When people first hear about Lochtags, the question we get most often is some version of "isn't that the same as an AirTag?" The short answer is no — they solve different problems with different technology, and which one you want depends on what you're trying to do.
Here's the honest comparison, including where Bluetooth trackers win.
How they actually work
A Bluetooth tracker like an Apple AirTag or a Tile is a small puck with a battery and a radio. It pings out a Bluetooth signal every few seconds. When any compatible phone is nearby (in Apple's case, every iPhone in the world), that phone reports the tracker's location back to a server. You then open an app and see a dot on a map.
An NFC tag is the size of a sticker, has no battery, and can't broadcast anything. It contains a tiny chip with a unique ID. When someone holds a phone within a couple of centimetres of the tag, the phone reads the ID and opens a web page. That's it.
Both are useful. Both have weaknesses. They're for different jobs.
Bluetooth tracker advantages
You can find the bag yourself. This is the killer feature. If you set down your backpack at a coffee shop and walked off, an AirTag in it will tell your phone exactly where you left it. No human in the chain. The bag finds itself.
Crowdsourced location updates. As long as someone with a compatible phone walks past your bag, you get a fresh location ping. Useful for stolen items, lost items in transit, or items that move while you're not looking.
Range alerting. If your bag and your phone get separated, your phone can tell you within seconds.
Bluetooth tracker downsides
Battery. Every six to twelve months, you replace it. Forgotten replacement = silent dead tracker = false sense of security.
Privacy. Anti-stalking features in iOS and Android now alert people that they're being followed by an unknown AirTag. That same alert fires when your kid borrows your bag, when your bag rides in someone else's car, or when an AirTag is in checked luggage and the courier driver gets the alert. The result is increasing AirTag fatigue and disabling.
Surveillance vector. AirTags have been used to track people without their consent. The tech is great for find-my-stuff. It's also great for find-my-ex-girlfriend.
Doesn't help a finder return it. If a kind stranger picks up your wallet and wants to give it back, an AirTag does nothing for them. They can't read your contact info from it. They might bring up the "found item" message in iOS — but only if they're on iPhone, and only if they know to look.
Cost and recurring battery. $30+ per tag, plus the ongoing battery cost.
NFC tag advantages
Built for the kind-stranger handoff. NFC tags are designed around the moment when a finder wants to return your stuff. They tap the tag, a contact page opens, they message you, you reply. No app required, no account required, no "did you bring battery?" failure mode.
No battery, ever. The chip pulls power from the phone's NFC reader for the half-second it takes to read the ID. Lasts decades.
Works with every modern phone. iPhone (since iPhone 7), every Android with NFC, every modern handset. No platform lock-in. No "but I have an Android."
Privacy-respecting. A finder sees only what you put on the lookup page. Your phone, address, and email never leave your control. You don't broadcast your location 24/7.
Cheap and durable. Our cheapest tag is $11.99 CAD and the chip survives a wash cycle. No battery to die, no firmware to update, no app subscription.
NFC tag downsides
You can't find your stuff yourself. This is the big one. If you lose your bag at the airport, an NFC tag does NOTHING until a human finds it and taps it. No bag-self-locates-itself moment. The tag depends on a finder being kind and curious.
Range is essentially zero. NFC works at 1-4cm. The finder has to physically have the tag near their phone for it to work. If your bag is in a locked closet, the tag is invisible.
No alerting. You don't know your bag is lost until you check.
Which one for which job
Use a Bluetooth tracker for:
- Things you actively want to track yourself: your daily backpack, your car keys, your laptop in transit, your kids' jackets
- Things that get stolen and need to be tracked: bikes, expensive gear, vehicles
- Anything where you want a real-time map dot
Use an NFC tag for:
- Things designed to be found and returned: luggage, wallets, sets of keys with fleet/business info
- Pets and pet collars where battery anxiety isn't acceptable
- Items where privacy matters more than self-locate
- Items that go through wash cycles, baggage carousels, weather, or industrial environments
- High-volume use cases where $11 each beats $30 each (fleet keys, rental gear, hotel amenities)
Use both for:
- The serious cases — checked luggage on international trips. AirTag inside the bag for self-locate, NFC tag on the outside for a finder. Belt and suspenders. About $40 total.
Our take, as the company that sells the second one
We don't think Bluetooth trackers are bad. We have AirTags on our own car keys. They solve a real problem — finding stuff yourself.
But "find your own stuff" is a different problem than "let a stranger return your stuff." NFC handles the second case better, cheaper, and without the privacy and battery costs. And for items like luggage where the stranger handoff is actually the most likely recovery path (because real-time tracking is partly blocked in the cargo hold of an aircraft anyway), NFC is the right tool.
If you've already got AirTags, great — keep them. Add an NFC tag to the outside of the bag for the finder. The two technologies complement each other, and a $12 NFC tag is cheap insurance.
Got thoughts or a story to share? Drop us a line — we read everything.