How to increase FPS in games on Android Xiaomi: a full guide

Modern mobile games require huge computing power from smartphones, and even Xiaomi’s flagship models do not always cope with stable frame rates in heavy projects like Genshin Impact or PUBG Mobile. Low FPS turns an exciting process into a twitchy slideshow where you can not accurately aim or dodge the impact. However, often the problem lies not in a weak processor, but in the aggressive optimization of the MIUI shell or HyperOS, which tries to save battery power at the expense of performance.

In this article, we will discuss a comprehensive approach to optimization that will make the most of your device, we will touch on both standard system settings that are available to each user, and more advanced methods that require caution. Proper GPU configuration and allocation of RAM resources can work wonders, turning an average smartphone into a gaming machine.

Before we start taking any drastic measures, we need to understand that stability is more important than peaks. 60 to 30 frames per second are worse for the eye than a stable 40 FPS. Our goal is to ensure a flat line of performance graphs by eliminating background processes and thermal trottling restriction, which often strangles the processor when heated.

Use of built-in Game Turbo and game profiles

The first and most obvious tool in the Xiaomi owner’s arsenal is the Game Turbo system utility. It’s not just a game launcher, but a powerful resource manager that redistributes the CPU’s priorities in favor of an active application. To activate its maximum efficiency, it’s not enough to just run the game through a shortcut; you need to manually set up a profile for each particular application.

Go to the Security app and find the Game Turbo section. Here you will see a list of installed games. Clicking on the settings icon (cogs) next to a particular game will take you to the custom optimization menu. This is where the answer to the question of how to increase the FPS on shaomi without installing third-party software is found. The system offers several modes, but the standard Balance often limits the frequency of the processor.

To get the best result, choose Performance mode or create your own profile. In advanced settings, the Speed Up Response slider should be twisted to the maximum, which will reduce the latency of the touchscreen. However, be prepared for the fact that energy consumption will increase and the device will start to heat up faster. This is a charge for a high frame rate.

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Enable Do Not Disturb mode inside Game Turbo settings so that incoming calls don’t interrupt the frame rendering and cause friezes.

Importantly, new versions of HyperOS have rewritten Game Turbo's algorithms, and now it relies more on machine learning to analyze your habits, and if you notice that the FPS has dropped since the update, try removing the game from the Game Turbo list and adding it again to reset the profile cache and force the system to reanalyze the application's requirements.

Optimizing the developer’s settings for rendering

The hidden section for developers contains key parameters that affect how the Android operating system interacts with the graphics accelerator, and you can get there by quickly clicking 7 times on the MIUI version in the About Phone menu. After the message “You became a developer” appears, a new section will appear in the settings menu.

Inside the section, find the unit associated with hardware acceleration. GPU (or “Enable” GPU for 2D-In older versions of Android, it was an increase, but on modern versions. MIUI 12-14 It's on by default, and forced toggling can cause artifacts. A more important parameter is "Log Buffer Size," which is better set to "Disable" or a minimum value to reduce the CPU load.

Pay special attention to animation settings, which, although they affect the subjective smoothness of the interface, disabling them frees up CPU cycles for the background calculations of the game.

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There is also a Preferred Format option that allows you to choose between 16-bit and 32-bit rendering. Choosing a 16-bit color (RGB 565) can slightly increase FPS in older games by reducing color quality, but in today's heavy projects the difference is not noticeable, and eyes get tired less at 32-bit mode.

What is 4x MSAA and should it be included?
The "Enable 4x MSAA" option force multisampling in games that use OpenGL ES 2.0. This makes the picture smoother by removing the "ladders" at the edges of objects, but the load on the GPU increases significantly.

Memory and background management

RAM is your CPU's desktop. The less junk you have, the faster Xiaomi processes gaming assets. The MIUI shell is known for its aggressive memory-cleaning policy, but sometimes it cleans the wrong things or keeps heavy services in mind. It's critical for games to free up as much RAM as possible before launch.

In the Developer menu, find the Background Process Limit. The default is the standard limit, but for maximum performance, you can choose "No Background Processes." This will force the system to close all applications except the current one. Be careful: after you leave the game, you will have to reopen the messengers and the browser, since they will not hang in the background.

Also, disable unnecessary system services that consume resources. Follow the Settings → Applications → All apps and find services you don’t use (e.g. Mi Video, Mi Music if you don’t use them). Go to the Battery for each such application and select “Limit background activity” or “No restrictions” (paradoxically, sometimes banning background activity works better, preventing the system from “waking up” the service).

📊 What affects the most lags in games on your Xiaomi?
Lack of RAM
Processor overheating
Poor Internet connection
Optimizing the game itself

Remember Memory Extension, which uses some of the internal memory as virtual RAM. For games, it's a double-edged sword. Internal UFS memory speeds are lower than physical LPDDRs, so activating this feature can even lower FPS in heavy scenes due to data paging delays. Try turning it off and compare the result.

