Onntrack Portable Pro+ Review: GPS Tracker With No Fees

With a GPS tracker, car owners keep sight of their vehicle even after a theft. The Onntrack Portable Pro+ sets up in moments, causes no running costs and delivers excellent real-time tracking.

Car thefts have risen in recent years — around 14,000 vehicles were stolen in Germany in 2024 alone — and while modern cars increasingly ship with built-in locating systems, owners of older models and camping enthusiasts are well served by retrofitting. The Portable Pro+ promises a particularly flexible answer.

No convoluted setup, no opaque subscription model, no fiddly wiring and precise tracking results: the Portable Pro+ suits anyone who wants to unbox a GPS tracker and use it immediately. At just under 170 euros it costs more up front than many rivals — but that is the final price. No monthly or yearly subscription is required; after purchase the device is permanently and fully operational. Transparency does not come better.

The compact box ships with an integrated SIM covering 2G and 4G LTE. The manual arrived in Dutch only — improvable — yet tracking worked within seconds regardless: two QR codes fetch the German-language Onntrack app for iOS or Android, and entering the IMEI printed on the packaging (it could be easier to read) completes the setup. No wiring to the car battery is needed, since a fixed internal battery charges via USB — sadly the older micro-USB standard. The manufacturer quotes up to 90 days per charge; four blue LED bars on the device show the remaining level at a button press, alongside the app and web portal. The 108 x 60 x 29-millimetre housing is splash-proof, and a mighty magnet clamps the tracker to any ferromagnetic surface — or it simply rides in the boot or glovebox.

On the first drive, the app mirrored the trip in near-perfect real time — the car's position always visible on the map, current speed included, exactly as it should be. Past routes replay like a video on the map, and location accuracy stayed within a few metres. Movement triggers an instant warning — vital if someone tampers with the vehicle — and geo-zones raise the alarm whenever the car leaves a defined area. Alongside GPS, the device falls back on Wi-Fi and LBS positioning via phone masts when the satellite signal fails, and it works across the whole EU.

The web portal grants the same access and stores six months of routes with full tracking-point lists, speeds and timestamps, though it is cluttered and Dutch-language. Sections such as driving behaviour, temperature and fuel consumption are negligible playthings; the substance — precise, real-time, subscription-free tracking — is what counts.

The Onntrack Portable Pro+ is ready to use in moments and convinces with precise real-time tracking. For 170 euros you get a GPS tracker with no subscription costs ever, a permanently enabled SIM, 90-day battery life and EU-wide coverage. The Dutch-language portal and micro-USB charging are forgivable quirks on an otherwise exemplary device.