Connecting Honor Magic Watch 2 to Xiaomi smartphones: a complete guide to problem solving

Why Xiaomi’s Honor Magic Watch 2 Connection Is Questionable

Huawei’s Honor Magic Watch 2 and Xiaomi’s smartphones run on different ecosystems — Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) and MIUI respectively — which creates technical nuances when trying to sync devices. Unlike the Mi Band or Amazfit watches, which integrate perfectly with Xiaomi via Mi Fitness, the Magic Watch 2 requires the installation of an official Huawei Health app — but even that doesn’t guarantee flawless performance.

The main problems that users face: no notifications from messengers, intermittent synchronization of health data, or a complete failure of the clock to connect to the phone. In this article, we will examine all possible ways of connecting, from standard through Huawei Health to bypass solutions using third-party applications, you will also find a compatibility table of Xiaomi models and instructions for setting up notifications.

The official way: connect via Huawei Health

The most reliable method is to use Huawei Health, a proprietary app that can run unstable on Xiaomi smartphones due to MIUI limitations on the background activity of the apps.

1. Download Huawei Health from Google Play or AppGallery (if available). Some Xiaomi models without Google services (such as the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G for China) will have to install APKs manually.
2. Sign up for a Huawei account. Data synchronization is impossible without it. If you already have a Huawei ID account (like an Honor or Huawei smartphone), use it.
3. Turn on Bluetooth and GPS on your smartphone. To make the clock your system defines, also activate Device Search in Bluetooth settings.
4. Add a new device to Huawei Health: Go to Devices → Add → Watch → Honor Magic Watch 2.

Once connected successfully, the watch will appear on the device list, but this is where the typical problems begin:

• 🔴 Notifications don’t come – check permissions for Huawei Health in Settings → Apps → Permissions → Autorun and Notification Permissions.
• 🔴 Synchronization is interrupted – disable battery optimization for the application in Settings → Battery → Battery Optimization.
• 🔴 The watch turns off after a few minutes — at Huawei Health, go to Device Settings → Connect → Automatic Connection and activate the option.

Turn on Bluetooth and GPS

Install Huawei Health (version 12.0.+)

Registering a Huawei ID

Disable battery optimization for Huawei Health

Give all permissions to the application (notifications, location, contacts)-->

Critical feature: on Xiaomi smartphones with MIUI 13+, the Huawei Health app can be blocked by the system as “potentially dangerous” due to the lack of Google Play Protect certification. In this case, add it to exceptions in Settings → Security → Google Play Protect → Exceptions.

Alternative ways of connecting

If Huawei Health refuses to work steadily, there are two workarounds:

1. Using Notify & Fitness for Huawei (available on Google Play) it supports Honor Magic Watch 2 and allows you to configure notifications flexibly, but requires manual configuration of each messenger.
2. Connecting via Amazfit (for modified software only) Some enthusiasts port firmware from the Amazfit GTR 2 to Magic Watch 2, but this is risky and unwarranted.

Huawei Health

Notify & Fitness

Amazfit firmware

No, the watch doesn't plug-->

If you choose Notify & Fitness, please note that you need to manually add every app you want to receive notifications from to work correctly, such as WhatsApp or Telegram.

1. Open Notify & Fitness.
2. Go to Notifications → of the Appendix.
3. Select the messenger and activate the forwarding of notifications.
4. In the Android settings for this messenger, allow Notify & Fitness to access notifications.

Setup of notifications and data synchronization

Even if the watch is connected, notifications may not come, due to MIUI's policy of aggressively optimizing background processes, to remedy the situation:

1. Turn off battery optimization for Huawei Health and Notify & Fitness (if you use it). Way: Settings → Battery → Battery Optimization → Select apps.
2. Give permission to autorun. In Settings → Apps → Application Management → Huawei Health → Autorun.
3. Activate a permanent notification for Huawei Health in the app notification settings, which will prevent the service from being shut down by the system.
4. Set notification priority in Huawei Health: Device → Honor Magic Watch 2 → Notifications → Apps and select the right messengers.

