Next articlePoor hearing in Xiaomi phone: how to improve hearing in 10 minutes

Have you noticed that your Xiaomi phone is being heard through cotton candy and your voice is being interrupted or distorted? Audience is one of the most common complaints of smartphone users, which can be caused by contaminated speakers, incorrect microphone settings, and sometimes hardware malfunctions. In this article, we will discuss unique ways to diagnose and fix problems that you will not find in standard instructions, including hidden engineering menus and fine-tuning the audio tract.

It's important to understand that if your hearing loss suddenly (like a fall or a damper), you're talking about physical damage -- that's where the service center will help. But 80 percent of the time, it's software failures or bad settings. We've put together proven methods for models from the Redmi Note 10 to the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, including budget and flagship devices. Let's start with the simplest, and gradually move on to advanced techniques.

1. Cleaning the speaker and microphone: mechanical causes of poor hearing

The first thing to rule out is clogging of the sound holes. In Xiaomi, the speaker and microphone are often located at the bottom of the case (near the USB-C connector), where dust, pile from your pockets and even particles of hand cream accumulate. If you carry your phone in your bag or jeans pocket, the risk of clogging increases 3 times.

How to clean properly:

• 🧹 Soft brush (such as a toothbrush with a short pile) - gently swipe the speaker along the grille with left-right movements!
• 💨 A container with compressed air - keep at a distance 10 cm, with short presses (1-2 Do not use a vacuum cleaner, it can damage the membrane.
• 🩹 Scotch or sticky tape -- cut the piece, put it on the hole, and rip it off abruptly. Repeat. 2-3 Removal of deep contaminants.
• ❌ What NOT to do: Don’t use needles, toothpicks, or wet wipes – it’s almost guaranteed to damage the microphone.

After cleaning, check your audibility by calling another phone, and if you have a problem, go to software methods, and by the way, the POCO F5 and Redmi K60 often clog the second microphone (for noise reduction) on the top end, which is also worth checking.

2. Checking the sound settings: what could have gone wrong in the system

Sometimes hearing is spoiled by incorrect audio parameters that get lost after updating or installing third-party applications. MIUI has several hidden options that affect communication quality:

Open the Settings → Sound and vibration and check:

• 🔊 Loudness of the call – move the slider to the maximum (sometimes it gets lost after connecting Bluetooth headphones).
• 🎧 Amplify the sound in headphones – turn off this option if you do not use wired accessories.
• 📞 In-car mode – in some firmware, it is activated automatically and suppresses high voice frequencies.
• 🔄 Adaptive sound - an experimental function in MIUI 14+, It can distort your voice. Try turning it off.

Pay special attention to Settings → Special features → Sound enhancement. There is the option "Monosound" - if it is turned on, the stereo is converted to mono, which worsens speech intelligibility. Also check if the "Hearing" mode is activated (it is designed for people with hearing impairments and can distort the voice of the interlocutor).

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If you lose the audio in the speaker after the MIUI update, try resetting the audio settings: go to Settings → System → Resetting → Reset the audio settings. This will return the factory settings without losing data.

3. Engineering menu: hidden microphone settings and dynamics

Xiaomi phones have an engineering menu where you can test hardware components and change settings that are not available in the standard interface.

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After entering, the Testing menu will open. Select Audio (or Sound in Russian firmware) and follow the following steps:

1. In the Audio Mode section, select Normal Mode (if Headset Mode is the option, the speaker may not work).
2. Check the volume levels at Sph (microphone) and Sph2 (second microphone) and the optimal values are 120-140 for the main and 100-120 for the additional.
3. In Volume, set Media Volume and Ring Volume to a maximum (value 15).
4. Microphone Test – If the signal level is below 30-40 dB, the microphone is faulty or clogged.

⚠️ Warning: Do not change the settings in the Hardware Info and Audio Tuning sections unless you understand their meanings. Incorrect settings can lead to complete loss of sound.

