Galaxy SmartTag3 finally tracks iPhones as well as Galaxys

Samsung has announced the Galaxy SmartTag3, a Bluetooth tracker that is about 35% smaller by volume and 33% lighter than the previous generation, and the first in the Galaxy SmartTag line to work with iOS. It goes on sale in Korea first on 7 October 2026, followed by the United States, with more markets promised during 2027. It comes in White and Black.

Cross-OS finding arrives at last

The headline change is not the size. For the first time a Galaxy SmartTag will pair with an iPhone as well as a Galaxy device, so a tag's location can be checked and shared through SmartThings Find and Search Nearby across both platforms. Samsung frames it as a family feature: a suitcase lent to a friend can be tracked from whichever phone that friend happens to carry.

A range measured in metres, a battery measured in days

Compass View, the directional guidance feature, now draws on Bluetooth 6.0 Channel Sounding to give distance and direction from up to 60 metres away, roughly three times the range of the previous model. Samsung says ultra-wideband takes over as you close in, so the guidance stays useful from the far side of a car park to the last metre. Battery life is quoted at up to 550 days under standard use and up to 790 days in Power Saving Mode, and the tracker keeps an IP67 water and dust rating.

Nine hundred million devices doing the looking

When a tag moves out of Bluetooth range the Galaxy Find Network takes over, and Samsung says more than 900 million participating Galaxy devices worldwide can act as finding nodes that detect the tag and refresh its location. Samsung claims those network updates now arrive sooner after a tag disconnects, which is the difference between useful and not when luggage goes missing in a terminal.

Place Notification and location history

The new Place Notification feature lets you define an area and receive an alert when a tagged item moves in or out of it, so a pet leaving the garden or a bicycle being wheeled off triggers a notification rather than requiring you to check an app. Location History records where a tag has been and Movement Detection Alert flags when something moves. Samsung says location data is encrypted, and the tag is finished with an aluminium-decorated button, with a Silicone Case with keyring and a Loop Case sold separately.

“People want simpler and more convenient ways to keep track of belongings and pets for greater peace of mind, and Galaxy SmartTag3 was designed around those everyday needs,” said Jay Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of Customer Experience Office, Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics. “Powered by the vast Galaxy Find Network, it delivers our most capable Galaxy SmartTag experience yet.”

Our opinion

A Samsung tracker that talks to iPhones is an admission that the finding network, not the phone in your pocket, is what makes these gadgets worth owning, and Samsung has now decided that reaching more people matters more than keeping the feature inside its own ecosystem. The 60-metre Compass View range is the number AirTag owners will compare against, because losing the signal the moment you leave a room has always been the weak point of Bluetooth trackers. The 550-day battery claim is the one to watch in practice, since these figures assume standard use and the honest test is a tag left on a pet collar through a winter. Keeping IP67 rather than matching the IP68 of Samsung's own tablets is the one spec that looks like an unnecessary compromise on a device designed to be dropped in a hedge.