Samsung has launched the Galaxy SmartTag3, and the biggest change is not the smaller design or longer battery life. For the first time, Samsung’s tracker works with iPhones. That makes the SmartTag3 considerably more useful for families and groups that do not all use Galaxy phones, although Samsung is still keeping some of its best tracking features inside the Galaxy ecosystem.
The SmartTag3 is about 35% smaller by volume and 33% lighter than the previous generation, making it easier to attach to keys, bags, luggage and pet collars. Samsung has also redesigned the device with a rounded body and an aluminium-decorated button, while new cases provide different ways of attaching it to belongings. Battery life has also increased, with up to 550 days of normal use or 790 days in Power Saving Mode.
The more interesting upgrade is its finding range. Samsung has added Bluetooth 6.0 Channel Sounding, allowing Compass View to provide distance and directional guidance from up to 60 metres, roughly three times the range of the previous generation under suitable conditions. Once you get closer, UWB can provide more precise positioning. There is a catch, however: the full 60-metre Channel Sounding feature currently works only with the Galaxy S26+, S26 Ultra, Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra.
When the SmartTag3 is outside the direct Bluetooth range of your phone, Samsung’s Galaxy Find Network can take over. Samsung says more than 900 million participating Galaxy devices around the world can act as finding nodes, allowing the network to detect a SmartTag3 and update its location. Samsung has also added faster location updates after a tag becomes disconnected.
The tracker can now do more than simply wait for you to lose something. Place Notification can alert you when a tagged item moves into or out of a defined area, while Location History lets you see where the tag has been. Movement Detection Alert can also notify you when movement is detected, which Samsung is pitching for everything from bicycles to pets.
The iPhone support is useful, but it comes with an important limitation. iPhone users can access core SmartTag3 finding and sharing functions through Samsung’s software, but iPhones do not contribute to Samsung’s Galaxy Find Network. So an iPhone can help its owner find a SmartTag3, but it does not become another anonymous node helping other SmartTag users locate their tags.
Samsung will launch the Galaxy SmartTag3 in South Korea on October 7, followed by the US, with additional markets scheduled to receive it in 2027. Samsung has announced Black and White versions, although pricing was not included in its launch announcement.
