Owners of modern smartphones Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO often face situations where the interface seems overloaded or controls are too huge, especially for devices with large diagonals, where standard settings may not provide comfortable navigation with one hand, the problem is solved not only by software scaling, but also by adjusting the display resolution correctly.
MIUI and HyperOS provide powerful tools for customizing visual space, so you can change the font size, scale the entire interface, or even make the phone work in higher resolution, which automatically reduces the size of the icons and text, allowing you to fit more useful information on one screen without losing readability.
In this article, we will discuss all available methods of reducing images, from simple settings in the menu to hidden engineering options, you will learn to customize the visual experience of the device to your individual preferences, making work with your smartphone more ergonomic and productive.
Changes in font size and interface elements
The easiest and safest way to reduce the content of the screen is to use standard system settings, which require no special knowledge and is instantaneous, and you should pay attention to the display parameters, which adjust the size of text characters.
Go to the Settings menu and find the Screen (or Screen and Brightness) section, and you're interested in Text Size. The slider lets you choose from five options, from "Little" to "Huge"; moving the slider to the left reduces the font in all system applications and most third-party programs.
However, reducing font doesn't always change the size of buttons and indentations. Use the "Element Size" feature to make the interface scalable, making the application icons and control panels smaller, which is ideal for those who need more workspace.
💡
When reducing the font size to a minimum, make sure you see the text well in bright sunlight, as contrast may decrease.
It’s important to note that some apps, especially older versions, may ignore the system font settings, in which case the resizing will only affect Xiaomi’s system menus, and the content inside the app will remain the same, a limitation of the Android operating system itself.
Setting the screen resolution to reduce the picture
Many users are unaware that modern Xiaomi smartphones often operate in low-resolution mode by default to save battery power.Switching to the native (maximum) resolution of the matrix automatically makes all interface elements smaller and clearer.
To change this setting, open Settings and select Additional (in some versions Advanced Settings). Find the Screen Resolution section. Here you will see the current mode and available alternatives. The switch usually offers a choice between Standard and High (or Maximum).
Selecting high-resolution modes (e.g., 2400x1080 instead of 1600x720) physically reduces the size of the interface pixels, the icons become miniature, and much more lines of text and widgets are placed on the screen, which is the most effective method for owners of models with high-quality screens.
Impact on the battery
It should be borne in mind that on some budget models, the option to change the resolution may be absent or blocked by the manufacturer. In this case, the system forcibly uses the optimal mode for this matrix, and it will not work to change the pixel density through the standard menu programmatically.
Using Developer Mode for Fine Customization
For advanced users who lack standard sliders, Android offers a hidden section called "Developers" where you can change the minimum screen width (DPI), which is the equivalent of manual zoom.
First, activate the hidden menu. Go to Settings → About Phone and quickly click 7 times on the MIUI Version (or OS Version) field. After the notification "You became a developer" appears, go back to the main settings menu, select Additional → For developers.
In the list that opens, look for the Minimum Width (or Smallest Width) option. The default value is usually around 360-392 dp. Reducing that number increases all elements, increasing it decreases. Be careful: setting a value too high can make the interface unreadable.
☑️ Checking before change DPI
⚠️ Note: Do not set the minimum width to be extremely high (e.g., higher than the minimum width). 600-700 This may cause some system buttons to become unclickable and you will have to reset settings via Recovery.
Changing the DPI parameter affects the global scaling of the entire operating system, which means that not only the size of the fonts, but also the indentations, toolbars and even the virtual keyboard will change, which gives the most accurate result, but requires caution.
Comparison of scaling methods
The right way to do it depends on your end goal, so if you just want to make the text a little bit smaller, you'll have to use standard settings, you'll have to combine the methods to maximize your workspace, and here's a table that helps you make your choice.
| Method | Impact on text | Impact on icons | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type size | Strong. | Minimum | Low. |
| Size of elements | Average. | Average. | Low. |
| Screen resolution | Strong. | Strong. | Medium |
| DPI settings | Maximum. | Maximum. | Tall. |
As you can see from the table, a holistic approach is the best thing to do, for example, you can set a high-resolution screen, you can reduce the font size a little bit, and you keep the elements close to the standard, and this combination provides a balance between ergonomics and readability.
Remember that after changing the resolution or DPI, some applications may require a reboot to display content correctly.This is normal behavior, since applications read display settings when they start.
The problem with increased scale in applications
Sometimes users are faced with a situation where in certain applications (for example, Viber, Telegram or browsers) the text becomes giant, overlapping the control buttons, this often happens after updating the system or the application itself.
In these cases, system settings may not help, you need to go to the settings of the most problematic application. Most messengers have their own section "Chats and background" or "Data and storage", where you can adjust the font size regardless of the system.
If the problem is seen in all browsers, check the page zoom settings. In Chrome or MI Browser, you can set a fixed scale of web pages, and it is also worth checking whether the zoom function is included in the special features section.
In rare cases, the cause may be an interface cache failure. Clearing the Themes app cache or System UI through the application management menu can return standard display proportions.
Additional accessibility features
In Advanced Settings → Special Options, you hide features that can actually enlarge your image, so if you have a lot of things that are too big, check if the tools are activated.
Special attention should be paid to the zoom function. If it is enabled, triple tapping on the screen will work as a magnifier, and the large text function in the same section can force large fonts on top of the system settings.
Disabling unnecessary features in the accessibility section often solves the problem of an unexpectedly large interface on new phones that could be customized by a retailer in a store to meet the needs of older people.