Keeping track of your best friend is paramount and if yours is a runner, even more reason to keep tabs on your buddy with the Halo Collar 4. It’s no fun worrying about your best friend or getting calls from the police that your dog keeps getting loose.
Don’t have a fence or perhaps you live in a more rural area with lots of real estate? The Halo Collar 4 improves GPS tracking and makes it easy to stay informed about your dogs location quickly.
What’s in the box
Halo Collar 4, USB-C Charge cable, charging adapter, contact blanks, short/long contact tips, end cap clamp and end caps (for customizing strap size). What’s missing is you no longer get a beacon which was a nice extra. The new charging adapter is MUCH easier to use and keep track of; this is a huge improvement since you still have to charge the unit often.
Halo has provided us with the Collar 4 so that we could provide hands on review coverage of the unit and our personal experiences with it to our readers. Our reviews are for educational and informational purposes only.
Overview
The Halo Collar 4 is not a shock collar, although like the Collar 3 (Halo Collar 3 review) it does have that functionality. You can choose to use it or not. Audible and vibration cues alert your puppy to your approval or disapproval for their proximity to the virtual fence border. Use the Halo app to define your virtual fence and save multiple maps for different locations.
The Halo Collar 4 is a training collar and it will not magically make your dog listen. It’s a tool and an aid, you still need to put the time in.
As Cesar Milan would tell you, your dogs behavior ultimately falls on YOU! Remember your doggie learns behaviors too; they’re like 3 year olds in that they never really grow up and they need your training and guidance. The Halo Collar 4, like any dog training requires repetition and consistency on your part for it to be effective.
We were able to attend a live Zoom conference with Cesar Milan that you could submit questions and Cesar would address them live. This ended up having more of an infomercial feel to it where the questions that were selected seemed quite geared to that end. If you want some dog training guidance, Halo does offer Q&A with professional dog trainers that can help you with tips about your particular situation and dog behavior.
Virtual Fencing
When you have acres of land it isn’t really difficult to comprehend that it will be nearly impossible enclose your entire property with an effective dog fence. Halo Collars virtual fence lets you define an area using the phone app to create a virtual border. Using the Halo app, create and save up to 50 virtually fenced areas (depending on which plan you choose) that you can call up anytime you visit.
You’ll need GPS along with Cellular or WiFi coverage which the subscription plan and phone provides. If you are planning to travel to an area where you know there’s no signal, you can pre-setup virtual fences when you do and then simply enable them when you arrive.
Waterproofing
The Collar 4 carries with it the IP67 designation for dust and water-proofing. The IP67 designation means that you can submerge the device in water up to 3 meters in depth for up to 30 min. Works for pooches that like to hop in the lake or pool for short periods of time.
Better Fit, Reduced size & weight
Halo has reduced the size and weight on the Collar 4 to come in an OSFA design, better for you, better for them. Win win. Choose between 4 colors: Sunburst (yel), Midnight Blue, Orchid (pink), Graphite (dk grey).
Better GPS with Dual band
Halo Collar 4 integrates L1 and L5 bands for more accurate location reporting when you have areas of poor cell reception. You’ll want to remember that GPS in general, requires line of sight to the GPS satellites so you can potentially lose location signal intermittently with any GPS device. The Collar 4 does seem to be more accurate and improved on the tracking front, but it will still succumb to the issues without line of sight and can be slightly off. Like the Collar 3, even when it was off, it wasn’t so far off that we couldn’t immediately spot the dogs location by eye.
Without getting overly technical; the L1 band is the more widely used civilian GPS signal running at a frequency of 1575.42 MHz. The L5 band is the newer band running at a frequency of 1176.45 MHz. The L5 band is more accurate and is primarily used for important applications such as aviation or critical life-saving transportation.
Better Battery Life & Better Charging Adapter
You can get 30+ hours of battery life vs the previous Collar 3. While a few more hours may not seem like much, it is a very welcome upgrade. You still need to charge it up daily and you still get low battery alerts but the extra hours let you keep it on overnight without worry that you’ll run out the next morning.
Even so we tend to try and keep a full charge on it the night before we know we’re going to need it for a visit to a friends or camping trip etc.
The magnetic charging adapter has also been redesigned thankfully. The new is much larger, easier to deal with, and much more convenient in that it just works. The smaller magnetic charging adapter on the collar 3 works fine, it’s just so small that it takes some concentration to make sure it’s connected and not tangled up in the fabric cover.
Pricing & Features at a glance
If you aren’t already familiar with the subscription plans here’s the monthly you’ll be hit with as they are a bit hidden on the site. You can save 15% by paying annually or 20% bi-annually.
| Bronze $9.99/mo (previously Basic) | Silver $14.99/mo everything in Bronze, plus:) | Gold $19.99/mo (Everything in Silver, plus:) |
|---|---|---|
– 5 Virtual Fences | – 20 Virtual Fences | – Unlimited Virtual Fences |
The Halo Collar 4 can be an effective means of training and tracking your pooch. It’s packed with functionality with improved GPS, virtual fencing, audible/vibration cues and static feedback (or shock). What we’d like to see is a less expensive subscription plan or a less expensive collar.
Basic only gets you 3 virtual fences down from the 20 you used to get. The Silver tier give you the 20 virtual fences. The gold tier gives you unlimited virtual fences and access to the live weekly Q&A with trainers.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
– Improved GPS tracking | – Bronze/Siver tier price has been increased |
That’s a Wrap
If you’re looking for a GPS tracking dog collar the Halo Collar 4 is a top contender. Armed with features to help you keep track of your pooch, train and monitor activity. The Collar 4 is more than just a GPS collar. Think of this as a great companion for your best friend. You don’t need it all day everyday but with proper training it can be an absolute game changer when you’re out in open landscapes with your doggie.
$574 Halo Collar 4 GPS Training Collar
www.halocollar.com
