Changing your smartphone is always the stress of losing important data, especially when it comes to a phone book. Users often look for a way to transfer contacts from android to android via Xiaomi bluetooth, believing that it is the fastest and easiest method that does not require the Internet. Indeed, Bluetooth technology is present in every modern device, making it a universal tool for transmitting small amounts of information anywhere in the world.
However, Xiaomi and Redmi smartphone owners are faced with nuances of MIUI or HyperOS interfaces that can hide standard transmission functions. Direct transmission through the blue tooth is often limited to transferring one file or contact at a time, making the process time-consuming with hundreds of records.
In this guide, we’ll break down the classic Bluetooth transmission method, and look at more modern and efficient alternatives built into Xiaomi’s ecosystem, learn how to avoid loss of numbering and duplication of records, and understand why it’s better to use specialized utilities for data migration in 2026.
Preparing devices for synchronization
Before you start the pairing process, you need to make sure that both devices are ready to go.This is a basic step that is often ignored, leading to search errors or interruption of transmission.
On the device that will be exported, open Settings and find the Bluetooth partition. Activate the switch and wait for the receiver to appear in the list of available. It is important that the screens of both phones are turned on, as some versions of Android hide the device from search in sleep mode to save energy.
When paired, you may be asked to confirm your access code, which is a standard security procedure that ensures you connect to the right gadget, not to the neighbor Xiaomi or Samsung. Once you successfully connect, status will change to Connected, which means you are ready to share data.
- 📱 Turn on Bluetooth on both devices through the notification curtain or settings.
- 🔍 Make sure that the Xiaomi device is visible to others (visibility mode is active).
- 🔋 Check the battery power – preferably more than 20% on both devices.
- 🔓 Unlock the phone screens before pairing.
⚠️ Note: When transmitting a large number of contacts via Bluetooth, the process can take a considerable time.
Classic method: Transmission via standard Bluetooth
The most direct way to transfer contacts from android to android via bluetooth xiaomi involves using the built-in "Contacts" app. This method is universal and works on all versions of Android, from old Android 8 to the latest Android 14. However, it has a significant limitation: often you have to choose contacts manually or one by one if the "Select all" feature is hidden by the manufacturer.
Open the Contacts app on your old phone. Click on the menu (three dots or stripes) and select Contact Management or Import/Export Contacts. Here we need Export to File. The system will suggest you select a format, usually.vcf (vCard). Save this file to internal memory.
Next, go to File Manager, find the file you created (often in the root or Contacts folder). Click on it, select Share, and in the transfer methods list, specify Bluetooth. Select your new Xiaomi from the list. A request for the file will appear on the receiving side - confirm it.
Once the transfer is complete, the file will automatically open and the system will prompt you to import the numbers found. If there is no automatic import, open the file through the Contacts app on Xiaomi manually. All entries must be added to the phone book of the device.
☑️ Pre-transfer checks
It is worth noting that this method may not save additional fields such as subscriber photos or complex notes unless the vCard format is fully compatible between different shells. vCard format is the standard, but different manufacturers may interpret its extended fields differently.
Limitations and problems of Bluetooth transmission
Despite its apparent simplicity, the method has a number of significant drawbacks that you should know about in advance, the main one is speed. Bluetooth protocol, even in version 5.0, is much slower than Wi-Fi Direct, which is used by modern utilities. Transferring a single file with 1000 contacts can take several minutes, and if the system breaks them into several files, time increases many times.
The second problem is that the connection breaks, so if the incoming call interrupts the transmission or one of the phones goes into sleep, the process will have to start again. Unlike cloud services, Bluetooth can't restart downloads from the cliff, and there are limits on the size of the file transferred in some versions of MIUI.
Why can't contacts be made?
The third nuance is duplication: manual transmission often causes duplicates if the new phone has already synced with Gmail or the new phone. SIM-The system can create two records for one person, one from a number, one from a file, and then you have to manually clean the phone book, which takes time.
