How to transfer data from Samsung to Xiaomi Poco

Changing a mobile device is always an exciting process, often overshadowed by fear of losing important information or having to reconfigure dozens of apps. When a user moves from the Samsung ecosystem to Xiaomi smartphones or the Poco sub-brand, there is a natural question about compatibility and migration methods. Fortunately, modern technology allows this procedure to be performed as quickly as possible and without losing folder structure or correspondence history.

The process of transferring information from Android to Android has been debugged for years, but each manufacturer has its own nuances in the shells of One UI and MIUI (or HyperOS). To successfully complete the operation, you do not need complex technical knowledge or the help of a service center. It is enough to have both gadgets, a stable Internet connection or a cable for wired connection. In this article, we will analyze all the current methods, from embedded utilities to cloud services.

Preparing devices for data migration

Before any manipulations, both smartphones must be pre-prepared, a critical step that can lead to interruption or software errors, and ensure that both devices have at least 60-70% battery charge, as active transmission of large amounts of data over Wi-Fi Direct or Bluetooth consumes significant energy.

Also check for free space on your target device, i.e. your new Xiaomi or Poco. The amount of free memory should exceed the size of the files transferred. If you plan to transfer a media library of 50 GB, and only 30 GB are free, the process will end in error or the data will be partially copied.

• 📱 Make sure both smartphones are unlocked and on standby.
• 🔌 Connect devices to chargers or make sure the battery level is high.
• 📶 Check the stability of your internet connection if you plan to use cloud-based methods.
• 🔄 Update the system software on both devices to the latest available version.

You need a Google account to make the Android ecosystem work, and if you haven’t created a Mi Account before, this is a good time to sign up, as it opens up additional sync features inside the MIUI shell.

Using the Mi Mover app for quick transfer

The most effective and native way to migrate is to use the proprietary Mi Mover utility, which is designed specifically for users switching to Xiaomi appliances, and allows you to transfer contacts, messages, call logs, photos, music, videos and even installed apps. The app is pre-installed on most new Poco and Redmi models, but it can also be downloaded from Google Play to an old Samsung.

Run the app on both devices. On the new smartphone, select Receiver, and on the old Samsung, Sender. QR-code or connect via a Wi-Fi hotspot. The second option is preferable, since it provides a direct connection between devices without the involvement of a router, which guarantees a high transfer rate.

Once you have established the connection, you will see a list of data categories that are available for copying, and you can choose all at once or manually mark only the sections you want, for example, leaving unnecessary debris on your old device, which can take anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours depending on the amount of information you have.

⚠️ Warning: While Mi Mover is running, the screens may go out, but the transmission process will continue. Do not force the smartphones to lock and try to keep them close to each other so that the Wi-Fi Direct signal does not weaken.

Synchronization through Google account

An alternative and often more reliable method is Google’s cloud sync, ideal for those who want their contacts, calendar, and notes to appear on a new device automatically after login and password are entered, and unlike local transmission, data is stored on the company’s servers and is independent of the physical condition of the old phone.

On Samsung, go to settings, look for Accounts and make sure your Google account is active. Inside your account settings, check what data is tagged for sync. Contacts, calendar and tasks are usually enabled by default, but you’d better check the photos separately through the Google Photos app.

When you first turn on a new Poco or Xiaomi, the system will prompt you to restore data from a backup. Choose the recovery option from Google Drive or just log in to your account. All your contacts and calendar events will pull up automatically in the background.

Importantly, this method won’t carry the apps and their data (like game progress or messaging) unless developers have cloud-based storage, and it’s a great foundation for basic customization, after which heavy media content can be loaded.

Manual transfer of multimedia and documents

For users who are used to having full control over their files, or in cases where automatic utilities are not working properly, the manual method is suitable: it requires connecting both devices to a computer or using an OTG cable, but ensures that no bytes are lost during compression or conversion.

Connect Samsung to your computer via USB-cable and select file transfer mode (MTP). Copy the folders. DCIM (Photos and video from the camera, Pictures (screenshots and images from social networks), Download and Music to the hard drive of your PC. Then connect Xiaomi and move this data to the appropriate directories of internal memory.

If you don’t have a computer on hand, you can use a USB-C to USB-C cable (if both phones support this standard) or an OTG adapter. In this case, the file manager of the new smartphone will be able to see the memory of the old device as an external flash drive, and you can simply drag-and-drop files by the method.

When you manually copy, keep a close eye on folder structure, and some applications may not see files if they are in the wrong directory, especially ringtones and contact covers.

Transfer of messages and call history

One of the most delicate tasks is to preserve the history of SMS and call logs. Standard Android tools are not always willing to share this data between different manufacturers, so here again comes the Mi Mover application or specialized utilities.

If you use Mi Mover, make sure that the Messages and Call Logs are marked in the select list. The application will create a special data packet and deploy it on the new device by integrating the entries into the native phone book and the MIUI messaging app.

For users who need more subtle control, there is a time-tested app. SMS Backup and Restore. It creates. XML-A backup file of all your correspondence and call logs, which can be saved to Google Drive or transmitted over Bluetooth, and then restored to Xiaomi using the same program.

💡

Use the SMS Backup & Restore app if Mi Mover can't read messages due to Android 12/13/14 security restrictions on an older device.

It is worth remembering that you can only restore messages to a standard SMS application. Third-party messengers, such as Viber or Telegram, store the history on their servers or in their own backups, which must be created separately within the settings of each application.

Migration of WhatsApp and Social Media Data

Transferring WhatsApp correspondence between different Android smartphone brands has become much easier, but still requires attention. The main method is to use the built-in backup feature on Google Drive. On Samsung, go to WhatsApp settings, select Chats → Chat Backup, and click Save. Make sure you use the same Google account.

When you first launch WhatsApp on a new Poco or Xiaomi, the app will automatically detect a backup in the cloud and prompt you to restore your correspondence history, which works flawlessly if your phone number and Google account match.

For more complex cases, such as changing numbers or not accessing Google Drive, you can use the Chat Transfer feature inside WhatsApp itself. It works like Mi Mover: you scan. QR-code on an old phone, and devices connect over a local network to directly transfer the database.

⚠️ Note: WhatsApp recovery can take a long time with a large amount of media.Do not interrupt the connection and keep the screen on until a message about a successful completion appears.

Social networks like Instagram, Facebook or TikTok don’t store your history locally in a portable form; your data is on the servers of these companies, so just log in to the app on a new device.

Problem solving and expert advice

Even with automated tools, there may be disruptions, and users often experience problems when apps fail to open or crash after transfer, due to differences in Android versions or access rights in One UI and MIUI shells.

In such cases, don’t panic. Try to remove the problematic app and reinstall it from Google Play. Personal data inside the app (unless it was moved by a backup of the app itself) is often saved if you use one account.

Another common problem is incorrect contact display, where names are duplicated or broken into multiple entries, which is solved through the Contacts app on Xiaomi: go to the settings and select the “Combine Duplicates” or “Clear Contacts” function.

💡

The cleanest result is a combination of methods: contacts and calf through Google, photos and videos through Mi Mover or cable, and messengers through their internal backups.

If none of these things worked, and you feel the process is too complicated, go to an authorized service center, and they can do the transfer of professional software, even keeping hidden system settings.