How to Mirror Photos on Xiaomi: The Complete Guide

Many users of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones face an interesting visual paradox when creating selfies: When you shoot on the screen, you see yourself the way you used to look in the mirror, but after saving the image turns, becoming unusual for perception. This is the standard behavior of software logic that seeks to show you the real picture, not the reflection.

But the human brain is designed to make mirroring seem more symmetrical and attractive, which is why saving photos as you saw them on the screen is one of the most popular features, and fortunately, in the MIUI and the new HyperOS, it's as simple as possible and doesn't require any third-party applications.

In this article, we’ll take a look at the nuances of front-facing camera tuning, where the switch is, how to fix the images you’ve taken, and why it even happens. The instructions are relevant to most modern models, from the Redmi Note budget series to the flagship Mi.

⚠️ Note: The change in mirror settings only affects new photos. Pictures taken before the change in settings will remain unchanged in the gallery.

Why the camera flips a selfie

The phenomenon of saving a photo that is different from what you saw on the screen is technically sound. The front camera defaults to preview like a mirror to make it convenient for the user to frame themselves, but when you press the shutter button, the system processes the image and rotates it 180 degrees to bring it to the "real" look.

This is done to make sure that the text on your clothes reads correctly and the asymmetry of your face is displayed as seen by others, but many users find that they look better in mirror reflection because they are used to this image in reflective surfaces.

Xiaomi engineers have taken this psychological aspect into account and added a choice: you can leave it as it is, get "realistic" photos, or turn on the mode of saving mirror reflection, the choice depends solely on your personal preferences and how you want to look in the pictures.

Setting up mirror selfies in MIUI

To change the behavior of the camera and make the smartphone save photos as you see them on the screen, you need to make changes to the settings of the application. The process takes less than a minute and does not require deep technical knowledge. The settings interface is the same for most versions of the shell, whether it is old MIUI 12 or current MIUI 14.

To start, open the standard Camera app. Switch to the front module by clicking on the camera icon with a circular arrow, and that's where the specific features associated with the face processing become available.

Next, click on the three horizontal bars in the upper right corner of the screen to open the menu. In the list that appears, select Settings. There are a lot of options here, but we're interested in the effects and display section.

In the settings list, look for an option called "Save a selfie in a mirror" (or "Mirror front camera"). Activate this switch. Now all your future shots will be saved in mirror image, repeating the picture from the preview screen completely.

If you didn't find this item right away, it might be hidden in the "Advanced" or "Effects" submenu. Some older versions of the firmware might have called it something else, but the logic of the work remains the same. Once you turn on the option, you can immediately check the result by taking a test shot.

How to mirror the finished photo in the Gallery

It's quite common to have to flip a picture you've taken, and you may have forgotten to turn on the setup you want, or someone has taken a picture of you, and the result looks unusual. The built-in Gallery editor on Xiaomi lets you fix it in a couple of touches without losing quality.

Open the image you want in the Gallery app. At the bottom of the screen, look for the "Change" button (usually a slider or a magic wand). After you go into editing mode, select the "Tearn" or "Capture" tab.

In the framing tools, you'll see an icon with two triangles facing in different directions, or arrows, and clicking on it will produce a horizontal reflection of the image, and then just save the changes by pressing OK or ticking.

⚠️ Note: When you re-save the edited photo, the original can be overwritten. If you want to save the source, use the Save as a Copy function before applying the effects.

This is a universal technique that works not only for selfies, but for any other image that requires horizontal ones, and the editor will automatically determine the type of change and apply it instantly, which is especially useful when preparing content for social networks, where the aesthetic of the frame is important.

Using third-party editors for complex processing

If you don't have enough built-in tools, or if you want to apply additional filters at the same time as the reflection, third-party apps will come to the rescue. The Google Play Store offers hundreds of solutions, from simple crackers to powerful retouch studios.

Popular apps like Snapseed, PicsArt, or Lightroom have easy-to-use transformation tools, like Snapseed, where you pick the "Turn" tool and then click on the reflection icon, which gives you more control over the final image.

The advantage of third-party software is that it's batch-processing, so you can take a dozen failed selfies, apply the mirror effect to them, and save everything at once, and that saves time if you want to prepare a photo set for avatars or profiles.

In addition, many instant messengers, such as Telegram or Instagram, have built-in editing features before sending, and you can quickly reflect the image horizontally if you send a photo directly to the chat without saving it in the memory of the device.

Comparison of MIUI and HyperOS versions with the camera

With the release of the new HyperOS operating system, the camera interface has undergone some changes, although the basic functionality remains the same. Owners of devices upgraded from MIUI 14 to HyperOS may notice a repositioning of some menu items.

The new system made the camera more logical, and it made it easier to find the right options, and the SLR function didn't go away, it could just change the icon or move to another subsection, and it's part of a global interface design change.

Below is a table that will help you navigate where to look for settings in different versions of the firmware, which will save you time searching for the right switch.

It's worth noting that Chinese firmware versions (CN ROM) may have different item names. If you have a device that's imported from China or flashed over with global firmware, look for items with the word "Mirror."