How to connect Xiaomi fitness watches to a smartphone: from pairing to fine settings

Xiaomi fitness watches are some of the most popular wearables on the market due to their combination of functionality, design and affordable price. However, even experienced users sometimes have difficulties with the first connection: the device does not find the phone, the application produces errors, and the data about steps or pulse is not synchronized. This article will help you understand all the nuances from choosing the right application to solving typical problems.

We’ll look at not only basic Bluetooth pairing, but also fine-tunings: how to turn on notifications from instant messengers, set up automatic sleep tracking, or connect your watch to multiple devices at once. We’ll focus on the differences between Mi Band models (like the Mi Smart Band 8), the Amazfit line (like the GTR 4 or GTS 4 Mini) and full-fledged Xiaomi Watch smartwatches. If you’ve just unpacked the box or are trying to reconnect an old gadget, here you’ll find the answers to all the questions.

What app you need to connect Xiaomi fitness watch

The first and most important step is choosing the right software. Xiaomi uses several official applications depending on the device model and the region of sale, and an error at this stage will lead to the fact that the watch is simply not determined by the system.

Main annexes:

• 📱 Mi Fitness (formerly Mi Fit) – for most Mi Band bracelets (including Mi Smart Band) 7/8) And some Amazfit models. It supports Android. 6.0+ iOS 12.0+.
• 🌍 Zepp Life (formerly Amazfit) – for Amazfit watches GTR, GTS, Bip and new Xiaomi Watch versions: More advanced health analytics.
• ⚙️ Xiaomi Wear – for smart watches Xiaomi Watch S3 and other models from Wear OS. Requires a separate setup of Google account.

How do you determine which application you need?

• 📦 Check the device box – it usually shows the recommended software.
• 🔍 On the back of the watch or bracelet, find a model (for example, M2229B1 for Mi Band 8) and check the official compatibility table.
• 📲 If you're in doubt, download both apps (Mi Fitness and Zepp Life) and try connecting through each.

Some models (like the Amazfit GTR 4) support both apps, but the functionality will be different, like Zepp Life, which has advanced sleep metrics, while Mi Fitness only has basic data.

Step-by-step: how to connect a fitness watch to the phone

Consider a universal algorithm, for example, the Mi Smart Band 8 bracelet and the Mi Fitness app. For other models, the steps are similar, but the names of menu items may differ.

1. Install the Mi Fitness app from Google Play or the App Store. Sign up or sign in via your Xiaomi/Google/Apple ID account.
2. Turn on Bluetooth on your phone and make sure the watch is charged (at least 20% battery). On the bracelet, press the touch button to activate the screen.
3. In the app, click Profile → Add the device (+ icon in the upper right corner). Select your model from the list.
4. Follow the instructions on the screen: confirm the pairing on the phone and on the clock (usually you need to touch the tick on the bracelet screen).
5. Wait until the data sync is complete (it can take up to 5 minutes).

If the clock is not specified:

• 🔄 Reboot both the phone and the bracelet (on the Mi Band, press the touch button for 10 seconds).
• 📵 Make sure the watch is not connected to another device.In your phone's Bluetooth settings, remove all old pairings with the name MI Band or Amazfit.
• 📶 Check if the connection is blocking third-party software (for example, antivirus or power saving modes).

Set up notifications and calls on Xiaomi fitness watches

By default, the watch only shows basic call notifications, and to receive alerts from messengers, mail or calendar, you need to set them manually.

Instructions for Mi Fitness:

1. Open the Profile tab → Your device → Notifications.
2. Turn on the Call Notification and Notifications from the apps switch.
3. Click Application Management and select instant messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, etc.).
4. For iOS, allow access to Phone Settings → Bluetooth → Mi Band → Allow notifications.

Zepp Life is a different way.

1. Profile → Device → Notification settings.
2. Activate Show the contents of notifications (otherwise, only application icons will be used).
3. In the Exclusions section, add applications that do not require notifications.

