{"id":1000232,"date":"2026-06-02T10:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T10:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1000232\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T10:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T10:16:12","slug":"apple-airtag-2nd-generation-review-whats-new-and-should-you-buy-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1000232\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple AirTag (2nd generation) review: What\u2019s new and should you buy it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apple\u2019s original AirTag was late to the Bluetooth tracker<\/a> party. Tile was responsible for the first product of this type, and that had been around for eight years before Apple announced the AirTag in 2021.<\/p>\n

But when the AirTag launched, it transformed the tracking market. With its release, Apple turned millions of iPhones<\/a>, iPads and MacBooks<\/a> into its \u2018Find My\u2019 network, which could anonymously leverage those devices to precisely pinpoint lost items with an AirTag attached.<\/p>\n

The second generation of the AirTag not only expands the range of \u2018Precision Finding\u2019 (more on this below<\/a>), but also makes its speaker louder, is compatible with more types of batteries, and lets you share its location with airlines to help you find luggage more easily. With the original AirTag still more than capable, however, do you need to spend another \u00a329 to upgrade to this latest generation?<\/p>\n

Apple\u2019s second-generation AirTag might look identical to its predecessor (meaning existing accessories still fit, thank goodness), but it brings a few meaningful improvements over the original model that launched five years ago.<\/p>\n

The most notable of those is range. The second generation of this Bluetooth tracker has a new Ultra Wideband (UWB) chip and upgraded Bluetooth connectivity, which means Precision Finding \u2013 the excellent AirTag feature that guides you to the exact spot of a lost item using haptic, audio and visual cues \u2013 is said to work from up to 50 per cent further away. Precision Finding also works on Apple Watch<\/a> (Series 9 or later) with this model, so you can locate the AirTag without your iPhone.<\/p>\n

The new AirTag\u2019s speaker is also considerably louder (apparently by 50 per cent) than the original, and it has a different chime. It integrates with Apple\u2019s \u2018Share Item Location\u2019 feature, which lets you securely share a tracker\u2019s whereabouts with airlines. More than 50 carriers are on board, and the technology has reportedly cut instances of permanently lost luggage by 90 per cent. It\u2019s the same price as the original AirTag, at \u00a329 for one, or \u00a399 for a four-pack.<\/p>\n

How I test Bluetooth trackers<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve used various Bluetooth trackers in my 15 years reviewing consumer technology, from Tile\u2019s Mate and Chipolo\u2019s Pop to Samsung\u2019s SmartTag 2 and Apple\u2019s AirTag. When testing them, I attach them to my keys and backpack<\/a>, and place them inside my luggage<\/a> when I am travelling, so I can assess their features and how easy it is to keep track of my items.<\/p>\n

In the past, I have also stitched an AirTag into both of my children\u2019s favourite soft toys \u2013 a puffin and a polar bear \u2013 so that if they are ever left behind, I know where they are to avoid inevitable tears at bedtime. For the AirTag 2, I attached one to my keys alongside the original AirTag to see the differences in locating them with Precision Finding, and I also placed one in my luggage for trips to Barcelona and the US.<\/p>\n

I tested the AirTag 2\u2019s speaker alongside the original AirTag to see if it was actually louder, and I used my Apple Watch Series 11<\/a> to locate my backpack, which had an AirTag 2 attached. Battery life is claimed to be a year, so I haven\u2019t been able to test that, but I can confirm the original AirTag lasts a year, and sometimes a few months longer, before needing a change of battery.<\/p>\n

The case for (and against) the AirTag 2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Apple\u2019s original AirTag was late to the Bluetooth tracker party. Tile was responsible for the first product of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1000233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3160],"tags":[1662,1685,277452,72906,249952,277453,53,16,15,55642],"class_list":["post-1000232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gadgets","tag-apple","tag-gadgets","tag-individual-review","tag-recommended","tag-recommended-tech","tag-tech-faqs","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-wearable-technology"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116679998917467548","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1000232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1000233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1000232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1000232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1000232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}