Totem updates, blogs, independent reviews, and coverage from journalists who have used the Compass in the field.
Totem Compass Version 5.0 makes finding your friends without cell service easier than ever, with Auto-Calibration, longer battery life, smarter navigation, and...
Read the post →A Totem message made 35 hops across the Unity Mesh Network at Lost Lands 2026, with no cell service. That's five times...
Read the post →Every Totem Compass can hold up to 8 Bonds, and Smart Groups let your whole crew Bond at once with colors that...
Read the post →A blind field test at Bonnaroo 2026: three Compasses handed to The Festive Owl and two campmates with no script or talking points. Racked up nearly...
Read on The Festive Owl →WIRED reviewed the Compass and landed on a positive verdict, praising how genuinely fun it is to wear and the fact that it does exactly what...
Read on WIRED →Named an Editor's Pick in Rolling Stone's product roundup. The writeup called out the design quality, ease of use, and the fact that performance keeps improving...
Read on Rolling Stone (US) →Our field report from Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival (March 2026): how accurately the Totem Compass guided people to their friends, how...
Read the post →A Totem message made 35 hops across the Unity Mesh Network at Lost Lands 2026, with no cell service. That's five times...
Read the post →Big events are magic for kids, and easy places to get separated. Here's a simple family plan based on NCMEC and theme-park...
Read the post →Every Totem Compass can hold up to 8 Bonds, and Smart Groups let your whole crew Bond at once with colors that...
Read the post →You can split the cost of a Totem Compass Bundle with your friends right at checkout using Paysquad. Here's how it works...
Read the post →The TotemLoop is a retractable steel tether, made with ClutchLoop, that keeps your Totem Compass (and your phone) clipped to you in...
Read the post →Totem Skins are soft silicone covers that add a protective layer to your Totem Compass and make it unmistakably yours. Here’s the...
Read the post →Totem Compass Version 5.0 makes finding your friends without cell service easier than ever, with Auto-Calibration, longer battery life, smarter navigation, and...
Read the post →For some blind and low-vision users, finding a friend in a crowded space can be difficult even when they still have usable...
Read the post →Festival insider The Festive Owl took three Totem Compasses to Bonnaroo 2026 and wrote an honest, unscripted review: “mostly good, very little...
Read the post →For Goldrush: Midnight Riders 2026 (Sept 11–12, Rawhide Western Town), Totem and Relentless Beats released a limited-edition co-branded 2-Pack with Goldrush Skins....
Read the post →The Totem Compass return rate was under 2% when we published this in May 2026, well below published retail and electronics benchmarks....
Read the post →No posts in that category yet.
“The response to the Totem compass has been absolutely incredible” — The Chattanoogan
A wire-style local business item on the SXSW 2024 launch announcement, carrying a quote from co-founder Carter Fowler on the viral Instagram response and the upcoming Creative Industries Expo debut.
Read on The Chattanoogan →Named one of eight Chattanooga companies to watch in 2025.
Read on CityScope →“The interactive crowd light show capabilities of Totem are next-level” — CULTR
Byline coverage of the SXSW 2025 partnership announcement with Same Same But Different festival, quoting both Carter Fowler and SSBD founder Brad Sweet on plans to power a synchronized light show across the festival grounds.
Read on CULTR →“quickly navigate towards friends without a smartphone in sight” — DJ Mag
Covered the device's core mechanic — compasses syncing to guide users toward bonded friends — alongside Vibe Mode and the 72-hour battery life, ahead of the April 2024 launch.
Read on DJ Mag →“mostly good, very little bad, and zero ugly” — The Festive Owl
A blind field test at Bonnaroo 2026: three Compasses handed to The Festive Owl and two campmates with no script or talking points. Racked up nearly 130,000 steps across the 700-acre Farm. Found the offline GPS reliably regrouped the crew within a few feet whenever cell service dropped, group waypoints simplified 2 AM meetups, and the LED shell doubled as an icebreaker. Honest downside noted: 6-8 hours of heavy use before a daily USB-C charge was needed.
Read on The Festive Owl →A weekly Southeast startup-funding digest that name-checks the pre-seed round in one paragraph among several unrelated companies, sourced directly to the press release. Thin but legitimate; Hypepotamus's own longer profile piece is the substantive entry from this outlet.
Read on Hypepotamus →“In many aspects Totem Tuesday is the beating heart of our brand” — Hypepotamus
The most substantive of the pre-seed coverage wave: a real interview with Carter Fowler covering the EDC Orlando origin story, how the mesh network extends range, and how Totem Tuesday subscribers became investors. Worth linking from the newsletter section on the News page.
