2026 has seen a number of the finest Android telephones but. There’s the S26 Extremely from Samsung, the OnePlus 15, a number of flagships from Vivo, and some sturdy entries from Honor, amongst others. I’ve had the prospect to strive most of them, and each brings one thing distinctive to the desk.
As an example, the OnePlus 15 packs an enormous battery that even Samsung and Apple battle to match. The S26 Extremely comes with its personal set of standout options, together with an enhanced privateness mode, improved show tech, and a slew of AI options. They’re all nice telephones in their very own proper.
However there’s one model that retains pulling me again to its flagships: Xiaomi.
Xiaomi appears to know that getting individuals to change from a Samsung or an iPhone isn’t nearly stacking options. It’s about making your cellphone work seamlessly with the gadgets individuals already personal and use every single day.
As an alternative of attempting to exchange one thing like a MacBook, Xiaomi has taken a special route. It has constructed options that make its telephones work higher with merchandise such because the MacBook and iPad. Its interconnectivity affords a surprisingly comparable expertise to what you’d anticipate between an iPhone and a MacBook.
Air Drop between Xiaomi and MacBook
To me, the most important benefit of utilizing an iPhone with a MacBook is AirDrop. I switch a variety of information between my cellphone and my MacBook. It could possibly be an image I’ve taken or a product shot I wish to add to an article or submit on social media. With AirDrop, I can ship it throughout in seconds.
When you’re utilizing an Android cellphone with a MacBook, the method is nowhere close to as clean. You find yourself sending information to your self on WhatsApp and downloading them once more, or importing them to Google Drive and pulling them down in your Mac. Typically you electronic mail them to your self. None of that is quick or handy, particularly if you’re doing it a number of instances a day.
This was the primary cause I couldn’t absolutely change to Android
For the longest time, this was the primary cause I couldn’t absolutely change to Android. I’ve been utilizing an iPhone for years. Whereas I’ve repeatedly tried Android telephones, I all the time ended up going again as a result of I didn’t wish to lose AirDrop. It may not sound like a giant deal, however for the form of work I do, it completely is.
Earlier this yr, I began utilizing the Xiaomi 15T Professional as my day by day driver, and proper now I’m on the Xiaomi 17. Each of those telephones help Xiaomi’s interconnectivity options, which can be found via an app on Apple’s App Retailer. You put in it in your Mac, join your Xiaomi cellphone, and also you’re good to go.
Anurag Singh / Foundry
As soon as it’s arrange, the expertise feels very acquainted. Open your gallery or a file, hit the share button, and as an alternative of AirDrop, choose Xiaomi Share. Your MacBook reveals up as a close-by machine, and if you faucet it, the file is transferred immediately.
You don’t even have to manually settle for it in your Mac. What makes this even higher is that it’s not restricted to your individual gadgets. If somebody close by additionally has a Xiaomi cellphone, you may ship information to one another simply as simply, very similar to AirDrop.
Xiaomi Interconnectivity has much more to supply
AirDrop is only one side of what Xiaomi Interconnectivity affords. As an example, on a Mac, you may’t natively share information to an Android cellphone the best way you may with an iPhone. You may’t simply open Finder and ship one thing on to your Android machine, and that also doesn’t absolutely change – even with Xiaomi’s resolution.
What you are able to do is use the Xiaomi Interconnectivity app in your Mac. It features a inbuilt file switch choice. You click on on ship information, it opens Finder, you choose what you need, and the file is distributed to your cellphone. It feels just like AirDrop, though there’s nonetheless a bit extra friction in comparison with Apple’s native implementation.
Anurag Singh / Foundry
The place issues get way more fascinating is display screen entry. MacBooks now have iPhone mirroring, which helps you to view and management your iPhone immediately out of your Mac. That degree of integration is uncommon outdoors Apple’s ecosystem, however Xiaomi comes surprisingly shut. Contained in the Xiaomi Interconnectivity app, there’s an choice to entry your cellphone’s display screen.
When you allow it, your cellphone’s interface reveals up in your Mac. You may work together with it nearly as you’ll the machine itself. Meaning you may view photographs, undergo chats, open apps, and navigate your cellphone with out really choosing it up.
Anurag Singh / Foundry
There is a slight delay, nevertheless it’s minimal and doesn’t have an effect on on a regular basis use. I ended up utilizing this greater than I anticipated. Typically my cellphone is in one other room or on cost, and I simply want fast entry to one thing. As an alternative of getting up, I can pull it up on my Mac and get it accomplished.
There’s additionally a extra non-public approach to make use of it. When you don’t wish to mirror your whole display screen, you may select particular apps as an alternative. You may open your gallery, Google Pictures, or your file supervisor immediately in your Mac with out exposing every part else in your cellphone.
As an alternative of getting up, I can pull it up on my Mac
On high of that, there are a number of further utilities. You may make your cellphone ring for those who can’t discover it, use Discover Machine to find it, lock it, or erase information if wanted. You may even allow your cellphone’s hotspot out of your Mac.
Anurag Singh / Foundry
Interconnectivity issues greater than cellphone makers assume
Put collectively, this is without doubt one of the most helpful characteristic units I’ve used on any Android cellphone, interval. It doesn’t attempt to copy Apple characteristic for characteristic, nevertheless it solves the one downside that truly issues – switching.
For the primary time, I don’t really feel like I’m breaking my workflow by leaving the iPhone behind. I can nonetheless use my Mac the best way I all the time have, nonetheless transfer information immediately, nonetheless entry my cellphone after I have to. That modifications every part, and it’s precisely why I hold coming again to Xiaomi.