How to Enable Black and White Mode on Xiaomi: The Complete Guide

Modern smartphones, including popular models from Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO, are equipped with bright AMOLED and IPS displays that can tire the eyes with prolonged use. Many users are looking for a way to reduce the burden on vision or just want to change the usual interface for the sake of minimalism. The built-in features of the shell MIUI and HyperOS make it easy to switch the color scheme of the screen to monochrome mode without installing third-party applications.

Turning on black and white on Xiaomi devices is possible in several ways, each with its own characteristics and purpose. You can activate it temporarily through the control center, set up automatic turn on on schedule or use special reading modes that change not only colors, but also the frequency of screen refreshment. This helps not only to save vision, but also significantly save battery power on OLED-matrixes.

In this article, we will take a look at all the available methods for turning the screen into shades of gray. We will look at standard digital well-being tools, specialized settings for comfortable reading and hidden system features, you will learn how to quickly switch modes and what nuances to consider when using a monochrome picture on your device.

Using the Digital Well-Being Function

The most versatile and easy way to turn your smartphone screen into black and white is to use the built-in Digital Wellbeing tool, which was originally designed to combat digital addiction, because the lack of bright colors makes it less attractive to the brain, but users quickly appreciated the convenience of this mode for night reading or working in low light conditions.

To activate this option, you need to go to the basic settings of the system. Find the section responsible for screen health and balance of device usage. Depending on the version of the MIUI or HyperOS firmware, the path may differ slightly, but the logic remains the same: look for settings related to sleep or concentration.

Inside the menu, you'll find a sleep mode or rest switch, and that's where the settings we want to set up, and when you activate that, you can choose the filter type that you apply to the display, and the system will offer a number of options, including completely removing color.

• 🌙 Sleep mode: automatically transfers the screen to monochrome on schedule, so as not to disrupt the production of melatonin.
• 🎨 Display style: allows you to choose between normal, warm and all-black and white (shades of gray) mode.
• ⏱ Timer: the ability to configure automatic on mode after a certain time after locking the screen.
• 📉 Statistics: Tracking time spent in monochrome mode to analyze usage habits.

Importantly, activating this mode affects all apps at once: Games, social media and video players will display content in gray tones.This can be inconvenient for viewing photos or videos, so the system provides the ability to quickly disable the feature through the sidebar or control center.

Setting up the E-Ink reading mode

Owners of Xiaomi devices often overlook the dedicated Read Mode, which mimics the behavior of electronic ink (E-Ink).Unlike simply removing colors through Digital Wellbeing, this mode optimizes contrast and reduces screen refresh rates, making text clearer and more like a paper book.

To access these settings, go to the Settings menu and look for the Screen option. The option list will be Read Mode, where you can turn it on permanently or set it to automatically enable specific applications, such as browsers or book readers.

The feature that deserves special attention is the "Improved Reading Mode" feature, which when activated, the background becomes completely white and the text becomes black, removes any color accents of the interface, which creates the ideal conditions for reading text information without straining your eyes.

Users can fine-tune the display settings, adjust the background color (from white to dark gray) and the intensity of the effect, allowing the screen to be adapted to any lighting, from bright sunlight to complete darkness in the room.

Activation through Quick Settings

For those who need to switch frequently between color and monochrome mode, it is critical to have quick access to this feature. MIUI Allows you to display the “Read Mode” or “Digital Well-being” switch right into the notification curtain.

To add this element, lower the top curtain of the menu and find the edit button (usually a pencil or gear icon). In the list of available widgets, find Read Mode or Rest and drag it to the active zone. Now switching to black and white mode takes one second.

Sometimes users are faced with a situation where the standard widget is missing, in which case you can use automation scenarios, for example, set up black and white when you start a certain application or when you turn on Do Not Disturb mode, which requires a deeper setup, but gives you full control over the behavior of the device.

The use of quick settings is especially important in situations where you need to urgently reduce the brightness and color reproduction, so as not to attract attention in a dark room or to quickly give your eyes a rest after working with graphics.

Comparison of Color Offsetting Methods

The specific method of turning the screen into black and white depends on your goals. If you just want to reduce eye fatigue when reading, one set of settings will do, and if the goal is to combat smartphone addiction or maximize energy savings, other tools will be more effective.

Below is a table that will help you determine the best customization option for your use case, and compares the main features available by key parameters.

As you can see from the comparison, the built-in Read Mode often beats the standard Digital Wellbeing filter in terms of text display quality and power savings, but the former is more suitable for a global change in the system interface (menu, settings).

Hidden Options and Developer Options

For advanced users who want full control of color reproduction, there are hidden developer settings. In the Developer menu, you can find options related to color scheme simulation, which allows you to force monochrome mode on the system level, ignoring the settings of individual applications.

To get into this menu, you have to click on the build number several times in the About Phone section. Once you have a notification that you have become a developer, a new item will appear in the settings menu. Look for the section related to hardware acceleration or simulation.

⚠️ Note: Changing the settings in the Developer Menu may cause some applications or interfaces to work in an unstable way. Be careful when activating the Color Simulation option and selecting Monochrome mode. This can make navigating the menu difficult for an untrained user.

In the Color space section, select the value Monochrome, which will instantly turn black and white, and this method is the most radical, as it applies to everything that is displayed on the display, including the boot logo and recovery menu (in some cases).

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Using a developer mode to enable a monochrome is the most reliable way, but it requires manual activation of a hidden menu and can affect the operation of the system’s GUI.

Impact on autonomy and vision

Shifting to black and white isn’t just a matter of aesthetics or readability. For owners of smartphones with AMOLED and Super AMOLED screens (which are installed on most flagships and many mid-size Xiaomi models), it’s a real way to extend battery life.

The principle of these matrices is that each pixel is illuminated individually. AMOLED-The screen means that the pixel is completely off and does not consume energy. Although the complete removal of color does not make all pixels black (because the white text remains white), the decrease in overall brightness and the absence of energy-consuming blue subpixels give a significant increase in autonomy.

From a health perspective, lowering color temperature and saturation helps reduce exposure to the blue spectrum, especially in the evening, as blue light suppresses the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone, and using a monochrome regimen an hour before bedtime can help you fall asleep faster and improve your rest.

• 👁 Reduced fatigue: Eyes strain less when reading black and white text in high contrast.
• 🔋 Energy savings: on AMOLED-Disabling colored subpixels reduces current consumption.
• 🧠 Digital detox: the lack of bright icons and colorful news feeds reduces dopamine dependence on the smartphone.
• 🌙 Protecting circadian rhythms: Minimizing the blue spectrum helps the body better prepare for sleep.

However, it is worth remembering that for people with certain visual characteristics (for example, reduced contrast sensitivity), full monochrome can, on the contrary, make it difficult to perceive information, in such cases it is better to use modes with a warm color temperature, preserving chromaticity, but removing cold shades.

⚠️ Attention: It is not recommended to use maximum contrast and pure black and white mode in total darkness without reducing the overall brightness of the backlight.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)