Users often encounter a situation where after buying or completely discharging the battery, the Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 4 screen displays the wrong time or date.This is because the tracker itself does not have a built-in GPS module or cellular communication to automatically receive accurate data from the network.
The basic mechanism of the gadget’s operation implies that it acts as a secondary display for your phone. Once you open the Mi Fit (or Zepp Life) app, the bracelet receives the current time stamps and adjusts its internal timer. If you see on the screen at 00:00 or the date of January 1, 2019, this is a signal that communication with the phone has not yet been established or there has been a software failure in the data exchange protocol.
In this article, we will discuss how to adjust your time zone correctly, change the format of the time from 12-hour to 24-hour, and what to do if automatic synchronization stops working, and learn how to manage these parameters without unnecessary movements, ensuring that you can use the device comfortably in everyday life.
The principle of synchronization of time
The Mi Band series fitness trackers are designed to minimize power consumption, so they don't connect to the internet on their own. All settings, including current time, date and time zone, are transmitted via the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol. When you change time on a smartphone, these changes don't always instantly reflect on the wristband - a forced connection update is required.
The key element here is the intermediary app, and it's the software on the phone that tells the tracker what numbers to display. The algorithm is simple: the app reads the phone's system time, checks the format settings (AM/PM or 24h), and sends a command to update the display of the bracelet, and if Bluetooth is turned off or the app is "hanging," the data will not reach the recipient.
⚠️ Warning: Never try to change the time directly from the menu of the bracelet itself — there is no such function there.
It's important to understand that when you change your time zone while traveling, the wristband won't switch automatically unless you open the app, it will show the time of the last city where the synchronization took place, and it can knock down sleep and activity statistics, because the biorhythms in the app are tied to local time.
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The bracelet does not have its own source of exact time and is completely dependent on periodic synchronization with the phone through the app.
Step-by-step: setup via the Mi Fit app
The most reliable way to set the right time is to use the official app. The Zepp Life app (formerly known as Mi Fit) is currently the best fit for the Mi Band 4. The setup process is intuitive, but requires a certain sequence of actions to consolidate the result.
First, make sure that Bluetooth is activated on your smartphone. Then launch the app and wait for the Connected status to appear at the top of the screen next to your bracelet image. If the status is not available, pull the list of devices down to force the connection update. Only after the successful connection will the time data be transmitted to the device.
Then you have to check the system settings of the app itself, which can override the general settings of the phone, go to the device profile and find the time settings section, and you can manually adjust the display format if you don't like the automatic one.
☑️ Connection check
After you've done all the work, the tracker screen should blink or refresh to show the actual clock. If that hasn't happened, try breaking the connection in the phone's Bluetooth menu and reconnecting through the app. Oftentimes, the data protocol fails on the first run, and shaking hands again solves the problem.
Setting up the time and date format
One of the common problems is that the format of the time is not consistent with the user's expectations. 24-It is a time-sensitive format, while many devices can be installed by default. 12-clock-signature AM/PM. You can change this in the settings of the application, but there is a nuance: sometimes the bracelet settings are rigidly tied to the system settings of the smartphone operating system.
To change the format, go to the device profile in the app. Find "Bracelet settings" or "Display & Brightness" (depending on the translation version). There's a "Time" switch. If you choose a 24-hour format, the numbers on the screen will change immediately after synchronization, which is especially important for those who use the digital format in work or sports.
The date format (DD.MM.GYG or MM/DD/GYG) is usually inherited from your Mi Account regional settings or phone language settings. If you have the American format of the month and day, try changing the system language or region in the Zepp Life app settings.
| Parameter | Where you're tuning in. | Dependence |
|---|---|---|
| Hours and minutes | Automatically / Application | Telephone system time |
| Format (12/24 h) | Device profile in the application | Setup in Zepp Life |
| Time zone | Phone settings | Geolocation/Network |
| Date format | System settings / Account | Region (Language/Region) |
Note that you may need to reboot the bracelet after changing the time format. To do this, look for System in the device menu and select Reboot, which will update the display buffer and apply new font styles if they change with the format.
Why does the format go down after the update?
Time zone problems when traveling
Mi Band 4 owners who travel frequently between cities or countries know that the bracelet does not always keep up with the change of time zones. Unlike a smartphone that receives data from cell towers, the tracker relies only on the latest state it knows. If you fly from Moscow to Novosibirsk, the bracelet will remain on Moscow time until you synchronize it.
To solve this problem, you need to manually start syncing immediately after arrival. Open the application, wait for the data to update. If the time on the phone has already changed automatically (due to the Auto setting), the bracelet will pick up a new time zone. However, if the phone is at the right time and the bracelet shows the old one, the problem may be in the app's cache.
In some cases, changing the system time on the phone temporarily helps, so you can manually set the city of arrival, wait for the bracelet to sync, and then return the auto setting to the phone, which will force the sync protocol to send the new data to the tracker.
⚠️ Attention: With frequent change of time zones, sleep statistics may be displayed incorrectly (for example, sleep with a sleep system). 2:00 before 10:00 instead 22:00-06:00). This is normal for base trackers, as they do not automatically adjust historical data for a new time zone.
What to do if time is constantly being reset
The situation when the time on Xiaomi Mi Band 4 is reset to 00:00 or 2019 immediately after disconnecting from charging or rebooting, indicates a more serious problem, most often due to a software glitch in the firmware of the device itself or a conflict of versions of the application.
First, check the firmware version of the bracelet. Go to the device profile in the app and find the "Update" item. If a new version is available, be sure to install it. Developers regularly release patches that fix bugs with the device's internal clock and memory.
If the firmware is relevant, try re-tethering the device. In the app, select Unbind, then search for new devices and connect the bracelet as new. Importantly, all the accumulated data can be lost if it did not sync with the server, so make sure that the statistics are uploaded to the cloud.
Also, the reason could be the power saving of the smartphone. Android or iOS can kill the process of the Zepp Life application in the background, which causes constant background time synchronization to stop. Add the application to battery exceptions and allow auto-start.
Additional settings and personalization
In addition to base time, the Mi Smart Band 4 allows you to configure the display of additional settings on the dial. You can choose whether the second, day of the week or date will be displayed along with time.
To set a new dial, go to the device profile and select "Dial settings." Here you can download new designs. Some have large time fonts, others have minimalist ones. The choice of dial also affects the readability of time in bright sunlight.
Remember that installing complex animated dials can consume battery power faster. If you are critical to autonomy, choose static images with clear contrasting numbers, which will provide better visibility and save battery life.
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Use the Wake on wrist raise feature to keep the screen only lit up when you look at the wristband, saving you charge and showing you the right time at the right time.