Samsung's New SmartTag Finally Works With iPhones

Samsung's newest item tracker is the first one the company has made for people who don't own a Samsung phone. The Galaxy SmartTag3, which went on sale in South Korea on October 7, works with iPhones as well as Galaxy devices — a first for the SmartTag line. It is smaller, lasts far longer on a single battery, and can guide you to lost keys from much farther away than before. For a product category long split along platform lines, that cross-compatibility is the real headline.

The SmartTag3 is about 35 percent smaller by volume and 33 percent lighter than its predecessor, with a rounded body and an aluminium-decorated button, according to Beebom's launch coverage. Samsung is selling a silicone case with a keyring and a loop case separately for attaching the tag to bags, luggage, or pet collars. Battery life is rated at up to 550 days under standard use, stretching to 790 days in a power-saving mode that keeps only basic Bluetooth finding switched on. The tracker keeps the IP67 water and dust resistance of earlier models, and it comes in white and black.

Finding things from 60 metres away

The biggest technical jump is in how the SmartTag3 locates itself. Bluetooth 6.0 Channel Sounding powers an enhanced Compass View that shows distance and direction from up to 60 metres away — roughly three times the range of the previous generation. As you get closer, ultra-wideband takes over for more precise guidance, creating a smooth handoff from long-range direction to pinpoint accuracy, according to Technobezz's report on the launch. The feature currently requires one of Samsung's newest phones, including the Galaxy S26 series and the Z Fold 8 line.

Beyond direct Bluetooth range, the tag leans on the Galaxy Find Network, which Samsung says includes more than 900 million participating Galaxy devices that can anonymously report a tag's location. Samsung claims location updates now arrive faster after a tag disconnects from its owner's phone. New software tricks include Place Notification, which alerts you when a tagged item enters or leaves an area you define, Location History showing where a tag has been, and a Movement Detection Alert that fires when the tag starts moving unexpectedly. Tapping an NFC-equipped phone to a lost tag in Lost Mode reveals the owner's registered contact details.

The catch for iPhone users

Cross-platform support comes with asterisks. Three features do not carry over to iOS: Compass View, Ring Phone, and the Left Behind Alert that warns when your phone loses connection to a tagged belonging, as GadgetHacks notes in its breakdown of the iOS limits. More importantly, iPhones running the SmartThings Find app do not contribute sightings to the Galaxy Find Network, so recovering a tag beyond Bluetooth range still depends on how many Galaxy devices happen to be nearby — not on other iPhones. The SmartTag3 also does not integrate with Google's Android Find Hub, which limits its usefulness in mixed Android households outside Samsung's ecosystem.

That makes the SmartTag3 a genuinely useful option for iPhone owners who want a cheaper alternative to Apple's AirTag, but a compromised one: core finding and sharing work, while the best locating tools stay exclusive to Galaxy phones. Samsung has not said whether the network limitations will change. For now, the tag is most at home in a Samsung household, and merely a competent guest everywhere else.

Price and availability

Pricing is aggressive. In the US, a single tag is expected to cost about thirty dollars, with a four-pack running about a hundred dollars, according to Technobezz. The tracker launched first in Korea on October 7, reaches the United States by early November, and rolls out to additional markets through 2027. For more gadget coverage, see the Latest Gadgets topic page, including Motorola's new privacy-first flagship phone. If you have ever wished your tracker worked with whatever phone your family actually uses, the SmartTag3 is the closest the industry has come — with a few strings attached. For Galaxy owners it is a clear upgrade; for everyone else, it is worth checking exactly which features your phone can use before buying.