How to disable VoLTE on Xiaomi smartphone

Many owners of smartphones Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO are faced with a situation when the status bar next to the 4G network appears HD icon or the words VoLTE. Voice over LTE technology is designed to improve the quality of voice calls by transmitting voice through the Internet protocol, but in practice this does not always work correctly. Often users notice that after turning on this feature, SMS stops coming, the Internet disappears during a conversation or the phone completely stops seeing the network.

Disabling this option may be necessary not only in case of technical failures, but also for other reasons, for example, if your carrier does not support the service. HD-calls in your region or the plan does not include this service, the phone will constantly try to register in the network, wasting battery power. MIUI, Like other Android shells, it allows you to manage these settings, but sometimes standard switches are hidden or work incorrectly.

In this article, we will take a look at all the available ways to deactivate the function, from the standard settings menu to the use of engineering codes and ADB. You will learn why the icon can return after a reboot and how to permanently remove it if standard methods do not help. It is important to understand that disabling VoLTE will return calls to standard 2G/3G mode, which may even be preferable for older SIM cards or in areas of uncertain reception.

Why you should turn off VoLTE on Xiaomi devices

The main reason why users are seeking to remove VoLTE is because of the instability of mobile operators. Despite the widespread adoption of fourth-generation networks, the infrastructure is not always ready to provide a seamless transition between data and voice, as a result, during an incoming or outgoing call, the Internet connection can completely break, which is critical for those who are waiting for important messages in messengers or navigation data.

Another important aspect is power consumption: Constant search for HD networks and attempts to maintain a stable VoLTE connection in low signal areas cause the smartphone modem to work in high mode, which leads to the fact that the device discharges faster than usual, and can also heat up in the area of the antenna module. For low-end models of Redmi and Poco with the smallest battery, this becomes a tangible problem.

⚠️ Warning: Before you turn off the feature, make sure your plan doesn't require VoLTE for free minutes. LTE are charged as Internet traffic, and when you turn off the options, you can start writing off minutes by minute.

Also worth mentioning is the dual SIM problem: many Xiaomi smartphones, with active VoLTE on one SIM card, can go into “unavailable” mode or lose network. This is due to the limitations of the modem hardware, which can not simultaneously handle two high-speed channels, in which cases, deactivating the technology on one of the cards often solves the problem of network loss.

Standard way to disable via MIUI settings

The simplest and safest method is to use the standard interface of the operating system. In most current versions of MIUI 12, 13 and 14, the switch is open access. However, the location of the menu may vary slightly depending on the regional firmware (Global, China, EEA) and the Android version.

First, you need to go to the main settings menu of your device, find the Mobile Network or Connections and Sharing section. In some builds, this item may simply be called SIM-Maps and mobile networks. This shows all the active SIM cards installed in the phone.

Select the SIM card you want to change settings on. It's usually SIM 1 or SIM 2, depending on where you want to install the card. Inside the settings menu of a particular card, look for Use VoLTE. Put the switch to the inactive position. If the HD icon disappeared from the status bar immediately, then the operation was successful.

In rare cases, the change may not take effect immediately, so it is recommended to reboot the device or turn on Flight Mode for a few seconds and then turn it off, and this will force the phone to re-register in the operator's network with new parameters, and if after this action the icon returned, then the settings are automatically applied by the operator, and deeper methods of intervention will be required.

Using the Engineering Menu for Hidden Settings

If the standard switch is missing or not working, an engineering menu comes to the rescue, a hidden part of the system designed to test equipment and set up the radio module, accessed through a set of special code in the Phone application.

Type ##4636##. If the code is suitable for your model, the Testing menu will open. Select Phone Information. In the list that opens, find the VoLTE provisioned or Enable VoLTE line. Unchecking the box or switching the switch to false should turn off the function at the modem level.

##4636##

It is worth noting that newer versions of Android (11, 12, 13 and above) often block developers from accessing this code for security reasons. If nothing happens when typing code or an error message appears, this method will not work for you, in which case you can try alternative codes, such as #86583##, which forcibly includes a hidden VoLTE menu, after which you need to return to the first code.

⚠️ Warning: Be very careful in the engineering menu. Don't change the settings you're not sure about. Wrong radio frequency settings can lead to a complete loss of communication, and it's hard to get it back without resetting the network.

Application ADB-Teams for Advanced Users

The most reliable method that works even when other methods are powerless is using USB debugging and Android Debug Bridge (ADB) tools, which requires a computer and minimal command line skills, but allows you to make changes to system databases that are not available through the interface.

First, activate the developer mode on your smartphone. Go to Settings → About phone and quickly click on the build number (MIUI version) seven times. After that, a new section will appear in the menu Additional or Advanced Settings, where you need to find the item For developers. Inside, activate the debugging switch over USB.

Connect your smartphone to your computer via the original cable. The PC must have ADB drivers installed. Open the command line (Terminal or CMD) in the adb.exe folder and enter the following command to check the connection:

adb devices

Once you have access confirmed on your phone screen, you can execute a command that forcibly changes the global setting of VoLTE.

adb shell settings put global volte_enabled 0

This command sets a system flag that prohibits the use of the technology. In some cases, you may also need to command adb shell settings put global. carrier_volte_available 0. After the action is done, it is desirable to reboot the device, which is especially effective for Chinese firmware versions, where operator settings can be hard-wired.

Comparison of VoLTE disabling methods

The choice of deactivation method depends on your technical training and the specific model of the smartphone. Below is a table that will help determine the best solution to the problem.

As you can see from the table, standard settings are the safest way, but they don't always work. The engineering menu is the middle ground, allowing you to quickly hide the function without connecting to a PC. Using ADB is "heavy artillery" that guarantees the result, but requires caution.

There's also a method of changing the region in the phone settings, and sometimes switching to India or Singapore can change the list of available carriers and hide the extra settings, but it's a temporary solution that resets when you return the region, and it should only be considered an auxiliary one.

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The most stable result is a comprehensive approach: first try the standard menu, then the engineering code, and only in extreme cases use ADB.

Possible problems and solutions

Once the feature is disabled, users may experience a number of nuances: for example, the HD icon may disappear, but the quality of communication will deteriorate if the room receives a poor 2G/3G. In this case, the phone will constantly switch between standards, which will cause voice interruptions, the solution is one – to look for a place with a more confident signal or change the operator.

Another common problem is that you can reset the settings after you update the system, and when you install a new MIUI or Android security patch, you can reset your user preferences to factory values, and then you have to do the deactivation again, and if you've used ADB, you'll have to re-enter the commands.

Sometimes users complain that after the VoLTE shutdown, video calls through the native call stopped working. This is normal, since video calls over IMS require LTE support. For video communication, in this case, it is recommended to use messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber), which run on top of any Internet connection and do not depend on the operator's settings.

⚠️ Warning: If after all the manipulations the phone stopped seeing the SIM card or shows "No network", reset the network settings. → Connection and sharing → Resetting Wi-Fi, mobile networks and Bluetooth, it won't delete your personal data, but it will return network settings to factory settings.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)