Mercedes-Benz Chipolo Loop: a car brand makes a tracker

The announcement

9to5Google reported the launch on 26 May 2026, describing the product as the existing Chipolo Loop in a special case, priced at 39 dollars directly from Chipolo and around 45 dollars through Amazon, with availability promised later in Mercedes-Benz showrooms and franchised dealerships.

Chipolo's own announcement gives the design rationale in its words:

we wanted to create something that feels less like an add-on accessory and more like a natural extension of your car keys

The two accounts differ slightly on one number. 9to5Google records the alert as 120 dB; Chipolo's own page claims 125 dB. Where a maker and a reviewer disagree, the reviewer's figure is the safer one to plan around. T3's write-up of the same launch calls the pricing surprisingly affordable for a car-branded accessory, which is a fair reading of a market where dealership extras rarely start with a three.

What the hardware is

Nothing there is new. It is a competent dual-network tag in a nicer shell, which is precisely what a badging deal is supposed to produce.

Why a carmaker is in this market at all

Two reasons, and neither is really about trackers.

The first is that car keys have quietly become the most expensive thing on most people's key rings. A modern fob is a coded, programmed component, and replacing one is a garage job rather than a locksmith job. Anything that reduces the number of times a customer has that conversation is worth a carmaker's attention.

The second is shelf space. Dealerships sell accessories at a healthy margin and a £30-ish item that every single customer has a use for is a rare thing. Expect other marques to follow; the deal structure is easy to copy.

There is a third reason, less often said out loud. A key ring tag is a small permanent advertisement. Whatever is hanging off your keys sits on the pub table, the hotel reception desk and the office hot desk several times a day, at eye level, in front of people who are bored. Badged accessories have always worked that way and a tracker is an unusually good one, because unlike a keyfob leather it does something useful enough that the owner keeps it.

What it is not is a technical advance. The badged Loop finds things using the same free network any other certified tag uses. You are buying industrial design and a star, and there is nothing wrong with that as long as the pricing is honest about it, which, at 39 dollars, it more or less is.

What it means if you are just trying to find your keys

Very little, and that is the useful conclusion. The network does the finding, the tag is a membership card, and the badge on the card changes nothing about coverage, accuracy or update speed.

Three practical points remain, whatever brand you choose. Check which network the tag registers on and make sure it is the one your phone belongs to. Check whether the key ring hole is part of the tag or a separate holder you have to buy. And check whether the battery is a cell you replace or one you recharge, because that decides what the fourth year of ownership looks like.

How the Homing Tag compares

The Homing Tag is the unbadged end of the same idea. There is no star, no leather, no dealership, just an MFi certified tag that appears as an Other Item inside Apple Find My alongside your iPhone and AirPods, relayed by whatever Apple devices happen to be nearby, with locations encrypted so only your own account can read them.

Specification, plainly: sound in the 80 to 100 dB range, a direct link good for about sixty metres before the wider crowd picks it up, an IP67 rating, a shell 36.3 millimetres square and 9 millimetres deep weighing roughly 10 grams, and one CR2032 cell lasting as long as two years that you change with a twist of the back. The key ring hole is moulded in and two rings come in the box.

The absences are stated plainly too: no Ultra Wideband, therefore no on-screen arrow, and no Android compatibility in any form: you will need an iPhone or an iPad, running iOS 14.5 at the oldest. Two tags to a box, under £15, free UK delivery.

The two-pack is worth a look if you would rather spend the difference on tagging the spare set as well.

Worried about what a lost fob costs on a hire car? That bill is covered here.

Sources

• 9to5Google. Mercedes-Benz now has an Android Find Hub key tracker built by Chipolo, 26 May 2026
• Chipolo. We made a tracker with Mercedes-Benz, accessed September 2026
• T3. There's an official Find My tracker for Mercedes owners and fans, 2026