Limitations:

• 📱 Android watches show full text of messages (up to 120 characters).
• 🍎 On iPhone, only the app icon and title (due to Apple restrictions).
• 🔕 Missed Call Notifications Come With Up to 5 Minutes Delay.

💡

If notifications are duplicated (coming to both the watch and the phone), turn them off in the settings of the messenger itself. For example, in Telegram: Settings → Notifications → Disable on the smartwatch.

Synchronization of health data: steps, sleep, pulse

Xiaomi fitness watches automatically track activity, but for accurate data you need to adjust the parameters correctly.

How to enable automatic tracking:

• 🏃 In Mi Fitness: Profile → The device → Monitoring of heart rate → Select an interval (e.g., every 10 minutes).
• 😴 In Zepp Life: Profile → The device → Sleep settings → Activate a Smart Sleep Mode (detects sleep phases automatically).
• 📊 Calibrate your bracelet for accurate steps: walk 50 steps with your phone in your pocket, then select Settings in the app → Calibration of steps.

Critical information: If the watch shows an inflated number of steps, check the density of the bracelet to the wrist. The optimal position is 2-3 fingers above the bone, not too tight.

Health data is synced to the app every 30 minutes with active Bluetooth, to force the statistics to be updated:

1. Open the Mi Fitness/Zepp Life app.
2. Pull the screen down (pull-to-refresh gesture).
3. Or go to Profile → Device → Synchronize data.

💡

For accurate sleep monitoring, wear a watch every night and turn on the Do Not Disturb mode on your phone so that vibrations don’t wake you up.

Connecting Xiaomi’s fitness watch to multiple devices

Officially, you can only connect one bracelet to one phone, but there are workarounds.

Method 1: Quick reconnect (for Mi Band)

1. On the first phone, open Mi Fitness and remove the device (Profile → Device → Disable).
2. On the second phone, reconnect the clock (as in the first setup).
3. Repeat the process to return to the first phone.

Method 2: Use two accounts (for Zepp Life)

• 📱 On the first phone, connect the watch through your Xiaomi account user1@example.com.
• 📱 On the second phone, use another account (user2@example.com) And plug in the same clock.
• ⚠️ The data will be duplicated, but synchronization will work on both devices.

⚠️ Attention: with frequent reconnection, the watch may start to “glut” – reset settings or lose step data.

For the Xiaomi Watch smartwatch (on Wear OS), you can use Google Account to sync with multiple devices via Google Fit. However, notifications will only come to the last connected phone.

Solving Typical Connection Problems

Even if you set it up properly, you can have errors, and let's look at the most common ones and how to fix them.

If nothing helps:

• 🔧 Reset the clock to factory settings: on the Mi Band, press the touch button for 20 seconds before the appearance of the Xiaomi logo.
• 📲 Reinstall the Mi app Fitness/Zepp Life.
• 📡 Check if the connection is blocking. VPN or firewall (e.g. Avast or Kaspersky).

⚠️ Note: after resetting, all data on the watch will be deleted, including your step and sleep history. Backups are stored only in the Xiaomi cloud if you are logged in to your account.

Additional features: music, payments, voice assistant

Xiaomi’s modern fitness watches not only support basic fitness tracking, but also advanced features.

1. Music management

• 🎵 On the Mi Band. 7/8 and Amazfit GTR 4 You can switch tracks on your phone:

Xiaomi Watch S3

Zepp Life

Music.

2. Contactless payments

• 💳 Supported only on models with NFC (Mi Band 7 Pro, Amazfit GTR 4, Xiaomi Watch S2).
• 📱 To set up:

3.Voice assistant

• 🎤 On Xiaomi Watch with Wear OS Google Assistant is available, activated by voice ("OK, Google") or button retention.
• 🗣️ There is no voice control on the Mi Band, but you can configure quick responses to messages (c Notification Settings).

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions