Review: GEGO Luggage Tracker – A Travellers New Insurance Policy

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GEGO luggage tracker for suitcases. {Tech} for Travel. https://techfortravel.wpengine.com
<center><em>GEGO Global Luggage Tracker App Image GEGO<em><center>
Pros
Cons
✔️ Global Coverage✘ Difficult to tell When On/Off
✔️ Accurate Location Tracking✘ No 4G Coverage
✔️ Good Battery Life✘ Micro-USB Port
✔️ Single Button Control✘ No travel/storage pouch
✔️ Easy to Use App

{Tech} for Travel Says….
Hands-On Review: The GEGO Global Luggage Tracker not only works well, but it saved my own luggage twice while I was reviewing it.

If you are a frequent traveller, even if just with Carry-On’s, you should always have a GEGO with you!

GEGO Luggage Tracker

Many of us travel every year without the inconvenience of the airline losing our luggage. The more you travel, the more the odds of it ever happening increase slightly.

GEGO is a lightweight, credit-card-sized, TSA approved device that stays in your luggage and with a tap of the app, can pinpoint your case in over 190 countries.

With a travel packed month ahead, I charged up the GEGO and gave it a 14,000km itinerary with 9 stops around Europe and America

Flight Plan testing luggage tracker. {Tech} for Travel. https://techfortravel.wpengine.com
<center><em>The Only Way to Test a GEGO Image Tech for Travel<em><center>

Features

Designed firstly for air travel, the GEGO Luggage Tracker does serve a number of other purposes. It combines WiFi networks, Cell towers and 2G/3G connectivity to provide the most accurate positioning possible.

When not in use for travelling, the GEGO can be set up for Geo-Fencing. Say a family vacation to Disney World as an example, you could make the park a safe zone.

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The device is small enough to fit in a child’s pocket, can help guide you to them should they get lost and it will trigger an alarm if they leave the park or safe zone.

Each GEGO has a built-in SIM that is not swappable, a single power on/off button and a Micro-USB port for charging.

Small Global tracker. {Tech} for Travel. https://techfortravel.wpengine.com
<center><em>A Single Button Press and let the App take over Image Tech for Travel<em><center>
Tracker Set-Up

Set-up only took a few minutes using the free app (Android|Apple) but you want to do this ahead of leaving home. There is a short sign-up process and access will need to be granted so the app can know your location.

As the GEGO Global Luggage Tracker relies on a SIM there is a monthly fee for the service. But this is not all bad news!

On activation, GEGO provides a month free, so your first trip no matter how far is on them, providing its under 30 days.

Then there are two payment plans. Either on a rolling month by month basis which is suited to the occasional traveller. Or, an annual for the frequent traveller.

Smartphone app for luggage tracker. {Tech} for Travel. https://techfortravel.wpengine.com
<center><em>GEGO App is easy to use Image Tech for Travel<em><center>

Opting for the annual plan provides a cheaper monthly rate of $6.33 whereas the Pay as You Go plan is $14.95.

Follow Your Luggage

One of the few minor issues I found with the GEGO is the power on/off button. It’s just a simple button with a small LED, which doesn’t stay on long enough to confirm what state the device is in.

Once on, to get the best performance from the GEGO tracker you can configure the device to suit your upcoming trip. Usage Mode has four settings; Short Haul, Long Haul, Standard and Battery Saver Mode.

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For the review, I stuck with Long Haul during the month, and while it was noticeably slower to respond at each destination once I had landed, it was accurate.

Small and Light global tracker. {Tech} for Travel. https://techfortravel.wpengine.com
<center><em>Light Slim Design Image Tech for Travel<em><center>

To use the GEGO for a trip after the initial set-up, it’s as simple as turning it on, letting the smartphone app sync to the device and putting it in your case.

And if I needed proof the GEGO actually worked as the marketing team claim it does, I didn’t need to wait long.

Lost Luggage

By luck, if you can call it that, my luggage with the GEGO inside did manage to become separated from me. On a connection at Phoenix airport, my case managed to catch the earlier onward flight to Las Vegas.

