I used the Xiaomi 15T as a walkie-talkie – here’s why it’s a game-changer

It’s no secret that we rely on our phones for just about everything these days, but that fact really hits home when you’re stuck somewhere with no phone signal. 

It always seems to happen when you need it the most, too, like when you’ve lost your friends at a festival, where the network always seems to be overloaded, or if you’re camping in the wilderness and can’t quite remember where you pitched your tent.

However, Xiaomi has a potential solution. Its new premium mid-range phones, the 15T and 15T Pro, both sport a new feature that promises to make signal woes less troublesome.

The company calls it Astral Communication, which is a rather new age-sounding name, but it’s actually a new feature that lets you make phone calls without cellular service. I was lucky enough to give it a quick try ahead of the launch, and I’m impressed.

How Xiaomi Astral Communication works

Astral Communication is debuting with the Xiaomi 15T series, and so currently, it only works with Xiaomi 15T devices, though I have no doubts it’ll appear on other Xiaomi phones before too long.

In order to use it, both phones need a SIM card inserted, and both phones need to be logged in to a Xiaomi account. Then, you need to enable offline communication within the phone’s settings menu.

Once turned on, you can set it to either allow calls between contacts only or by anyone in the local vicinity. You’ll see a list of nearby phones – similar to the list you see when you’re pairing some Bluetooth earphones.

The reason it feels like Bluetooth is because it is. Astral Communication makes calls over Bluetooth rather than cellular or mobile data. 

Xiaomi says the 15T Pro will work over distances up to 1.9km

Now, I know what you’re thinking: if it’s over Bluetooth, the range must be terrible, right? Well, it’s better than you might expect. Xiaomi says the 15T Pro will work over distances up to 1.9km, while the base model 15T will work at up to 1.3km.

It’s not going to rival the global coverage of cellular service, but it goes a lot further than your typical set of wireless ‘buds.

My experience with Xiaomi Astral Communication

Since I’ve been testing both the Xiaomi 15T and 15T Pro, it was the perfect opportunity to give this new feature a try. I gave my girlfriend one of the phones and called it using the offline communication mode.

The experience is almost identical to making a regular phone call; it just doesn’t rely on the network. The audio quality sounds about the same to me, too. So far, so good.

I walked out of the house and down the block, and the signal held strong. Xiaomi says you’ll get the best results in an open area with direct line of sight, but a few walls didn’t prove to be much of an issue.

Indeed, if I made sure that there was as little as possible between myself and the house (where my girlfriend was sitting), then I could go a very long way without the signal breaking up.

You’ll get the best results in an open area with direct line of sight, but a few walls didn’t prove to be much of an issue

However, it also didn’t take too much obstruction for the signal to degrade. When I walked to the next street across, effectively putting a garage and a house between us, the reception got pretty spotty.

To be fair, I never lost connection entirely, but we were losing words, just as you would when your cellular reception starts to give out.

My verdict on Xiaomi Astral Communication

The biggest limitation of Xiaomi’s new Astral Communication feature is its availability. With the feature only currently being available on 15T series, it’s quite hard to get excited about. After all, how many people do you know with a Xiaomi T series phone?

But we have to start somewhere, and as far as I’m aware, Xiaomi has no plans to stop here.

When it’s available on more devices, it could make Xiaomi a very appealing option for anyone who’s into hiking, skiing, camping…or whatever else takes you off the beaten track.

Sure, walkie-talkies exist, and you could always use them instead, but especially when you’re doing something physically demanding, every gram counts. Wouldn’t it be nice to use your phone instead?

Xiaomi thinks so, and I have a feeling they’re on to something. It’ll be interesting to see how this feature develops over time.