How to copy data from Honor to Xiaomi: a complete guide to comparing all ways

The transition from Honor to Xiaomi is often accompanied by the question: how to keep all the important data from contacts to photos without loss? Despite the fact that both brands work on Android, the differences in shells (Magic UI for Honor and MIUI for Xiaomi) can complicate the process. In this article, we will discuss 5 working methods of data transfer, their pros and cons, and give recommendations for choosing the best option depending on the amount of information and device models.

The peculiarity of the transfer between these brands is that Xiaomi is actively promoting its own solution - Mi Mover, but it does not always work correctly with Honor devices due to manufacturer restrictions. OTG-cables – require different preparations and give different results. We tested each method on current models (for example, Honor 90 and Xiaomi 14) and collected data on transfer speeds, supported file types and typical errors.

1.The official way: Mi Mover by Xiaomi

Mi Mover is Xiaomi’s proprietary data migration tool pre-installed on most of the brand’s devices, and supports porting contacts, messages, photos, videos, and even some apps. However, there may be nuances with Honor: newer models with MagicOS 7+ require additional permissions.

To use Mi Mover, follow the following steps:

• 📱 Install the Mi Mover app on both devices (on Xiaomi it is usually the default, on Honor download from AppGallery or APKMirror).
• 🔗 Connect both phones to the same Wi-Fi network (required! Mobile internet won't work).
• 📲 On Honor, select the role of “Sender” (Sender), on Xiaomi – “Receiver” (Receiver).
• 🔍 Scan it. QR-code from Xiaomi screen on Honor and confirm the connection.
• 📁 Select data types to transfer (maximum up to 10 GB per session).

Download Mi Mover on Honor| Connect both phones to Wi-Fi| Battery charge >50%| Free up space on Xiaomi (at least 20% of the data portable)| Disable VPNs and firewalls-->

Transfer speeds vary depending on router model and network load. On average, 1 GB of data is copied in 5-15 minutes. However, users note that on Honor devices with MagicOS 7.0+ Mi Mover may not see some system files (such as notes or call history) due to manufacturer restrictions.

⚠️ Note: If the Privacy Protection feature is enabled on Honor (Settings) → Confidentiality → Data protection, Mi Mover will not be able to copy messages and call logs.

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

The most versatile method is synchronization with a Google Account, which is suitable for transferring contacts, calendar events, notes (if stored in Google Keep) and mail, the main advantage is that the data is automatically updated on the new device, and the process does not require additional applications.

Instructions:

1. On Honor, open Settings → Accounts → Google and select your profile.
2. Activate synchronization for the desired categories (contacts, calendar, etc.).
3. On Xiaomi, log in to the same Google Account when you first enable or through Settings → Accounts.
4. Wait for automatic synchronization (can take up to 10 minutes).

This is ideal for basic migration, but not for multimedia or application transfer, and for full backup, we recommend combining it with other methods.

Google Account|Mi Mover|Cable OTG|Cloud services (Yandex Drive, Google Drive)|Other-->

Direct transmission through OTG-cable

If you have OTG-cable (or Type-C adapter) → Type-C, which can be transferred directly from a flash drive, is suitable for large files (video, archives) and does not depend on an Internet connection, but requires manual control and does not copy system data (for example, SMS or application settings).

Step-by-step:

• 🔌 Connect Honor to Xiaomi via OTG-On the Honor screen, select File Transfer Mode (MTP).
• 📂 On Xiaomi, open Explorer (or Files) and go to the section USB-device.
• 📋 Copy the right folders (DCIM For photos, downloads, etc., in Xiaomi’s internal memory.
• ⚡ Use a multi-window file manager to speed up (e.g. Solid Explorer).

⚠️ Note: Not all Honor folders are available for reading through MTP. For example, some applications (such as Huawei Health) are stored in encrypted form and not copied. To get around this, move the files to a public folder (such as Documents) before connecting).

The OTG transmission speed depends on the USB version:

USB 2.0 (older models): ~5-10 MB/s.

USB 3.1 (new flagships): up to 40-50 MB / s.

It can take 20 minutes to 2 hours to transfer 50 GB of data.

4. Cloud services: Google Drive, Yandex Drive, Huawei Cloud

Cloud storage is convenient for transferring large amounts of data wirelessly, but requires stable Internet and free space in your account.

4.1. Google Drive

Suitable for backup photos, documents and contacts (unless they are automatically synced) free rate - 15 GB.

• 📁 On Honor, upload files to Google Drive via the app.
• 📥 On Xiaomi, download them back.

4.2 Yandex Disc

It gives 10 GB for free and supports background download, minus the limit on the size of one file (up to 2 GB in the free tariff).

Huawei Cloud (Honor only) 4.3

If Honor has backup enabled in Huawei Cloud, you can download the archive to your computer and then upload it to Xiaomi. However, this method requires an intermediate device (PC) and does not support direct transfer.

To speed up the process, we recommend:

• 🌐 Use Wi-Fi 5 GHz or wired internet.
• 📦 Archiving folders before downloading (for example, in ZIP).
• ⏳ Download data at night when server load is lower.

5. Transfer of applications and their data (Root-method)

Standard methods do not copy application data (such as game progress or messaging settings), which requires root access or specialized tools like Titanium Backup (requires superuser rights), but new Honor and Xiaomi models make unlocking the bootloader more difficult.

The following is the ADB (Android Debug Bridge):

adb backup -apk -obb -shared -all -f /sdcard/backup.ab


adb restore /sdcard/backup.ab

This team creates a full backup on Honor, which can then be restored to Xiaomi.

• ⚠️ Not all applications will recover correctly due to differences in shells.
• ⚠️ Huawei Mobile Services will not work on Xiaomi.

⚠️ Attention: Use ADB It can cause malfunctions in Xiaomi if the backup contains incompatible files (for example, from Magic). UI). Before restoring, check the archive for critical data manually.

6. Frequent errors and their solutions

When you move data between Honor and Xiaomi, you're going to have a problem, and we've collected some of the most common ways to fix it.

• 🚫 Mi Mover doesn’t see Honor: Check that both phones have Developer Mode and Debugging enabled USB. Update Mi Mover to the latest version (Honor may require installation) APK manually).
• 🔄 Data not fully copied: Use Google Photos with original quality for photos. Export your contacts to file VCF via Contact → Management → Exports.
• ⚡ Slow Wi-Fi Transfer: Switch to 5 GHz in router settings. Disconnect other devices from the network.

If none of the methods worked, try intermediate porting over the PC:

1. Copy data from Honor to your computer.
2. Connect Xiaomi and transfer the files back.

💡

For maximum reliability, combine several methods: Mi Mover for system data, Google Account for contacts and OTG-cable.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions