How to sync Honor Watch with Xiaomi Phone: The Complete Guide

Why synchronizing Honor and Xiaomi watches is difficult

Honor and Xiaomi smartwatches work in different ecosystems: the former are integrated with Huawei services (including the Huawei Health app), the latter with MIUI and Xiaomi Cloud, which creates technical barriers, such as the lack of native support in Mi Fit or Zepp Life, which are usually used by owners of Xiaomi gadgets.

A key issue is communication protocol conflict: Honor watches (such as MagicWatch 2, Watch GS 3 or Band 6) require Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) to be fully operational, which are not pre-installed on Xiaomi smartphones. Moreover, after Honor’s bankruptcy in 2020 and the sale of the brand to a consortium of companies, some features (such as Honor Pay) may be limited on devices without Google services (as on some Redmi models for the Chinese market).

However, synchronization is possible – and we’ll look at all working ways, including workarounds for older watches and phones.

Synchronization methods: official and alternative

There are three main ways to connect the Honor watch to Xiaomi:

• 📱 Huawei Health is the most reliable option, but requires the installation of additional services.
• 🔄 Third-party apps (such as Notify & Fitness or Tools & Mi Band) – suitable for basic step and notification synchronization.
• 🔧 Bluetooth manual pairing – limited functionality, without synchronizing health data.

Each method has pros and cons. Huawei Health, for example, provides full access to watch features (sleep, pulse, exercise), but can brake on weak Xiaomi smartphones (such as the Redmi 9A). Third-party apps, by contrast, are lightweight, but often do not support Honor branded chips such as SpO2 monitoring or stress test.

Preparation of Xiaomi smartphone for synchronization

Before you connect the watch, you need to configure the smartphone. Here are the mandatory steps:

1. Make sure Xiaomi has the latest version of MIUI (check in Settings → About Phone → System Update). Older versions (below MIUI 12) may not support Huawei Health.
2. Install Huawei Mobile Services (HMS). Without them, Huawei Health app won't work properly. APK-Files from the official Huawei website:

1. Huawei AppGallery


2. Huawei Mobile Services Core




3. Huawei ID

🔹 Important: After installation, restart your phone and resolve all requests for access to Contacts, Locations and Warehouse.

If you have a smartphone without Google services (e.g. Xiaomi for the Chinese market), use an alternative method:

Step-by-step: synchronization through Huawei Health

This method is suitable for most models of Honor watches (for example, Watch ES, MagicWatch 2, Band 5/6).

1. Open Huawei Health and create a Huawei ID (or sign in to an existing one).

⚠️ Note: If the clock is not determined, try it:

• 🔄 Reboot both devices.
• 📱 Remove the Huawei Health app cache in Settings → Annexes → Application management.
• 🔋 Make sure the clock is over 20% (at low charge, synchronization can be blocked).

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If no notifications come after you connect, check Huawei Health → Device → Notification Management and enable the Allow Notifications option for the desired applications (e.g. WhatsApp, Telegram).

For Honor Watch GS Pro or MagicWatch 2 models, it is recommended to update the watch firmware through Huawei Health → Device → Software Update after synchronization. This will fix possible bugs with time display or sensors.

Solving synchronization problems

Even after a successful connection, errors can occur, and let's look at the most common ones and how to fix them:

⚠️ Note: If after updating the firmware of the watch stopped working basic functions (for example, measuring the pulse), reset to factory settings through the Settings of the clock → System system → Reset. Pre-save data to Huawei Health (section Profile) → Backup).

For the Honor Band 5/6, if you have trouble syncing your sleep, try Zepp Life (formerly Mi Fit), which supports some of the Honor devices, but with limited functionality:

• 🏃‍♂️ Synchronization of steps and calories.
• 💤 Sleep data (without detailed analytics).
• ❌ No support. SpO₂ and stress tests.

Synchronization without Huawei Health: third-party applications

If the official app doesn’t fit (for example, due to regional restrictions or an old phone model), use universal trackers:

• 📊 Notify & Fitness – Supports notifications, pedometer and sleep monitoring for most Honor devices.
• 🔗 Tools & Mi Band – an alternative for basic synchronization (without branded Honor features).
• 🔄 Gadgetbridge – open source software for smart watches (requires manual configuration).

Instructions for Notify & Fitness:

1. Install the app from Google Play or APKMirror.
2. Turn on the Developer Mode on the clock (for this, click on the Assembly Number 5 times in Settings → About the clock).
3. In the app, select Add Device → Honor → Your model.
4. Allow access to notifications and geodata.

🔹 Limitations:

• There is no voice assistant support (e.g. Celina on Honor Watch GS 3).
• Not all sensors work properly (for example, SpO₂ It may show inaccurate data).
• No official support – bugs are possible after updates.

💡

Third-party apps are suitable for basic functionality, but will not replace Huawei Health's proprietary software. For full-time work of the watch (for example, Honor MagicWatch 2), it is recommended to use official methods.

Synchronization Features for Specific Models

Some Honor watches have unique nuances when connected to Xiaomi:

For Honor Band 5 and older models, you may need to pair manually:

1. Enable Visibility for All in Bluetooth Watch Settings.
2. On your phone in Settings → Bluetooth, find the device and connect.
3. Use Notify & Fitness for basic data synchronization.

⚠️ Note: On smartphones Xiaomi with MIUI 14 and newer when connecting Honor Watch GS 3 may cause an error, "Can't connect to Huawei's servers:

• Check that in Settings → Apps → Huawei Health → Permissions are included all options.
• Disable VPNs or proxy (they can block the connection to Huawei servers).
• Try connecting via mobile internet instead of Wi-Fi.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions