Mi Account is a feature that every Xiaomi smartphone owner should know and use

Most Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones have the MIUI software overlay in the system. It provides a user-friendly environment and many specific features that we won’t find on phones from other brands.

An indispensable part of MIUI is also the user Mi Account, which offers several interesting features.

Do you know and use the benefits of Mi Account?

Mi Account is basically an online account set up for full functionality of smartphones and devices that use the MIUI software overlay, or belong to Xiaomi’s smart home product lineup.

If you don’t have Mi Account yet, you can create one on this page or directly in your smartphone, under Settings / Mi Account.

To register, you’ll need a working email address and an active phone number. During registration, the system assigns you an identification number – Mi Account ID – that’s unique for each account.

It’s a multi-digit number that will stay with you throughout the entire time you use a specific account on all devices. Then, on all new Mi devices, you can sign in to the Mi Account app using your email, phone number, or even your Mi Account ID.

To use all Mi Account features, you must confirm all permissions and verify the account. Then you can enjoy its benefits. With this account, you can sign in for example in apps for wearable devices like Mi Fit or Amazfit, but also in the Mi Home app, which syncs and controls smart home elements.

Other Mi Account advantages include using online storage space Xiaomi Cloud, backup and file sync on your devices, as well as the ability to find your device.

Xiaomi Cloud

One of the primary functions of Mi Account is online storage space – the so-called cloud. Every user gets 5 GB of storage for free. It’s not a lot, but it’s fully enough for basic backups.

If you need storage with a larger capacity, you can add space as a three-month, six-month, or annual fee. Payment is made in Hong Kong dollars and can be done via PayPal.

There are bundles with 50 GB, 200 GB, and 1 TB available. With Xiaomi Cloud, you can back up files and photos from your smartphone, store various settings, and sync multiple devices.

Sync & backup

An important feature of Xiaomi Cloud is the ability to back up your files and to sync various items and settings. Of course, sync and backup also work when using multiple Xiaomi devices at the same time.

• Home Screen Backup – when the service is active, the Home Screen layout, apps, and system settings are backed up. Syncing is once a day, or once every 7 days.

• Sync app data – users can choose which app data they want to back up – and sync. Options include Contacts, SMS messages, Gallery, Recorder, Notes, WiFi settings, Calendar, Browser, Frequent phrases

Find device

As the name of this service suggests, using Mi Account the user can find their device that they forgot, lost, or somehow ended up without.

To find a device, the Find a device service must be active. After that, just sign in with the same Mi Account on the page https://i.mi.com/ and start searching.

Besides the device location—which, by the way, works very fast and fairly accurately—the user also has the option to control the device remotely. For the device location to work correctly, you need to have GPS enabled and an internet connection via WiFi / mobile network.

On the device you’re looking for, you can start a sound signal from your phone via a web page, enable the lost mode, and if needed, also erase the device content.

In addition to searching for the device, you can also use the entire Xiaomi Cloud through the web page https://i.mi.com/.

You might say we didn’t discover anything new and that all these services have been around for a long time. Yes—some Mi Account services that are, by the way, already here from the very beginning of the MIUI overlay may remind you of features from a Google Account, an Apple ID, or even other providers.

The advantage of Mi Account is that it’s built into Xiaomi devices right from the first power-on. Besides synchronizing data on your smartphone, it also works with other Xiaomi wearables and the entire Xiaomi smart home product lineup.

Another big advantage is that when you switch from an old Xiaomi smartphone to a new one, after signing in to Mi Account, all your contacts, photos, settings, WiFi networks, and much more are automatically pulled into the new phone. Basically everything you choose to sync on your old smartphone.