Digital car keys are slowly coming to the Android world. Slowly because so far only few manufacturers want to offer the necessary hardware in their devices. This applies equally to smartphone and car manufacturers. Now Xiaomi is also playing along.
Digital Car Key Unlocked for Xiaomi Smartphones
To further close the gap with Google and Samsung, Xiaomi is joining the 13 digital car keys. Xiaomi even revealed at the China event that they offer their own Android smartphones there without Google services. However, Google has now confirmed the plan and is starting work on activating the function for Xiaomi smartphones. This therefore affects our European users.
Google didn’t elaborate in its own announcement. There it only says that you can now activate Digital Car Key for Xiaomi So far, it can be assumed that this basically means Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro. However, both devices still lack the new UWB standard using NFC. You have to hold the smartphone at a certain point in the car to unlock it.
Digital car key from BMW in video:
Android: Furthermore, UWB is an absolute rarity in smartphones
UWB will be the next step, so you only need to be close to the car with your own smartphone. As with keyless entry today, which many car manufacturers offer with their physical keys. Currently, only a few Android OEMs include a UWB module, including Samsung with the Galaxy S series and Google with the Pixel Pro models. Xiaomi itself has already provided very exciting UWB demonstrations. It’s stupid that the module is still not seen as the standard for your own top model.
