PROMOTED: 5 reasons Vodafone’s Curve tracker will save your day

Nothing strikes panic into your heart like that moment when you realise you’ve lost something valuable. It was here a minute ago. It can’t have gone far, can it?

Rather than frantically turning everything in sight upside down in search of your missing bag/key/lunch (delete as appropriate), attaching one of Vodafone’s Curve trackers can put an end to those heart-stopping moments and keep you in touch with your most precious possessions.

Here are five reasons why you should stick one to anything you’d hate to lose.

1. It works at a distance

A lot of other tracking tags just use Bluetooth, which is fine for raising the alarm when something goes walkabout, but as soon as it gets out of range your chances of tracking it down are practically zilch.

With Vodafone’s Curve there’s almost no limit. A Smart SIM inside uses Vodafone’s worldwide cellular network and allows you to check the Curve’s GPS location using the Vodafone Smart App. That means you can follow it in real time wherever it goes and even track it using Wi-Fi and cellular signals if it’s indoors and GPS is unavailable.

2. You can attach it to anything

The Curve is smaller than a pot of Vaseline and weighs just 30g – about the same as a standard house key. That means you can use its included keyring accessory to attach it to, well, pretty much anything you want. That could be your laptop case, your kid’s school bag, or even a beloved pet’s collar.

Perhaps just as importantly, its built-in battery lasts up to seven days between charges if you use Power Save mode. It’ll also warn you when it needs plugging in, so you won’t have to worry about it dying on you just as you’re about to lay your hands on those missing keys.

3. It’s easy to use

All you need to use a Curve tracker is a phone with Vodafone’s Smart App installed, which is available for both iOS and Android.

There are four different tracking modes. Each one updates its location info at different intervals, with Power Save Mode checking in every two hours, Everyday Mode every half an hour, Performance Mode every five minutes, and Real Time Tracking pinging your phone every few seconds. Each one leaves a time-stamped Location History on a map, so you can see exactly where the kids went after school.

There’s also a Quick Alert button that’ll send a notification with location info to the app whenever it’s pressed, although it might be asking a bit much to expect Fido to do that if he goes AWOL.

4. It’s tough and ready

A GPS tracker wouldn’t be much use if it couldn’t withstand the rough and tumble of day-to-day life – so the Vodafone Curve has been built to roll with the punches.

It’s durable enough to survive life on the daily commute, in the school playground, or round the dog’s neck, plus there’s IP67 waterproofing, which means it can withstand being submerged in up to a metre of water for half an hour. (Or, more likely, an unexpected downpour when you’re still a mile away from the warm, dry comforts of home.)

5. It can be personalised

You don’t need to know where your Curve is when it’s sitting at home, but wouldn’t it be good if you got a notification when it unexpectedly left a designated Safe Zone – like when somebody accidentally leaves the back gate open and the dog gets a glimpse of next door’s cat?

The Vodafone Smart App lets you do exactly that, with warnings triggered when the Curve leaves or returns to your designated area. That way you can stop the dog before he goes too far (both distance-wise and with poor Felix).

It’s actually possible to connect up to 20 Curve devices to your account, which would make telling them apart very tough if you couldn’t name each one and assign individual pictures within the app. Handy.

Vodafone Smart GPS trackers cost £20 each upfront from Amazon, with subscription plans starting from £2 a month.