- 🐌 Low speed of transfer of large amounts of data.
- ❌ No resumption function in case of communication interruption.
- 👯 The risk of creating duplicate records.
- 📉 Possible loss of photos and additional fields.
⚠️ Attention: If you have more than 500 contacts, using Bluetooth becomes impractical. The risk of error or freezing is too high.
Mi Mover: a proprietary solution for Xiaomi
For Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco, there is a much more efficient tool, the Mi Mover app, built into the default system on new models or available for download in GetApps. It uses Wi-Fi Direct, which provides transfer speeds ten times faster than Bluetooth, and does not require Internet access.
To get started, open Mi Mover on both devices (on the old phone you can download it from the app store). On the new Xiaomi, select "I am the recipient" and on the old one, "I am the sender." Scan. QR-code that will appear on the screen of the new phone, the camera of the old device, and that will create a secure communication channel.
In the data selection menu, tick Contacts. You can also immediately flip photos, messages, system settings, and even desktop icons. Click Send and wait until you complete the process. It's fully automated and doesn't require any intervention.
| Characteristics | Bluetooth | Mi Mover | Google Account |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed. | Low. | Very high. | Depends on the Internet. |
| We need the Internet. | No. | No. | Yes. |
| Contact photos | Partially. | Yes. | Yes. |
| Difficulty | Medium | Low. | Low. |
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When using Mi Mover, make sure that the screens of both phones do not go out. You can temporarily set the screen settings to turn off the "Never" or "10 minutes".
The main advantage of Mi Mover is a smart data fusion, the app knows which contacts are already there and which ones need to be added, minimizing the risk of duplication, and it correctly transfers the assignment of ringtones to specific numbers and tag grouping.
Synchronization through Google Account
The most reliable and modern way to get rid of the need to "shift" files manually, if you want to transfer contacts from android to android through the bluetooth Xiaomi, but without wires and files, use cloud sync. This requires a Google account on both devices.
On your old phone, go to Settings → Accounts (or Users and Accounts). Select your Google account. Make sure the switch opposite Contacts (or Contact Sync) is activated. Click three dots in the corner and choose Sync. Wait until the process is complete.
Now take a new Xiaomi. When you first set up or log in to the same Google account, the system automatically pulls up all saved numbers from the cloud, which ensures that your contacts are always safe even if the phone gets lost or crashed.
It's important to understand the difference between storing contacts. If you have them stored in your device's memory ("Phone") instead of Google, you first need to export to your account. Go to the Contacts app, select all the numbers and click Move → Google on the menu.
- ☁️ Automatic update of the number database on all devices.
- 🛡️ Guarantee of data safety in case of loss of gadget.
- 🔄 Instant appearance of new numbers on a tablet or PC.
- 🚫 No need to find cables or devices nearby.
⚠️ Attention: Sync may not work if the phone is on "Data Saving" or if there is a restriction of background activity for Google services.
💡
Google accounts are the gold standard for Android, and keeping contacts there will save you from any future phone change, whether it’s Xiaomi, Samsung or Pixel.
Solving problems with duplicates and display
Once you've managed to re-leash contacts, you might find yourself in a situation where there are twins on the list, which is often when you combine methods: for example, part came with SIM, part from Google, and part you threw through Bluetooth. Xiaomi has a built-in tool to deal with this.
Open the Contacts app, click on the menu and select Contact Organizer (or Tools). There will be a function to Combine Repetitive Contacts. The system will analyze the database, find records with the same names or numbers and suggest combining them into one card, saving all available data (photo, email, addresses).
Also worth checking is where the new numbers are saved. Contact settings have Preferred Save Place. Choose your Google account instead of Phone, which will prevent future data loss and ensure that it is automatically synchronized without unnecessary action on your part.
If contacts are displayed in squares instead of letters (especially rare names or business names), this is a font or encoding problem. Try changing the font in the MIUI theme to standard or update the Contacts app via GetApps.