Read on Hypepotamus →A dual-profile piece on Totem and rival Crowd Compass launching similar devices around the same time. Reports both companies were backordered amid demand, and covers a public dispute in which Crowd Compass's founder publicly criticized Totem's battery-life and accuracy claims on Reddit. No quote pulled — the piece airs a competitor's specific criticisms of Totem, and none of it is a line we'd want to feature.
Read on Inc. →“Sustainable virality all begins with the product design and the product strategy itself” — Inc.
A profile of CEO Carter Fowler's approach to organic growth: over 150 million organic views and a viral hit roughly every 13 days, across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube without an ad budget.
Read on Inc. →“un suivi en temps réel de la densité de la foule permet aux équipes d'anticiper et de prévenir les incidents” — Meet In
A French B2B events-industry trade publication covering the safety and crowd-management angle for event producers — real-time incident tracking, staff-triggered proximity animations, and crowd-density monitoring. Useful source for the event-organizer / partnerships audience, distinct from the festival-goer coverage elsewhere.
Read on Meet In →An explainer covering the GNSS and Unity Mesh Network technology, the four-friend bonding system with daisy-chaining, and Vibe Mode, framed around founder Chase Lemonds's original EDC Orlando story.
Read on Melodic Mag →Previewed the Compass ahead of its April 2024 launch, covering the 1000m peer-to-peer range, the Unity Mesh Network's range extension, 72-hour battery life and the $49 launch price.
Read on Mixmag →“a friend-finding compass that needs no cell service, wi-fi or Bluetooth” — NPR / WUTC
An eight-minute Scenic Roots interview with co-founder Carter Fowler on why phones fail in festival crowds and how the Compass works around them.
Read on NPR / WUTC →“love these little things” — Pocketables
A hands-on review focused on outdoor use and families. Highlights included kid-friendliness, TSA approval, and Vibe Mode. The reviewer noted interference under metal roofs and inside buildings.
Read on Pocketables →“Totem is not just a company—it is a movement that unites people around the world” — Pulse 2.0
Business/VC trade coverage of the pre-seed close, with a full named quote from Carter Fowler on investor support and Totem's growth trajectory.
Read on Pulse 2.0 →“they pulled it off” — Rolling Stone (US)
Named an Editor's Pick in Rolling Stone's product roundup. The writeup called out the design quality, ease of use, and the fact that performance keeps improving through software updates.
Read on Rolling Stone (US) →Included as one product in Rolling Stone UK's 2026 festival-season shopping guide, alongside Champion, Carhartt WIP and Red Wing. Descriptive product-guide copy rather than a review — no quote to pull, as none of the guide's entries carry one.
Read on Rolling Stone UK →“this might just be the next purchase for my crew” — rova (MediaWorks NZ)
A personal, first-person writeup from New Zealand's MediaWorks radio network, framed around the reviewer's own festival habits. The same piece ran across MediaWorks' sister stations (George FM, The Edge) under shared branding — kept as one entry here rather than three.
Read on rova (MediaWorks NZ) →“followed the pink light prompt to my friend, even though I was totally lost” — SPIN
A field test at EDC with 140,000 attendees and 2,000+ Totems on site. The reviewer found her group easily despite being disoriented, and noted a learning curve that most users cleared quickly.
Read on SPIN →“Planning to attend a music festival this summer? Maybe you should pack the Totem compass” — Teknovation
A Knoxville tech-news outlet's own writeup of the SXSW launch, with editorial framing and a direct quote from Carter Fowler on the viral response.
Read on Teknovation →“a device like this could help you track your child down quickly” — 103.3 The Goat
Byline local-radio coverage (KPEL, Lafayette) framing the Compass around Louisiana's festival calendar — Festival International, Jazz Fest, the Crawfish Festival — and the family/kids use case specifically.
Read on 103.3 The Goat →“Never lose your people again at a festival, amusement park or outdoor event” — The Week
Included in a six-product tracker roundup alongside Apple AirTag and Tile, singled out as the option that works without Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cell service or an app.
Read on The Week →“clever and calming tool” — Trail & Kale
Praised the Compass as surprisingly intuitive and festival-ready, with useful application at theme parks and on hikes. Flagged setup friction, variable battery life, and reduced accuracy indoors.
Read on Trail & Kale →“very good product” — WIRED
WIRED reviewed the Compass and landed on a positive verdict, praising how genuinely fun it is to wear and the fact that it does exactly what it claims. Landed on a 7/10, which is a "very good product" on WIRED's review scale.
Read on WIRED →A second SPIN piece, distinct from their May 2025 EDC review, covering Bonnaroo 2025's abbreviated weekend. Notes Totem's plans for the festival — an interactive in-app map and scheduled meet-ups — before the event was cut short by weather.
Read on SPIN (via Yahoo/AOL syndication) →Logos, product photography, founder headshots and company boilerplate — everything you need to write about Totem, in one folder.
On deadline? Email press@totemlabs.com directly.