4 Network Settings Reset: Why It Helps With Sound Problems

The quality of communication depends on the settings of the mobile network. If your Xiaomi connects to an overloaded tower or uses an outdated protocol (for example, 2G instead of 4G VoLTE), the voice of the interlocutor will be interrupted or sound like a barrel.

Go to Settings. → SIM-maps and mobile networks → [Yours. SIM] → Reset the network settings. Once you reboot, the phone automatically picks up the optimal connectivity settings. If the reset didn't work, check:

• 📶 Network mode: set up 4G (preferably 3G (if 4G unstable in your area).
• 🔄 VoLTE: Enable this option (it improves voice quality on networks) 4G). Path: Settings → SIM-map → [Yours. SIM] → VoLTE Challenges.
• 📡 Roaming: If you are on a trip, turn off automatic roaming and select a carrier manually.

On the two-way model SIM-Cards (Redmi Note 12 Pro)+, POCO X5 Pro) the problem may be in the network conflict. Try temporarily disabling the second. SIM-Check your audibility and check if the dual call function is activated (which can reduce communication quality).

✅ Make sure that SIM-The card is inserted correctly (chip up)

✅ Check the balance and tariff activity (sometimes operators block VoLTE at zero balance)

✅ Turn it off. VPN (It can interfere with registration on the network)

✅ Restart your phone before resetting.-->

5.Firmware issues: how an upgrade or rollback can bring back sound

If the bad audibility came after the MIUI update, it was a firmware bug. For example, MIUI 13.0.4 for Redmi Note 11 had a critical failure in the audio driver, which caused the microphone to run at 30% volume.

1. Reverse to the old version (if you know that everything worked before). Use MIUI bootloader to find stable firmware.
2. Update to the latest version (if the bug has already been fixed). Check for updates in Settings → About Phone → System Update.
3. Installing a custom core (for advanced users). For example, the FrancoKernel kernel improves sound processing on Snapdragon processors.

Before you run your firmware, make a backup (via Settings → Additional → Backup) and check the firmware compatibility with your model. On Xiaomi Firmware, you can find official versions for manual installation.

⚠️ Note: If after firmware the phone stopped turning on or stuck on the logo MI, Don't try to repeat the process. This is a sign of firmware incompatibility -- call the service center.

6. Hardware malfunctions: when without repairs can not do

If none of the software methods worked, the problem is probably hardware.

• 🔇 Complete absence of sound in the dynamics (even system signals).
• 💧 Corrosion marks on the connector USB-C or around the microphone (infection of moisture).
• 🔊 Wheezing or cracking in dynamics, not dependent on volume.
• 📱 Phone doesn't detect headphones when they're connected (problem with audio chip).

The average cost of repairs in Xiaomi service centers:

• Dynamic replacement: 800–1500 ₽ (model-wise).
• Microphone replacement: 600–1200 ₽.
• Repair of audio track (contact soldering): 1500–3000 ₽.
• Replacement of audio chip: 3000-5000 ₽ (costly).

Before visiting the service, check whether the warranty is valid (even if the phone was purchased more than a year ago, sometimes the warranty period for individual components is longer). IMEI Your device is on the Xiaomi Warranty Check website.

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If your phone falls or comes into contact with water, don’t try to disassemble it yourself, which causes the plumes to be damaged and repairs to cost more than 90 percent.

7.Alternative solutions: messengers and external devices

If repairs are delayed, and you need to call urgently, use the workarounds:

• 📱 VoIP messengers: WhatsApp, Telegram or Viber often give better audibility than standard calls (using the Internet instead of a cellular network).
• 🎧 Bluetooth headphones: even cheap Redmi Buds will provide a clearer sound than the built-in speaker.
• 🔊 External speaker: connect your phone to the speaker via Bluetooth or 3.5mm jack (if you have a connector).
• 📞 Call forwarding: set up a redirect to another phone via the operator (paid, but reliable service).

For POCO and Redmi owners with Snapdragon, there’s another life hack: Enable Gamer Mode (Settings → Special Features → Gamer Mode) that optimizes the phone’s resources, including improving real-time audio processing.

FAQ: Frequent questions about hearing in Xiaomi