The Halo 3 Dog Collar is a game-changer in the world of pet safety. It encompasses everything you loved about the original and kicks it up a notch with brand-new AI-based features, enhanced tracking technology, and a longer lasting battery. But does it live up to its promise to be “the most accurate GPS dog fence ever created”? Keep reading to find out!
Heads up: This post includes affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Speaking of links, just so we’re all on the same page, here’s the Halo 3 collar that we’re talking about here (I have the pink one):
The Halo Dog Collar keeps your dog safely inside the boundaries that you easily define, and prevents them from leaving (unlike other tracking collars, which only track and notify you when they escape). With AI-driven machine learning and PrecisionGPS™ tracking, it’s among the most advanced tracking collars on the market.
Halo 3 Dog Collar Review
Full disclosure, Halo sent me a complimentary collar to try out with my dog, Freya. I am INSANELY protective of her and would never allow her to try out anything that I’m uncomfortable with.
On that note, now is a good time to mention that I did not try out the “static correction” feature on Freya. I have a traditional fence around my backyard and mainly want to use Halo as a GPS tracking collar. So, I didn’t really need to get in-depth with teaching her how to use Halo as a wireless dog fence. I did, however, test out the overall fencing features on the app just so I can talk about them.
Meet My Halo 3 Tester: Freya
If you read my Tractive XL review, you’ve already met Freya and can probably skip this section. If you didn’t read that post, though, let me just give you a quick overview.
Freya is a 7-year-old Pharaoh Hound (also called a Kelb tal-Fenek, which translates to “Rabbit Dog” in Malta). To call her a “high energy” dog with an insane prey drive would be like saying that coffee is “good” or that race cars are “fast.” In other words, an understatement.
As is often the case with sighthounds, she lacks off-leash recall, and yes, that’s another understatement. I DO NOT let her roam off-leash. Ever. Well, except in my fenced-in backyard (an actual physical fence, she’s way too stubborn to be stopped by a few beeps, vibrations, or even outright shocks (which I would never use on her) from hunting her prey.
Every day, I take her on an “adventure,” which is a fancy way of saying I drive her to the front of the development where it’s not so hilly and walk her on different roads. I use TWO collars (and two leashes), plus a backup GPS collar.
Typically,
Meet Halo 3: A Complete GPS Tracking, Invisible Fence, and Health Monitoring System in One Pretty Little Package
By now you’re probably pretty familiar with the Halo dog collar. They were among the first (but not THE first) combination GPS tracking/invisible fence/training/health monitoring collars. I’m probably forgetting a few backslashes there.
Back in September of 2023 (she says like that was years ago or something when it was in fact just months ago), they launched the brand-new Halo 3, a fully upgraded model with a ton of intriguing new features. After trying it out for over a month, I’m finally ready to share my thoughts.
Halo 3 Features, Pros and Cons
Quite a few of the Halo 3 features are similar to (if not exactly the same as) the Halo 2, while others are upgraded and completely different. Let’s start with a look at the features and pros (to me, they’re often one in the same) in general. Then we’ll look at the drawbacks.
We’ll start with a super quick peek (à la bullet-point list because I LOVE LOVE LOVE lists), then I’ll get more detailed about some of the stand-out features.
Features at a Glance:
- PrecisionGPS™ tracking for improved accuracy
- Real-time tracking
- All-carrier coverage
- Perfect fit throughout your dog’s ages and stages
- Improved 24-hour battery life
- Four colors (yellow, black, white, and pink)
- Easy fence set-up on the app or by walking your property
- Waterproof
- Three levels of “prevention” for invisible fences (sound, vibration, and static)
- Dog activity tracking and monitoring
- Return whistle to call your dog back
- Verbal feedback (select it on the app and your dog hears it through the collar)
NEW PrecisionGPS™
Halo always performed well when it came to precise tracking, but thanks to their trademarked PrecisionGPS™, the Halo 3 is better than ever. The system uses an AI-driven machine learning to improve fence and dog location accuracy.
Honestly, I’m kind of over AI these days. It’s freaking everywhere, right? But in this case I’ll get over my “Sheesh, not this again” eye-rolling because it really does improve overall accuracy. That’s nothing but a positive when it comes to finding your lost dog fast.
SAME Real-Time Tracking (but better than before)
The upgraded Halo 3 collar offers the same real-time tracking as their previous models. It just works better with this model. Part of that is thanks to the AI software. Part is thanks to the active GPS antenna.
NEW(ish) All Carrier Coverage
I am pretty sure that Halo 2 worked with most carriers, so I don’t want to say that this is a brand-new feature and end up being wrong. If it isn’t new, it’s definitely better, though.
Now, the collar auto-connects to whichever cell carrier in your area has the strongest and fastest signal. Plus, it works anywhere in the world. Pretty nifty!
Perfect Fit (Almost) Every Time
Halo 3 literally grows with your dog. Well, maybe not “literally.” That makes it sound like it’s a plant or something. Rather, it’s capable of growing with your dog since it’s highly adjustable. There are some drawbacks to this, though, which we’ll discuss in a few moments.
