How to set the time on Xiaomi watch: from synchronization to manual adjustment

Xiaomi smartwatches and fitness bracelets are some of the most popular wearables on the market, but even they sometimes require manual time adjustments. Problems can arise after resetting, changing the battery or syncing failure with a smartphone. In this article, we will discuss all possible ways to adjust time on Mi Band 3/4/5/6/7/8 devices, Xiaomi Watch, Redmi Watch and other models – from automatic synchronization to hidden functions in the engineering menu.

Xiaomi watches are typically used on a smartphone through the Mi Fitness app (formerly Mi Fit) or Zepp Life, but if sync is broken, the watch may show incorrect data, such as being behind for a few hours or resetting after a reboot, and we will tell you how to avoid it and what to do if standard methods do not work.

Why does Xiaomi watch show the wrong time?

Before you start setting up, it is important to understand the cause of the failure, and here are the most common scenarios in which the time on Xiaomi watches may not be displayed correctly:

• 📱 Lack of sync with smartphone – the watch does not receive current data due to Bluetooth disabled, closed application or problems with the Xiaomi account.

80 percent of the time, it's just a simple resynchronization with the phone, but if that doesn't work, you'll have to use manual methods or even update the firmware, and then we'll look at everything from the simplest to the most complex.

Method 1: Automatic synchronization with Mi Fitness/Zepp Life

The main and recommended way to adjust the time is synchronization through the official app, which works for all modern models, including the Mi Band 8, Xiaomi Watch S3 and Redmi Watch 4.

Here's the step-by-step instruction:

1. Make sure your smartphone is Bluetooth enabled and your watch is connected to your phone.
2. Open the Mi Fitness app (or Zepp Life for new models).
3. Go to the Profile tab → My devices and choose your watch.
4. Check that the Connected status is displayed at the top of the screen.
5. Scroll down to the Device Settings section and find Time Sync (or Data Update).
6. Click on it and wait for the process to complete (usually takes 5-10 seconds).

If the clock time has not been updated after synchronization, try the following steps:

• 🔄 Reset the clock (press the button for 10-15 seconds before the Xiaomi logo appears).
• 📱 Reinstall the Mi Fitness app on your smartphone.
• 🔗 Turn off and reconnect the clock in Bluetooth settings.

Method 2: Manual time setting (for models without synchronization)

Some older models (such as the Mi Band 2 or the Mi Band 3 with outdated firmware) do not support automatic time synchronization, in which case you will have to manually adjust it through the clock menu.

Instructions for Mi Band 3/4/5:

1. Scroll the screen to the right until you find the item More (or More).
2. Select Settings (cog icon).
3. Find the time and date (or time) section.
4. Turn off the autosynchronization option (if any).
5. Manually set the Time Zone, Time Format (12/24 hours) and current Date/Time.
6. Save the changes and restart the clock.

For Xiaomi Watch (such as Watch S1 or Watch Color):

1. Click on the physical button to open the menu.
2. Select Settings → System → Date and time.
3. Turn off Auto Update and set the time manually.

Important: Once manually set, the clock time can be lost every time you disconnect from your smartphone, a method that is only suitable as a temporary solution until you restore synchronization.

Method 3: Resetting and reconnecting

If neither automatic sync nor manual tuning helps, the next step is to completely reset the clock to factory settings, which will remove all data from the device, but often solves time stamp problems.

How to reset your settings:

• 🔧 For Mi Band: Go to Settings → About the device → Resetting settings (confirmation required).
• ⚙️ For Xiaomi Watch: Go to Settings → System system → Data resetting.
• 📱 Alternative: Turn off the watch in the Mi Fitness app, then remove it from the list of devices and reconnect it.

After discharge:

1. Connect your watch to your smartphone via Mi Fitness.
2. Wait for automatic time synchronization (can take up to 1 minute).
3. Check that the smartphone settings have the correct time zone and date.

⚠️ Warning: After resetting all data from the clock (steps, pulse, exercise) will be deleted. If it is important, pre-synchronize it with the application.

Method 4: Update firmware to correct time errors

If the watch is constantly resetting time or showing it incorrectly, the problem may be outdated firmware. Software updates often fix synchronization bugs.

How to update firmware:

1. Open Mi Fitness and go to the device profile.
2. Find the Firmware Update (or Firmware Update) section.
3. If a new version is available, click Update and wait until the process is complete (don’t disconnect the watch from your phone!).

For some models (such as the Mi Band 7 or Xiaomi Watch S2), the update can take up to 10-15 minutes.

• 🔋 Make sure the battery charge is not below 50%.
• 📶 Connect your phone to stable Wi-Fi (update over the air can weigh up to 50MB).
• ⏳ Do not interrupt the process – this can lead to “bricking” of the device.

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If you can’t upgrade through Mi Fitness, try installing the firmware manually through Mi Band Tools (requires root rights on some models).

Method 5: Configure through the Engineering Menu (for advanced)

If standard methods don't work, you can try changing system parameters through a hidden engineering menu, which is suitable for power users and can lead to unstable clock performance if you don't do it right.

Instructions for Mi Band 4/5/6:

1. Activate Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Device and click on Model Number 5 times.
2. Return to the main settings menu – a new item for developers will appear.
3. Select the Engineering Menu → Time Settings.
4. Manually set the parameters: set_time: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS set_timezone: GMT+3 (Moscow)
5. Save the changes and restart the clock.

For Xiaomi Watch (based on Wear OS):

1. Connect the watch to your PC via ADB (you need to enable debugging in the developer settings).
2. Follow the command: adb shell date -s YYYYMMDD.HHMMSS For example, for May 15, 2026, 14:30: adb shell date -s 20260515.143000

⚠️ Warning: Incorrect commands in the engineering menu can cause the device to crash. If you are not sure about your actions, you should contact the service center.

Problem Solving: The clock shows the wrong time after the update

Sometimes, when you update your firmware, your watch is going to slow down or rush, and that's because of bugs in the new software.

• 🔙 Firmware rollback: If the problem has occurred after the update, try going back to the previous version via Mi Band Tools.
• 🌐 Change region: In your smartphone settings, set another region (e.g., the U.S.), sync your clock, then return the original region.
• ⏱️ Calibration of time: some models (e.g. Xiaomi Watch) S2) allow you to calibrate the clock in the settings of the System → Date and time → Sizing.

If nothing helps, check if your Xiaomi model is a limited-functional Chinese version, which may require firmware from international companies.

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Before any firmware manipulations, back up your data via Mi Fitness – this will save your training and health history.

FAQ: Frequent questions about setting up time on Xiaomi