How to permanently turn off adaptive brightness on Xiaomi: 3 proven ways

Adaptive brightness on Xiaomi smartphones is a feature that automatically adjusts the screen’s backlight depending on the lighting. For many users, it becomes a source of irritation: the screen suddenly darkens on a sunny day, then blinds the eyes at night, especially on Redmi Note 12, POCO X5 and Xiaomi 13/14 flagships, where MIUI algorithms sometimes work too aggressively.

In this article, you'll find three working methods for turning off autobrightness, from standard MIUI settings to hidden engineering menus, and we'll also look at why a feature can spontaneously turn on after updates and how to avoid it. If you're tired of fighting a moody light sensor, this is the guide for you.

Why Adaptive Brightness is Getting in the Way: 5 Real Problems

On paper, automatic brightness control seems useful, saving battery power and saving vision, but in practice, Xiaomi users face the following problems:

• 🔄 Sharp jumps in brightness at the slightest change in lighting (for example, if the hand blocked the sensor).
• 🌓 Inadequate values in dark rooms – the screen becomes too dim for comfortable reading.
• 🔋 False battery savings: in fact, auto-regulation often increases consumption due to the constant operation of the sensor.
• 🎮 Lags in games when the system tries to adjust the brightness to dynamic scenes.
• 🔧 Failures after updates — MIUI Sometimes it drops the brightness settings to the factory.

According to a survey of Xiaomi owners (2023), 68% of users turn off adaptive brightness in the first two weeks of use, while 22% do not know how to do it correctly, and simply reduce the brightness manually – which does not solve the problem.

Method 1: Standard shutdown via MIUI settings

The easiest method is to use the built-in system options. It works on all Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones with a MIUI 12-14 shell.

1. Open the Settings app (the gear icon on the home screen).
2. Go to the Display section.
3. Slip on Brightness.
4. Turn off Adaptive Brightness Slider (or Automatic Adjustment in older versions of MIUI).
5. For reliability, restart the device - this will help to avoid failures.

If Adaptive Brightness is not on the menu, then your model uses a simplified version of MIUI (e.g. Redmi A1 or POCO C50), in which case try alternative methods from the following sections.

⚠️ Note: On some firmware (for example, MIUI Global 14.0.3) after the adaptive brightness is turned off, manual adjustment may disappear. To return the slider, go to Settings → Special facilities → Screen brightness and enable manual setting.

Method 2: Disconnect via the engineering menu (for experienced)

If the standard method didn’t work, try deactivating the light sensor through a hidden engineering menu, which is suitable for Qualcomm Snapdragon models (e.g. Xiaomi 12T, Redmi Note 11 Pro+).

Instructions:

1. Open the Phone app and type the combination: ##36446337## (code may not work on some firmware - alternative below).
2. If the code doesn’t work, install the MTK Engineering Mode app (for MediaTek processors) or Qualcomm EngineerMode from Google Play.
3. In the engineering menu, select Hardware Testing → Light Sensor.
4. Press Disable or reset the sensor calibration (Clear Calibration option).
5. Reboot your smartphone.

After this, the system will stop receiving data from the light sensor, and the autobrightness will turn off at the iron level. MIUI.

Method 3: Use ADB-Teams (100% result)

The most reliable way is to turn off autobrightness via ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which works on all Xiaomi models, including those where standard methods are powerless, you'll need a computer with Xiaomi drivers installed and USB debugging enabled on your smartphone.

Step-by-step:

1. Turn on Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Phone. Tap 7 times on MIUI Version. Go back to the main settings menu and open a new Developer section. Activate USB Debugging.

Win + R → cmd

adb devices

(The name of your device should appear)

adb shell settings put system screen_brightness_mode 0

(this turns off autobrightness)

Reset the device.

To return manual brightness adjustment after ADB-Commands, use:

adb shell settings put system screen_brightness 102

(The value of 102 is 40% brightness, substitute your 0 to 255).

💡

If so, ADB-commands brightness has become too low, check the settings in Settings → Display. → Brightness → There may be an option called "Battery Savings" that limits maximum brightness.

Table: Compatibility of methods with popular Xiaomi models

Why Adaptive Brightness Turns On Itself: 3 Causes and Solutions

Many users complain that after turning off the autobrightness, it returns after a few days.

• 🔄 Updates MIUI: some firmware (e.g, MIUI 14.0.2–14.0.5) reset the display settings. Solution: after the update, check the settings manually or use the ADB.
• 📱 Reset to factory settings: even a partial reset (e.g. via Settings) → Memory. → Cleaning can bring back autobrightness. Solution: Before reset, back up the settings through Settings. → Google → Backup.
• 🤖 Optimizer MIUI: Battery function and performance → Optimization sometimes "fixes" brightness settings. Solution: disable optimization for system applications.

If the problem recurs, check the activity of the com.miui.powerkeeper application. You can limit it through Settings → Applications → Application Management → Special Access → Battery Optimization.

💡

The most stable result is the combination. ADB-team + disabling optimization for system applications. This method withstands updates MIUI 90% of the time.

What to do if nothing helps: radical measures

If all methods are powerless, then extreme measures remain:

1. Install custom firmware (e.g. Pixel Experience or LineageOS). On pure Android, autobrightness is controlled through standard system settings, without "chips" MIUI. ⚠️ Attention: Castom firmware requires unlocking the bootloader, which resets all data and can deprive you of warranties. On models with Locked Bootloader (for example, Xiaomi 13 Ultra), the unlocking process takes up to 7 days.
2. Physically disabling the light sensor (only for experienced!). The sensor is usually located next to the front camera. It can be neatly taped with opaque tape or disable the plume (requires disassembly of the phone). The risks of physically disabling the sensor After unplugging the sensor may stop working: - Automatic locking when lifting to the ear (during a call) - Gestures "Raise to unlock" - Some camera functions (e.g., HDR automode) It is recommended to do a backup of the NVRAM before intervention!
3. Using control apps like Lux Auto Brightness or Tasker, they allow you to create your own brightness rules without having to go through the system settings.

Before you take a radical step, evaluate how much you are annoyed by the autobrightness. Sometimes it's easier to get used to manual adjustment or use Night Mode (Settings → Display → Night Mode) for comfortable reading in the dark.

FAQ: Frequent questions about adaptive brightness on Xiaomi