IMPROVED Battery Life
Even with heavy usage, the Halo 3 battery lasts about 24 hours. That doesn’t sound terribly impressive when you realize that
It really does last that long, too. Plus, if you forget to charge it, it’ll send you warnings through the app (as long as you turn notifications on). I learned that day after I first set it up. The first notification politely informs you that the battery is low. If you ignore it, you’ll get exceedingly desperate notifications about “critically low” batteries. I felt like the collar was begging me to save it, so I finally got into the habit of putting it on the charger after our adventures, and it charges up pretty fast.
SAME Super Simple Fence Setup
So, I can’t really attest to whether it’s easier to set up Halo 3 than Halo 2 since I didn’t use the previous model. Mark did, though, and based on his notes it feels the same. I can attest to how simple it is in general.
I tried it both ways- drawing on the app and walking my property. Both were fairly simple and straightforward. For smaller properties, I recommend walking your boundaries yourself, though. It was a smidge easier to be more precise that way. Although I suppose you could use a stylus instead of your fingers if you wanted to do it in the app and still have accurate boundaries.
SAME Price as the Halo 2
Technically, this could be a pro or a con, which is why I saved it for last on this list. The Halo 3 costs exactly the same $699 as the Halo 2. To me, that part is a pro, since they’re giving you a better collar without jacking up the price.
On the other hand, it’s $699. That’s 10X as much as the
SAME (but possibly upgraded) Prevention Features
Again, I never used the original Halo or Halo 2, so I’m going off what Mark said about them in terms of whether or not this feature is the same. It may be better than the old model, though.
Basically, Halo 3 gives you three options for “correcting” your dogs when they get too close to the boundaries. You can either warn them with a beep, vibration, or static “shock,” or use a combination of all three.
I refuse to use static correction on my dog. Even though it’s more akin to a TENS unit than a ‘shock,’ I’m against this type of negative feedback. I’m not willing to compromise that one core principal for the sake of a more in-depth review.
I thought about testing it out on myself, but- and here’s something I love about the collar- there are little buttons over the static prongy things right now. That way, even if I accidentally turn on this feature it won’t affect her. I don’t want to take them off and lose them. Also, I’m a big baby and I don’t want to test it on myself.
I did try out the vibration feature though (on my hands) and it’s really not uncomfortable at all, even on the highest level. Same goes for the sound warnings. The beeps are loud enough to make my dog think “WTH was that?” but not so loud that we were all ducking for cover.
Halo 3 Drawbacks
While I do like the Halo 3 overall, there are a few drawbacks that I feel could be deal-breakers for some of you. Let’s discuss.
You CANNOT activate the collar without paying for a subscription
This is probably the biggest drawback of the Halo 3. Past models at least let you activate the collar and use the fence features without a subscription (or at least that’s how Mark made it seem). But with the 3, there is literally NO WAY to use the collar without paying extra. Period.
I am kind of irked about that. I feel like if you’re paying $699 for a collar, you should at least be able to activate it and use some basic features without paying another dime. In comparison, SpotOn (Halo’s closest competitor) doesn’t make you pay extra for the invisible fence features. Just the GPS tracking.
Plus, the wording when you go to cancel is a bit vague. It warns you that if you cancel you’ll lose access to the collar’s features. But it doesn’t say when. The wording kind of makes it sound like it’s immediate. Technically, (and possibly legally) they should let you continue using the features you paid for until your month is up. I think I’ll cancel early and see what happens. I’ll update you on that.
Perfect Fit isn’t Always a Perfect Fit
The Halo 3 comes in two sizes- Small and Medium/Large. I wish they divided the medium and large, though. I had to get that size because Freya has a rather long neck for a medium-breed dog. It’s designed to fit 5 in. – 30.5 in neck sizes. She falls around the 19″ range, and the collar is pretty big on her.
One other thing that I don’t love is that when you adjust it down, the end of the strap doesn’t really tuck away neatly. Or maybe it does and I just couldn’t figure out how. All of the dogs in the pictures have perfect-looking collars. But for me, it kind of hangs there. So if it does tuck away, it’s not very intuitive.
It has a proprietary magnetic charger
If you read my
Oh, it’s also a USB-C charger on the end that gets plugged into the outlet. If you don’t have an existing charger block (or a newer computer) you’re kind of stuck. Thankfully, I recently bought an outlet thingy on Amazon that has a USB-C slot.
Conclusion: Is Halo 3 Worth the Price?
Overall, the Halo 3 is a sleek GPS tracking collar with oodles of functions that make it worth the $699 price tag. But I do think there’s room for improvement with the charger, the sizing, and the subscription model. I think that for those who are already stretching their budgets buying the collar, the whole “pay to play” thing is a bit jarring.
That said, if you need a good multi-function collar that helps find a lost dog AND keeps them from getting lost in the first place, plus throws health tracking features into the mix, it does end up being cheaper in the long run than some of its competitors.
If you decide to buy it, I strongly recommend going directly through Halo’s website. Trust me, it’ll make your life MUCH easier when it comes time to set up the app.
The Halo Dog Collar keeps your dog safely inside the boundaries that you easily define, and prevents them from leaving (unlike other tracking collars, which only track and notify you when they escape). With AI-driven machine learning and PrecisionGPS™ tracking, it’s among the most advanced tracking collars on the market.
