Shooting on Xiaomi with the screen off: a complete guide to hidden capabilities

Why Xiaomi allows you to shoot with your screen off – and why you should

The shooting function with the display turned off is one of the most underrated features of Xiaomi, Redmi and smartphones. POCO. Not only does it save battery life, it also opens up new use cases, from hidden video to shooting in bright sunshine when the screen is blinding. Unlike most Android devices, where the camera automatically shuts down when locked, firmware is a very powerful tool. MIUI (Since version 12) supports this mode at the system level.

The main advantages of shooting with the screen off:

• 🔋 Battery savings up to 40% for long-term recording (based on tests on Xiaomi 13 Pro and Redmi Note 12)
• 🕵️‍♂️ Secrecy: Ideal for bloggers, journalists or documenting evidence without drawing attention
• ☀️ Improved visibility in sunny weather – no screen glare on the lens
• 📱 Less heating of the body due to the switched-off display (relevant to the 4K-video)

However, there are pitfalls: not all models support this mode out of the box, and some devices require activation through the developer settings. AMOLED-screens (e.g. Xiaomi) 12T or POCO F5) shooting with the display off can lead to artifacts during night shooting due to the features of image processing by the processor.

What Xiaomi models support shooting with the screen off

The function is available on most devices with MIUI 12 and newer, but there are important nuances: full support is implemented on flagships and mid-budget models with Qualcomm Snapdragon processors 7 and 8 series, and budget smartphones on MediaTek Helio (for example, Redmi). 10A or POCO C50) This option is often denied due to the limitations of the iron platform.

To see if your model supports this feature, check for a screen-off shoot option in the camera settings. If it doesn't, don't be too upset: on many devices, the option is hidden and activated via an engineering menu or command. ADB.

⚠️ Warning: On smartphones with an infrared camera (such as the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra), shooting with the screen off can overheat the sensor.

Step-by-step: how to turn on shooting with the screen off

The standard activation method works on most supported models.

1. Open the Camera app.
2. Tap the gear in the upper right corner to open the camera settings.
3. Scroll down to the Additional section (or System settings on some firmware).
4. Find the Shooting item with the screen off (in English firmware - Shoot with screen off).
5. Activate the switch and confirm the permission to access the sensors.

If this item is not available, try an alternative method through the Developer Settings:

1. Go to Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (tap 7 times to unlock Developer Mode)


2. Return to Settings → Additional → For Developers




3. Find the option "Do not turn off the camera when locked" (or "Keep camera active when locked")




4.Reset the device

Turn off autobrightness in screen settings|

Charge the battery to at least 30%|

Check the free space on the device (video takes up) ~1 GB/10 mint HD)|

Activate Do Not Disturb mode to prevent accidental notifications-->

In some models (for example, POCO X3 Pro) additional adjustment is required through ADB. To do this, connect the smartphone to the PC and execute the command:

adb shell settings put global camera_double_tap_power_gesture 1

⚠️ Warning: When you activate a shot with the screen off, the double tap gesture to wake up is turned off. To return it, execute the same command with 0 instead of 1.

Secret features: control the camera without turning on the screen

Few people know, but Xiaomi can not only shoot with the display off, but also control the basic functions of the camera without activating it.

• 🔘 Start/stop recording: double pressing the power button (works on the MIUI 13+)
• 📸 Photo: One press of the button Volume + (Configure in the camera settings → Button management)
• 🔄 Camera Switching: Triple Press of Volume – (requires activation in Settings) → Special facilities → Gestures)
• 🎥 Switching video/photo modes: long hold of the power button (3 seconds)

For models with ultra-wide camera (such as Xiaomi 13 Ultra) there is a hidden option to switch focal length without a screen: quick double pressing Volume + cyclically (0.6x → 1x → 3.2x). This feature is not documented and only works on the latest versions. MIUI 14.

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If your model doesn’t support button management, install the Camera app. MX Or Google Play's Open Camera, which emulates hardware buttons even on a locked screen.

