Have you ever missed an important call because Xiaomi's screen went out at the wrong time? This problem is familiar to many owners of Redmi, POCO and other brands. Screen attenuation during incoming calls is a standard power saving feature in MIUI, but it often gets in the way: you don't have time to see who's calling, or you accidentally reset a call while trying to unlock the phone. Fortunately, you can fix this in a number of ways, from simple settings to hidden developer settings.
In this article, we will discuss 5 proven methods to disable screen fade when calling Xiaomi (including models on Android 11-14 and MIUI 12-14). You will learn what settings are responsible for locking the screen, how to circumvent the limitations of the system without root rights, and what to do if the standard methods do not work, and also – why sometimes the screen goes out even after all the manipulations, and how to fix this once and for all.
Why does Xiaomi’s screen go out during a call?
The reason for the screen fading is the MIUI energy saving policy, which assumes that the user is holding the phone to his ear when calling, so the screen can be turned off to save battery power, but in practice this leads to many inconveniences:
- 📱 You can’t see who is calling if the phone is on the table with a screen up.
- 🔄 Accidentally pressing the lock button resets the call.
- 🔋 The screen does not turn on when removing the phone from your pocket.
- 📞 It is impossible to use a speakerphone or headphones without unlocking.
In different versions of MIUI, various mechanisms are responsible for this: Proxy sensor (tracks the approach of the phone to the ear), Power Saving Mode (turns off the screen when inactivity), Display settings (time-out backlights).
Most often, the problem occurs after updating the firmware or resetting the settings.
⚠️ Note: Some Xiaomi models (e.g. Redmi Note 10 Pro) POCO X3 Pro) screen fading when you call may be due to a malfunction of the proximity sensor. If after all the settings the problem remains, check the sensor using the engineering menu (#6484##).
Method 1: Disabling the proxy sensor in call settings
The simplest method is to deactivate the proximity sensor directly in the parameters of the phone application, which works on most devices with MIUI 12 and later:
- Open the phone application (pipe icon).
- Click on the three dots in the top right corner → select Settings.
- Go to Inbound Calls (or Calls on some models).
- Find the “Discovery Sensor” option (or “Automatic Screen Shutdown”) and turn it off.
If you don’t have this option, try an alternative path: Settings → Applications → Application Management → Phone → Permissions → Sensors and disable access to the proximity sensor.
The proximity sensor is turned off in call settings
The screen does not go out on a test call.
No sensor error reports
Checked on the front and rear camera (sensor can be near them)-->
Method Limitation: On some firmware (e.g. MIUI 13 Global), this option may be missing or reset after rebooting.
Method 2: Configure screen timeout in call mode
If the proximity sensor is turned off, but the screen still goes out, it's the backlight timeout. MIUI has a hidden setting that allows you to set a separate time for the screen to fade when you call:
- Open "Settings» → «Display».
- Select Sleep Mode (or Screen Time Out).
- Set the maximum value (usually 10 minutes or 30 minutes).
- Go back to the basic settings and open “Advanced” → “Special Features”.
- Find the “Screen Wait Time When Calling” section and set “No Limits”.
If the item "Wait time screen when calling" is not, use the engineering menu:
##36446337##In the menu that opens, select Sensors → Proximity Sensor and check if the sensor is working correctly (the value should change when the hand is approaching).
Yes, there is a separate item in the settings.|No, but there's a shared time-out display.|I don't know, I haven't.|Another option-->
Method 3: Using Developer Parameters
For advanced users, there's a developer-defined method that allows you to turn off the screen attenuation globally, but you need to be careful:
- Activate Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Phone → MIUI version and press 7 times in a row.
- Return to Settings → “Advanced” → “For Developers”.
- Find the option “Debug over USB” and turn it on (this is a must for further action).
- Scroll down to the "Suspension" section and turn off: 🔄 «Suspend work when calling» 📱 «Turn off the screen when suspended»
Important: After these changes, the screen will not go out not only when calling, but also in other applications (for example, in YouTube or games).
💡
If you lose some features (like gestures) after you turn on the developer settings, reboot your phone, which will return the standard MIUI settings, but the developer mode will remain active.
Method 4: Reset the settings of the Phone application
Sometimes the screen fades when you call, and you crash the cache or the data of the standard Phone app, to fix this:
- Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
- Find the Phone app (or Calls) and open it.
- Click on “Storage” → “Clear Cache” and “Clear Data”.
- Reboot the phone.