How to speed up the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 phone: the full guide

Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 has long been a benchmark budget segment, offering users a great balance of price and quality. However, over time, even powerful processors begin to experience difficulties with new versions of applications and heavy updates to the MIUI shell. If your device began to work slower, open menus for a long time or hang in games, this is not a reason to immediately buy a new gadget.

In most cases, the problem lies in software accumulation: fragmentation of the file system, crowded cache and background processes that consume resources in vain. Proper system configuration can restore the former abruptness of the interface and significantly improve performance in everyday tasks.

In this article, we’ll look at safe and effective ways to speed up your smartphone. We’re not going to use questionable software, but rather look at the built-in tools and proven optimization methods that will help extend the life of your Redmi Note 8.

Storage occupancy analysis and memory cleaning

The first and most critical factor affecting Android speed is the free space in the internal drive. When free memory falls below 10-15%, the system starts to work much slower due to the peculiarities of writing data to flash memory. Check the current state of storage by going to Settings → About Phone → Storage.

The main “eaters” of the place are usually messengers such as Telegram or WhatsApp, which store all received media files, social network cache and system debris also take up a significant amount of money. For quick cleaning, you can use the built-in Security → Cleanup application, which automatically finds temporary files.

But automatic cleaning doesn't always remove everything that's superfluous. Manually go into the application settings and find the ones you rarely use. Removing unnecessary software is the easiest way to free up RAM and CPU resources.

• 🗑️ Remove rarely used apps through the program management menu.
• 📸 Transfer photos and videos to SD-map or cloud storage.
• 🔄 Clear the cache of heavy apps like Instagram or TikTok under Memory".
• 📂 Check the Downloads folder and remove the old installations. APK-file.

⚠️ Note: Do not delete system files from the root folder or folder Android/data, If you're not sure what they're doing, it can cause applications or the system to malfunction.

Optimization of the interface and animations MIUI

MIUI is known for its beautiful but heavy animations. On mid-range and budget devices like the Redmi Note 8, rendering these effects can create the illusion of "braking" and speed up the visual experience of the system through the developer menu.

To activate hidden settings, you need to go to Settings → About Phone and quickly click on MIUI Version 7 times. Once the notification "You became a developer" appears, a new section Additional → For developers will appear in the settings menu, which is where the key performance settings lie.

Find the section that's in charge of drawing, and rescale the animations. The standard value is 1x, but to speed up the interface response, it's recommended to reduce it to 0.5x or even completely disable it, which will make the transitions between windows instantaneous, although less smooth visually.

• 🎨 Reduce the scale of animation windows to 0.5x for instantaneous application opening.
• ⏱️ Reduce the duration of transition animation to speed up navigation on the menu.
• 📉 Turn off the duration animation if you want maximum response speed.
• 🚀 Change the limit of background processes to "No more than 2" for release RAM.

Also worth paying attention to is the Memory Extension feature, if available in your firmware version, which allows you to use some of the memory as virtual RAM, which can help when you start heavy games, but sometimes slows down the system as a whole.

Managing Autoboot and Background Processes

Many applications tend to run with the operating system and continue to run in the background, consuming battery power and CPU resources. In Redmi Note 8, a special controller monitors this, but its settings often require manual adjustments.

Go to Security → Permissions → Auto Run. Here you will see a list of all programs that start automatically. Leave only messengers (for notifications) and system services on. All other applications, especially games and stores, better turn off.

You also need to check the charge saving settings for frequently used applications. If you choose the "Hard Savings" mode for the messenger, messages may come with a delay, and the application itself will open for a long time. Set the "No Limits" mode for important programs.

⚠️ Note: Do not disable system processes with names that contain "MIUI", "System, Framework or Google Services, which can cause a phone to malfunction or communication to be lost.

Disabling Advertising and System Garbage

One of the features of the MIUI shell is the built-in advertising in system applications. MSA (MIUI System Ads) advertising modules are not only annoying, but also consume Internet traffic and CPU time, which directly affects the overall responsiveness of the Redmi Note 8.

To turn off ads, go to Settings → Passwords & Security → Access to Personal Data. Find msa on the list and turn off the slider. The system will ask you to wait 10 seconds before turning off — be patient. It is also recommended to turn off the dau (Device Advertising Unit) service.

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For complete removal of advertising, it is also recommended to go to each system application (Conductor, Downloads, Music, Themes), click on three dots in the corner → Settings → and disable the item "Receive recommendations".

Also, you should disable personalized ads in Google settings. Go to Settings → Google → Advertising and select “Disable Ad Personalization” to reduce the load on the network module when you launch applications.

• 🚫 Disable msa service in the personal data access menu to stop advertising modules.
• 📉 Stop personalizing ads in your Google account settings.
• 🧹 Remove the “Receive recommendations” box in all built-in Xiaomi apps.
• 🔒 Limit background activity for apps you don’t need constantly online.

Reset network settings and Wi-Fi

Sometimes the feeling of a slow phone is not due to a weak processor, but to network connection problems. Pages in the browser can load for a long time, giving the impression of interface lags, in which cases, resetting network settings helps.

This procedure won’t delete your personal data (photos, contacts), but it will reset your Wi-Fi passwords and Bluetooth settings. Go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Reset Wi-Fi, mobile networks and Bluetooth. After rebooting, the phone will reset network settings, which often solves data freeze problems.

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Regularly resetting network settings (every 3-6 months) helps to eliminate accumulated configuration errors and improve connection stability on older devices.

Also check if Wi-Fi Assistant is enabled, which constantly scans networks in the background, and turn it off in Wi-Fi settings if you don't use the automatic mobile Internet switching feature when the signal is bad.

Radical measures: Resetting to factory settings

If software optimization fails, the most effective method is a full factory reset, which brings the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 back to the “out of the box” state, removing all accumulated software debris, registry errors and application conflicts.

Before starting the procedure, be sure to back up all important data on your computer or in the Mi Cloud. Go to Settings → About Phone → Reset → Erase all data. The process will take about 10-15 minutes.

⚠️ Warning: Before resetting, make sure the battery is at least 50-60%. Interrupting the reset process due to battery discharge can damage the system partition and inability to boot the phone.

After reset, don't rush to install all the apps at once. Install only the essentials and watch the system run for a day. Often, it turns out that the phone is fast until you install heavy, poorly optimized apps.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)