Why Xiaomi’s screen goes out when listening to voice messages and how to fix it

You listen to a voice message on WhatsApp, Telegram or Viber, and the screen of your Xiaomi smartphone suddenly goes out — a familiar situation? This problem occurs in users of different models, from budget Redmi to flagship Mi and POCO, and the screen can dim in 5 seconds, 30, and sometimes do not respond to touch until the playback is completed.

Most of the time, software conflicts are not the fault of hardware, from bugs in MIUI firmware to incorrect proximity sensor settings. In this article, we will analyze all possible causes and offer step-by-step solutions, including hidden settings that are not described in the official documentation, and you will find a table of methods compatibility with popular Xiaomi models and answers to frequent questions.

Spoiler: 80 percent of the time, you can fix the problem in 5 minutes without resetting your settings or contacting the service. But if you've tried standard tips (like turning off the proximity sensor) and they don't work, don't close the page. In the last sections, we'll reveal undocumented ways that help even on custom firmware devices.

1.Why Xiaomi's screen goes out during voice messages: the main reasons

The problem is usually related to how the system handles two events simultaneously: audio playback and screen activity control.

• 🔄 Approximation sensor conflict: The smartphone mistakenly “thinks” that you brought it to your ear (as during a call), and turns off the screen to save charge.
• ⚡ Optimization of energy consumption: MIUI aggressively disables the display when playing audio in the background.
• 📱 Firmware bugs: especially relevant for devices on MIUI 12–14 HyperOS (for example, Xiaomi) 13/14, Redmi Note 12).
• 🎧 Bluetooth devices incompatible: If you listen to voice through headphones, your smartphone may misidentify their type (e.g., perceive as a headset for calls).
• 🔧 Features Failures: Features enabled like Keep Screen On sometimes work the exact opposite.

Interesting fact: on some models (such as the POCO X3 Pro), the problem only manifests itself when playing voice from Telegram, whereas on WhatsApp everything works correctly, this is due to the way applications use AudioFocus, the Android mechanism for managing audio streams.

Quick Decisions: What to Do First

Start with these methods – they take less than a minute and help 60% of the time:

1. Turn off the proximity sensor during playback: Go to Settings → Special features → Approximation sensor and deactivate the option. If there is no item, use the engineering menu (see section 4).
2. Change screen timeout: In Settings → Display → Sleep mode set the value of 10 minutes or Never (but note, this will increase battery consumption).
3. Check your energy saving settings: Open Settings → Battery → Power saving mode and turn it off. Also add a messenger (like Telegram) to the list of No Limits.

Disable the proximity sensor

Set screen timeout for 10 minutes

Add messenger in the exclusion of energy saving

Reboot your smartphone-->

If the screen still goes out, go to the following sections. Note: on devices with MIUI 14+, the path to some settings may differ - use the search by settings (the magnifying icon in the upper right corner).

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On Xiaomi with HyperOS (such as Xiaomi 14), instead of “Special Features,” look for “Additional” or “Useability.”

3. Advanced settings: engineering menu and ADB

If standard methods don't work, it's time to dig deeper, and these methods require caution, but often solve the problem at the system level.

Method 1: Engineering menu (to disable the proximity sensor)

Enter the phone code in the application:

##6484##

In the menu that opens, select Proximity Sensor and turn it off. If the code doesn't work, try the alternative:

##4636##

→ Go to Usage Statistics → Sensor test and check the sensor response (it should not work when listening to voice voice signals).

Method 2: ADB-Teams (for experienced users)

If you have a PC, connect your smartphone via USB, enable Debugging over USB (Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version → 7 times click on the build number) and execute in ADB:

adb shell settings put global proximity_delay 2500

This command increases the delay of the approach sensor to 2.5 seconds.

adb shell settings delete global proximity_delay

Attention! Incorrect use of ADB can cause system failures, and if you're not sure, skip this method.

Problems with specific models: table of solutions

Some Xiaomi devices have unique bugs, and the table below shows proven solutions for popular models:

If your model is not in the table, try the universal methods from section 2 or contact the official Xiaomi forum (specify the exact version of the firmware - it can be found in Settings → About phone).

5.If nothing helps: radical measures

Once all of the above methods have been exhausted, there are extreme measures left, and they should only be applied if the problem is critically interfering with the use of the smartphone.

Method 1: Resetting settings to factory

Before reset, be sure to back up your data through Settings → Additional → Backup and Reset.

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
2. Choose to erase all data.
3. After the reboot, set your smartphone up as new (don’t restore settings from backup – this could bring back the problem!).

Method 2: Installation of custom firmware

For advanced users, firmware like LineageOS or Pixel Experience often lacks MIUI bugs. However, this cancels the warranty and requires unlocking the bootloader. For instructions, look at the XDA Developers or 4PDA forums (for example, here).

⚠️ Attention! Unlock the bootloader on some models (e.g. Xiaomi) 13 Ultra may result in the blocking of Mi Accounts on the 72 Before the procedure, link the device to your account and make sure you have access to a backup. email/phone.

Method 3: Contacting a Service Center

If the problem occurs after a fall, moisture or self-disassembly of the smartphone, there may be a hardware malfunction (for example, damage to the proximity sensor plume).

• 📍 Find the nearest authorized Xiaomi service center.
• 📋 Describe the problem in as much detail as possible (indicate when the screen goes out and in which applications).
• 💰 Check the cost of diagnosis – in some centers it is free.

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Before visiting the service, reset your smartphone to factory settings and delete personal data, which will speed up diagnosis and protect your privacy.

6. Alternative ways to listen to voice

While you are looking for a solution, you can get around the problem with alternative methods:

• 🎵 Turn on speaker playback: most instant messengers have a Dynamic button next to the playback slider, which will prevent the proximity sensor from activating.
• 📥 Download voice before listening: in Telegram click on the message → Save to the gallery, then play through a standard player.
• 🔄 Use the web version of the messenger: go to web.telegram.org or web.whatsapp.com from PC.
• 📱 Install a third-party player: apps like Voice Player for Telegram (available on Google Play) often bypass bugs from standard customers.

Interesting life hack: if the screen goes out but the sound continues to play, try double-tapping the display (on some models this wakes up the screen without unlocking).

7 Prevention: How to avoid problems in the future

To prevent the problem from returning after the decision, watch out for the following:

1. Regularly update your firmware: Go to Settings → Update System and enable automatic update checks, especially for devices running MIUI 12-14.
2. Don’t use battery optimizers: Apps like DU Battery Saver or Greenify can conflict with MIUI power management.
3. Check your settings after reset: If you’ve reset your smartphone or updated your firmware, reconfigure the exceptions for messengers in the Battery section.
4. Avoid beta versions of firmware: Beta versions of MIUI often contain unstable features that affect the operation of sensors.

It's also useful to calibrate the proximity sensor from time to time.

1. Open the engineering menu (code ##6484##).
2. Choose Proximity Sensor → Calibration.
3. Follow the instructions on the screen (usually hold and remove your hand from the top of the smartphone).

FAQ: Frequent questions about the problem