How to know the total time of Xiaomi phone: from settings to hidden commands

Ever wondered how many hours your Xiaomi has been on since it first activated? This information can come in handy when buying a used device, evaluating battery wear, or just to satisfy curiosity. Unlike battery life (which is reset after each charge), the total life of the smartphone is accumulated from the first turn on and not reset.

Unfortunately, MIUI doesn’t bring these statistics to the home screen, but it can be extracted in a number of ways, from standard menus to engineering commands. In this article, we’ll look at all the current techniques for 2018-2026 models, including hidden firmware features, working with ADBs, and even hardware diagnostics. You’ll learn not only how to get numbers, but how to interpret them correctly: for example, why the uptime may exceed the real age of the phone or how to distinguish fake data when buying.

1. Method: through the standard menu "About the phone"

The easiest method is to use the built-in MIUI statistics. It works on all Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices with a firmware version at least MIUI 10 (even on custom builds).

1. Open the Settings. → The phone.
2. Tap 7-10 times on the MIUI version until the notification “You’ve become a developer!” appears.
3. Return to the main Settings menu and select a new section → For developers.
4. Scroll down to the Debugging block and find the Opening Time (or Uptime on English firmware).

Here you will see two key figures:

• 📱 Uptime – How many hours the phone worked without turning off.
• ⏳ Total Uptime: Total activity hours since first activation.

For example, if you see a value of 1250 hours, this means that the device worked for about 52 days (1250 ÷ 24). But beware: on some models (for example, Xiaomi 12T or Redmi Note 11 Pro+), this menu may display the time incorrectly after resetting.

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If the Time is not on the developer menu, upgrade to the latest stable version of the firmware. On MIUI betas, this option is sometimes hidden.

Method: via the engineering menu (#4636##)

The hidden engineering menu provides advanced statistics, including CPU and communication module lifetimes, which works on most Xiaomi devices but can be blocked on some regional firmware (e.g. India or the EU).

Instructions:

1. Open the Phone app.
2. Enter the combination: ##4636### (some models may require ##225###).
3. In the menu that opens, select the Battery Information or Usage Statistics tab.
4. Find the Uptime line – this is the total operating time in milliseconds.

To translate milliseconds into hours, divide the value by 3.6 million.

12,345,678,900 ms ÷ 3,600,000 ≈ 3,429 hours (142 days)

⚠️ Attention: On devices with MIUI 14 and later, the engineering menu may be limited. If nothing happens after you enter the code, then the function is blocked by the manufacturer. ADB (method №3).

3. Method: via ADB (for advanced users)

If standard methods don’t work (like the POCO F5 or Xiaomi 13 Ultra with custom firmware), you can extract your runtime through Android Debug Bridge (ADB), which requires you to connect your phone to your PC, but gives you the most accurate data.

Step-by-step:

Install Platform Tools on PC

Enable USB debugging in the developer settings

Connect your phone to your PC via the original cable

Allow debugging on the phone screen (request will appear)

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1. Open the command prompt (cmd on Windows or Terminal on macOS/Linux).
2. Enter the command to check the connection: adb devices Wait for the serial number of your device to appear.
3. Execute the command to get the time of work: adb shell cat /proc/uptime

You'll get two numbers through the space. One is the system's run time in seconds since the last restart, and the other is the idle. To find out the total run time, use the command:

adb shell cat /proc/stat | grep "btime"

Here, btime is timestamp (time in seconds since January 1, 1970), when the system was first launched. Subtract it from the current time to get the total run time.

On the About Phone menu.

From the Engineering Menu (#4636##)

Through ADB

Through analytics applications

Another way.-->

⚠️ Note: On some devices with MIUI 13+ Dynamic RAM Expansion team /proc/uptime It may be undervalued due to memory optimization, in which case use an alternative command:

adb shell dumpsys battery

Look for the line. total_run_time — It shows the total operating time in milliseconds.

Method: through application analysers

If you don't want to mess with settings or commands, you can use third-party apps that not only show you when you're up, but also visualize the statistics in the form of graphs.-3 tested:

When using applications, consider:

• 📊 CPU Monitor and DevCheck take data from the same system files as the ADB, So their testimony must match.
• 🔋 AccuBattery focuses on battery life rather than total state on time.
• 🚫 On devices with MIUI China (CN-version) some applications may require root rights to access complete statistics.

5. Method: through service centers and hardware diagnostics

If you buy a used phone or suspect that the data about the time of work was reset (for example, after firmware), you can contact the Xiaomi service center for hardware verification.

• 🔧 Mi Flash Pro – official software for iron diagnostics, shows the power controller.
• 🔍 DC-Phoenix – a Reading Tool EDL-logs where the history of inclusions is stored.
• 📡 Qualcomm QPST — for Snapdragon chip-based devices (e.g. Xiaomi) 11T Pro or Black Shark 5).

The cost of such diagnostics in official Xiaomi services is about 500-1000 rubles (2026), but you will get not only the time of operation, but also a full report on the status of the battery, charging cycles and even the history of falls (if the phone is equipped with a G-sensor sensor).

⚠️ Warning: Some informal services offer "zero-time" for an additional fee, which is a scam: the phone's life is stored in non-volatile memory of the power controller and cannot be reset software without replacing the motherboard. The only legitimate way to zero is to completely reflash in mode EDL, But that would lead to a loss of warranty.

How to interpret the data correctly?

Now that you know how to take your time, it's important to understand what these numbers mean.

• ⏱️ Average daily operating time: Divide the total time by the number of days since you bought it, for example, if your phone lasted 2,000 hours in 2 years (730 days), your average daily time will be ~2.7 hours. That's normal for most users.
• 🔋 Related to battery wear: If battery life is longer than 5,000 hours and the phone is less than 1.5 years old, this may indicate heavy use (e.g., constant modem or game operation##.
• 🔄 Impact of reboots: frequent reboots (e.g. due to crashes) MIUI) They may understate the total operating time, as Uptime is reset every time it is turned off.

For clarity, we give a table of correspondence between the working time and typical use cases:

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If the phone lasts more than 10,000 hours but the device is less than 2 years old, this is a reason to doubt the authenticity of the data. POS-terminal) or data has been tampered with.

Frequent Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

When checking the time of work, users often encounter inaccurate data or can not find the right menus.

• 🔍 No “Working Time” item in the developer menu: Update MIUI It's not a stable version, but it's a beta version that can be hidden.
• 📵 Engineering menu not open: Check if access is blocked by the operator (for example, on phones for Tinkoff Mobile or Tele2). Try entering the code through the SIM menu app.
• 🖥️ ADB Does not see the device: Install the original Xiaomi drivers from the official website and disable the antivirus, which can block debugging.
• ⚠️ Update: It’s OK to upgrade to a new version MIUI It's completely reset. /data, which is cleaned by major updates.

If none of the methods worked, try an alternative method – check through Fastboot:

1. Turn off the phone.
2. Press the Power button + Volume down to enter the Fastboot.
3. Connect the device to the PC and execute the command: fastboot getvar all
4. Find the uptime line – it contains the run time in seconds.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions