Transferring data from Honor to Xiaomi: 5 proven ways to save money

Moving from Honor to Xiaomi is not just about changing your brand, but also bringing all the important data from contacts and photos to your call history and app settings. Many users face challenges migrating because of the differences in EMUI (Honor) and MIUI (Xiaomi) firmware, especially when it comes to models without Google Mobile Services (such as the new Honor for the Chinese market).

It’s important to understand that not all methods are equally effective. For example, Xiaomi’s Mi Mover may not recognize some files due to the features of Honor encryption, and manual transfer over ADB will require technical skills. We tested each method on device pairs (Honor 90 + Xiaomi 14, Honor Magic5 + Redmi Note 13 Pro+) and highlighted key nuances that will help avoid data loss. If you move from Huawei (before the brands are separated), note that the procedure may be different – read about this in the FAQ.

Before you start, check:

• 🔋 Battery charge on both phones (minimum 50% to avoid failures).
• 📶 A stable Internet connection (for cloud-based methods) or USB-cable OTG.
• 🔐 Unlock screen on both devices (some methods require confirmation of actions).

1.The official way: Mi Mover by Xiaomi

Mi Mover is Xiaomi’s proprietary application for data migration from Android devices, including Honor.It is pre-installed on all Xiaomi smartphones (starting with MIUI 9) and supports porting:

• 📞 Contacts, call history and SMS.
• 📷 Photos and videos (including Gallery albums).
• 🎵 Music and documents.
• 📱 Some system settings (wallpaper, brightness, sound profiles).

However, there are limitations:

⚠️ Note: Mi Mover does not carry application data (e.g. saves in games or chats) Telegram/WhatsApp). This will require separate backups or manual export.

Step-by-step:

1. On Xiaomi, open Settings → About Phone → Mi Mover (or find the app through search).
2. Select “I am a new user” and follow the prompts.
3. On Honor, download Mi Mover from Google Play (if available) or use the Huawei Phone Clone in reverse mode (see Section 3).
4. Connect your phones via USB-OTG or Wi-Fi (the second method is slower).
5. Select data types to transfer and confirm the start of the process.

Download Mi Mover on Honor (if not in Google Play, use it) APK from the official Xiaomi website)|Disable battery optimization for Mi Mover in Honor settings|Use the original USB-cable (not all cables support data transmission)|Check the space available on Xiaomi (must be at least 10% of the data portable)-->

The speed of the transfer depends on the amount of data:

Mi Mover may not recognize files encrypted with EMUI 13+ firmware (e.g. screenshots or screen recordings). In this case, use manual portability (Section 4).

2. Transfer through Google Account (for contacts, calendar, mail)

If your Honor is synced to a Google Account, most of the underlying data is already available in the cloud.

• 📇 Contacts (including groups and labels).
• 📅 Calendar and reminders.
• 📧 Letters and notes (if Gmail or Google Keep is used).
• 📍 Save places in Google Maps.

How to move:

1. On Honor, check that sync is enabled: Settings → Accounts → Google → Account Sync.
2. On Xiaomi, add the same Google Account: Settings → Accounts → Add an account → Google.
3. Enable synchronization for the desired data categories.
4. Wait until the process is completed (it can take up to 10 minutes).

Advantages of the method:

• ⚡ Fast (data is uploaded from the cloud, no need to connect phones to each other).
• 🔄 Automatic update (changes on one device will affect another).

⚠️ Note: If Huawei was used on Honor ID Instead of Google, the data will not be automatically transferred, in which case export the contacts to the.vcf file (see section 4).

💡

Before transferring, check if your contacts are tied to the SIM-These contacts are not synced to Google, but must be manually copied to the phone's memory or exported.

Huawei’s 3. Phone Clone (an alternative to the new Honor models)

If your Honor is running MagicOS (like the Honor Magic5 or Honor 90), the standard Mi Mover may not work due to manufacturer restrictions.

Instructions:

1. Download Phone Clone on both phones (for Xiaomi available in APK on APKPure).
2. On Xiaomi, select “This is a new phone” and on Honor, “This is an old phone.”
3. Connect the phones through QR-code (wi-fi) or cable.
4. Select data for transfer (for example, "Photos", "Contacts", "Applications").

