Changing a smartphone is always stressful, not so much with getting used to a new interface, but with the risk of losing important contacts, correspondence and photos. Honor owners who are moving to the Xiaomi ecosystem (in particular, to the powerful Poco X3 Pro model), are faced with the need to transfer information from the Android shell of Magic UI to MIUI. Fortunately, modern technologies allow you to make this process as fast and painless as possible, preserving the structure of folders and even the location of icons on the desktop.
The data migration procedure requires both devices to be pre-prepared, as the direct cable transition does not always work smoothly due to differences in data protocols between manufacturers. You need to make sure that both smartphones have enough power installed and the new device is free to store the array of information, ignoring this step can lead to interruption in the middle, which will require repeating all the actions again.
In this article, we will look at the most effective methods of transfer: using the regular Mi Mover application, synchronization through Google cloud services and Huawei Cloud, and manual copying of media through a computer. Each method has its advantages depending on the amount of data and the speed of your Internet connection, so we will analyze them in detail so that you choose the best option.
Preparing devices before data migration
Before you start any manipulation of files, you need to conduct basic training, which is often overlooked, but is critical to the success of the operation. Charge Honor and Poco X3 Pro to at least 60-70%, as active operation of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules combined with writing data to the disk can significantly drain the batteries. Also check the availability of free space on the new device: the amount of free memory must exceed the size of data on the old phone by at least 10-15% for the correct operation of the system.
Both smartphones need to be connected to a stable Wi-Fi network if you plan to use cloud methods or wireless transmission through applications. USB-cable and possibly adapter OTG, If the connectors on the cables don’t match (although modern Type-C-Type-C cables solve this problem). Make sure the screens of both devices don’t lock too quickly by setting a screen timeout on the screen. 10-15 minutes in display settings.
☑️ Checklist before start
An important step is to clean up unnecessary debris on the old Honor.Remove duplicate photos, old screenshots and messenger cache, which can take up gigabytes of space.This will not only speed up the transfer process, but also prevent the "digital garbage" from dragging on to a clean MIUI system. Once cleaned, it is recommended to reboot both devices to reset temporary files and ensure that transmission services work smoothly.
⚠️ Note: Do not start transferring if one of the devices is enabled Flight mode or limited background activity of applications. Android system can force the transfer process to save energy, which will lead to error and loss of data.
Using the Mi Mover application for wireless transfer
The most convenient and official way for Xiaomi users to migrate is the Mi Mover app. It is pre-installed on the Poco X3 Pro and available for download in the app store on Honor devices. This tool allows you to transfer contacts, messages, call logs, photos, videos, audio files, documents and even some system and application settings.
The process starts with installing the app on your old phone. Open an AppGallery store or Google Play on Honor, find Mi Mover and install it. On the new Poco X3 Pro, the app is already in the Tools or Services folder. Run the program on both devices. On Poco, select I'm a recipient and on Honor, I'm a sender.
The devices must find each other. X3 Pro will create a Wi-Fi hotspot that you need to connect to via Honor, and the name of the new device will appear on the list of available networks on the old phone (for example, the name of the new device will appear on the list of available networks on the old phone, Poco_X3_Pro_XXXX). Enter the password displayed on the screen of the new smartphone. After connecting, the interfaces are synchronized, and you will see a list of data categories for transfer.
Select the contacts, messages, gallery, apps, and system settings you need. Please note that some Honor system applications cannot be ported or installed to MIUI due to incompatibility. Press Send and wait until the process is complete. Transfer speeds vary depending on the amount of data and the quality of Wi-Fi modules, but are typically 10 to 40 MB/s.
What to do if the Mi Mover is frozen?
Sync through Google Account and Cloud Services
An alternative and highly reliable method is to use the Google ecosystem. Since both Honor and Xiaomi are Android-based, your contacts, notes (if Google Keep was used), calendar and photos (via Google Photos) can be synced without the involvement of third-party apps to transfer, ideal for those who want to start with a clean slate, saving only the most important information.
