How to take pictures of stars on a Xiaomi smartphone: a complete guide with settings and life hacks

The sky is fascinating, but capturing it on a smartphone is not an easy task. Even Xiaomi’s top flagships require the right settings to show not only bright planets but also dim constellations. In this article, you will learn how to turn your Redmi, POCO or Mi into an astrophotography tool, which modes to use and how to avoid typical errors.

We tested the methods on models from Xiaomi 12 Pro to the budget Redmi Note 12 — and we found that even low-cost devices can surprise with the right approach, the main thing is to understand the limitations of technology and skirt them correctly, for example, even without manual mode, you can get an acceptable result if you know the secrets of post-processing.

Important: Smartphone astrophotography takes patience, and a successful photo can take 10 to 30 minutes of preparation, shooting and processing, but it's worth it!

What Xiaomi smartphones are suitable for shooting stars

Not all Xiaomi devices are equally good for astrophotography, the key factors being the size of the array, the aperture of the lens and the presence of manual mode, and the models that show the best results are:

• 📱 Flagships with large matrices: Xiaomi 13 Ultra (1-inch Sony sensor) IMX989), Xiaomi 12S Ultra, Mi 11 Ultra, these machines collect the maximum amount of light.
• 🌙 Mid-segment with night mode: POCO F5 Pro, Redmi K60 Pro, Xiaomi 12T Pro. Good for shooting the moon and bright planets.
• 💫 Budget options: Redmi Note 12 Pro+, POCO X5 Pro. Post-processing will be required, but the stars can be captured.

If your smartphone isn't on the list, don't worry.Even the Redmi 10 is capable of taking a picture of the moon in 50 mode.× zoom (digital zoom) The main thing is stabilization and correct settings.

⚠️ Note: on smartphones with a matrix less 1/1.5" (Like Redmi. 9A) Photography of nebulae or the Milky Way is almost impossible - there will not be enough light power.

Preparation for shooting: time, place and equipment

Even the most advanced Xiaomi can't save you if you're shooting in a city with a full moon.

• 🌌 Place: the farther away from the city light, the better. Use light pollution maps (e.g., Light Pollution Map) Ideally mountains or deserts.
• 🌑 Moon phase: New moon or narrow sickle. When the moon is full, stars are clogged with the moon's light.
• ⏱️ Time: 23:00 to 4:00, when the atmosphere is most stable.
• 📱 Equipment: tripod (required!), remote descent (or timer in the camera), external battery (shooting drains the battery quickly).

If you don't have a tripod, use the tools you can use: stacked clothes, stone or attach your smartphone to a tree branch with a rubber band, the main thing is complete immobility throughout the exposure.

⚠️ Attention: below temperature +5°C many Xiaomi smartphones automatically shut down during long shooting.Great the device with your hands or use chemical heating pads.

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Before shooting, cool your smartphone outside for 10-15 minutes – this will reduce the noise of the matrix from temperature drops.

Xiaomi camera settings for shooting stars

Now, to the most important thing, settings, there are two ways: manual mode (for advanced) and night mode (for beginners). Let's look at both.

Method 1: Manual Mode (Pro Mode)

Open the standard Camera app, go to More → Pro (or Manual).

• 📸 Focus: MF (manual focusing - set on ∞ (In some models, you have to manually rotate the slider to the right.
• ⏱️ Shutter speed: 8" to 30" (the longer the more stars, but the higher the risk of lubrication). Start at 15".
• 🌟 ISO: 1600-6400. ISO 3200 is usually the best noise/detail balance.
• 🔘 White balance: 4000K–5000K (Auto-BB will give you a yellow hue.
• 📱 Format: RAW (If possible, this will give more data to process.

Set the focus on infinity (∞)

Shutter speed: 10 to 30 seconds

ISO: 1600–6400

White balance: 4000K

Disable Stabilization (EIS)

Take it off RAW (if maintained)-->

On Xiaomi 13 Ultra and similar flagships, you can use astrophotography mode (if you have it in firmware), which automatically combines multiple frames to reduce noise.

Method 2: Night Mode (Night Mode)

If there is no manual mode (for example, on Redmi 10), use Night Mode:

1. Open the camera, select Night.
2. Click on the screen and manually focus on the brightest star (if autofocus fails).
3. Hold the down button – the smartphone will take a series of pictures and combine them.
4. For the best result, repeat the shooting 3-5 times and add the shots in Photoshop or StarStaX.

Shooting the Moon and Planets on Xiaomi

The moon and the bright planets (Jupiter, Venus, Saturn) are filmed according to different rules, and this is where detail is important, not the luminosity.

• 🌕 Moon: Use the maximum zoom (optical) + On Xiaomi. 13 Ultra is it 120×, on POCO F5 Pro — 30×. Shoot in Pro Mode with exposure 1/100" and ISO 100.
• 🪐 Planets: Jupiter and Saturn require exposure 1/200"–1/500" and ISO 200–800. Use apps like ProCam X to fine-tune.
• 🔭 Secret: Take a video in 4K@60fps, Then choose the best shot in the PIPP (planetary video processing).

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For the moon and planets, always turn off the night mode, it will blur details. Use minimum shutter speed and low ISO.

Example of settings for the moon on Redmi Note 12 Pro+:

Mode: Pro


Zoom: 50× (optical 5×+ digital)




Excerpt: 1/200”




ISO: 100




Focus: MF (manual focus on the moon)




Format: JPEG (RAW not required)

Post-processing: how to "pull" stars from the frame

Raw smartphone images often look dull, but processing can unlock the potential of a snapshot.

• 🖥️ Lightroom Mobile: Increase exposure to +1.5–2.5. Increase the Contrast to +30. Raise the Shadows on +50–70. Reduce the Noise (Fluorescent) to -30.
• 🌌 StarStaX (for addition): combine 10-20 images of one area of the sky – the stars will become brighter, and the noise will decrease.
• 📱 Selective correction tool will help to brighten only the sky without affecting the ground.

Critical detail: Never save the processed photo back to JPEG – use TIFF or PNG to avoid artifacts when re-editing.

Example of processing in Lightroom:

1. Import RAW-file.


The "Light" tab:




- Exposure: +2.0




- Shadows: +60




- Black dot: -15




The "Details" tab:




- Noise suppression (lume): 40




- Sharpness: 50 (mask 80)




4.Export to TIFF with 100% quality.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Even experienced photographers sometimes make mistakes.

• 📵 Lubricated stars: caused by camera movement. Solution - use a tripod and a descent timer (or remote). On Xiaomi, turn on the timer in the camera settings: Settings → Timer. → 2 seconds.
• 🌆 Light from the city: even in the suburbs, light can spoil the frame. So, take the picture in the opposite direction to the city, or use a light filter (for example, a piece of black plastic in front of the lens).
• 🔋 Battery discharge: shooting in the cold quickly drains the battery. Solution - connect powerbank or warm your smartphone with a heating pad.
• 🌫️ Fog or clouds: check the weather ahead of time. Use apps like Clear Outside or AstroPanel to predict clouds.

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If the stars in the photo are green or violet, that's chromatic aberration, corrected in Lightroom by the tool Elimination of chromatic aberrations (Optics tab).

Applications for astrophotography on Xiaomi

A standard MIUI camera is not always optimal. Consider specialized applications:

To guide you to celestial objects, use Stellarium Mobile or SkyView, which shows the exact position of stars, planets and satellites in real time.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions