How to transfer all data from Honor to Xiaomi

Changing one smartphone to another, especially when moving between Android ecosystems with different shells, often causes alarm among users. Honor owner, who decided to purchase a Xiaomi device, faces the question of preserving digital identity: contacts, photos, correspondence in messengers and application settings. Fortunately, modern operating systems provide powerful tools for migration, allowing you to avoid manual copying of each file.

The data porting process has become much easier with the advent of specialized utilities from manufacturers. However, given that Honor smartphones after splitting with Huawei run on standard Android with Google services, and Xiaomi uses its own HyperOS or MIUI shell, there are nuances. Proper preparation of both devices before starting the procedure will save you hours of time and nerves.

In this article, we will look at all the current migration methods, from using the Mi Mover app, to cloud services and manual copying. You will learn how to save folder structure, Wi-Fi passwords and lossless call history. It is important to understand that the choice of method depends on the amount of information and version of the operating system on your old device.

Preparing devices before migration

Before you start any manipulations, you need to make sure that both smartphones are ready to work. On the Honor device, you should check the availability of free space and the relevance of system updates, since older versions of the software may contain bugs that prevent data from transferring over Wi-Fi Direct. The new Xiaomi also requires an initial setup to the desktop.

The process of cloning data, especially if it exceeds 50-100 GB, can take considerable time and significantly load the processor and wireless communication modules. Discharge of the device at the most inopportune time can lead to damage to the file system or loss of archives.

⚠️ Warning: Do not interrupt the data transfer process even if the smartphone screen is gone or there is a feeling that the process is frozen.

It is also recommended to free up space on Xiaomi’s new smartphone, which, while the system itself will suggest clearing the space if necessary, would make it better to remove unnecessary pre-installed apps or temporary files in advance, which will speed up indexing algorithms when ported.

💡

Before you start migrating, delete large files on your old phone that you don’t need (such as old videos or cache cards) to speed up the process and avoid taking up space on the new device.

Make sure both devices have Bluetooth and GPS enabled. Some synchronization techniques use geolocation to quickly detect devices on the LAN, and Bluetooth is needed for initial handshakes and encryption key exchanges.

Using the Mi Mover app for full cloning

The most effective and preferred way is to use the official Mi Mover tool, which is designed specifically for data migration to Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones. It supports the transfer of contacts, messages, call logs, photos, videos, music, documents and even installed applications along with their data.

To start, you need to install the Mi Mover app on the Honor smartphone, which can be found in the Google Play store or download. APK-The new Xiaomi app is already built into the system and is located in the Tools folder or available through the settings.

Run the app on both devices. On Xiaomi, select I'm the recipient and on Honor, I'm the sender. The system will create a Wi-Fi hotspot: the new phone will generate the new one. QR-The code that you need to scan with the old device, and when you connect, you'll see a list of data categories that you can transfer.

Mi Mover's interface allows you to flexibly customize your sample. You can eliminate heavy video files if you don't need them right now, or you can choose only contacts and messages. The algorithm compresses data before transfer, which speeds up the process, but with a very large volume (over 200 GB), the latency can be several hours.

Importantly, Mi Mover does not tolerate Wi-Fi passwords and some system security settings due to Android limitations, and it may be difficult to transfer authorization data to banking applications for security reasons, and they will have to be reconfigured.

Alternative methods: Google Account and Cloud Storage

If direct wireless connections are difficult or devices are far apart, syncing through a Google account is a great option, and since modern Honor smartphones work with Google services, this method is native and reliable.

On your old device, go to your Google account settings and make sure that you have synced for contacts, calendar, notes and photos (via Google Photos). Once you log in to the same account on the new Xiaomi, all this information will automatically pull up in the background.

To transfer photos and videos, Google Photos is the best option. Turn on Autoupload and Sync on Honor, wait until the process is over, and then just open the app on Xiaomi. All media files will be available in the cloud, and they can be downloaded selectively or left online to save space.

This is particularly good for restoring the structure of contacts, and often when you change your phone, you lose the numbers you've got on your phone. SIM-Sync with Google Contacts ensures that your phone book is safe and always up-to-date, regardless of the smartphone model.

Transfer of messengers: WhatsApp, Telegram and Viber

Messengers require special attention, as they store correspondence and media files in their closed databases. Simply copying files is not enough here, you need to use built-in backup functions.

On WhatsApp, the process is standard: on Honor, go to Settings → Chats → Chat Backup and click “Create Backup” on Google Drive. When you first launch WhatsApp on Xiaomi, the app will prompt you to recover data from the cloud. Make sure you use the same phone number and Google account.

⚠️ Attention: WhatsApp backup is tied to phone number and Google account. SIM-It will be impossible to restore the correspondence history to the old number card or Google account.

For Telegram, everything is simpler: all data is stored on the messenger servers; just install the app on a new phone, enter the number and confirmation code; all chats, channels and files (except secret chats) will appear automatically.

Viber also requires you to back up your phone via Google Drive in the app’s settings. However, unlike WhatsApp, Viber may sometimes not see a backup when you change your phone model, so you can try to move your Viber folder manually through the file manager, but success is not guaranteed.

💡

The main secret to success with instant messengers is to always make a fresh backup just before transferring data, rather than relying on the old automatic download.

Working with the file system and manual copying

For users who prefer full control, or with a huge amount of data (movies, music, project archives), the best solution is to use the computer as an intermediary (MTP).

Copy the contents of internal memory, including DCIM (photo and video), Download, Documents and Music. Then connect Xiaomi and transfer the data to the appropriate directories, which allows you to structure files in a “new way” and clean up debris before downloading to a new device.

If you don’t have a computer at hand, you can use Wi-Fi Direct technology or third-party file managers with transfer functionality, such as Send Anywhere or Files by Google. These applications create a temporary channel of communication between devices, allowing you to transfer files of any size without compression and loss of quality.

When manually copying, pay attention to hidden folders and configuration files of some applications, and although they won’t restore system settings, this can help save data from offline games or specific utilities that don’t have cloud sync.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)