Tracking your vehicle is important. And the tracking services are expensive. But that’s where these devices come in where you can now easily keep a check on maybe your child or your driver or anyone.
Besides taking care of your expensive car. You want to make sure your family is safe all the time when outside. These things can come real handy during emergency situations as well.
But they still have to be well hidden as it would make others uncomfortable. So may it be your teenaged daughter, your elderly father or mother or maybe just your car, we came with the top picks that would suit your tracking needs.
LandAirSea 54 GPS Tracker
It is a small, compact and discreet GPS tracker.
Land Air Sea company is one of the most popular and established manufacturers of GPS trackers, dedicated to the protection of assets.
We think this popularity is well-founded since, after its testing, we discovered that this device proved to be ideal for anyone who wants to keep a track of their vehicle or a fleet of vehicles.
We noticed that the small size of this tracker and its strong magnetic case make it easy to position anywhere inside, or even outside the car to ensure it stays hidden.
While we prefer placing it inside the car for added safety, it is waterproof which means that if you choose to affix it to the car exterior such as the bumper, it would stay intact.
Now, let’s get to the real deal, how accurate is this piece of tech and how good or bad are its real-time updates?
We noticed that it performs these functions remarkably well, which is the reason we have put the LandAirSea 54 on this list.
It provides real-time updates by displaying the live route of the car without even delaying the results by ten seconds or a minute like many other GPS trackers do.
We also documented that it has an easy-to-use app that is used for tracking. This app can additionally be used to check the tracked car’s history, to know where it has driven or stopped and all other related details such as speed.
The LandAirSea 54 also comes with a geofencing capability. This means installing this device puts a parameter on your vehicle. This allows you to tag specific locations on the map and if the vehicle is to drive out of the tagged zone, you will be sent an alert via your smartphone.
Another beneficial thing we caught sight of was that this app enables you to change the map view and switch it from a satellite view to a street view similar to Google Maps.
You can also zoom in or out while using the app to get the exact location of your vehicle.
You can even turn the device lights off using the app settings to make sure it’s unnoticeable.
You can also use the app to share the live-stream location of your vehicle with someone else.
We found this to be particularly valuable for those who use this tracker to prevent theft. This way, if you ever find yourself in a situation where your vehicle has been stolen, you can share its location with the police.
One interesting, almost uncanny feature that we were rather shocked by, was how detailed it is.
When put on charge inside a room, it showed on the app its exact location (even the location of the room) and that it was being charged.
One significant feature of the LandAirSea 54 that we were particularly impressed by was how long its battery lasts. It even comes with a power-saving mode and real-time tracking mode.
Since the real-time tracking mode drains the battery of a GPS, we found that turning it off and getting location updates every three seconds or three minutes can make the battery last for 1-3 weeks.
We also observed that turning on the power-saving mode can make the battery last up to 6 months.
While the device is manufactured by an American company, it provides worldwide coverage and comes with a sim card.
However, you do have to spend extra money on monthly subscription costs since it provides location details via 4G and satellite.
Another characteristic of the device was that, unlike other GPS trackers, this one has the same manufacturer and software provider.
Because of this, if you were to ever run into an issue or glitch while using the device or its app, there is responsive customer service available to give solutions.
While the device can also be used by individuals for their regular needs such as to keep tabs on elderly dependents and reckless teenager drivers, it is mainly beneficial for businessmen with a fleet of vehicles who want to keep a track of multiple vehicles.
Businessmen can keep track of all their vehicles with the same app. The LandAirSea company also provides customizable software for those who want to use the tracker for business purposes.
While this device has some extraordinary features, one thing that we were not big fans of, was how expensive its subscription plans are. Compared to other GPS devices such as bounci, the 54 has pricier plans.
Bouncie GPS Car Tracker
While the Bouncie GPS tracker is not as popular as LandAirSea 54 GPS Tracker, it has some features that managed to impress us.
After testing, we found that the Bouncie tracker, apart from collecting information regarding the vehicle’s route and speed, also collects diagnostic information about the vehicle.
The Bouncie OBDII collects diagnostic information such as; vehicle efficiency, car’s idle time, fuel used and fuel economy, rapid acceleration, average moving speed, average overall speed and hard braking.
This is a feature that we have noticed to be unique to this tracker since most GPS trackers do not collect a car’s diagnostic information.
This feature is ideal for those parents who want to keep a check on their teenager who hasn’t had much practice with driving or elderly dependents.
We have also found it to be useful for car renters who are paranoid about their rented vehicles getting stolen, or people who happen to live in an area with a higher car theft rate.
We recorded that this device updates the location of the vehicle tracked on its app every 15 seconds.
The Bouncie GPS tracker also comes with geofencing capabilities. It allows you to mark a ‘geo-circle’ and it sends you an alert every time the tagged vehicle enters or exits this geo-circle.
This GPS tracker is plugged into a vehicle’s OBDII port, making it simple and easy to install. This port, in most cases, is located below the steering of a car and is present in all car models manufactured after 2001.
However, we noticed that plugging it into the OBD port makes it vulnerable for it to be found and unplugged. Regardless, this is usually only a problem when the port is located on the dash and not hidden away under the steering.
