If you own a Xiaomi phone running HyperOS 4, it can now pair with an Apple Watch. Calls, texts and app notifications from the phone show up on the watch, Xiaomi's Super Island live activities come across too, and the health and workout data the watch records flows back into Xiaomi's Mi Fitness app. The two can also ring each other when one goes missing. Xiaomi launched it this week alongside the Xiaomi 18 Pro series, and Gadgets & Wearables walked through the compatibility page Xiaomi published for it.
The watch still has to be paired with an iPhone and activated first. Only then can you install Xiaomi Connect on the watch, scan the QR code it shows with the Xiaomi phone, and grant permissions on both sides. So you can't buy an Apple Watch, take it out of the box and set it up on Android. Apple still doesn't allow that.
That makes it a feature for people leaving the iPhone, not for Android buyers shopping for a watch. If you switch to a Xiaomi phone, you can keep the Apple Watch you already own instead of replacing it along with the phone. Xiaomi says it works with the Apple Watch Series 6 and newer, the SE 2 and newer, and every Ultra, as long as the watch runs watchOS 11 or later. The company also says some features depend on the device, so not every pairing will get all of it.
Xiaomi already handles file transfers and connections with the iPhone, iPad and Mac, and the watch was the hardest piece. Gadgets & Wearables first reported Xiaomi was exploring this in December 2024. It took nearly two years to ship.