For professional users, there is another life hack: if you connect an external microphone through the USB-C (for example, BOYA BY-M1), So when you shoot with the screen off, you activate the Audio Zoom mode, which automatically focuses the sound on the source in the frame, and this feature is hidden in the engineering menu and is activated by the command:

adb shell am broadcast -a com.xiaomi.camera.AUDIO_ZOOM_ENABLE --ez enable true

How shooting with the screen off affects the quality of video and photos

Many users fear that turning off the display will impair the quality of the shot, but it really depends on the model and the conditions:

• 📹 Video: On flagships (Xiaomi) 13 Pro, POCO F5 Pro) no difference in quality - Snapdragon processor 8 Gen 2 It processes the flow regardless of the state of the screen. 11) Maybe it's down to bitrate. 15-20 Mbit/s (vs) 25 Mbps with the display on).
• 📷 Night mode works worse without a screen – algorithms MIUI They use the data from the display to correct the exposure.
• 🔊 Audio: When the screen is turned off, real-time noise cancellation is turned off, so in windy weather it is better to use an external microphone.

We conducted tests on Xiaomi 12S Ultra and Redmi Note 12 Pro+:

Interesting fact: on Xiaomi 13 Lite, when shooting with the screen off, the energy saving mode for the camera automatically turns on, which reduces heating by 12°C (according to thermocamera tests) This is especially useful for long-term recordings in the 4K.

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On models with a Snapdragon processor 888 and newer (Xiaomi) 11/12/13, POCO F4/F5) Video quality when the screen is off is not inferior to the standard mode - the difference is less 3% objectively (VMAF, SSIM).

Common Problems and Their Solutions

Even on supported models, users are faced with bugs, and here are the most common ways to fix them:

1. The camera shuts down through 5 minutes: this is a limitation MIUI To remove it, do adb shell settings put global. camera_idle_timeout 0 Warning: This can lead to overheating!
2. Button management does not work: check if the camera conflicts with other applications (such as Google Assistant or Mi Remote).
3. Videos are recorded with artifacts: AMOLED-screens (Xiaomi) 12T, POCO X5 Pro) it's technology-related DC Dimming. Turn it off in Settings. → Screen. → Reading mode.
4. No files saved: make sure the camera is allowed access to the storage. MIUI 14 This is set up in Settings → Confidentiality → Permits → Warehouse.

If after activating the shooting with the screen off, the smartphone began to reboot on its own, this indicates a conflict with the module miui.Camera.

1. Clear the camera cache in Settings → Annexes → Application management → Camera. → Warehouse.
2. Turn off the option in the camera settings and restart the device.
3. If the problem persists, revert to the previous version. MIUI through settings → The phone. → Updating the system → Three points. → Select a Service Package.

Alternative ways: third-party applications and circumvention of restrictions

If your Xiaomi model doesn't support system-level off-screen shooting, you can use workarounds.

• 📱 Open Camera: Open source with background photography. After installation, turn on the settings: → Other camera settings → Allow background photography
• 🎬 Cinema FV-5: professional application with control through hardware buttons. LOG-profile even with the screen off.
• 🔧 Tasker + SecureTask: Automatically activate the camera on a schedule or event (e.g., on a schedule or event) SMS-It requires root or ADB.
• 🖥️ Scrcpy: Controlling the camera with a PC through USB/Wi-Fi. The screen of the smartphone remains off, but the shooting is conducted in real time on the computer.

For owners. POCO F1 And other old models, there's a radical method -- GCam firmware with a modified configuration:

1. Download the GCam version from BSG or Wichaya (for Snapdragon 845).
2. Set up the config. Xiaomi_Poco_F1_V2.xml (It is in telegram chats dedicated to GCam).
3. In GCam settings, activate Background recording and Screen off capture.

Important: when using third-party applications, hardware stabilization is disabled (OIS) To compensate for this, turn on software stabilization (EIS) appliance.

scrcpy --turn-screen-off --bit-rate 8M --no-display

This will turn off the screen of the smartphone, but will keep the video stream on the PC with a bitrate of 8 Mbit / s.-->

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions