Xiaomi’s modern smartphones feature powerful cameras that allow users to capture professional shots in any setting. One of the most sought-after features for photographing dynamic scenes, children or animals is the ability to take a series of shots in one click. This option, often referred to as Burst Mode or serial mode, allows you to capture the moment in the smallest detail to select the best shot later.
Many owners of Redmi and Poco devices have difficulty trying to activate this feature, as standard settings may vary depending on the version of the MIUI shell or HyperOS. In some cases, it is enough to simply hold your finger on the button, in others, you need to activate a special mode through the settings menu. Understanding these nuances is critical for those who want to get the most out of their device.
In this detailed guide, we will take a look at all the available ways to activate a serial photo, explore the hidden features of the standard camera application and answer frequent questions from users. You will learn not only to take pictures, but also to properly manage a gallery of crowded images.
What is a serial shooting and why it is needed
Serial photography is a camera mode where the device takes multiple photos per second while you hold the shutter button. Unlike video recordings where the footage is compressed and loses detail, each photo is saved as a separate high-resolution file, and it's the perfect tool for shooting sports, jumping, bird flight, or any other fast-changing scene.
The main advantage of technology is that you can choose the perfect shot after the fact. Often, you blink in one shot, the other one blurred in the other, and the third one was perfect. Serial mode gives you the choice to weed out the bad take and leave only the best moments. Without this feature, it is almost impossible to take a clear picture of a running child.
It is worth noting that the use of this mode requires significant CPU resources and RAM. The smartphone must have time to process the data stream from the matrix in real time. On budget models Xiaomi burst speed can be lower, and clipboard fill up faster, leading to short-term delays.
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Serial shooting allows you to capture a split second, choosing the best frame from dozens of options, which is impossible to do with a single photograph.
Main method: activation by holding the button
The most common and intuitive way to take a series of pictures on Xiaomi smartphones is to use the shutter button retention function. By default, in many firmware versions, this mode can be turned off or only work in certain scenarios. To activate it, you need to refer to the settings of the camera application itself.
Open the Camera app and go to the settings menu by clicking on the three horizontal bars in the top right corner of the screen. In the list that opens, find the item associated with the action of the down button. It can be called "Hold down button" or "Hold on action." That's where the key to managing serial photography lies.
In the action menu, you'll usually see a few options: "Write a video," "Serial shooting," or "Nothing." Select the Serial shooting option. Then, when you return to photography mode, simply pressing the round shutter button for a long time will result in a series of photos, and the speed of shooting will depend on the power of your processor and the lighting of the scene.
Limitations of the RAW format
It is important to understand that in some scenarios, such as when night mode is turned on or high zoom is used, the retention function can automatically switch to recording video or be blocked, this is done to prevent the matrix and the processor from overheating.
Use Burst mode (Flash) in the mode menu
In addition to the standard button setting, Xiaomi photographers have a special mode called Burst (often denoted by a multi-square icon or called "Flash" in the context of seriality, not to be confused with a lighter). This mode is often hidden in the optional "More" menu, unless it is displayed on the main mode switching screen.
To find this tool, swipe the screen in camera mode left or right until you see the "More" button. In the additional modes list that opens, find the Burst icon. If you don't see it right away, click on the edit button (usually a pencil or three dots) to add the mode to the quick access panel.
Activating Burst Mode changes the shutter logic, and in this mode, the camera often ignores the standard settings. HDR Or noise reduction for maximum speed, and that allows you to do tens of frames per second, which is particularly useful for creating a machine. GIF-animations or highlighting an object from the background.
- 📸 High speed: Burst Mode prioritizes frames per second over the quality of each shot.
- 🎯 Focus: In this mode, focus is often fixed at the beginning of the series, so make sure the subject is in focus before shooting.
- 💾 Memory: A series of 50 frames can take up a significant amount of space, so keep an eye out for free space.
Configuring quality parameters and resolution
The quality and speed of serial shooting directly depend on the selected resolution parameters. On Xiaomi smartphones with high-resolution modules (50, 64, 108 MP and above), the default mode can be pixel binning (for example, 12 MP), which provides better speed and quality in low light.
If you switch to maximum resolution (e.g., 50MP or 64MP) through the settings menu, the burst speed can drop significantly. The camera takes longer to process each frame, leading to longer intervals between shots or a quick stop of the series. For dynamic scenes, it is better to use standard resolution.
Also worth paying attention to is the aspect ratio: shooting in 16:9 or 4:3 can affect performance in different ways. Full frame 4:3 is usually native to the matrix and works faster than cropped formats.
For professionals who use the format RAW, You should know that serial shooting in this format is often limited. 3-5 So, the camera pauses to record the data, so it's better to use the format for serial photography. JPEG or HEIF.
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For maximum burst shooting speed, turn off live filters and Beautify as they put extra strain on the image processor.
Gallery work: sorting and deleting series
After actively shooting dynamic scenes, your gallery can quickly fill up with hundreds of similar photos. MIUI and HyperOS have built-in tools for working with such series, but they are not always obvious. Usually, the series are displayed in the gallery as one thumbnail with a frame counter.
When you open a group like this, you see all the frames you've taken, and the system can automatically suggest "Best Frame" based on analysis of sharpness, lighting, and no blinking, but the algorithm isn't always accurate, and manual selection often gives you the best result.
To make room, you need to delete the bad take. You can select the entire series and click "Delete," but be careful not to erase the good moments. Some versions of the gallery allow you to save only selected shots from the series, removing the rest in one action.
| Action. | Description | The result |
|---|---|---|
| Opening of the series | Tap by miniature with a number | All personnel screening |
| Choosing the best | Pressing the asterisk/heart | The frame is marked as the chosen one |
| Deletion of the series | The basket is on the menu of the series | Removal of all team personnel |
| Conservation of part | Selecting a few + Save | Residue removed |
Third-party applications for enhanced capabilities
If Xiaomi's standard camera app doesn't meet your speed or frame count needs, you can turn to third-party solutions.The Google Play Store offers a variety of alternatives that can bypass the manufacturer's software limitations.
One of the most popular solutions is the Camera MX or Burst Camera, which specializes in rapid-fire shooting and often has more flexible buffer settings, allowing you to do series even on older devices where the standard camera is already braking.
Another powerful tool is Open Camera, a free, open-source app that gives you complete control of the Android camera API. In the Open Camera settings, you can find the "Repeat mode" option, where you can set a shooting interval or make shooting infinite until memory is filled.
⚠️ Note: Third-party apps may not have access to all camera modules (such as a telephoto lens or ultra-wide) due to Xiaomi driver limitations.
Using third-party software also allows you to save the series to individual albums, which makes it easier to sort. You can set up automatic save the series to the Burst folder so that you do not clog the main tape of the gallery.
☑️ Checking before taking a picture of an important moment
Frequent problems and ways to solve them
Despite the convenience of the feature, users often face problems when trying to take a series of pictures. The most common complaint is that the camera instead of a photo starts writing videos when the button is pressed, which indicates that the button action settings have chosen "Video recording" or "Video recording 4K".
Another problem is a low frame rate (less than 5 frames per second), often caused by a lack of RAM or a crowded camera app cache, in which case cleaning the cache through app settings or restarting the smartphone helps.
You can also experience heat and trottling over long run runs, and the smartphone forcefully lowers the frame rate to cool down, so you have to take a break and let the device cool down.
⚠️ Warning: If the camera is no longer responsive to the button holding, check if Timer or Voice Control is enabled, which may conflict with manual shutter release.
In rare cases, the problem may be that system files are damaged after a firmware update, and resetting the camera application settings to factory settings often helps return the functionality of serial shooting.