How to Enable Black and White Mode on Xiaomi

Many Xiaomi smartphone users are wondering how to change the color gamut of the display to monochrome. This may be due to the desire to reduce eye strain, save battery power or just for the sake of aesthetic minimalism. MIUI and the new HyperOS have several ways to achieve this effect, each of which has its own characteristics.

Turning on the black filter allows you to turn your bright AMOLED or IPS screen into an e-book, not just a visual theme, but a system setting that affects image rendering, and then we'll go through all the methods available, from standard features to hidden engineering menus.

The main way through screen settings

The easiest and safest method to activate monochrome mode is in the standard system settings menu, which does not require superuser rights and works on most modern models, including the Redmi Note and the Xiaomi Mi series. You need to go to Settings and find the item responsible for display parameters.

Inside the screen settings menu, you should look for an option related to color schemes or reading modes. Depending on the firmware version, the names may differ. For example, in MIUI 12 and later, this is often hidden in additional color temperature settings. Changing sliders to cool shades or choosing a special "Paper" scheme can give a close black and white result.

However, to get a full grayscale, you often need to activate a special availability mode. Go to Settings → Advanced Settings → Special Features. There's a switch here that forcibly turns the entire interface into shades of gray. This is a system limitation that applies to all applications without exception.

Using a reading mode for monochrome

The Read Mode feature, which was originally designed to make text content more comfortable, can be used selectively or permanently, simulating electronic ink, activated via the control panel (notification curtain) or in screen settings, is also worth noting.

Inside the read settings, you can choose Classic or Paper. The classic mode often uses a yellowish filter, but under certain brightness and contrast settings, it visually approaches black. Moreover, some versions of HyperOS have the ability to fine-tune the color profile of this mode.

The advantage of this method is that it's less aggressive for color perception in other use cases if you don't turn it on all the time. You can set a schedule so that the monochrome mode is automatically turned on in the evening, which helps keep circadian rhythms alive and reduces eye fatigue when reading news or books for long periods.

Digital Well-Being and Focus

Xiaomi’s current smartphones are equipped with powerful tools to control screen time, and its Digital Wellbeing feature includes a “Bedtime” or “Sleep” mode, which often includes the option of turning the screen in black and white, in order to make smartphone use less attractive and help the user fall asleep.

To activate this, go to Settings → Digital Well-Being → Sleep Mode, where you can set a schedule where your phone will automatically go into monochrome mode, which is an effective way to digitally detoxify, because the extra colors often stimulate your brain and make you want to browse your social media feed further.

⚠️ Warning: When you activate your sleep mode through Digital Well-being, notifications and sound may turn off. Make sure you set up exceptions for important contacts to avoid missing an emergency call.

This also allows you to flexibly manage your schedule, so you can set it to black and white, for example, from 22:00 to 07:00. The rest of the time, the phone will be in normal color mode, and it's more flexible than always turning on the availability filter.

Engineering menus and hidden codes

For advanced users, you can access the engineering menu, where you can hide the deep settings of the display. Entering special codes in the Phone app allows you to enter the hardware testing section. One of the popular codes for Xiaomi is ##64663##, which opens the CIT menu.

Inside the engineering menu, you should look for a section associated with LCD or Display. Color and calibration tests may be present. Although there may not be a direct Black and White button, recalibrating or selecting a specific profile (such as Native) sometimes changes the color reproduction to a faded one.

##6484## - Alternative code for logging into the engineering menu on some versions of MIUI

Changing the parameters in the engineering menu without understanding their purpose can lead to incorrect display of colors or even software failures. Remember the original values of the parameters before making any changes so that you can roll back the settings if necessary.

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Use shortcut creation apps to quickly switch between color profiles if your model supports changing profiles through ADB or third-party utilities.

Comparison of activation methods

The right way to go depends on your goals, whether you want to read books, reduce your phone dependency, or simply change the design of the interface, and each method has its pros and cons that you should consider before setting up.

As you can see from the table, Digital Well-Being is the most balanced solution for most users, requiring no manual intervention, and operates on a predetermined algorithm, and is better suited for those who want to see a black and white screen all the time, regardless of the time of day.

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The best choice for daily use is a combination of read mode for apps and digital well-being for night time.

Effects on eye health and battery

The shift to monochrome mode is often motivated by health concerns, and it is believed that the lack of bright colors, especially blue spectrum, less tires the retina. Although the scientific evidence varies, many users note a decrease in headache after prolonged use of a smartphone in this mode.

As for the battery, on AMOLED screens, black displays do save energy, because the pixels in the black areas just turn off. However, if you just turn the image into shades of gray, but the brightness remains high, the savings will be negligible. The decrease in brightness combined with black and white mode gives the maximum energy saving effect.

It’s important to understand that a constant black and white mode can make it difficult to distinguish between some interface elements that rely on color to indicate status (e.g. red for error, green for success).Be prepared for navigation to become a little more complicated and you’ll have to rely on shapes and text rather than color codes.

⚠️ Warning: With the gray filter on, it is difficult to distinguish between red warning messages.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)