Mi Band 3 does not connect to the phone: reasons and solutions

With a fitness bracelet, many things become easier. You don't need to carry your phone everywhere to count your steps; With it you can quickly switch the music track. The bracelet monitors sleep and heartbeat, and records training indicators. And all this time it is on the hand, and the data is transferred to the smartphone to which the bracelet is connected. But there are times when the bracelet and phone do not want to pair. What to do? This is what our article is about.

New for 2021:
the Mi Band 6 fitness bracelet , which has become more accurate and received functions such as measuring blood oxygen levels, tracking breathing during sleep and more than 30 sports modes.

Possible causes and solutions

Problems occur not only with bracelets, but also with phones. Some problems can be solved quickly, while others will require some fiddling.

Multiple devices connected

If you used a previous version of the tracker before connecting Mi Band 3, you need to reconnect after disconnecting the outdated model. To disconnect the old device, you need to go to MiFit, then to the “Profile” tab, click on the icon of the previous bracelet in the “My Devices” menu. At the very bottom there will be a shutdown button.

Non-original device

The fake Mi Band 3 does not sync with the official application. To avoid buying counterfeit products, it is recommended to buy from trusted stores. Often users purchase fake models on Aliexpress. Pay attention to the ratings and reviews of the seller.

Bluetooth problems

Some people are interested in whether the bracelet will connect to a smartphone with Bluetooth, for example, 4.0. According to the manufacturer, the fitness tracker is designed for version 4.2 and higher. If your phone has Bluetooth 4.0 installed, the gadget will work. Sometimes errors may occur.

But if the smartphone has connection version 3.0 or 2.0, then problems with the connection often arise. This happens with old phones.

Use third-party applications

At first glance, using unofficial applications seems like something out of the ordinary. But many of them offer not only more stable operation compared to official software, but also an expanded list of functions.

An example of such a program is Mi Band Master.

Functionally, it is not much inferior to the original application and offers its own additional options.

Installing third-party software in the vast majority of cases solves the problem, so you should not ignore this advice.

The phone does not see the fitness tracker

If the smartphone does not display the bracelet, then you need to follow the following instructions:

Remove the official application.
Install an older version.
Connect the tracker to your computer via a USB cable.
Launch Mi Fit on your phone, then remove the capsule from the computer.
In most cases the problem is solved, but sometimes a few more steps need to be taken.
Update Mi Fit to the latest version.
Reconnect the device.

After these steps, the phone usually starts displaying Mi Band 3.

Outdated version of bracelet firmware

When purchasing a tracker on the secondary market, you may encounter a situation where the previous owner did not update the device’s firmware to the latest. The reason for this could be a number of factors, for example, support for his smartphone was removed in the new firmware version.

When buying a new bracelet, there is a chance to get a tracker from early batches that carry the old firmware version on board. As you can see, no purchase method guarantees stable operation of the device out of the box. You will have to solve the problem of updating an old firmware version yourself.

In a situation where you purchased a bracelet with an unsupported software version.

The solution is to go to the manufacturer’s official website and download the appropriate version of Mi Fit that supports the device’s firmware.

To find out which version of Mi Fit you need to download, read the description of the kit for your device model on resources dedicated to smartphones and related devices, such as w3bsit3-dns.com.

After downloading the correct version of the application, we check the stability of the bracelet.

Useful utilities

There is software that allows you to solve problems with connecting devices. If one does not help, it is recommended to use another. Judging by the reviews, the software works.

Fix-it

Fix-it is a common application for solving a problem. Most reviews are positive.

To fix the problem, you need to do the following:

Detach the bracelet through the official application.
Remove Mi Fit.
Install the Fix-it program.
Enter the Bluetooth or MAC profile address.
Re-bind the tracker.

Now it is possible to use unofficial applications.

NRF-Connect

If nothing worked with the previous utility, then you should use this one. Using NRF-Connect, a connection is established between the phone and Mi Band 3.

Instructions:

Install the program.
Enable Bluetooth connection.
Allow software access.
Scan.
After scanning is completed, attach the fitness bracelet.

After the operation is completed, the device is displayed in the “Bound” or “Bonded” tab.

BLE-Scanner

The utility interface is simple.

To solve the problem you need:

Install the software, open BLE-Scanner.
Start search.
Once completed, connect to the bracelet.

The task of all these programs is to connect the mobile phone and the Mi Band 3 tracker. After this, Mi Fit is installed and connected again.

FAQ

Why doesn't Mi Band 4 connect without geolocation?

Working without GPS is impossible because this function allows the tracker to work correctly. She is responsible for navigation, training regimen, weather, etc. Therefore, when synchronizing in the Mi Fit application, it is best to provide location permission.

