How to sync your watch on Xiaomi devices: from smartphones to Mi Band

Why it is important to have accurate time on Xiaomi devices

Synchronizing time on Xiaomi smartphones and smartwatches is not just a matter of convenience, but a critical feature for many services to work correctly. The accuracy of the clock depends on the operation of alarm clocks, reminders in the calendar, synchronizing data with Mi Fit or Zepp Life, and correctly displaying notifications. For example, if your Redmi Note 12 or POCO X5 set the wrong time, messages in messengers can arrive with a delay or duplicate, and training on Mi Band 8 is recorded with the wrong time stamp.

Synchronization is especially important for users who travel or work with devices in different time zones. Xiaomi smartwatches (including the Watch 2 Pro and Band 7 Pro models) automatically update time only when connected to a smartphone – without synchronization, they can “backlog” for several hours. In this article, we will discuss all the ways to adjust time, from basic automatic synchronization to manual correction of crashes.

Automatic time synchronization on Xiaomi smartphones

Most modern Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones (starting with MIUI 12 and later) support automatic time updates over the network, which is enabled by default, but sometimes it has to be adjusted manually – for example, after resetting settings or updating the firmware.

To check or enable automatic synchronization:

1. Open Settings → Additional settings → Date and time.
2. Activate the switches: 🔄 Autodetermining Date and Time (using network data) 🌍 Time zone autodetermination (important for travel)

If the options are already on, but the time is lost, try turning them off and on again (sometimes “rebooting” the function helps).

On some models (e.g. Xiaomi 13 Ultra or POCO F5), the path to settings may be different: Settings → System → Date and Time. If automatic synchronization is not working, check your Internet connection – without a network, the device will not be able to receive time data from NTP servers (Network Time Protocol).

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If after the flight time zone is not updated automatically, restart the smartphone – this often solves the problem.

Manual time and date setting

In situations where automatic synchronization is not available (e.g., in airplane mode or without a network), you can set the time manually, which is also useful if NTP servers are temporarily unavailable or you want to test applications with a “future” date.

Instructions for manual adjustment:

1. Go to Settings → Additional settings → Date and time.
2. Turn off the options Autodetermining Date and Time Zone and Autodetermining.
3. Click on the Set a date and Set a time to enter values manually.
4. For a time zone, select a city from the list (for example, Moscow (UTC+3) or Novosibirsk (UTC+7)).

Airplane mode disabled |Access to settings (no parental controls) |Know your exact time zone |Remember the password from your Mi Account (may be required to confirm)

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Note that when manually set up, alarms and notifications may not work properly if you forget to return the automatic mode, and some banking applications (such as SberBank Online or Tinkoff) can block the login if there is a significant time difference with the server.

Synchronization of time on smart watches and fitness bracelets Xiaomi

Xiaomi Watch smartwatches (including Watch 2 Pro, Watch S3) and Mi Band fitness bracelets (from Band 6 to Band 8 Pro) synchronize time with a connected smartphone. If the clock displays the wrong time, the problem usually lies in the settings of the phone or companion app.

To update the time on the smartwatch:

1. Make sure that your smartphone is automatically time synchronized (see section above).
2. Open the Mi Fitness app (for older models) or Zepp Life app (for newer models).
3. Connect the watch to your phone via Bluetooth (if it is not already paired).
4. In the main menu of the application, find the Device → Device settings → Date and time.
5. Click Sync Time (in some versions of the app, the option may be called Update Time).

If synchronization does not occur:

• 🔋 Check the battery power of the watch (at a level below 10%, some functions are turned off).
• 📱 Reboot your smartphone and watch (on the Mi Band, hold the 10 second button for this).
• 🔄 Update the firmware of the watch through the application (Firmware section).
• 📡 Make sure your phone is on Bluetooth and internet (data or Wi-Fi).

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Xiaomi smartwatches do NOT support automatic time synchronization without a smartphone. Even if they are connected to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth pairing is required to update the time.

Solving time disruption problems

Sometimes time on Xiaomi devices is lost on their own - for example, after updating the firmware or due to errors in the operation of NTP servers. Let's consider the typical reasons and ways to fix them.

For advanced users: if automatic synchronization is constantly failing, you can manually specify an alternative. NTP-That's what the server is for:

1. Install the ClockSync app from Google Play.
2. In the application settings add the server pool.ntp.org or en.pool.ntp.org (for Russia).
3. Start Forced Synchronization.

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If the problem has appeared over time after the MIUI update, try rolling back to the previous firmware version via Settings → About Phone → System Update → Three Points → Select an update pack.

Synchronization features on different Xiaomi models

The process of setting the time may vary depending on the device model and firmware version, and below are key features for popular gadgets.

Smartphones:

• 📱 Xiaomi 13/13 Pro/13 Ultra: dual clock support (time display in two time zones simultaneously). → Screen. → Additionally. → Double watches.
• 📱 POCO F4/F5: In some regional firmwares there is no automatic definition of time zones - manual adjustment is required.
• 📱 Redmi Note 11/12: When reset to factory settings, time is reset to 1 January 2020 year-end.

Smart watches and bracelets:

• ⌚ Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro: Supports automatic time zone updates when flying (required) MIUI 13+ smartphone).
• ⌚ Mi Band 7/8: Time is synchronized only when you are actively connected to the Zepp Life application.
• ⌚ Xiaomi Watch S1: has a separate time settings menu in the device itself (available via swipe down on the home screen).

Time synchronization through ADB (for power users)

If standard methods don’t work, you can force time on a Xiaomi smartphone via ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which is suitable for devices with unlocked bootloader or root rights, but requires caution.

Instructions:

1. Install ADB on your computer (download Platform Tools from Google).
2. Turn on USB Debugging on your smartphone (Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version → 7 times click on the version, then go back to Settings → Additional → For Developers).
3. Connect your phone to your PC and execute the command: adb shell date -s YYYYMMDD.HHMMSS For example, to set the time May 15, 2026, 14:30:00: adb shell date -s 20260515.143000
4. To sync with the NTP server, use: adb shell su -c 'ntpclient -h pool.ntp.org -s' (root rights required).

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Before using ADB, back up your data via Settings → Additional → Backup and Reset. Incorrect commands can cause system failures.

Note that after manually setting time through ADB, automatic synchronization may not work properly. To return the standard behavior, do:

adb shell settings put global auto_time 1


adb shell settings put global auto_time_zone 1

Frequent questions about time synchronization on Xiaomi