For iPhone or Android

Review: Xiaomi Tag - AirTag for half the price - and it is much better

It works whether you have an iPhone or an Android phone, and it is also considerably cheaper than competing models.

Published 24 September 2026 - 11:38

Beyond the physical design, it is entirely the tracking network the tag connects to that determines how effective it is. Apple's AirTag naturally uses Apple's own Find My network and the Find My app on iPhone, but so does Xiaomi Tag. Alternatively, you can choose to connect Xiaomi Tag to Google's almost equally effective Find Hub. Complete freedom of choice, then, and at a very low price. Xiaomi Tag costs half as much as comparable competitors, both those that can only use one of the systems and those which, like Xiaomi Tag, can use either one. However, it should be noted that the tag only uses one system at a time. You choose when you set it up for the first time, but if you change your mind and want to connect it to an iPhone instead of an Android, you simply reset it and start again. A good way to avoid being locked into an ecosystem should you want to change phone brand in the future.

Works with Apple, works with Google, but only one at a time.

Over the past few weeks, I have tested Xiaomi Tag, first connected through Google's Find network and a Xiaomi phone, and then, after a reset, connected to an iPhone and Apple's Find My network. It has worked well throughout, responding and reporting its location quickly and simply operating reliably all the time.

Hidden under a staircase, then we waited

I started by hiding the tag under a staircase near the office. The staircase leads down from a viewpoint, making it a good place to test it. It is some distance from any houses, so no permanent residents report its location, but the staircase itself has plenty of passers-by as well as some people who stop for a while to admire the view.

Once the Xiaomi Tag is up and running, it reports its location from here several times an hour, on par with other devices connected to the same network. As mentioned, I am testing several competitors at the same time, including Apple's own AirTags and the Motorola Moto Tag connected to Google's Find Hub network.

In that comparison, Xiaomi Tag has several clear advantages. Unlike the other two, Xiaomi's tag physically has a loop, making it easy to attach to a keyring, for example, without any additional accessory. The other advantages are, of course, the price, which is half that of the others, and the option to choose which network you want to use. Xiaomi is not alone in offering the latter; Chipolo, for example, does too, but even compared with Chipolo, Xiaomi Tag costs half as much.

In addition to leaving the Xiaomi Tag under a staircase at a viewpoint for a couple of days, I also took the tag with me on several flights during the test period. I was able to keep track of my checked luggage throughout, and every time, including during stopovers, the tag was quickly able to show its location in the app after arrival.

Xiaomi Tag has no dedicated app of its own, relying entirely on Google Find Hub and Apple Find My respectively, but it does this well. For example, later in the test I received a notification in Apple’s Find My app that a system update was available for the Xiaomi Tag, and the download and update were handled smoothly directly in Apple’s app. Overall, this means that the tag’s features depend on Find My on iPhone and Find Hub on Android phones. With Apple, for example, you can receive notifications if you leave the device behind and move away from it, but this feature is not yet available in Google Find Hub.

Xiaomi Tag offers excellent functionality whether it is connected to Google or Apple, and given its low price, there is really no reason to choose any of the significantly more expensive competitors.