Budget owners often face a lack of information in standard menus, especially when it comes to detailed analysis of the use of the gadget. Xiaomi Redmi 5A model, despite its age and modest characteristics, remains popular, but the built-in monitoring tools in the MIUI shell may not work as clearly as in modern flagships. Users are looking for ways to understand where battery power is spent and which applications are most loading the processor.
There are several ways to access these statistics, from standard system settings to third-party utilities. It's important to understand that screen time is not just numbers, but a key metric for optimizing your device. If you want to extend battery life or just shorten your time on social media, you need to learn how to interpret the data provided by Android.
In this article, we will take a look at all the monitoring methods available, focusing on the nuances of MIUI running Android 7 and 8. You will learn where hidden menus hide, how to activate digital well-being features, and why standard meters may show incorrect data. On Redmi 5A, the Digital Well-being feature may not be in stock and require installation through Google Play. Let’s start with the basic settings available to each user without installing additional software.
Standard battery settings and usage statistics
The easiest and fastest way to know how long your screen is running is through the standard battery settings menu. Android collects this information continuously, even if you don't see a dedicated monitoring app. To access the data, you need to go to Settings → Battery and Performance. Here's a general summary of power consumption.
In the window that opens, you'll see a discharge graph and a list of apps. However, on older versions of MIUI that are on the Redmi 5A, the detail can be limited. Often the system only shows the percentage of consumption, not the exact time in hours and minutes. For more accurate data, click on the menu icon (three dots or gear) in the upper right corner of the screen.
Some firmware has a tab called "Statistics" where you can see screen time from the last full charge, which is an important parameter to measure the actual autonomy of a device in the current usage conditions, and if the numbers seem too small or large, it's possible that the background processes distort the statistics.
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For the most accurate statistics, use your phone as normal within 24 hours of fully charging without interrupting the data collection session.
Pay attention to the following points when analyzing standard statistics:
- 📊 Total time: shows how many hours the screen has been on since charging to 100%.
- 📉 Background consumption: Indicates apps that work even when you’re not using them.
- 🔋 Residual charge: helps predict how long the device will be able to work.
Use of the Digital Well-Being function
Since Android 9, Google has implemented Digital Wellbeing, but the Xiaomi Redmi 5A often has Android 7 or 8. That doesn't mean the feature isn't available. You can install the official Digital Wellbeing app from the Google Play Store, as long as your version of MIUI allows it to work properly, and that will give you access to modern and understandable data visualization.
Once you have installed and given the necessary permissions, the app will start collecting data on how much time you spend in each application. The interface is a pie chart where each sector corresponds to a specific program, which allows you to instantly assess which applications are “time eaters.”
The Digital Well-Being feature includes not only statistics, but also limitation tools, so you can set time limits for specific applications, and when the limit is exhausted, the app will be unavailable until the next day, and it's a great way to fight digital addiction.
Key features of the tool:
- ⏱ Application timers: Automatic lock after the time limit expires.
- 🌙 Sleep mode: switching the screen to black and white and limiting notifications at night.
- 📈 Detailed statistics: hourly report on smartphone use.
⚠️ Warning: On devices with 2GB of RAM (like Redmi) 5A) Activation of too many background monitoring services can lead to a noticeable decrease in interface performance.
Hidden codes and engineering menu for diagnostics
For a deeper analysis of the system's status, you can use hidden Android codes, which allow you to log into the test menu, where you display the technical statistics of the use of components. Enter the code ##4636## in the Phone app. If the code works, the "Verification" menu will open.
In this menu, select Usage statistics, where you will see a list of all the apps that have been launched on the device, with the last use time and session duration, and these are raw system data that are not filtered by the MIUI shell.
What if the code doesn't work?
The data in the engineering menu can be useful for identifying zombie processes, applications that are supposedly closed but continue to consume resources. Compare the screen time from the battery settings to the data from this menu. If the discrepancies are large, there may have been a meter failure in the system.
The main parameters for analysis in the engineering menu:
- 📅 Last time used: Time of last application launch.
- ⏳ Total time in foreground: the total time of the application in the foreground.
- 🔄 Event count: number of launches of a particular process.
Third-party applications for accurate monitoring
If Xiaomi's built-in tools don't seem informative enough, you can always turn to proven third-party solutions. App stores offer dozens of screen time tracking utilities. One of the most popular and easy ones is QualityTime or ActionDash.
These apps require permission to use access, and once granted permission, they build detailed reports that often go beyond the details of even standard Android tools, and you can see how many times you've picked up your phone and how long it's been between unlocks.
☑️ Criteria for selecting a monitoring application
Make sure the app doesn't drain the battery faster than it helps save it. read reviews and check permissions before installing.
Comparison of popular monitoring solutions:
| Annex | Accuracy of data | Impact on the battery | Limits are available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital well-being | Tall. | Low. | There is. |
| QualityTime | Very high. | Average. | There is. |
| ActionDash | Tall. | Low. | There is. |
| Standard MIUI Stats | Medium | Minimum | No. |
Analysis of the impact of applications on autonomy
Understanding screen time is inextricably linked to power analysis: On the Redmi 5A, with its 3,000mAh battery, each percent charge per weight of gold. Apps with vibrant and dynamic content, such as video players or heavy games, consume significantly more power than text editors.
To do a good analysis, go to the battery settings and sort the applications by consumption. If you see an application you barely used is at the top of the list, that's a cause for concern. It may have got stuck or it's running in the background, blocking the CPU from going to sleep.
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Optimizing background processes in MIUI is a key step to increasing real-time screen life without buying a new battery.
It is recommended to regularly clean the list of working applications. On Xiaomi devices, this can be done through the “Security” → “Battery” menu, where you can set up automatic closing of applications when you lock the screen, which will save significantly charge.
⚠️ Warning: Forced shutdown of system processes through the developer settings can cause unstable phone performance and data loss. Use this feature only for third-party applications.
Optimizing MIUI to extend screen performance
MIUI shell is known for its aggressive energy saving, but its settings require manual fine-tuning. For Redmi 5A owners, it is critical to disable unnecessary animation and synchronization. Go to Settings → Advanced Settings → For developers (if the menu is hidden, click 7 times on the build number in About Phone).
Find the window animation, transition animation, and animation duration scales, reduce the values from 1x to 0.5x, or completely disable them, and not only will it speed up the visual experience of the interface, but it will also reduce the load on the GPU, which indirectly affects the screen life.
Also worth paying attention to is the Auto Brightness feature: On budget screens, automatic brightness algorithms often work incorrectly, setting maximum brightness where it is not necessary, setting a comfortable brightness level manually and turning off autoadjustment to save charge.
Checklist of rapid optimization:
- 🔇 Notifications: Turn off pop-up notifications for unimportant apps so that the screen doesn’t light up again.
- 📡 Communication modules: turn off GPS Bluetooth when not in use, as they are constantly polling the network.
- 🌑 Dark subject: although the Redmi screen 5A IPS, Using dark wallpaper and dark interface theme subjectively reduces eye fatigue.