The most common Xiaomi Mi Band problems and how to fix them

The Xiaomi Mi Band series is among the most illustrious product lines in the wearable world. They might be for those with thin budgets, but they offer an excellent array of features. Despite their strengths, they also have their weaknesses. You may encounter an annoying problem that you can’t seem to fix, whether related to the Mi Band’s strap, battery life, or app. We’re here to help. Please browse our extensive list of common Xiaomi Mi Band problems and solutions below.

Are you facing issues syncing your Xiaomi Mi Band with Zepp Life (Mi Fit) or Xiaomi Wear (Mi Fitness)? Find a few possible solutions below.

Basic solutions:

• Ensure that your Mi Band is charged or is connected to its charger during the pairing and syncing process.
• Restart your phone’s Bluetooth radio if your app can’t see your Mi Band.
• Are you still having issues with pairing and syncing? Try restarting both the Mi Band and your phone.

Alternative solutions:

• If you’ve successfully paired your Mi Band with your phone, but opening the Zepp Life app doesn’t prompt a sync with your band, unpair your Mi Band from the Zepp Life app and pair it once more.
• Some users have noted that after upgrading from the older Mi Fit app to the new Zepp Life app, their device would refuse to pair or is missing from the app itself.
  • You can theoretically avoid this issue by unpairing your Mi Band from the Mi Fit app before upgrading to Zepp Life.
  • However, if Zepp Life asks you to unpair your Mi Band that is no longer listed on the app, factory resetting your Mi Band will allow you to pair it with Zepp Life. Your data will return once the band syncs with the servers.
    • To factory reset your Mi Band: Open Settings or tap More on your respective band, then select System > Factory reset. Tap the checkmark icon to confirm.
• Are you using Xiaomi Wear and can’t find your Mi Band model? Try changing the region in the app to China before pairing.

Xiaomi Mi Band 7 pairing problems:

You may encounter a few problems pairing the Chinese and global variants of the Mi Band 7. Here are a few potential solutions for the more common pairing issues.

• We recommended that you use Zepp Life as the companion app for the Mi Band 7.
• If you’re trying to pair the Chinese version of the Mi Band 7 with Xiaomi Wear, you’ll need to set the app region as China during the pairing process as a temporary solution. Once paired, you can switch it back to your locale.
  • You can tell if you have a Chinese model by looking at the SKU on your tracker’s box. If the last two digits are CN, you own a Chinese model. If it’s GL, you have the global variant.

See also: Xiaomi Mi Band 7 buyer’s guide

Is your Mi Band showing the wrong time? There are some straightforward solutions for this.

Potential solutions:

• To correct the time on your Mi Band, simply disconnect it from Bluetooth by disabling your phone’s Bluetooth radio for a moment. Wait a few seconds before switching it back on. Your Mi Band should reconnect in a moment. The next time it syncs, the time on your Mi Band should reflect the time on your phone.
• You can also try restarting your Mi Band.
  • To do this, head to Settings or More > System > Restart. Once the Mi Band is on, resync it by dragging your finger down the Zepp Life home screen and releasing it. This should fix the time.

Charging issues are commonplace across all devices; smartphones, smartwatches, fitness trackers, the lot. If you’re struggling to charge your Mi Band, you may find a solution to your problem below.

Basic solutions:

• It’s a good idea to ensure your Mi Band’s charging contacts are clean and free of lint, dust, or grime.
  • Gently brush them with an old toothbrush and some rubbing alcohol if they are dirty.
• Is your Mi Band charging cable in good condition? If it’s a little beat up, you may need to purchase a new one. Find new Mi Band chargers for your respective Mi Band charging system below.
• If your Mi Band is connected to the charging cable and it refuses to charge, double-check the following:
  • Ensure the charging brick works by plugging another device into it.
    • If the brick doesn’t charge any other device, consider trying another brick, a USB port on a laptop or computer, or a power bank if you have one.
  • Is the power on at the wall? Check the switch.
  • Make sure the pins are correctly lined up on your Mi Band.
    • This is easy to do on the Mi Band 4, thanks to its charging cradle. On the Mi Band 5 and newer models, the cable will attach magnetically to the band’s body.

Alternative solutions:

• If you find that your Mi Band won’t switch on or charge after a shower or a swim, water may have permeated the tracker’s seals.
  • Leave it in a warm place for a few days to dry out.
  • If this doesn’t work, contact Xiaomi for guidance.

Our verdict: Xiaomi Mi Band 6 review | Xiaomi Mi Band 5 review

Your Mi Band is now charged, but you can’t understand why its battery is draining so quickly. Well, several things could contribute to high battery consumption. Here’s how to troubleshoot the problem.

Potential solutions:

• Give your new Mi Band a few charging cycles before determining if there’s a battery issue or not. High power consumption out of the box could be down to first boot operations, updates installing, bugs not yet patched in launch software, or other teething issues.
  • If there is an update available for your device, consider installing it.
• If your battery life doesn’t improve after a week, it’s time to do some more serious troubleshooting.
  • Try factory resetting your Mi Band or run the battery down to 0%. Then, place it on the charger overnight.
  • Consider disabling health tracking features you don’t need. These may include:
    • Frequent heart rate monitoring.
    • Sleep breathing quality monitoring and SpO2 monitoring.
    • Stress monitoring.
    • You can address the lion’s share of these features by opening Zepp Life on your phone, tapping your Profile > [your Mi Band model] > Health monitoring.
    • Note: We’d think twice before disabling all these, though. These steps will improve your battery life, but they’ll also nerf your Mi Band experience.
  • Decrease your screen brightness. To do this: Open Settings > Display & Brightness > Brightness adjustment, then slide down on the display to decrease the brightness level.
  • Lower your screen timeout. Your Mi Band’s battery will last longer the less your screen is on. Open Settings > Display & Brightness > Screen-on Duration > select 5 Seconds.
    
