The work to bridge the gap between Windows and Android has been a work in progress, one that has been going on for years. Last year, Google introduced its Nearby Share app (now called Quick Share) on Windows to enable quick file transfer between two platforms. And now Microsoft has integrated file transfer into its Phone Link app, allowing users to seamlessly transfer files between Windows and Android.

After testing the feature, Microsoft's implementation seems much better and feels faster. For starters, you can right-click any file on your computer and click the universal "Share" menu. That will open Windows 11's built-in share sheet where you can click on "Phone Link" and you're done. The file will be transferred immediately. You don't need to have your smartphone's screen on or accept file transfer requests.

This seamless user experience is where Microsoft does better than Google. In terms of file transfer speed, the Phone Link took 32 seconds to transfer a 435MB file, with a transfer rate of around 13MB/s. To transfer the same file, Google's Quick Share took just 12 seconds, resulting in transfer speeds of 36MB/s.

That said, Quick Share spends too much time trying to discover your phone, which makes the whole process more tedious. It annoys me so much that I prefer to send my files using WhatsApp in most scenarios. Apart from that, Quick Share often fails saying it can't find your phone. That's why I said file transfer via Phone Link feels much faster because it's so seamless.