What to do if the tracker screen does not respond?

You will need to hold down the button with a checkmark for a few seconds, after which the screen will begin to show “signs of life.”

How to improve Bluetooth connection?

There are third-party applications for this, for example, NRF Connect.
It is designed specifically to ensure stable communication between devices when connected wirelessly. Most problems with connecting a fitness tracker to a smartphone can be solved in the simplest ways. That is why you should not panic if problems occur. Our instructions are accurate, safe and effective. Reliable tips will help you quickly deal with the error and continue using them without problems. At the same time, it is important not to be afraid, because lack of connection is not such a serious problem. It is not even connected to the “internals” of Mi Band 4, so there is no need to worry about the bracelet turning into a “brick” or deteriorating its performance.

Flashing the bracelet

If all of the above methods did not help, the problem was not solved, then you should resort to this method. This is a radical method, but often it helps.

Note:
When updating the firmware, it is advisable to turn on the “Airplane” mode, turn off Mi Fit and notifications so that nothing interrupts the installation of the Mi Band 3 bracelet firmware. It is also recommended to charge the devices.

Guide for flashing step by step:

Install GadgetBridge on your phone.
Launch MiFit. In the “Profile” tab, you need to select “Mi Band 3”, go to “Visibility” and enable the option.
Next, launch GadgetBridge. There should be a bracelet on the list. You need to click on it and wait until it connects. If it does not connect, remove the device from the list and restart the smartphone. After the restart, open the utility and add the gadget. The bracelet must connect to GadgetBridge.
Next, you need to find official or custom firmware on the Internet, download it, and upload it to the internal memory of your mobile phone. After downloading, it is advisable to check for viruses.
After this, minimize GadgetBridge and find the downloaded firmware in the file manager. Often there are 3 files. You need to click on the one with the *.fw extension and select the utility. Then, confirm the installation.
After completion, open the folder with the downloaded files, performing the same actions with the remaining two files. It will take some time. You need to do everything in this order: first the .fw file, then .res, then .ft.
The bracelet firmware is complete. You can now delete files from your phone. If the utility is not needed, then it can also be removed from the smartphone. Now you need to check if everything works.
It is advisable to return the visibility settings in Mi Fit to reduce battery consumption. This can be done in the same way as in point 2.

Method No. 2

The method assumes that the device has previously been synchronized with a smartphone.

If at some point the Xiaomi Mi Band 2 simply refused to connect, then you need to proceed as follows:

Launch Mi Fit.
Go to the “Profile” tab and select our bracelet from the list of previously connected devices.

Next, a message is displayed stating that the bracelet is not connected, and therefore you need to scroll down the window and press one of the buttons: “Cancel connection” or “Unpair”. Click "OK".

We close the application and, after restarting it, try to repeat the synchronization. As soon as the LEDs on the Band's tracker begin to blink, you need to select the device to be connected on your smartphone, after which the connection will be completed.

Since authorization is performed with the same data, all statistics collected by the tracker before it was unlinked will be saved and will continue to accumulate after successful synchronization.

What's the result?

If no method solves the problem, you need to check if everything is fine with the fitness bracelet itself. The authenticity of the device is verified using a QR code on the packaging. If the problem is with the bracelet, you can return it under warranty or take it to a service center. To avoid buying a fake, it is advisable to buy in official stores, on real websites, from trusted sellers.

In conclusion, I would like to note that there is not always a problem. It happens that after an update the smartphone stops connecting to Mi Band. In some cases this is a programming error. Therefore, you need to wait some time until the next update is released without errors.

Gadgetbridge

The Gadgetbridge utility (freely available) allows you to replace the software stored in the bracelet's memory. The technique is used after testing other methods, since flashing the product can negatively affect its performance. Before starting work, you need to install the program on your smartphone, as well as download the desired firmware version. The distribution includes 3 files with extensions fw, res and ft.

After installation, the utility starts and the wrist device is selected in the dialog box. Then the synchronization procedure automatically starts, the user opens the folder with the saved firmware components. The required file is highlighted with the button held down for 2 seconds. An additional window opens on the side in which you select the option to open the document using a third-party application. The Gadgetbridge utility is selected from the list, and the remaining files are opened in a similar manner.

After completing the firmware procedure, the utility is deleted. Uninstalling software from the smartphone's memory does not in any way affect the functionality of the installed firmware. Then the owner of the equipment synchronizes the bracelet through standard algorithms provided in the Mi Fit program. If the equipment does not find the phone, it is recommended to contact a service center that repairs and maintains Xiaomi equipment.