  • Disable Wake On Wrist Raise. This will ensure your Mi Band will not suddenly light up if you move your arm. To do this: Open Settings > Display & Brightness > Wake on Wrist Raise > Enable Status > Off.
    

Xiaomi Mi Band 7 battery problems:

If your new Mi Band 7 chews its battery a little too quickly for your liking, consider the following:

• Disable Always-On Display (AOD) functionality. Usually, the screen is the biggest power hog on smartwatches and fitness trackers. The Mi Band 7 is no exception.
  • To disable AOD: Open Settings > Display & Brightness > Screen always lit > select Off. If you want the screen to remain lit on a schedule, tap Scheduled and select your preferred time frame. Smart will give the Mi Band 7 license to switch AOD on or off as it sees fit.
• Disable all-day blood oxygen monitoring. The Mi Band 7 is the first in the series to introduce around-the-clock SpO2 monitoring. Disable this to improve battery life.
  • To disable all-day blood oxygen monitoring: Scroll through the Mi Band 7’s main menu and select Blood Oxygen. Toggle off All-day Monitoring.
• Activate Battery Saver mode. This mode will limit smart functionality and health tracking features but boost your battery endurance. Open Settings > Battery saver mode > toggle the switch on.

Head-to-head: Xiaomi Mi Band 7 vs Mi Band 6

Xiaomi Mi Band models are excellent notification tools, beaming your smartphone’s alerts to your wrist. Occasionally, you may run into a few problems. Either the band stops relaying notifications, or a specific app’s alerts suddenly stop. Here are a few ways to fix notification issues on Mi Bands.

Potential solutions:

• Are you not receiving any notifications from your phone at all?
  • Double-check if Battery save mode is on. This mode will limit the functionality of your device to conserve power, including notification alerts. Disable it to receive notifications.
  • Check if you’ve granted your Mi Band’s app (Zepp Life or Xiaomi Wear) essential permissions, including access to SMSes, notifications, and permissions to run in the background.
    • If Zepp Life is already allowed to receive notifications, try toggling this permission off and on in your phone’s settings.
    • Ensure your SMS app is allowed to send notifications to your Mi Band. If you use Zepp Life, find this in the Notifications & reminders section.
  • Still nothing? Try restarting your phone and your Mi Band.
• Do you want to receive notifications when your phone’s screen is on and off?
  • In the Zepp Life app, open your Profile > [your Mi Band model] > Notifications & reminders > App alerts > toggle off Only receive when the screen is off.
• If you want to disable “Band is connected” notifications, open Zepp Life, navigate to your profile Profile > [your Mi Band model] > Notifications & reminders > App alerts > Manage apps > deselect the Zepp Life app.

Band breakage issues

Things break, and chances are, your Mi Band strap may bite the dust sooner than you were expecting. But what can you do should this tragedy befall you? Well, here are your options.

Potential solutions:

If you’re in the United States, you may be covered by Xiaomi’s US warranty. According to Xiaomi, its Mi Band modules are under warranty for 12 months. The strap itself is covered for one month. In essence, this means you have the option to return your Xiaomi Mi Band if the strap is faulty within one month of receipt. Of course, if you’ve owned your Mi Band for over a month, you’re out of luck.

If you’re in India, Xiaomi does not cover the Mi Band straps under any circumstances. However, the Mi Band module (from the original Mi Band to the Mi Band 6) is covered for a year.

Luckily, the straps are relatively affordable in every region of the world. You can find replacement bands for your respective Mi Band via Amazon below.

Band rash issues

Skin irritation issues are common across wearables. This issue isn’t limited to Xiaomi’s Mi Bands. If you find that wearing your Mi Band leaves you with itchy, dry, or red skin, there are several ways to mitigate the problem.

• First, consider purchasing a new strap made of a different material.
  • Generally, a softer fabric will be kinder to your skin and aid ventilation. Consider switching to elastic, nylon, metal mesh, or leather.
• Do you regularly work out with your Mi Band? Be sure to clean your band regularly after working up a sweat. Alternatively, purchase a secondary band for everyday use, and use the other specifically for workouts.
• If the rash persists, contact a medical professional.

How to restart your Xiaomi Mi Band

• Xiaomi Mi Band 7: Tap on the screen to wake up your device. Scroll down to Settings > System > Restart. Tap the checkmark to confirm.
• Xiaomi Mi Band 6: Tap on the screen to wake up your device. Scroll down to Settings > Reboot. Tap the checkmark to confirm.
• Xiaomi Mi Band 5: Tap on the screen to wake up your device. Scroll down to More, then select Settings. Select Reboot and tap the checkmark to initiate the restart process.
• Xiaomi Mi Band 4: Tap on the screen to wake up your device. Scroll down to More, then select Settings. Select Reboot and tap the checkmark to initiate the restart process.

Are you still troubleshooting a specific Xiaomi Mi Band problem or issue? Be sure to let us know in the comments. We’ll try our best to help.