How to sync Samsung and Xiaomi: The Complete Guide

The transition to a new smartphone is often accompanied by excitement, especially when you need to transfer all digital luggage from the old device. Things get complicated if you change the platform, for example, switch from Samsung to Xiaomi or vice versa, since the shells One UI and MIUI (HyperOS) have different architectures.

Fortunately, modern developer tools make this process as painless and fast as possible, so you don't have to manually rewrite numbers or re-download each program.

In this guide, we will discuss proven synchronization methods that ensure the safety of your data. We will look at both regular Android tools and specialized software from manufacturers.

Preparing devices for data migration

Before any manipulations, both smartphones must be properly prepared to avoid transmission errors or file loss, and make sure that both devices have at least 50% battery charge, or better connect them to a power source.

Check for a stable Wi-Fi connection, as transferring large amounts of data over the mobile network can be interrupted or expensive, and it is also recommended to clear the cache of applications on the old phone to speed up the process of scanning files.

⚠️ Note: Before you start transferring data, be sure to back up important files to an external medium or to the cloud to eliminate the risk of their loss in the event of a failure.

You should pay special attention to system updates. Often older firmware versions contain bugs that interfere with the correct operation of the transmission protocols. Go to Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (or similar path for Samsung) and check for updates.

If your old device has two-factor authentication installed on Google or Samsung accounts, make sure you have access to your phone number or backup recovery codes.

Using the Mi Mover app to switch to Xiaomi

If your target device is a Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO smartphone, the best solution is the Mi Mover utility, which is designed specifically for migrating from any Android device, including Samsung.

The process starts with installing the app on both phones, and on the new Xiaomi, it's often already built in and is in the Tools folder. On Samsung, you need to download it from the Google Play Market.

Once you run the program on both devices, select the role of each phone: "I send" on the old one and "I receive" on the new one. QR-code or use manual connection via hotspot.

When you have a connection, you'll see a list of data categories to transfer, and you can only select contacts and messages, or copy everything, including photos, videos, music, and even the home screen layout.

• 🚀 High data transfer speed thanks to the use of Wi-Fi Direct without consuming Internet traffic.
• 📂 The ability to select specific file types, which saves space on the new device.
• 🔄 Support for transferring system settings and list of installed applications.

It is important to note that some Samsung system applications, such as Samsung Notes or specific One UI widgets, may not migrate or work incorrectly on MIUI.

Syncing through Google account: a universal method

The most reliable and “official” way to save data is cloud sync through Google services, which is ideal for those who want to access their data from any device at any time.

To start with, on an old Samsung, you need to go to Google account settings. The path usually looks like this: Settings → Accounts and Archiving → Account Management → Google.

Here, make sure that the switches opposite the desired points (Contacts, Calendar, Chrome, Drive) are active. Press the "Sync" button so that the data is guaranteed to fly to the cloud.

On the new Xiaomi, when you first turn on or in the settings menu, you need to log into the same Google account.

This is a particularly good technique for password transfer, browser history, and calendar, but it won't carry it on its own. APK-Application files will have to be downloaded from the Play Market, but all data inside the apps (if they support the cloud) will be saved.

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Use Google’s Find Device feature before reselling your old phone to make sure your account is completely untied, otherwise the new owner won’t be able to activate the smartphone.

Data transfer from Samsung Smart Switch

Samsung has developed a powerful Smart Switch tool that allows you to create full backups of the device, and although it is tailored to the Samsung ecosystem, it can be used to create a backup that will then be partially unpacked on another Android.

Install the Smart Switch Mobile app on both devices. On Samsung, select Send Data and on Xiaomi, select Get Data.

The app will offer several ways to connect: wireless connection, USB-OTG cable or save to your computer. Wireless method is the most convenient for most users.

Once connected, you can choose the content to transfer. Smart Switch allows you to transfer even home screen settings and alarms, which is rarely possible with other programs.

⚠️ Note: When transmitting via Smart Switch to devices, no-Samsung Some system settings and widgets may be ignored due to differences in Android shells.

If you have a computer, you can make a full backup through the Smart Switch program for PC/Mac. This will create a backup file that in theory you can try to recover, but for cross-platform transition (Samsung -> Xiaomi), the direct wireless method through the app on phones works more stable.

Use a USB-C to USB-C cable if both phones support fast data transfer over the wire – this will significantly speed up the process with gigabytes of photos.

Synchronization of multimedia and documents

Special attention should be paid to the transfer of heavy files: photos in high resolution, 4K-Cloud services here may be limited to free storage (usually 15 GB).

For fast transfer of large amounts of data without using the Internet, file sharing applications that work on the principle of P2P are excellent.

The principle of their operation is simple: you select files on one device, the application generates 6-digit code or QR-code that you enter or scan on the second device.

Alternatively, using a local network, if both phones are connected to the same Wi-Fi router, you can use the built-in Xiaomi file manager (Conductor). It has the function "Remote management" or "Exchange over Wi-Fi", which allows you to go from a computer or other phone to the memory of the device on the Internet. FTP-address and copy files.

For documents like PDF, Word or Excel, the most convenient way to use cloud drives is Google Drive, Yandex.Disk or Dropbox. Install the application on both phones, download files on the old one, and they will automatically appear on the new one.

• 📸 Photos better synced through Google Photos to preserve quality and metadata.
• 🎵 Music files without any DRM-protection is easily transferred through USB-cable to the computer and then to the new phone.
• 📄 Documents are critically important to check for openability after transfer, especially office format files.

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For multimedia over 20GB, using cable or local Wi-Fi is significantly faster and more reliable than uploading to the cloud.

Frequent problems and ways to solve them

Even with the best tools, it can be difficult, and one of the common problems is interrupting Wi-Fi Direct during transmission, which often happens when the phone is power-saving or aggressively energy-saving.

To avoid this, temporarily turn off the power saving mode on both devices. Also make sure that the phone screens do not go out, for this you can increase the time before the screen is turned off in the display settings.

Another common problem is format incompatibility, for example, some proprietary note or voice recorder formats from Samsung may not be readable by standard Xiaomi players.

In such cases, it is recommended to export data to universal formats before transferring, for example, notes can be copied to Google Keep, and voice recordings can be translated into MP3 or M4A format.

If apps aren't installed from a backup, check the Android version.Old versions of apps may not be compatible with the new operating system installed on Xiaomi.In this case, just remove the old version and download the fresh one from the store.