How to set and sync time on Xiaomi Mi Band 4: 3 working ways

Xiaomi Mi Band 4 remains one of the most popular fitness bracelets even years after its release — it is bought for reliability, long battery life and wide functionality. But many users face the problem: the time on the screen of the bracelet does not match the real one or completely gets lost after the reboot.

In 90% of cases, Mi Band 4 time is due to smartphone sync errors, outdated firmware, or app failures. In this article, we’ll look at all the ways to set up a watch, from automatic synchronization to manually entering time through hidden menus, and learn why the bracelet can show the wrong time and how to prevent similar failures in the future.

Important: the instructions are valid for all versions of the Mi Band 4 firmware (including Chinese and global), and are compatible with Mi Fit, Zepp Life (formerly Mi Fit) and Notify & Fitness for Mi Band. If your bracelet does not sync with official software, there are alternative solutions at the end of the article.

Why Mi Band 4 is the wrong time: 5 main reasons

Before we get to the setup, let's look at why the watch on the wristband can get knocked down or lagged down. Here are the most common reasons:

  • 📱 Lack of sync with smartphone: The bracelet gets time from the phone via Bluetooth, and if communication is interrupted (for example, due to Bluetooth turned off or the background limitations of the application), the watch may stop.
  • ⚡ At a charge level below 10%, the Mi Band 4 starts saving energy, including suspending the time update.
  • 🔄 In the early versions of the bracelet software (below 1.0.9.28) there was a bug that caused time to be lost after the reboot.
  • ⏰ Manual time zone change: If you manually changed the time zone on your smartphone but didn't update the data on the wristband, there may be a discrepancy.
  • 🛠️ Sensor malfunction RTC. In rare cases, the Real-Time Clock may fail, especially after falls or moisture.

If your bracelet is hours or minutes apart, first check if your situation is in one of these areas, for example, if the problem occurred after the smartphone update, the timing settings are most likely to be to blame, and if the time is lost after charging, this may indicate a battery failure.

📊 What time glitch you've encountered on Mi Band 4?
Time is a few minutes behind.
The clock is knocked off after the reset
The bracelet shows time from another time zone
Time is not updated at all.
Another problem.

Method 1: Automatic time synchronization with Mi Fit/Zepp Life

The easiest and most recommended way is to let the bracelet automatically take time from your smartphone.

  1. Make sure that the smartphone is enabled Bluetooth and geolocation (necessary for determining the time zone).
  2. Open the Mi Fit or Zepp Life app and wait for the bracelet to connect (the Mi Band 4 icon should turn green).
  3. Go to the Profile section → Mi Smart Band 4 → Settings of the device.
  4. Find the Time Sync (or Auto Update) item and turn it on.
  5. Return to the home screen of the app and pull down for forced synchronization.

If the bracelet time has not been updated after these actions, try the following steps:

  • 🔄 Reset the bracelet: Press the touch button for 10 seconds until vibration appears.
  • 📱 Restart the Mi Fit app and clear its cache in your smartphone settings.
  • 🔗 Disable and reconnect the bracelet in the application (Profile) → Mi Smart Band 4 → Disable the device).

☑️ Checking before synchronization

Done: 0 / 5

Importantly, if you use two smartphones (for example, for work and personal), the bracelet can sync with the device that the last person connected to, which often causes time disruption if the phones have different time zones.

Method 2: Manually adjusting time through a hidden bracelet menu

If automatic synchronization is not working, you can manually set the time through the Mi Band 4 engineering menu, which is suitable for cases where the bracelet does not connect to the phone or the application does not see the device.

Instructions:

  1. On the bracelet, go to the main screen (swipe up or press a button).
  2. Scroll the menu to the right to the item Still (or More in English firmware).
  3. Select Settings (Settings).
  4. Scroll down to Advanced and press.
  5. Find Time & Date – if you don’t have one, update your bracelet firmware.
  6. In this menu you can manually install: 🕒 Time zone (select your city or shift) UTC). ⏰ Time format (12- or 24-hour). 📅 Date (day, month, year).

After saving the settings, the bracelet should update the time. If the time and date are missing, then your firmware does not support manual configuration, in which case only the software update will help (see the next section).

What to do if the menu is in Chinese?
If your Chinese firmware bracelet, the characters "mean" means "Time and Date." To find this item, scroll down to the clock icon (🕐).

⚠️ Warning: manual time setting will reset the next time you sync with your phone, and if the problem is caused by an app failure, this method will only give you a temporary solution.

Method 3: Update firmware to correct time errors

If the Mi Band 4 is regularly out of time, it could be due to outdated firmware. Xiaomi periodically releases updates to fix synchronization errors.

  1. Open Mi Fit or Zepp Life.
  2. Go to Profile → Mi Smart Band 4 → Update firmware.
  3. If a new version is available, click Update and wait for the process to complete (the bracelet will reboot automatically).

Another common problem is that the bracelet shows the time 12 hours apart, which happens if you've selected a 12-hour format in the Mi Band 4 settings, but the smartphone is transmitting data in a 24-hour format.

  1. Open Mi Fit and go to bracelet settings.
  2. Find the time format and select the 24-hour time.
  3. Synchronize the data with the bracelet.

💡

If the bracelet often loses touch with your phone, try turning off Bluetooth power saving mode in Android settings (path: Settings → Connections → Bluetooth → Additional → Power saving mode).

Alternative ways to adjust time (if nothing helps)

If the standard methods don’t work, try these solutions:

1.Use of the third-party app Notify & Fitness for Mi Band

This app offers advanced settings for the Mi Band 4, including forced time synchronization. Download it from Google Play, plug in the bracelet, and in the Settings section, find the option to Sync Time.

2. Reset to factory settings

The last measure that helps in 80% of the cases of a problem.

  1. On the bracelet, go to Settings → Additional → Reset.
  2. Confirm the action (the bracelet vibrates and reboots).
  3. Connect it again via Mi Fit.

Manual time updates via ADB (for advanced users)

If you're familiar with ADB, you can send a command to the bracelet to force the time update, plug the bracelet into your PC, activate the Bluetooth debugging, and do:

adb shell am broadcast -a com.xiaomi.hm.health.ACTION_SYNC_TIME

This method does not work on all firmware, but can help in a hopeless situation.

💡

If the bracelet doesn’t sync with any application, check if the antivirus (such as Avast or Kaspersky) blocks the connection to Mi Fit.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions About Time on Mi Band 4

The bracelet is 3 hours ago.
Chances are that your smartphone or bracelet has the wrong time zone. Check your phone settings (Settings → System → Date and Time) and update your data in Mi Fit. Also make sure the bracelet has Auto Update Time enabled.
After the battery is replaced, time goes down every day. Is that normal?
No, it indicates a malfunction of the RTC module (real-time clock) or poor contact of the new battery. Try to reflash the bracelet. If the problem persists, contact the service center - the board may have been damaged.
Can I set a time for Mi Band 4 without a smartphone?
Yes, but only if your firmware supports manual tuning (see Method 2). Otherwise, the bracelet depends on syncing with your smartphone. The alternative is to use special utilities for PC, such as Mi Band 4 Tools, but this requires ADB skills.
Why does the bracelet only update after rebooting?
This is a typical symptom of outdated firmware or conflict with Android’s energy-saving settings: Update the bracelet software and add Mi Fit to battery optimization exceptions, and check if the antivirus is blocking the app’s background activity.
How to make the bracelet show the time in a 24-hour format?
Go to Mi Fit, select your Mi Band 4, then go to Device Settings → Time Format and set a 24-hour format.