To synchronize your health data (steps, pulse, sleep), make sure that Huawei Health includes the appropriate permissions:

• 📱 Access to physical activity (in Android settings).
• 🩺 Permission to collect health data (in the application settings).
• 📍 Location (required to track jogging routes)

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If notifications are late, try enabling developer mode on Xiaomi and disable background process restriction. To do this, click on the MIUI version 7 times in your phone settings, then in the Developer Settings, find the option to Limit Background Processes and set the No Limits value.

Solving common problems

Even with the right setup, users are faced with common errors, and here are the most common ways to fix them:

1.The watch is not in search

The Honor Magic Watch 2 is not on the list of available devices in Huawei Health.

Decision:

• 🔄 Restart the clock (press the power button for 10 seconds).
• 📱 Enable Device Search Mode in Bluetooth settings on Xiaomi.
• 🔌 Try connecting via another app (e.g. nRF Connect) to check the Bluetooth watch module's performance.

2. Permanent communication breakdowns

Problem: The watch is connected, but after a few minutes the connection is lost.

Decision:

• 📵 Turn off the power saving mode for Huawei Health in the settings MIUI.
• 🔗 In the Bluetooth settings on Xiaomi, enable the option to Connect to devices automatically.
• 🔄 Update the watch firmware through Huawei Health (Software Update section).

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If none of these methods worked, try resetting the clock to factory settings. Go to Settings → System → Data Reset on the watch. Repeat the connection procedure again after reset.

3 Health data are not synchronized

Problem: Steps, pulse, or sleep data are not displayed in the app.

Decision:

• 🩺 Check if sync is enabled in Huawei Health → Device → Sync settings.
• 📱 Make sure that Xiaomi has Google Fit enabled (if used) and Huawei Health enabled.
• 🔄 Reconnect the watch: Remove it from the list of devices in Huawei Health and add it again.

⚠️ Warning: Some Xiaomi models (such as POCO F3 or Redmi Note 9 Pro) have a conflict between Huawei Health and the built-in Mi Fitness app. To avoid problems, uninstall or disable Mi Fitness before connecting Magic Watch 2.

Compatible with different Xiaomi models

Not all Xiaomi smartphones work equally well with the Honor Magic Watch 2. Below is a compatibility table based on user feedback and tests. Note that stability depends not only on the model, but also on the version of MIUI and the firmware of the watch.

If your model is not in the table, focus on the processor and MIUI version:

• 📱 Smartphones on Qualcomm Snapdragon (e.g., Xiaomi 11T, POCO F3) are generally more stable.
• 📱 Devices on MediaTek (e.g., Redmi Note 10, POCO M4 Pro) are more likely to encounter problems.
• 📱 MIUI 14 is better optimized for third-party gadgets than MIUI 12.

Update the firmware of the watch for better compatibility

The manufacturer regularly releases updates for Honor Magic Watch 2, which improve compatibility with Android devices.

1. Open Huawei Health and go to Devices.
2. Select Honor Magic Watch 2 and click on Software Update.
3. If the update is available, connect the watch to charging and confirm the installation.
4. Do not turn off Bluetooth or close the app until the process is complete (it takes ~10-15 minutes).

The latest firmware versions (at the time of 2026) solve the following problems:

• 🔄 Improved connectivity stability for Android 12+ smartphones.
• 📱 Sleep data synchronization errors are fixed.
• 🔔 Added notification support from Viber and Slack.

⚠️ Warning: If the watch stops connecting after the update, reset it. Go to Settings → System → Data Reset on the watch. This will delete all local data (steps, training), but it will return to service.

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Before updating the watch firmware, make sure it is at least 50% charged, and if the charge is lower, the system may interrupt the process, causing the software to crash.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions