How to connect Xiaomi Mi Band 3 fitness bracelet to another phone

Changing a smartphone is always stressful for the wearer, especially when it comes to peripherals like smart activity trackers. Users often face a situation where an old phone has already been sold or repaired, and a new device refuses to see a fitness bracelet. This is a common problem associated with the peculiarities of Bluetooth protocols and the binding of devices to a specific account in the application.

Reconnection does not require a deep technical knowledge, but requires a clear sequence of actions. If you just turn off Bluetooth on an old device and try to find a tracker on a new one, nothing will work. Xiaomi security requires a preliminary decoupling to avoid data synchronization conflicts and loss of activity history.

In this guide, we will look at all the steps of your tracker migration to a new smartphone, learn how to properly break the connection, what settings can interfere with the connection, and how to restore the full functionality of the device without losing accumulated statistics.

Preparation for changing the device and uncoupling

The first and most critical step is to untie the bracelet from the old smartphone correctly, a move many users ignore, believing that it is easy enough to remove the app, but this leads to errors when trying to pair with the new gadget.

Open the Mi Fit app (or Zepp Life if you've already moved to the new platform) on your old phone. Go to the device profile, scroll down to the bottom of the list, and find the Untie or Unpair button. Click on it and confirm the action, and then the bracelet goes into standby mode and becomes visible to other devices.

⚠️ Warning: If you have already sold an old phone or it is broken, skip this step and proceed to reset via the menu of the bracelet itself, otherwise the new phone will not be able to establish a connection.

After the software unload, it is recommended to restart the tracker itself. To do this, find the System or More item in the bracelet menu, then select Reboot or Reboot. This will clear the temporary cache of the Bluetooth module and prepare the Mi Band 3 to find a new host.

Setting up a new smartphone and installing software

The new device needs to be equipped with a software environment for working with wearable electronics. First of all, make sure that you have an up-to-date application installed. For the Xiaomi Mi Band 3, the main application remains Zepp Life (formerly known as Mi Fit), which can be downloaded from Google Play or the App Store.

After installing the app, take your time to search for the device right away. Go to your smartphone's Bluetooth settings and make sure there are no old records of your bracelet in the list of paired devices. If there is one (usually called Mi Band 3), click on the gear icon or device information and select "Forget the device" or "Cancel pairing."

• 📱 Make sure that geolocation services are enabled on the phone (GPS), Android requires them to search for Bluetooth devices.
• 🔋 Charge the bracelet to minimum. 20-30%, So that it does not turn off during the firmware update process.
• 🌐 Check the stability of the Internet connection for authorization in the Mi Account.

It is also important to check the permissions for the application. Modern versions of Android strictly control access to Bluetooth and location. Go to Settings → Apps → Zepp Life → Permits and make sure that access to location and Bluetooth is allowed always or when using the application.

The interface process through the application

Now you can start a direct connection, start the app on your new smartphone and log in to your account, and if you use the same login as your old phone, your stats will automatically come up after you pair successfully.

On the main screen of the application, click on the plus or add device button. From the list of available devices, select Amazfit Bip or Mi Band 3. The application will ask for confirmation on the bracelet screen - a vibration and an icon will appear on the tracker, you will need to touch the touch button for confirmation.

The initial setup may require a firmware update. The bracelet's software is often updated by developers to improve connection stability. Don't interrupt this process and keep your phone near the tracker.

Compatibility table and system requirements

Not all smartphones work equally well with last-generation wearable electronics: Xiaomi Mi Band 3 uses Bluetooth 4.2 protocol, which provides low power consumption, but can cause problems on very new or, conversely, very old devices.

If your smartphone meets the requirements but the connection fails, the problem may lie in the manufacturer’s shell.Some aggressive energy saving systems (for example, on Huawei, Samsung or the new Xiaomi smartphones with MIUI 12+) can block the background operation of the application.

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On Xiaomi phones with MIUI shell, be sure to turn on auto-start for the Zepp Life app and remove battery restrictions, otherwise notifications will stop coming 10-15 minutes after the lock screen.

Solving synchronization and visibility problems

The situation when the phone does not see the bracelet is the most common, often due to the fact that the device “hangs” in standby mode or lost communication with the authorization server, in which case a complete reset of the tracker settings is required.

To reset the bracelet itself, swipe your finger across the screen to the More menu (More). Find System and select Unbind or Reset, and the tracker will then reboot and be ready for new pairing as a new device.

⚠️ Note: If you reset the bracelet menu, all unsaved step and sleep data from the last sync will be lost. Try to sync the data with the old phone first, if possible.

Another cause of problems may be the accumulated errors in the Bluetooth cache on the new phone. Try clearing the Bluetooth cache. Go to Settings → Apps → Show system processes → Bluetooth → Memory → Clear the cache. After that, restart the smartphone.

Configure notifications and functions after connection

Once you've successfully connected, you need to reconfigure all notifications, because they're linked to a particular device. Go to the in-app bracelet profile and select "Application Notifications." Here you need to manually tick WhatsApp, Telegram, calls and SMS.

Android notifications often require special permissions to work properly. The system can show a pop-up asking for permission to access notifications — be sure to agree. Without that, the bracelet will only vibrate when an incoming call is made, but ignore messages from messengers.

• 🔔 Set the time format (12 or 24 hours) in your device profile to match the system.
• 🌡️ Activate continuous pulse monitoring if you plan to use a workout bracelet.
• 📵 Use the “Do Not Disturb” function to prevent the bracelet from vibrating at night.

It's also worth checking the wrist lifting to turn on the screen, which is sensitive to calibration, and if the screen lights up too often or doesn't light up at all, try resetting the sensitivity or resetting the profile settings in the app.

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Full functionality of the bracelet is disclosed only after manual activation of all types of notifications in the profile of the device, automatic transfer of settings from the old phone does not occur.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)