A lot of you have been leaving comments asking what the major differences are between the Halo Collar and the PetSafe Guardian + tracking collar and how they compare. I get it; we all wanna know which GPS collar is gonna give you the most peace of mind as your off-leash pupster has all the fun in the world and that is why I’m writing this PetSafe vs Halo review.
We got our hands on both the Halo Collar 3 as well as the PetSafe Guardian GPS + tracking collar – which, by the way, is not to be confused with the original Guardian because that one doesn’t offer tracking.
Does the new and improved Guardian with Tracking edge out the Halo? Or does the Halo have more of a “ring” to it? Let’s dive in.
Before we go any further though, let me hit you with some good news. I’ve left some links which gives you exclusive discounts on both products – so whichever one you prefer, you can save some money.
So both of these collars say that they’re the most accurate in GPS fencing and to be sure, there’s lots of tech-y details that set them apart from each other. But rather than get bogged down in the weeds with, say, the satellite networks they run on, I’m just gonna focus on the big basics and what dog owners get out of each one. And I’m gonna start with the most basic comparison of all – the price.
Price
The Halo Collar clocks in at $599 as I’m writing with required membership starting at $9.99 a month, but you can unlock features across three tiers capping out at about $20/mo. I think the introductory bronze package is good enough for most dog owners. And if you buy additional collars, the membership price goes down.
The PetSafe Guardian + Tracking collar, has roughly the same monthly membership price but is currently running for a hundred bucks less at about $500. You also get your first month’s membership free.
And what do both those membership fees cover? It’s to maintain GPS services and cellular data as well as creating, editing and using the wireless dog fences.
So, depending on how you feel about pricing, the PetSafe Guardian with Tracking is looking pretty good.
SetUp
Now, on to setting up the collars. On their website, PetSafe says it takes 1-2 hours for setup. In our actual experience it was closer to two. It took a lot of minor troubleshooting – turning the collar on and off, restarting the app, redoing steps, those types of things. But we got there in the end.
Contrast this with the Halo Collar 3, where the setup experience is relatively straightforward. The app does present you with a heck of a lot of info, but they walk you through the process in a step-by-step way so you can be up and running pretty quickly.
Creating Fences
Creating fences for the PetSafe Guardian with tracking was a little vexing. Every time we changed a setting, like when loading a fence to the collar or changing the correction settings, we’d have to do some minor troubleshooting. That meant turning the collar off and on, restarting the app, and reconnecting over bluetooth.
We were able to make a fence but the big thing my testers noticed here is that you only have the option to draw in a fence manually by tapping on a map in the app – you can’t set the boundary by walking with the collar.
By comparison, the Halo lets you walk the boundary – although you need to drop posts manually and you’re capped at 20 fence posts. So while you can get a fence that’s reasonably well-tailored to your needs, you’re a bit restricted on the detail level.
Field Testing
We then did some field testing to see what product actually works the best.
As always, my testers actually wore the new Guardian with Tracking test it in action. It was a little hard to judge the accuracy of the boundary because we’re drawing it in rather than walking. Furthermore, there is some boundary drift but you’ll experience this with even the best GPS fence technologies. The other thing we observed in testing was that the boundary feedback just consists of an alert, prior to advancing to correction.
As for the Halo, most of the time, my team got the boundary feedback before it switched to emergency feedback. Sometimes we got the warning feedback first, too. But it was inconsistent. We may get a warning and come to a full stop, and then it’d still progress to boundary feedback. Ideally, we’d like it to flow from warning to boundary and then to emergency, predictably. This way when we train our dogs, the collar can be more reliable in keeping them contained and tracked [1].
Also, while Halo claims you can make fences that are quite small, we found inconsistent performance with fences around the 250 square feet mark.
Other Considerations
There are a couple of other considerations too that I want to quickly mention.
The Guardian with Tracking has a hand up with battery life. It lasts up to 48 hours.The Halo has had some great durability improvements. The new charging point’s been revamped and sealed tight against water and debris—definitely an upgrade.
Verdict: Halo Collar vs PetSafe Guardian GPS + Tracking
The Halo Collar has definitely been easier to use in our experience and while we’d like to see some improved accuracy and reliability with the Halo, we feel pretty comfortable recommending it.
The PetSafe Guardian with Tracking is cheaper, so you could definitely save a few bucks in the short term. It is a fairly new product and they are continuing to develop it. I’m excited to see what the PetSafe Guardian + Tracking can do as time goes on.
Don’t forget to click the links below to get a discount on your pup’s GPS fence collar.