Once it is plugged into the vehicle’s OBD port, it extracts all the information from the car and transmits it to the cloud and then the Bounci app via 3G connectivity.
We found the Bouncie app to be easy to use as well. You are required to register into the app by entering your vehicle’s VIN and license details. Once that’s done, the device is ready to use.
When tested, we also found that you can set up the Bouncie OBD tracker to send alerts to the app in case of certain events.
For instance, you can set it up to send an alert if the car’s speed exceeds 60km/hr.
It can also send alerts in case of rapid acceleration or hard braking. You can even select the intensity level (excessive, moderate, light ) of such events and decide when you would like to be alerted.
One good thing we examined about this tracker is that since it is not magnetic, its charge lasts fairly longer even with the detailed tracking it provides.
While this GPS tracker is equipped with many good features, we noticed a lag in its app when it had to send alerts. This could prove to be a problem in emergencies that require urgent attention.
For these reasons, we have concluded that the Bouncie tracker is more suited for personal and family use instead of business use where there is a fleet of vehicles to track.
We also found that the Bouncie GPS tracker connects and responds to Alexa and Google Home via IFTTT compatibility. This is a valuable feature that saves time by enabling you to only command Alexa instead of opening the app on your phone.
However, despite all these characteristics, the one that has stood out to us the most is its capability to detect a crash and send an alert to the app. This significant feature can save lives in case of an accident and that makes this GPS an indispensable one for families with inexperienced or elderly drivers.
Another benefit this device comes with is its reasonable pricing. While it only provides coverage in the United States, its monthly subscription plan is fairly inexpensive compared to other hidden GPS trackers.
It offers 2 subscription plans including; individual and family plans. The family plan allows you to pay a much lesser subscription price for using 3 Bouncie GPS trackers simultaneously.
Tracki GPS Tracker
The next tracker on our list is the Tracki GPS device. It is a small, lightweight device that works through satellite and unlike many other GPS trackers, it provides global coverage in over 187 countries.
When it was tested we found its compactness to be an extremely useful feature while stowing it away inside a vehicle to track it.
The Tracki GPS device has gained worldwide significance for providing route and speed details of the tagged vehicle.
The worldwide significance is justified since when it was put to use, we found that the Tracki GPS gives instant speed alerts and provides real-time location updates every 60 seconds.
It also maintains a record of the vehicle’s speed, route and time. This data is available for retrieval within 5 years.
Its battery can last nearly 30 days with the real-time updates switched off. This way, the Tracki app stays in hibernation mode and sends location updates 2-4 times per day.
But when the real-time updates have been turned on, we observed that it only lasts 48 hours. This is a significant downside of the device since it is difficult to recharge it every 2 days.
The Tracki GPS device comes with 1-month, 6-months, 12-months and 24-months data plans. However, on comparing, we observed that the subscription plans of Bouncie GPS Car Tracker are economical compared to Tracki subscription plans.
This device is equipped with geofencing capabilities and sends proximity alerts, which we found to be an effective measure to help strongarm yourself against vehicle theft.
This way, if your vehicle is to leave the state lines without your knowledge, you will be notified right away and possibly prevent your vehicle from getting stolen.
We also found geofencing to be a useful feature in the device to keep an eye on inexperienced, reckless teenage drivers or elderly dependents.
Furthermore, we noticed that this GPS device comes with a waterproof case and a magnet that enables you to put it anywhere inside the car instead of having to plug it into a port that can increase its visibility.
However, we noticed that using a magnet was not very effective and that it was much better to use a Velcro fastener instead. It comes with a USB charger and a worldwide sim card. We also recorded that it takes only a few minutes to install in the car and register on the Tracki website.
You can use the Tracki app to regulate when you should receive alerts.
For example, you can choose to receive alerts when the tracker’s battery is running low, the vehicle driver has pressed the SOS key or when the driver has exceeded the speed limit.
One key feature that stood out to us was that unlike, other GPS trackers, this one is equipped with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
The Bluetooth is used for indoor tracking within a 50-foot range and Wi-Fi is used for ID matching in global databases.
Despite its simplicity, we noticed that the Tracki GPS device came with a significant downside of sending error messages while updating locations via the app.
We found this to be a frustrating glitch but there is customer support ready to help in such cases.
Optimus 2.0 GPS Tracker
Optimus 2.0, while not very well-known, comes with many qualities that make it an ideal hidden GPS tracker.
After testing, we assessed many of its features, both, good and bad and found out that it is indeed equipped with many characteristics such as special routing, geofencing and accurate, real-time tracking.
These features make it suitable for use by private investigators, car owners who want to prevent theft or concerned family members who want to keep an eye on their loved ones and prevent accidents.
Standing only 2.7 inches tall, the Optimus 2.0 makes an ideal hidden GPS tracker by being magnetic and capable of being stowed away and concealed anywhere inside the car easily. It is also silent which makes it discreet so the driver does not find out.
While we found out that it does come packaged with a SIM card since it transmits location, speed and movement data over satellite using 3G.
Its coverage is limited to the US, Canada and EU. It comes with 2 subscription packages including the basic level and advanced level.