GEGO sent a notification to my Android device, firstly to notify it had left the airport whilst I was still there. Then to confirm it had arrived at Las Vegas.

App tracking my missing luggage. {Tech} for Travel. https://techfortravel.wpengine.com
<center><em>GEGO tracked my lost case Image Tech for Travel<em><center>

A check on the app confirmed both my location and that of the case.

I was travelling with American Airlines, which I consider to have one of the best bespoke apps in the industry. But, even that didn’t notify me until about an hour after GEGO did!

If at this point you’re thinking to yourself that you only do short-haul hand baggage only so the GEGO is not for you, think again.

I fell foul of the Austrian Airlines weight limit for a Carry-On even though I use my Lat_56 case all over Europe with no issues, I was forced to gate check my case.

Away Mini with Luggage tracker. {Tech} for Travel. https://techfortravel.wpengine.com
<center><em>Protect what Matters Most when Travelling Image Tech for Travel<em><center>

A quick press to turn the GEGO on and slip it into my case and the app connected and updated by the time I was at the end of the air-bridge!

Build Quality & Performance

At just 118g the GEGO is very light thanks to the plastic casing. It has a loop-hole for attaching it to the outside of carrying packs or even pets. A single button with a small LED is the only moving part on the tracker.

Inside is a small 720mAh battery. This is quoted to deliver around 20 hours of use which is more than enough for any uneventful trips. Once airborne the GEGO Luggage Tracker enters a low-power flight mode until back on the ground.

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As a reference point, during the review period, the single longest need for the tracker was around 19 hours of travelling through 4 airports. I’d used only 6% of the battery life before turning it off.

GEGO in a carry-on case. {Tech} for Travel. https://techfortravel.wpengine.com
<center><em>Carry On or Check In GEGO tracks both Image Tech for Travel<em><center>

Specifications

Overall, I struggled to find many faults with the GEGO Global Luggage Tracker. In just under 14,000km of travel, I needed it twice, and it did all it promised to do.

Yes, in Long Haul mode it did take just a minute or so longer than you would expect for it to update with a location. Then there’s a Micro-USB port when most other devices are USB-C, but neither of these put me off it.

  • Dimensions – 9 x 5.5 x 1cm
  • Weight – 118g
  • Colour Options – Black | White
  • Ports – Micro USB for charging
  • 720mAh Battery
  • Up to 20 hours of use from a Single Charge
  • Safe Zone Configuration
  • 2G & 3G Connectivity
  • Auto-Sleep in Flight
  • 4 Usage Modes with Global Coverage

How Much Does the GEGO Luggage Tracker Cost?

The GEGO Luggage Tracker is $99/£77/€90 but at the time of writing is on sale for $69.95/£54/€63

Prime members can shop their local Amazon store for around the same price and benefit from Prime shipping options.

// Media GEGO YouTube Channel.

Final Thoughts…

If you are a frequent traveller or travel with expensive oversized items such as sports equipment, the GEGO Global Luggage Tracker is a must-have gadget.

I was so impressed with the GEGO’s ease of use and App that it even made its way onto the {Tech} for Travel Best Travel Gadgets for 2020.

The upfront price is reasonable enough when you consider the value of items it will track for you and with contract terms as short as one month, the running costs are acceptable, in my opinion.

If, and when, any newer model is released I’d be looking for 4G connectivity and preferably a USB-C port.

For now, my new checklist before heading to the airport is Passport, Phone, GEGO.

Tom Payne
Tom, Editor. An online publication providing news & reviews on apps, gadgets and luggage for the connected traveller.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Hands-On Review:¨The #GEGO Global Luggage Tracker not only works well, but it saved my own #luggage twice while I was reviewing it.¨ We are glad to help!????Thanks for the review????

  2. Gego now charges a monthly “suspension” fee, or a $35 “reactivation” fee if you don’t keep an active subscription. This means that if you don’t keep buying an annual subscription or pay the monthly “suspension” charge the device becomes permanently deactivated. Unless you travel very frequently this will make it useless for most people.

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