Monimoto alarm/tracker £147
www.monimoto.co.uk THE MONIMOTO IS an alarm/tracker which, as the description suggests, raises an alarm (via a smartphone app) when it detects unauthorised movement of your bike. The unit is a 126mm x 35mm robust black plastic cylinder that houses a battery, SIM card and GPS electronics. It needs no specialist fitting or wiring, just attaching discretely to a sturdy and rigid part of the bike.
The unit is paired to a master key that you put on your bike’s ignition keyring. If the master key stays in proximity to the GPS unit, the tracker remains dormant. But if it detects movement without the master key, it starts trying to call your phone while the app receives GPS or GSM coordinates of the bike’s location.
The supplied SIM card only lasts for two months, after which you have to replace it. I used a £5 per month one from Giffgaff — this is the Monimoto’s only monthly cost, so there are no hefty subscriptions as with other trackers. The GPS unit is standalone and powered by 3V lithium CR123A batteries, lasting up to 12 months and costing £7.
The Monimoto does everything it claims and it’s simple to install on the bike. The app is intuitive, with an uncluttered design. Unlike a lot of trackers, you can’t interrogate it to get a location remotely, so you have to rely on it sending data to your phone. This is why the battery lasts for so long, because most of the time it’s asleep.
To test the device I loaded a bike into my van and took it for an ‘unauthorised’ drive. Sure enough after 1m 20s the Monimoto woke up and called my mobile, letting me know motion was detected. The app then notified me of GSM location. I drove for an hour, during which nine alerts were sent to my phone, of which only two were GPS co-ordinates – the other seven were GSM locations. These are pretty useless as they cover an area of several square kilometres. The GPS locations did have an accuracy of around five metres though. In the event of my bike being stolen, it would only have been of any use if the final resting place of the bike gave a GPS location.