The basic level subscription provides real-time 1-minute location updates on the app.
This subscription level can also be upgraded to give 30-second reports and track 1 hour of idle time.
The advanced package, while slightly pricier, gives 10-second updates and tracks 1 hour of idle vehicle time.
We noticed that the battery lasts approximately 2 weeks with a single charge.
However, using real-time tracking often drains the battery quicker. We also observed that the battery drains quicker in the first 2 days, after that it discharges slowly.
We also observed that the Optimus 2.0 is equipped with an SOS function aside from geofencing, which additionally makes the vehicle more secure to drive by sending a text message, email and app alerts in cases of emergency and when the vehicle enters or leaves a particular area.
All the vehicle data is stored and accessible through the website anytime.
There is no time limit on the period of stored data as well, which we found to be a big plus since many times old data can come in handy in cases of theft.
Despite its real-time tracking feature, we noticed that the app can lag while updating.
And while it uses Google Maps to represent location, the maps were found to not correlate with the actual vehicle routes at times.
Apart from this, it was also noted that the tracker provides an estimated location and not a detailed location.
LinxUp GPS Tracker
The Linxup vehicle GPS tracker is a web-based and app-based popular vehicle tracker. When tested, we found that this easy-to-use and install app comes with many features that make it favourable for business fleet tracking purposes.
The LinxUp GPS tracker can track vehicles in real-time. We observed it is capable of gathering detailed reports about the location and movement of the vehicle.
However, we also noticed that the tracker had to be reset often so its online and traceable.
Similar to Bouncie GPS Car Tracker, LinxUp Tracker is also to be inserted into the OBDII port, which makes its installation simple.
However, if your OBD port is not well below the steering wheel, the chances of your GPS being visible can be high.
Like all the other GPS trackers listed here, the LinxUp tracker is also equipped with geofencing capabilities, which is a good feature for fleet management since you are alerted every time an employee drives outside a certain area.
Despite all the features listed above, our favourite thing about this device is that charging it is extremely simple since it only has to connect to the vehicle and use a small amount of its battery power.
The LinxUp GPS only works in the US, Canada and Mexico region, which was a little disappointing.
Since the LinxUp GPS tracker transmits data via cellular signals, it requires you to purchase a regular subscription plan.
On comparing the prices, we found out that the LinxUp tracker subscription costs around the same as the Tracki GPS Tracker subscription. However, we think it is a good deal since it is a fleet management system.
Another feature we found useful in this device was that it allows you to check where the nearest driver is and who he is. This is particularly useful for businesses when an employee is urgently needed.
While overviewing its software, we found out that since this is web-based software, it does not require you to download an app.
However, we deduced that using the Linxup app was much more convenient.
We also noticed that they use Google Maps, like tracki, which makes location tracking much simpler since you also get a street view of the vehicle’s location and can check the traffic around it.
The device allows you to check the driving details of your fleet. For instance, you can check the total fleet miles, total idle time and total authorised and unauthorized miles. All these stats can be downloaded into an excel file for future use.
One interesting thing we noticed was that it also gave a ‘safety grade’ based on acceleration, brake alerts and speed alerts.
We found this to be a good benchmark to make sure that vehicles are being used wisely by employees.
A feature that we found to be unique to the Linxup tracker was that it also checks the vehicle for faults and sends a reminder when it needs maintenance.
For example, we noticed that when the vehicle needed an oil change, it sent a reminder for it under the maintenance tab so the car oil could be duly changed.
You can also set the GPS tracker to send alerts to your app or any other connected device such as a smartwatch. You can set up the system to send alerts if any vehicle of your fleet exceeds a particular speed or remains idle for a specific time.
Another feature offered by the LinxUp tracker and not the rest is that it allows you to replay a connected vehicle’s route.
We find this to be a significant feature of the tracker since it can help catch thieves or simply recheck the route for business purposes to prevent disputes.
Spy Tec GL300
This compact device can be configured with Google Maps. This helps in tracking through maps identifying specific locations.
When the vehicle moves to another location, an SMS and email is sent to you.
This device allows the user to store tracking data for the whole year, you can also access saved information later as well.
You can also customize different reports and view the recorded data according to your preferences.
Besides that you do not have to be present in a specific area to use the device. This hidden tracker can be accessed from anywhere by using a tablet or smartphone.
It comes with a good battery as well, can be used continuously for 12 days without charging. (The device only has to be charged once in two weeks.)
Talking about it’s tracking more. It is real-time and works like a geofencing. Where it uses the Google Earth interface. You simply enter your email address and then can keep a check on your desired car or anything.
Other than that, you can check location records for up to one week. The geo-fencing feature allows you to get a three-dimensional view of a particular location.
By using the Google Maps interface, you can view the location from different angles.
To get a clearer view, you can use the manual zoom feature and get a closer view.
Conclusion
We always want the best for you guys, but still, sometimes bad things happen, and getting your car stolen is one of them. Obviously, some measures can be taken to avoid any sort of frustration during that time.
Our pick for the best car tracking GPS device is the LandAirSea 54 GPS Tracker. We picked is based on its compactness (how well it hides), it’s durability and its overall performance.