Features of the method:

• 🔄 It works without Google Services (relevant to Chinese versions of Honor).
• 📦 Transfers some application settings (such as WeChat or WeChat) QQ).
• ⚠️ Does not support transferring data from WhatsApp or Telegram (requires a separate backup).

4. Manual transfer of files via cable or PC

If the automatic methods don't work, you have to manually carry it, and it's universal, but it takes longer.

• 🖥️ Computer (Windows/Mac) or USB-OTG adapter.
• 📁 Flash drive (if carried over PC).
• 🔌 Type-C cable → Type-C (for direct connection).

Step 1: Exporting contacts

1. On Honor, open Contacts → Settings → Import / Export → Export to.vcf.
2. Save the file to a memory card or internal memory.
3. Transfer the file to Xiaomi and import through Contacts → Settings → Import.

Step 2: Transfer photos and videos

• Connect Honor to your PC in File Transfer (MTP) mode.
• Copy DCIM, Pictures and Movies folders to your computer.
• Connect Xiaomi and paste the files into the appropriate folders.

Step 3: Transfer of messages (SMS)

Use SMS applications like SMS Backup & Restore:

1. Install the app on both phones.
2. On Honor, create a backup (Backup → select SMS).
3. Move the backup file to Xiaomi (via PC or cloud).
4. On Xiaomi, restore messages (Restore).

💡

Manual porting is the only way to save application data that doesn’t support cloud sync (such as local notes or game files).

5. data transfer applications (WhatsApp, Telegram, games)

Social networks and instant messengers require a separate approach, since their data is not carried by standard methods.

WhatsApp:

• 📱 Create a backup on Honor: WhatsApp Settings → chat → Backup (select Google Drive or Local Storage).
• 🔄 Install WhatsApp on Xiaomi and sign in to the same account.
• 📥 Restore chats from the backup on the first run.

Telegram:

• ⚙️ Enable sync in the cloud: Settings → Data and memory → Synchronization of contacts.
• 📲 Install Telegram on Xiaomi and log in to your account – all chats and media files will be downloaded automatically.

Games (e.g. Genshin Impact, PUBG Mobile)

• 🎮 Use an account link (Google Play Games, Facebook, Mi Account).
• 🔗 After installing the game on Xiaomi, log in to the same account – progress will recover.

⚠️ Note: If the game does not have cloud-based storage, try copying the data folder (e.g., a file, Android/obb or Android/data) But this only works for games without device-based tethering.

6.Move over cloud services (Google Drive, Dropbox, Mi Cloud)

Cloud storage is convenient for carrying large amounts of data without cables.

Google Drive:

• 📁 Download files from Honor to Drive (via app or web version).
• 📥 Download them to Xiaomi.
• 🔄 Suitable for photos, videos, documents (up to 15 GB at a free rate).

Mi Cloud (only for Xiaomi):

• 📱 Register your Mi Account on Xiaomi.
• 📤 Upload data from Honor to Mi Cloud via the web version (i.mi.com).
• 📥 Sync them on your new phone.

Dropbox or Yandex Disc:

• 🌍 Universal services, but with a speed limit (free accounts have a traffic limit).
• 🔐 Suitable for confidential data due to encryption.

Comparison of cloud services:

7 Features of porting from Honor to Xiaomi without Google Services

If your Honor doesn’t support Google Mobile Services (like the Chinese model), standard methods like syncing with your Google Account won’t work.

Use alternative accounts:

• 📧 Huawei ID: Export contacts to.vcf and transfer them manually.
• 🌐 Mi Account: Upload files to Mi Cloud from PC.
• 📱 Local backups: Use apps like Swift Backup (requires root).

Application bypasses:

• 📱 Install. APK-App versions (e.g. Google Play Services) via APKMirror.
• 🔄 Use AlternativeTo to search for analogues (for example, instead of Google Maps – Yandex Maps or Baidu Maps).

⚠️ Note: Installing Google Services on Honor without official support can lead to unstable system operation.

FAQ: Frequent questions when transferring from Honor to Xiaomi