How to speed up Android on Xiaomi: The Complete Guide

Xiaomi smartphone owners often face a situation where the once-quick gadget begins to noticeably slow down. MIUI or HyperOS interface becomes less responsive, apps open longer, and in games the number of frames per second drops. It is a natural process of aging software and accumulation of digital debris that requires user attention.

But don't panic too early. Most of the time, it's not about the physical wear and tear of the processor, but rather about software conflicts or overflowing memory. Competent system optimization allows you to get your device back to its old days without having to buy a new model. We'll look at proven methods to help you speed up Android on Redmi and Poco smartphones.

Before we start taking radical measures, we need to do basic diagnostics, and often the cause of lags is background processes that waste resources, and understanding how your operating system works is the first step to speeding it up.

Analysis and cleaning of system memory

The first thing to look at when slowing down your smartphone is the internal storage capacity, and when the space is running out, the system doesn't have enough resources to create temporary files and caching data, and the optimal indicator is that you have at least 15-20% of the total memory.

The built-in MIUI shell security app provides a great tool for quick cleaning. It automatically scans the device for junk files, remnants of deleted applications and duplicates. Regular use of this tool helps keep the system on track.

Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber have the ability to accumulate gigabytes of media files that you no longer need, and removing old videos and photos from chat rooms can free up several gigabytes of space instantly.

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Use the Cleanup feature in the Security app once a week to delete temporary files automatically.

There's also a category of files that many users forget about, which is downloads. The Download folder often turns into an installation dump. APK-Deletion of files and documents securely and effectively frees up space.

  • πŸ—‘οΈ Remove the cache of heavy apps such as browsers and social media through your storage settings.
  • πŸ“Έ Move photos and videos to cloud storage or to your computer to relieve internal memory.
  • πŸ“± Sort the Downloads folder and delete all files older than three months.

⚠️ Warning: Do not use third-party software from the Play Market with dubious reputations. They often consume resources and display intrusive advertising, which only exacerbates the problem.

Optimization of MIUI and HyperOS interface settings

Xiaomi shells are famous for their functionality, but visuals can be loading on the processor, especially on budget models. transition animations, live wallpaper and desktop widgets consume RAM. Disabling excess jewelry is an easy way to speed up the system response.

So, first, you have to go to the design settings and choose static wallpaper instead of dynamic. Live backgrounds require constant operation of the graphics accelerator, which leads to increased charge consumption and heating. Static image does not affect performance.

Next, you need to reduce the number of widgets on the home screen, and each active widget constantly updates data using the Internet channel and CPU time, leave only the most necessary ones, and remove or move the rest to folders.

πŸ“Š What kind of shell is on your Xiaomi?
MIUI 12
MIUI 13
MIUI 14
HyperOS
other

Special attention should be paid to the topic of design. Some third-party themes contain heavy graphic elements that are not optimized for your model.

  • 🎨 Turn off the live wallpaper in the Wallpaper section and select a static image.
  • πŸ“‰ Reduce the number of widgets on the desktop to a minimum.
  • πŸ”„ Reset the theme to standard in the app Themes.

You can also find a refresh rate option in the screen settings, so if your smartphone supports 90Hz or 120Hz but is unstable, try to temporarily reduce the frequency to 60Hz, which will reduce the load on the video core.

Application and Autoboot Management

One of the main reasons for Android slowing down is the excessive number of running processes, many applications prescribe themselves to autoboot and continue to work in the background even if you are not using them, which eats away at RAM and CPU resources.

Xiaomi’s battery settings have a handy activity control tool that allows you to limit background activity for each application installed, and it’s recommended that you set a limit for programs that don’t require constant notifications, such as games or rarely used utilities.

β˜‘οΈ Cleaning up the autoload

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It's also worth checking the installed software list, and users often forget to delete apps they stopped using six months ago, and they may contain ad modules or analytics services that slow down the system.

Type of applicationRecommended actionImpact on speed
Social mediaLimit background work.High.
GamesDelete if you're not playingAverage.
System utilitiesDon't touch it.Low.
Stores (except the main one)Disable or deleteAverage.

Remember, Expand Memory if it's available on your device, it allows you to use part of your internal storage as virtual RAM, which can help if your RAM is less than 6GB.

What is a virtual memory on Xiaomi?
Virtual memory is a technology that allows a system to use a portion of the memory (ROM) operationally (RAM). This helps keep more applications open in the background, but the speed of virtual memory is lower than that of physical memory. RAM.

⚠️ Warning: Do not disable system applications that you do not know the purpose of.This can lead to unstable phone operation or cyclical reboots.

Secret settings for developers

Every Android user has a hidden developer menu in their arsenal, and that's where the tools are to make the interface work faster visually, and the scale of the animation creates a sense of instantaneous response.

