Mini Global GPS Tracker with GPRS connection

I looked around for a GPS tracker which does two things, is not bank breaking cost, and does not need a subscription to get updates on a location of the unit / whatever it's attached to. To this end, this unit does both what I wanted.

You get two batteries which are small, appear to be of style used in some Nokia phones, and is available to buy on Amazon, which is good to know to get spare batteries if you need to. The charger plug I got (maybe depends on seller you choose?) is two pin European style / shaver plug, so you may need a shaver adaptor to use the charger. There's a light on the charger plug to say it's on, and another on the charger itself which lights green when it's finished. You may need to cycle the charge a few times to get decent capacity of the batteries.

The main point of my purchase was the ability to get GPS position without contracts, so you can get yourself a pay as you go SIM chip, top up, and get SMS messages telling you the location of the device, also tells you the charge level of the battery, either F for full or L for low. When it gets low, it sends two SMS messages (with location) to tell you that it is running low, but continues sending messages as normal until the battery goes dead. Message get sent to any device that asks for the GPS data.

I gave the unit a difficult test, charge the battery then sent it into Europe for a journey approx 24 hours. I told the unit to send it's position every 1/2 hour.. so 50 texts and 24 hours later as it was still going, but with the battery low. So it should last for most reasonable journeys.

You can dial in to the GPS to use it's microohone to listen in on the location, but I didn't get good sound from it, picks up everything! The unit also has an SOS button, on pressing for a few seconds, will send the location of the device with the message SOS.

There were problems which were experience however. From the UK the GPS was left on though Tunnel / Ferry, and the GPS found the French phone network no problem to report it's position, but cross border roaming proved a bit of a problem, not certain if it was the automated texts mobiles get in Europe when you move into a new country, or reception problems. But when entering a new country, it might stop sending texts. You could get it to work again by sending the unit the previous logging instructions again.

To programme the device, as there is no display on the device, you have to send it SMS text instructions, which could be a bit fiddly on older mobile phones. You get back confirmation text if your unit accepted the command. It is possible to lock the device so only a few telephone numbers are allowed access to the device, or all phones. It is also possible to change the default password so only one phone can issue the device instructions.

GPS positions are given in two ways, selectable by the user. Either traditional co-ordinates which are easily input into Google Earth / Maps etc., or if you want to use on smart phones, a generated link you can click to bring up a map in a web-browser.

For best reception, I put the GPS on the dashboard of the car, in the center, doesn't work so well at the sides of the dashboard. You get a second battery cover which has magnets on it, which you could use to put the device onto something magnetic, not easy in modern cars, so you may end up using normal battery cover and buying some velcro. The magnet cover is not a perfect fit, very tight.

One thing I did notice, the timezone has been set not to UTC (of the satellites), but +8hours, which is China. You will have to rely on your mobiles time setting for the time the message was actually sent. The unit also has the ability to work out speed, but it appears to be only in Km/h rather than MPH. The software supplied is for Windows, and supposedly allows you top build a track from the texts, but is time limited, and of course, is made in China (not tested the software).

If you want an easy to use GPS that gives the location in a text message WITHOUT costly contracts, then this is a good unit to have.

I have a 21 year old son with special needs who likes to go missing every now and then - we've had shopping centre security and police out looking for him several times. I was looking for a way to use technology to find him when this happens. He has a simple mobile phone which I tried tracking but it just wasn't accurate enough for our purposes. So I bought this device about two weeks ago and have been trying it out. I was concerned that GPS wouldn't work indoors but it seems to with little problem. This device is easy to set up, easy to use and seems so far to give a very accurate, reliable fix on where he is at any particular time, probably to within about 10-20 metres. It works when he's at college, on the bus and walking home, although I have yet to try it in a shopping centre.

You get two batteries, a charger that allows you to either charge the device with the battery in or charge the other battery whilst the device is in use elsewhere. To obtain a fix all you do is phone the number of the sim card you have installed (I am using an O2 pay as you go). It rings twice then hangs up and then sends you a text message with a link to google maps which shows the location of the device. I have an iphone and it is very easy to use with this - I just click on the text message and it opens google maps and zooms in on the location (note that you have to change the default option to get it to send a link rather than latitude and longitude).

The only two things to be aware of are that the battery only lasts about 24 - 36 hours so needs charging every night and the user manual is not a particularly good translation from Chinese (but still understandable on the whole).

Other options I looked at were £200 plus and required a subscription at £30 pcm or so. This does what I want and is affordable. I have been buying from Amazon for years and this is the first review I have written - I like it that much!

Pros - the device came very well packaged and presented, and I was pleased to find that there was not only a spare battery but also a separate charger and a small waterproof case with a magnetic strip, although you probably wouldn't want to rely too much on the latter to hold it in a bumpy environment. The manual took a little deciphering but was not too bad and, once the battery was installed, it all started working very quickly.

The unit is much smaller and lighter than I expected from the photos and could quite easily be put in a coat or bag.

I was amazed at how accurate it was: the first reading was correct to about 2 metres. Occasionally readings are a little further away, but rarely more than 20-30 metres, and usually it is 5-10 metres. That should be more than accurate enough for most people! I was also impressed with how well it received a signal, even buried below stuff in a car.

Cons - the first unit I received gave a location ok but did not show speed. That, in turn, meant that the Geofence, Movement Alert and Overspeed functions didn't work. I contacted the suppliers about this and, after an initial hiccup, they could not have been more helpful and sent me a replacement straightaway with no quibbling, followed by helpful suggestions by email and phone. The replacement unit worked better in that showed speed but the Geofence - this was the main attraction of the unit for me - still did not really work; the Movement and Overspeed funtions did work, but then occasionally kept sending me repeat text alerts after the first one, sometimes 10-15 times. Make sure you have plenty of text credits on your SIM card!

I have also found that the battery life is not as good as I anticipated: it takes the same battery as my mobile phone and I know that I can get about 2-3 days out of that but the ones that come with the tracker generally last only about 36 hours. However, it will send you a Low Battery Alert text so you get some some notice if it's on its last legs.

Overall - great technology and value for money. It's not so long ago that these were costing 00s of pounds. A bit disappointed that the Geofencing doesn't work properly but the accuracy of the locating each time is very good.