you know exactly where your dog is at all times, even if you can’t see him — and our pet-parent testers loved how safe they felt knowing their pups were wearing their Fi collars.

“Off-leash hours at the park became less anxiety-inducing, because I knew if the worst happened, I’d be able to track Darcy from my phone.” — Lily F.

“Using the Fi collar has helped me feel more confident in knowing where he is if he gets farther away from me than I'm comfortable with.” — Lauren A.

“I like that there's also an Apple Watch app so I get a notification on my watch when Krembo leaves the house.” — Audrey S.

The simple setup process was also a big hit with our pet parents.

“The packaging was great, and the collar was super, super easy to set up.” — Audrey S.

“On the app, I created a profile for Darcy and was also prompted to invite other people to track Darcy such as her dog walker, dog sitter and her dad. The whole setup was easy to do and took about five minutes.” — Lily F.

Our tester parents absolutely loved the Fi collar, and only had some very minor complaints. Two of them said they weren’t obsessed with the look, though it didn’t bother them too much. 

“The only thing is that the actual Fi part of the collar gets a little beaten up, but I think that's [the case for] pretty much anything you put on a high-energy dog.” — Audrey S.

“There’s wear and tear over time.” — Lauren A.

“It’s a bit large and clunky for a small dog’s neck.” — Lily F.

At $149, it’s also pretty expensive for a dog collar, and certain features require a subscription plan.

Without a subscription, the collar will only use WiFi and bluetooth to track your pup. That means that if your dog wanders out of your home’s WiFi range or your phone’s bluetooth range, the app won’t be able to tell you where he is.

You need a subscription in order to use the GPS tracking feature, as well as these other features:

A one-year plan is $99, a two-year plan is $186 and a three-year plan is $248. GPS subscriptions come with a 30-day free trial that doesn’t start until after you activate the collar.

But our pet parents agree that it’s worth every penny. (Plus, with our code DODO25, you can get $25 off!)

“I thought it was overpriced before I got one. Now, I think it's priced just right.” — Audrey S.

“It's the most technologically advanced collar, and rightly costs as much as an exercise tracking bracelet for humans.” — Lily F.

“The price seems about accurate for what you get.” — Lauren A.

The Fi dog tracking collar may be pricey, but always knowing where your BFF is — even when he’s out of sight — is priceless.

(If you purchase through Fi, don't forget to use our code DODO25 for $25 off!)

The Dodo may receive complimentary samples to test in our Paw of Approval program, but all our opinions are 100 percent our own. We only publish endorsements of products we (and our dogs and cats) absolutely love! You can find out more about our testing process here.

If you have a product you love that you want to share with other pet parents, send a tip to dodopaw@thedodo.com.