To get into this menu, you need to click on the build number several times in the About section. After activation, additional items will appear in the settings. We are interested in three parameters: Windows animation, transition animation and animation duration.

By default, they're all set to 1x. Changing that value to 0.5x cuts the rendering time of the effects in half. Visually, the phone starts to work much faster, although technically, the processor just spends less time rendering beauty.

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Reducing animation to 0.5x is the safest and most effective software way to speed up the visual perception of the interface.

Also on this menu, you should pay attention to the limit of background processes, you can set a limit, for example, to 2-3 processes, but be careful: too tight a restriction can lead to the fact that messengers will stop coming on time.

  • πŸ› οΈ Activate Developer Mode by pressing 7 times on the build number.
  • ⏱️ Find the section "Drawing" and change the animation scale to 0.5.
  • 🚫 Set a limit on background processes if RAM is critically low.

Another useful option is to disconnect. HW-The forced use of overlays GPU Rendering can improve performance in older apps, but on modern models it’s better to leave default settings.

Combating Advertising and Systemic Garbage

MIUI and HyperOS systems are known for their aggressive advertising policies. Advertising modules not only annoy the user, but also consume traffic and processor resources to load and display banners.

First of all, you need to disable the msa service (MIUI System Ads), and to do this, go to the settings, look for "Password and Security" and then "Access to Data." Shutting down the Internet for this service will significantly reduce the amount of advertising debris.

You also have to go through the built-in apps, Music, Video, Explorer, Downloads, and each of them has a Receive References switch, and you have to turn it off so that the app doesn't load any extra content in the background.

What other services to disable?
It is also recommended to restrict network access for Mi Credit, Mi Video and Mi Music services if you do not use them, which will prevent background synchronization and statistics collection.

Regularly cleaning the DNS cache can also help if speed problems are related to network requests. Although this affects page opening speed more, it indirectly offloads the system's network stack.

  • 🚫 Disable msa service in network access settings.
  • πŸ“Ί Remove the β€œReceive recommendations” box in all system applications.
  • 🌐 Clear the data. DNS Connection settings to reset network errors.

⚠️ Note: When disabling system services through ADB Or special utilities, there's a risk of disrupting the app store or the theme.

Radical measures: Resetting and reflashing

If software optimization fails to deliver the desired results, the last proven method is a complete factory reset, which removes all user data, applications and accumulated system debris over the years, the effect is comparable to buying a new phone.

Before starting the procedure, make sure to back up important data. Photos, contacts and documents can be saved to the Google cloud or to your computer. Once reset, you get a clean system without conflicts of old settings.

In some cases, especially after major Android updates, you may need to completely flash the device through your computer. Using the Mi Flash Tool utility allows you to completely install the latest version of the firmware, fixing file system errors.

β˜‘οΈ Preparation for discharge

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And you have to remember that once you reset, the system will re-index files and update applications, and in the first 30-60 minutes, the phone may be slower than usual, and that's a normal process that goes on its own.

MethodDifficultyEfficiencyRisk of data loss
Clearing the cacheLow.Low.No.
Shutdown of animationsLow.MediumNo.
Resetting settingsMediumTall.Yeah (needs backup)
Flip-flashingTall.MaximumYes (full)

Remember, physical memory wear also occurs if the phone is more 5-6 In the years since, even a complete reset can only have a temporary effect, you might want to think about upgrading the device.

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After resetting, don't install all the apps at once, just put the essentials in and watch the phone run for a couple of days.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Are Acceleration Apps (Clean Master and Analogues) Really Helping?
In most cases, these applications do more harm than good, consume resources, display ads, and often aggressively unload processes from memory, forcing the system to restart them, which only burdens the processor. Xiaomi's built-in tools are quite enough.
Should I upgrade to the new version of MIUI/HyperOS on my old phone?
This is a lottery. New versions are optimized for new hardware. On older models (Redmi 7, 8, 9 and their counterparts), fresh shells can work harder. If the current version is stable, sometimes it's better to stay on it using security patches instead of major upgrades.
How often should I reboot my smartphone?
Modern Android is good at managing memory, but periodic reboots are useful. It is recommended to restart the device every 3-5 days, which allows you to reset accumulated errors in RAM and complete the frozen background processes.
Does a crowded memory affect internet speed?
Indirectly, yes. If the system has nowhere to record your browser cache or buffer the video stream due to lack of space, the content load speed may drop and the pages will open with errors. Keep at least 2-3 GB free.
Can I overclock the processor on Xiaomi?
Theoretically, yes, through the use of Root rights and special cores, but this voids the warranty, disrupts banking applications and can cause the device to overheat or fail.