On Honor, go to Settings → Accounts → Google. Make sure the switches opposite Contacts, Calendar and Notes are active and click the sync button. For photos, open the Google Photos app, log in to your account and enable Autoboot and Sync. Wait until all albums are uploaded to the cloud.
| Type of data | Synchronization method | nuance |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts | Google Contacts | Automatically appear when logging into your account |
| Photo/Video | Google Photo | It requires a lot of traffic, better via Wi-Fi. |
| Passwords. | Google Password Manager | Save logins from Chrome and apps |
| Files. | Google Drive | 15GB free, easy to use for documents |
Once synced to Honor is complete, pick up Poco X3 Pro. When you first set up or in the Settings menu → Accounts and sync log in to the same Google account. The system will automatically prompt you to restore data from the backup. Select the latest version of your Honor backup and run recovery. Contacts, calendar events and passwords will pull up instantly, and photos will start appearing in the gallery as you upload from the cloud.
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Tip: If you have a lot of photos in original quality, they can quickly fill up 15GB of free Google storage. Before syncing, check the download quality settings in Google Photos and select the High quality option to compress images without any visible loss of quality for the smartphone screen.
Transfer of multimedia and documents through the computer
For users who have hundreds of gigabytes of photos, 4K videos and heavy documents, wireless methods may be too slow, and the most effective solution is to use a computer as an intermediate buffer, which also allows you to audit files and copy only what you really need to copy to Poco X3 Pro.
Connect Honor to your computer via USB-On the phone screen, select the mode of operation. USB File transfer (MTP). My Computer will open a window with the smartphone file system. DCIM (Photos and video from the camera, Pictures (screenshots and images from the apps), Download and Documents. Copy these folders to your PC hard drive.
Then turn off Honor and plug in Poco X3 Pro. Also select File Transfer Mode. Copy previously saved folders from your computer into the internal memory of your new smartphone. The folder structure on MIUI is similar to that of standard Android, so the files will fall into place and the gallery will see them immediately. This method is especially good for transferring music and video recordings that do not require special processing by the system.
⚠️ Note: When copying through a computer, do not extract USB-Wait until the copy indicator in Windows disappears, and only then use the function "Safe Device Removal" to avoid damage to the file table.
Special attention should be paid to hidden folders that start with a dot (for example,.WhatsApp or.Telegram). In standard Windows Explorer mode, they may not be visible. To display them, in the Explorer window, go to the View tab and tick Hidden Items, which will allow you to transfer the full structure of messenger data if you do not use their built-in backup functions.
Migration of WhatsApp and Telegram correspondence
Messengers store their correspondence history locally or in their clouds, and simply transferring files is often not enough to save their message history. For WhatsApp on Android, there is a regular backup mechanism on Google Drive, which is the most reliable way to switch between devices.
On Honor, open WhatsApp, go to Settings → Chats → Chat Backup. Click Backup and wait for the download to be completed on Google Drive. Make sure you are using the same Google account that will be on the new phone. On Poco X3 Pro, install WhatsApp, enter the same phone number, and restore chat history from a Google Drive backup when offered.
Telegram is still easier, because it's completely cloud-based. You just install an app on Poco X3 Pro, enter your phone number and confirmation code. All your chats (except secret ones), channels and groups will be automatically downloaded. Secret chats are device-specific and non-transferable, which is a feature of Telegram's encryption protocol.
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For WhatsApp, it is critical to make a fresh backup copy on Google Drive, and not locally, as when transferring a local backup through the file manager, access rights errors may occur in the new MIUI system.
Solving and eliminating errors during transfer
Despite the fact that processes are fine, sometimes there are failures, and one of the common problems is the "Not enough space" error, even when there is free space, because the file system requires a temporary space to unpack and index files, so you can free up another 5-10 GB or move data in parts.
Another common situation is broken contacts, where names are lost or duplicated when importing, this occurs when synchronization conflicts between Huawei Cloud and Google Contacts. Before transferring to Honor, it is better to export contacts to a.vcf file through the Contacts app and import this file manually to Poco X3 Pro, choosing to save it to a Google account, rather than to the phone’s memory.
If Mi Mover is permanently breaking the connection, try to turn off the power saving mode on both phones and any other devices. VPN-It also helps to shut down the mobile Internet (let only Wi-Fi) so that the system does not try to shift network priorities, and in extreme cases, you can use third-party utilities like Send Anywhere, which work on the principle of direct Wi-Fi connection between devices.