Xiaomi’s Tag met a strong competitor. Motorola has a technology that Xiaomi skipped, and the difference is crucial when searching for keys.

Moto Tag 2 from Motorola is labeled by foreign websites as the best tracker for Android. It guides you to the keys with an arrow on the display, which the cheaper Xiaomi Tag can’t do. Xiaomi costs less than half the price of Motorola, and unlike Motorola, it also works with iPhone. How much Moto Tag 2 costs today, you’ll see after clicking this link.

We tested the Xiaomi Tag for a month against the AirTag. Moto Tag 2 has been on the market since May and has already been tested by several international websites. We compared their conclusions with our measurements so you can see which one is worth it more.

Moto Tag 2 vs Xiaomi Tag: Specs side by side

Which tracker for your phone:

• iPhone: Xiaomi Tag or AirTag (2nd generation)
• Samsung Galaxy: Galaxy SmartTag2 or Xiaomi Tag
• Android with UWB (higher Pixels, Galaxy Ultra): Moto Tag 2
• Android without UWB: Xiaomi Tag, on keys, a wallet, a backpack, and even a suitcase it’s worth buying a four-pack

Biggest difference: iPhone or Android

Moto Tag 2 only works in the network of the Google Find Hub, meaning with Android phones. If you have an iPhone, you can’t pair it at all. Xiaomi Tag works in one of two networks: Apple Find My or Google Find Hub. It can’t work in both at the same time, and when switching networks you have to reset it and pair it again.

For a household where one person has an iPhone and the other has Android, Xiaomi is therefore more practical. The Find My network is also denser because it’s made up of every iPhone nearby. Even Motorola reviewer Travels with Tech points out that Find Hub in sparsely populated areas lags behind Find My.

UWB: Moto Tag 2 leads you with an arrow

Motorola’s biggest advantage is the UWB chip. If your phone also has UWB—for example, higher-end Pixel models or Galaxy Ultra—it will show you an arrow on the display along with the distance in meters. So you can find keys under a pillow with centimeter-level accuracy. For precise searching for a phone, Travels with Tech says the second generation catches it in 2 to 5 seconds. The first one needed 5 to 10 seconds.

Global Xiaomi Tag UWB isn’t available—it only had it in the Chinese version. Near you, it will only show an approximate distance based on signal strength, and the rest is handled by beeping. So searching in an apartment takes longer according to the German nextpit. Italian SmartWorld also noticed that on Android, the app showed the phone’s location instead of the tracker’s to almost 100 meters.

Without a phone that has UWB, Motorola’s advantage disappears. The German smartzone.de lists Moto Tag 2 as the best tracker for Android. But if you don’t have a UWB phone, it recommends the cheaper Xiaomi Tag instead.

How did the Xiaomi Tag perform for us

In our month-long test, the Xiaomi Tag scored 8.9 out of 10. In the Find My network it kept up with the AirTag and sometimes was faster. While the AirTag once showed a location that was about two hours old, Xiaomi’s location was 24 minutes old. Other times, though, the location wasn’t updated for up to four hours.

It was worse on Google Find Hub. Once it showed the location immediately, and other times it didn’t respond for almost an hour and a half. It helps if, in Android settings, you enable searching in all areas. The Czech site Letem světem Applem found the same thing. According to it, the Xiaomi Tag updates the location just as often as the AirTag and beeps at roughly the same volume as the 2nd generation AirTag.

Volume, durability, and battery

Motorola specifies a speaker volume of 77 dB at a distance of 10 cm. Smartzone.de ranks it among the loudest trackers on the market based on its own listening tests, but independent measurements are still missing. Xiaomi doesn’t state the volume, and nextpit finds it quieter than the Galaxy SmartTag2.

Moto Tag 2 has an IP68 rating and lasts 30 minutes at a depth of 1.5 meters; Xiaomi has IP67 and handles one meter. Both run on a coin-cell battery CR2032 that you can swap yourself. Motorola promises over 500 days, Xiaomi more than a year. Moto Tag 2 is also smaller, round, and fits into AirTag cases—something TheEffect also appreciated.

For a suitcase and a dog collar

Besides keys and a wallet, trackers end up in a suitcase most often. At the airport, the dense Find My network helps, because there are lots of iPhones there and the luggage location updates more frequently. The Xiaomi Tag works in it; the Moto Tag 2 doesn’t. For a dog collar, the durability matters: Moto Tag 2 has IP68, Xiaomi Tag IP67, so both can handle rain and puddles.

However, a tracker isn’t a GPS dog collar. It only reports location when it’s within range of a phone from the network, so it won’t reliably track your dog in a forest or field. That’s why it’s better for luggage and keys than for tracking an animal.

What the tests criticize

Nextpit faults the Xiaomi Tag for lacking protection against reset. That way, a finder can pair it with their own phone. It also lacks location history. You’ll only get a warning about a forgotten item in the Find My network on iPhone—not on Android.

According to smartzone.de, during normal tracking via Find Hub, the Moto Tag 2 is only slightly better than cheap trackers. What really matters is UWB and the louder speaker. The Bluetooth Channel Sounding feature for more accurate distance measurement hasn’t been verified by anyone yet—because it requires a phone with Bluetooth 6.0 and Android 16.

Which one to choose

Buy Moto Tag 2 if you have an Android phone with UWB and you often look for keys or a wallet at home. The arrow on the display and the loud speaker save you the most time. On Heureka, you can also find it in other colors.

Xiaomi Tag is a better choice for iPhone, for a home with both systems, and for phones without UWB. One unit costs less than half the price of the Moto Tag 2, and a pack of four works out cheaper than two Moto Tags. If you’ve got a Samsung, also check out Galaxy SmartTag2. On iPhone, the classic pick is AirTag (2nd generation).

Compare current Moto Tag 2 deals on Heureka.

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