Fi Series 3 Review: Not All Dogs Who Wander Are Lost

As I mash my pedals up the last kicker on the trail, I register that my dog, Broose, is nowhere to be seen. Finally, at the top of the mountain, I once again have cell coverage and feel a vibration in my pocket. “43 minutes ago: Broose has left Bentley,” one notification reads. “27 minutes ago: Broose is on Spruce Street without an owner.” And finally, “Now: Broose is in Franklin, MT.”

I open the Fi app on my phone and see that her walker picked up Broose with her hiking group. She’s now playing in a creek. All’s right with the world, and I begin my descent with a clear conscience for riding my bike without my best friend.

Back home cuddling with Broose that evening, our dog walker sends me a photo: It’s Broose covered in mud. I share it on Broose’s Fi page. If she ever gets lost, after all, she’ll probably be dirty. But more importantly, she looks adorable.

In short: The Fi Series 3 Smart Dog Collar is a dog-tracking device that works anywhere with cellphone service. Features like Safe Zone, Lost Dog Mode, and Timeline help monitor the dog’s health and activity while maintaining a long battery life. The Fi Series 3 doesn’t have training features like beep, vibration, or bright light.

So, it isn’t a solution for dog management and training. Instead, it is a great way to keep track of an active dog that may escape or roam. It lets you know where they are when you can’t see them and understand their activity for big-picture health monitoring. And the brand has resolved early issues with durability found on early models.

Compare the Fi Series 3 dog GPS collar to the rest in our Best GPS Dog Trackers buyer’s guide.

Fi Series 3 Smart Dog Collar Review

Zoom Into View

I’ve been testing the Fi Series 3 dog GPS tracking collar all spring, summer, and fall. There’s a reason it’s made its way to the top of the list of our Best Dog GPS Trackers Guide. While Broose and I have a relationship that could be described as codependent, we both can go our own ways (by accident) when we’re out exploring together. She may get the zoomies in the woods. Or I may get sucked into some deep daydreaming, and I lose track of her.

Whatever the case, in the odd event that I lose sight of her, a quick look at the app solves everything. I especially appreciate “Lost Dog Mode,” which virtually puts her in my line of vision until I can get her attention so we can regain our meandering together.

Testing the Fi Series 3

Broose and I tested this collar while skiing, snowshoeing, mountain biking, hiking, camping, and on daily walks. One of the things I love most about this collar is that it has a long battery life. With regular use, staying within our Safe Zone with the charging base plugged in, the battery lasts almost a month — long enough by digital standards that it felt chronically charged.

The device sends a push notification once the battery life gets as low as 20%, and then periodically until it’s plugged in. Similarly, it alerts you via push notification if the charging base gets unplugged since it works via Bluetooth to help the collar track your dog and significantly preserve battery life.

For everyday use, I want my dog to consistently wear her GPS device so I don’t have to think about putting it on. This is easy with the Fi’s long-lasting battery and advanced charging options.

Nice Fit

I want a GPS dog tracker to be comfortable for my dog to wear all the time. The Fi Series 3 measures 1.1 (height) by 2.0 (length) by 0.4 (depth) inches. The collar measures 1 inch wide with two clips for the device, allowing the Fi Series 3 to sit flush with the collar.

And with its thin profile and light weight (it’s just 1 ounce), it’s exceptionally comfortable. It has a light you can turn on using your phone. It isn’t bright enough to use as a regular visibility tool, in my opinion, and should be supplemented with additional light.

Connect the Dogs

The Fi Series 3 blends smart GPS technology with social media connectivity to create community while maintaining peace of mind. I don’t look for friends there, but it’s nice to know people in my neighborhood can see pictures of Broose and learn who she is. This way, when we bump into each other on walks, we say hello and create a calming familiarity for anxious dogs.

It can also connect to apps like Strava to show walks you and your dog do together, a handy way to keep track of collective fitness and activity. That seems like a secondary feature for people looking for more social media in their lives, a sort of Dogstagram, if you will.

However, Fi added a much more helpful feature recently (available to iOS users; Android coming soon) and announced in the app’s Discover tab. The new feature, called Search Party, allows you to create a shareable link that anyone can use to track your dog, whether or not they have a Fi account.

This is a much more helpful use of the app’s “social” aspect versus the current use of posting photos and seeing walks. An automatic push (perhaps as an opt-in feature) on the social channel, with an end-user opt-in to allow push notifications for lost dogs, might be a helpful tool for getting the word out rather than posting a link. Fi, let me know when you make these upgrades, and I’ll pass along my Venmo for the ideas.

If Only

The only downside to this dog tracker is the same as 90% of the GPS dog tracker devices I’ve tested: While it uses a mixture of satellite information from GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo, along with Bluetooth, it’s reliant on cellular data to give me information on Broose’s location. So, if we recreate outside of cell coverage, as we often do, I won’t be able to track her until she comes back down the mountain into service.

Conclusion

The Fi Series 3 GPS dog tracker collar is a fantastic everyday wearable for your pet. Similar to a Garmin watch, it keeps up with features like steps, walks, naps, and general location. Lost Pet tracking lets you momentarily increase the rapidity with which you receive signals about your dog’s whereabouts while generally keeping battery use down when not in search mode, making for an impressively long battery life.

Since it’s limited by phone connectivity, this device isn’t ideal for people looking to keep track of their pets in backcountry locales where cell connectivity is unavailable. But it’s excellent for general everyday tracking of your dog’s health and location tracking in most areas.

The new Search Party feature for iOS users creates a shareable link so anyone with the link can track your dog in real time and help bring them home. It isn’t the best option if you live in a remote area without consistent cell coverage or if your pup needs recall training. However, for the majority of users and for everyday activity tracking, the Fi Series 3 GPS dog tracker collar will become an everyday wearable.