Decreasing temperature and combating trottling

The main enemy of high FPS is heating. When the temperature of the Snapdragon or Dimensity processor reaches a critical point (usually around 45-50 degrees), the protective mechanism is triggered, trottling. The CPU frequencies are forcibly underestimated, and the FPS drops two or three times, and the gamer's task is to delay this moment as much as possible or prevent it from occurring.

The most effective way is to use external cooling. Cellphone coolers can keep the body cold even in peak loads. If there is no cooler, remove the case. A tight silicone or leather case works as a thermal insulator, keeping the heat from dissipating. Play in a cool room, ideally under the flow of the fan.

So you can try to program the brightness of the screen, and the screen is one of the main sources of heat, and you can reduce the brightness to the brightness of the screen. 50-60% It reduces the overall temperature of the device significantly, and there is also a myth about cold wallpaper and live wallpaper, but the real effect is only to reduce the brightness and shutdown. Bluetooth/GPS, unless they're for gameplay.

⚠️ Warning: Never put a charging phone in the refrigerator or freezer for cooling! a sharp temperature drop will cause condensation inside the case, which will short circuit and irreversible failure of the device.

For advanced users, there is the possibility of changing temperature limits through root rights and special modules, but this requires deep knowledge and can lead to battery bloating. It is better to focus on physical heat transfer. Using graphite stickers on the back cover also helps distribute heat over a larger area, accelerating its return to the air.

Comparison of energy saving modes and their impact on games

Xiaomi's power modes are divided into "Energy Savings," "Balanced," and "Performance." For gaming, the choices are obvious, but there are nuances. Performance mode keeps the CPU frequencies at maximum all the time, ignoring simple tasks, which leads to heating even on the menu. Balanced mode tries to guess the load, but in games it often behaves sluggishly.

Below is a table showing the impact of different settings on the final performance and autonomy:

Setup parameterImpact on FPSImpact on heatingRecommendation
Productivity modeMaximum (+15-20%)High-pitchedUse only with a cooler
Shutdown of animationsNot directly affected.Decrease.Recommended to all
Limit of background processesStabilizes (removes jerks)Medium.Putting "No Processes"
High screen frequency (120 Hz)Visually improves smoothnessSignificantly boostsTurn on if the battery allows

It is important to understand that enabling high-frequency screen refresh (90 or 120Hz) mode in the display settings (Settings → Screen → Upgrade frequency) requires the GPU to render twice as many frames. If your CPU is weak, it is better to force 60Hz. A stable 60 FPS looks better than a galloping 90-100, which drops quickly to 40 due to power shortage.

☑️ Checklist before the launch of a heavy game

Done: 0 / 5

Radical measures: discharge and clean installation

If software methods don't work, it may have accumulated errors or debris over the years, and file fragmentation and remnants of remote applications can slow down the disk subsystem, which directly affects the speed of loading textures in games, in which case a complete reset to factory settings will help.

Before the procedure, make sure to back up your data via Mi Cloud or locally on your PC. After the reset, don't restore all the applications immediately from the backup. Install only the game and the necessary tools. This will allow you to check the performance on a clean system. Often it turns out that some particular widget or "optimizer" from the Play Store slowed down the entire system.

⚠️ Warning: After reset, the system indexes files and optimizes applications in the background for several hours, during which time the phone may warm and run slowly. 2-3 hours after first loading.

Also worth considering is custom firmware (e.g. Xiaomi.eu or pure LineageOS). Chinese firmware versions often contain more advertising and are heavier than global ones. Global versions, in turn, can be inflated by unnecessary Google services. Castole builds often lack this ballast and work faster, but require unlocking the bootloader, which resets warranties and can disrupt banking applications.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Does cleaning up the game cache help boost FPS?
Cache cleanup (Settings → Applications → [Game] → Memory → Clear cache) frees up space on the drive, but rarely affects the FPS directly.However, if the cache is overflowing or damaged, the game can load the textures with delay, causing micro-freezes. Regular cleaning is useful, but don't wait for a two-fold increase in performance.
Should I use the apps from the Play Market?
Most of the time, no. Applications like Game Booster Plus or Clear Master often put more CPU load than good. They're all in the memory and constantly monitoring the system. Xiaomi's built-in Game Turbo is more than enough to manage resources efficiently.
Does the internal memory play a role in games?
Yes, and very much. If your phone's memory is over 85-90% full, the speed of writing and reading data drops, which leads to long loads of levels and slowdowns when opening new locations, always keep at least 10-15% of your total storage free.
Why did the game slow down after the MIUI update?
Updates often change the algorithms for working with the battery and temperature. In the first 2-3 days after the update, the system is busy optimizing files, which causes lags. If the problem persists for longer than a week, try resetting the Game Turbo settings or rolling back to the previous firmware version via the Mi Flash Tool.

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Maximum FPS is achieved by a combination of methods: Game Turbo in performance mode, cooling the device and minimizing background tasks.