How to reduce the screen on the smartphone Xiaomi: interface settings

Owners of modern smartphones Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco often face a situation where the interface elements seem too large for the diagonal of the display. This is especially true for devices with screens less than 6 inches or when switching from gadgets with a lower resolution matrix. Standard system settings sometimes offer limited functionality, hiding important parameters in the depth of the menu.

Scaling down is not just an aesthetic preference, but a way to improve performance. Smaller, clearer elements allow more information to be displayed on a single screen, whether it's text in a document, spreadsheet cells or lines of code. UI scaling directly affects the ease of navigation and content perception.

In this article, we will explore all available methods for adjusting the display, from standard font settings to advanced manipulation of pixel density through the engineering menu. You will learn to safely change the system settings to adapt the MIUI or HyperOS interface to your individual needs without losing readability.

Standard font size settings in MIUI

The safest and most obvious way to influence how the screen looks is to use built-in personalization tools. Xiaomi’s Android operating system allows you to adjust the size of text elements, which automatically changes the indentations and dimensions of some buttons. To access these settings, you need to go to the Settings menu → Screen → Text Size.

Here you'll see a slider that moves the font sizes of all supporting applications, but it's important to remember that this option affects text blocks rather than graphical interface elements, and if you want to make the application icons smaller, this may not be effective enough.

⚠️ Warning: Do not set the font size slider to a minimum at once. Too small text can become unreadable, leading to rapid eye fatigue and headaches with prolonged use of the smartphone.

Recent versions of HyperOS firmware have introduced the Extended Size feature, which allows you to go beyond the standard scaling limits. If you don't have a normal slider, activate this option to access extremely small or large values, which gives you more flexible control over the visual design of the system.

Change the DPI density through the developer menu

For those who don't have the standard settings, there's a more powerful tool, a dot-per-inch density change known as DPI, which tells the system how many pixels should be per inch of the physical screen. By reducing the DPI, you make the smartphone display more content, making all the interface elements visually smaller.

To access this feature, you need to activate the hidden menu. Go to Settings → About Phone and quickly click 7-10 times on either MIUI Version or OS Version until the notification “You’ve become a developer” appears.

Inside the developer menu, scroll down to the Drawing section and find the "Minimum width" item. The default value is usually around 360-400 dp. By reducing this number, you zoom in. For example, changing the value from 390 to 320 will make the interface noticeably more compact.

Some programs may not display content correctly or run in the layout if the value is too extreme, and pixel density is a powerful tool that requires careful handling.

Table of recommended DPI values for different tasks

Understanding which value to choose often comes through trial and error, but there are averaged guidelines to help you navigate and not spoil the experience of the interface. Below is a table with approximate values for different use cases.

When you change these parameters, the screen can blink or go out for a second, which is a normal reaction of the system to re-drawing the interface. If after changing the values, you can't get to the desired menu because the buttons are too small, just restart the device. When you reboot, some settings may reset, or you can quickly correct the value if you remember the path.

⚠️ Attention: Setting the value DPI If you go below 200 dp, you can make the system completely unusable, because the elements become microscopic.

Using One Hand Mode and Screen Enlargement

Paradoxically, Xiaomi uses a feature called Screen Enlargement or One-Hand Mode to reduce the screen size on larger smartphones, not changing the resolution, but creating a virtual, smaller copy of the display in the corner that is easy to reach with your thumb.

You can activate this function through the Settings path → Additional settings → One-hand mode. There are two options available here: Reduced Mode and Corner Mode. One compresses the image to a certain size, the other shifts the smaller copy of the screen to the bottom corner.

This technique is useful if you need to temporarily reduce the active area to control one hand in a transport or in an uncomfortable position, but it is not suitable for constant work with small elements, since the effective display area is lost, and black fields occupy a significant part of the matrix, navigation in this mode becomes less comfortable for multitasking.

Third-party applications for interface customization

If system constraints are not enough, Google Play apps like SecondScreen or Resolution & DPI Changer come to the rescue. These utilities allow you to change the screen resolution and pixel density more flexibly, sometimes even without superuser rights (Root), although the functionality without them is limited.

Launcher apps like Nova Launcher or Microsoft Launcher also allow you to reduce the size of icons and desktop grid regardless of system settings. You can install a 10x10 grid instead of the standard 5x6, which will visually “reduce” the elements on the home screen, although the scale inside the applications will remain the same.

Using third-party software carries risks, some launchers may consume more battery life, and applications to modify. DPI require special permissions through ADB-Data security when installing unverified utilities should always be a priority.

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Use launcher apps if you want to change only the appearance of your desktop without affecting the system fonts and settings menu. It is safer and easier to roll back.

Possible problems and solutions

After scaling experiments, users may encounter artifacts such as a “go” layout in banking applications, an incorrect display of the keyboard or too small call buttons, most often solved by returning to standard DPI values.

If the interface is unreadable and you can’t get into the settings, try using Google Assistant or Si to open the menu with your voice, and it also helps to connect a Bluetooth mouse, whose cursor is visible even with very small interface elements, which allows you to carefully change the settings back.

In rare cases, especially after a MIUI firmware update, settings can go wrong on their own. It is recommended to take screenshots of important parameters before making changes.

⚠️ Note: Changing system fonts through third-party themes may cause some characters (e.g. in messengers) to appear as squares. Use only verified themes from the official Themes store.

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The optimal balance between the size of the elements and the usable screen area is achieved experimentally, starting with a change in the DPI by 10-15% of the factory value.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)