The Xiaomi Redmi 7, launched in 2019, has long been a benchmark for the budget segment, offering users a robust design and a hardy battery. However, with the release of new versions of the MIUI shell and the update of mobile applications, the hardware resources of the device are no longer able to cope with the load. If your phone starts to work slowly, open programs for a long time or freeze when switching between tasks, this is a signal that deep optimization of the system is necessary.
Unlike flagship models, budget gadgets have limited RAM and a less powerful processor, which requires a more careful attitude to resource management. Accelerating your smartphone is not just about removing unnecessary files, but a set of measures to reconfigure system processes, animations and background activity. In this article, we will discuss proven methods that will help breathe new life into your device without the need to replace your gadget.
Cleaning internal memory and app cache
The first and most obvious step to improve performance is to free up internal storage. When free disk space falls below 10-15%, the speed of writing and reading data is significantly reduced, which causes lags throughout the system. The internal memory of the device must have a margin so that the operating system can freely create temporary files and clipboards.
Don’t rely on standard cleaning tools alone, as they often leave “digital trash” in social media and instant messenger folders. Tencent QQ, WeChat, Telegram and WhatsApp have a habit of accumulating gigabytes of viewed images and videos that the user no longer needs. Manually checking Android/media and DCIM directories allows you to remove really heavy files that take up precious gigabytes.
Special attention should be paid to the cache of system applications, which can grow to unimaginable sizes after many updates.Cache cleaning will not delete your personal data, but will reset temporary files that may have damaged or conflicted with the new version of the software.
⚠️ Note: When cleaning these applications (not to be confused with cache), you may lose logins, passwords and progress in games if you did not enable synchronization.
For deep cleaning, it is recommended to use the built-in Security app, but for advanced users, it will be useful to connect to a PC and manually delete unnecessary folders. The Android file system fragments over time, and regularly deleting excess helps to keep it in good shape.
Optimization of animations and MIUI interface
The visual part of the MIUI heavily interface loads the GPU of budget smartphones like the Redmi 7. Beautiful transitions, background blur and parallax effects create the illusion of smoothness, but in fact take away milliseconds, which totals into noticeable delays. Disabling or reducing the duration of animations is the fastest way to make the phone visually responsive.
To access hidden speed settings, you need to activate the developer mode, and this is done by repeatedly clicking on the build number in the About menu. Once activated, the Advanced Settings menu will have a "Developers" item where we are interested in the "Drawing" section.
- 🚀 Find the options “Window animation”, “transition animation” and “Duration of animation».
- 🚀 Change the value from the standard 1x on 0.5x or shut it down completely (0x).
- 🚀 Turn off the “Remove Background Processes” option only if you have less than 2GB of RAM.
Changing these settings instantly changes the perception of interface speed. Menus open in jerks, but much faster, which is critical for the Snapdragon 632 processor. It is also worth considering disabling Advanced Memory if this option is present in your firmware version, since memory virtualization on slow eMMC 5.1 drives often backfires.
Why do you need animation?
Android animations are not only for beauty, but also for masking content loading delays. By turning them off, you make the interface dry, but instantaneous.> Background Process Management and Autoboot One of the main reasons why Xiaomi is slowing down is the uncontrolled operation of applications in the background. Chinese software manufacturers, as well as popular social networks, often ignore the limitations of the system and continue to consume the CPU resources even when you are not using them. MIUI There is a powerful autoload control tool that you need to manually configure. Go to the Security app and select Permits» → «Autorun. Only those applications that are critical to you (e.g. messengers or alarm clocks) should be left on). For other programs, such as games, stores or news aggregators, auto-run is better prohibited. This will prevent them from starting with the phone and free up RAM for current tasks. In addition, in the battery settings for each application, you can set a background activity restriction. Application type Recommended status Impact on the battery Messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram) Without restrictions Average Social Networks (VK, Instagram) Energy savings High Games Hard Restriction Low (in the background) System Services No restrictions Depend on the module Regular monitoring of running processes through the menu "Nextly recent battery impact on the application" and forced to maintain the stability of the system during the day. Disabling Ads and System Notifications Obsessive Advertising is a Scourge of the Shell MIUI, It's not only annoying, it's consuming Internet traffic and CPU resources to download banner ads. MSA (MIUI System Ads is responsible for displaying ads in standard applications, and turning them off is a mandatory step to speed up, so to get rid of advertising, you need to turn off receiving recommendations in each system application separately. Go to the Music, Themes, Downloads, Explorer settings and find the Receive Recommendations switch. It is also important to turn off msa from the Password and Security menu» → «Access to personal data». ⚠️ Attention: When the service is disconnected MSA The system can ask you a few times, pretending that the service is not responding, and then wait until the timer ends and press "Disable" again». After disabling the ads, the interface will be cleaner and the load on the network module and the processor will decrease, which is especially true for Redmi 7, which does not have excess power to process advertising scripts on the fly. 💡Use it. DNS with ad blocking, for example, dns.adguard.com, in private settings DNS (Android 9+), If the software optimization methods do not give the desired result, there is a radical but effective way - a complete reset to factory settings. Hard Reset removes all accumulated registry errors, file conflicts and remnants of deleted applications, returning the phone to the “out of the box” state. Before starting the procedure, you must make a full backup of the data, since all information will be irretrievably lost. Reset can be done via the settings menu (“Advanced Settings» → «Recover and reset") or through Recovery mode by clamping a combination of power and volume keys. An alternative to resetting can be installing custom firmware, such as LineageOS or Pixel Experience. Pure Android runs on hardware level Redmi 7 significantly easier and faster than the heavy shell MIUI. However, this step requires unlocking the bootloader, which can be tricky for an untrained user. 🔒 Unlock the bootloader through the official Mi Unlock utility (168 hours waiting required). 🔒 Install a custom Recovery (TWRP). 🔒 Download and install optimized firmware. Using custom firmware not only speeds up the phone, but also delivers a more recent version of Android that the manufacturer no longer officially provides. 💡A complete data reset is a guaranteed way to remove software brakes caused by long-term use of the same system. Hardware limitations and physical condition We must not forget that the Xiaomi Redmi 7 is a device with a certain lifespan, and it is software impossible to bypass the physical limitations of iron. Battery wear, memory cell degradation and processor overheating are all factors that directly affect performance. If the phone overheats frequently, the system automatically lowers the processor clock rate (trotling) to avoid damage to components. In this case, no software optimization will help until the heat sink problem is solved or the thermal paste is replaced, and it is worth considering that modern versions of applications (YouTube, Facebook, browsers) are becoming increasingly demanding resources. The fact that the phone started to work slower may not be due to a breakdown, but to the fact that the software has ceased to be optimized for the old hardware. Should I buy external cooling for the Redmi 7? For budget models like the Redmi 7, buying an active cooler usually does not make sense, since the performance gain in everyday tasks will be minimal. This is only true for mobile gaming. Will installing an antivirus? In most cases, antivirus on Android rather harms performance by constantly scanning the system. Google Protect Protect's built-in protection and common sense when installing applications is quite enough. How often should you reboot the phone to fully switch off and switch off the system for a week? Can I increase RAM software? You can't physically increase RAM. Memory Extension uses a portion of internal storage, but on cheap smartphones, this often results in a decrease in overall speed due to low flash recording speed. Why does the phone slow down after a MIUI update? After a major update, the system indexes files and optimizes applications in the background. This process can take anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days. If the brakes don't pass after 3-4 days, resets are recommended.