Why Do Xiaomi Devices Overheat So Much and How to Fix That?
It’s never a good sign when your phone gets hot. With Xiaomi phones, if they overheat, the system typically displays a warning message, followed by restricting a few apps and connectivity services until the phone cools down.
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Why Do They Get So Hot?
While Xiaomi has a strong reputation in the mid-range segment and is one of the fastest-growing manufacturers by market share, some of their devices are prone to overheating. This section will explain why that is.
1) Fast Charging Speeds
One of Xiaomi’s top selling points is their powerful charging speeds. While this helps sell devices, these high charging rates cause significant overheating, making the phones uncomfortable to use during charging.
Unlike Apple and Samsung, which prioritize device longevity and user safety, Xiaomi pushes fast charging without adequate thermal management, leaving users with phones that heat up dangerously during use.
I personally use the Xiaomi 11T Pro, which features 120W fast charging, and it has been criticized for heating up excessively during the charging process. What’s the point of having a Snapdragon 888 in your phone if it can’t deliver performance comparable to its competitors without feeling like a meteor in your hand? It feels incredibly unsafe to hold while charging.
Even flagship devices like the Mi 11 Ultra and Xiaomi 12 series have been reported to experience significant overheating, especially during gaming or high-resolution video recording(1) (2) (3). While these phones boast high-end specs, the thermal management often falls short, leading to thermal throttling and degraded performance over time.
This shows that Xiaomi’s focus on specs—like 120Hz displays and high-end processors—comes at the expense of long-term performance. Many users report that the heat build-up makes the phone difficult to hold during prolonged use, which is unacceptable for a flagship product.
Even their budget devices come with charging speeds of 33W/67W. The faster your phone charges, the more heat it generates.
2) Poor Cooling Mechanisms
Given their competitive pricing, Xiaomi often cuts costs on cooling mechanisms. They use materials like glass on the back that conduct heat, making the phone’s body act as a natural heatsink. This makes the phone feel hot without necessarily overheating.
3) Weak Hardware Tuned to Squeeze Max Performance
To match or one-up the competition while maintaining a profit, Xiaomi often tunes its phone’s SoC to run at maximum speeds. This generates more heat as a side effect.
Xiaomi’s focus on gaming performance in mid-range segments pushes their cooling systems to the limit. Weak hardware and poor cooling solutions struggle to handle demanding games, causing elevated temperatures.
4) Lack of HyperOS/MIUI Optimization
Over the years, MIUI has been criticized for it’s lack of keeping up with the competition when it comes to efficiency numbers. While overheating hasn’t been a consistent complaint, the OS does play some role in pushing the phone to at least get warm while in use.
With HyperOS, Xiaomi bought a number of performance optimizations to supported devices, but most of where the complaint of overheatings comes from, is the user-base with phones running MIUI, that still suffer from relatively poor thermal performance.
With the introduction of HyperOS, Xiaomi hyped the release as a game-changer. However, in practice, users found the OS to be buggy, with overheating being a frequent issue. The updates do not seem to have fixed the thermal inefficiencies present in Xiaomi devices, especially in budget and mid-range models.(1)(2)(3)
You wait half a damn year for them to release an update, and when you check the patch notes, this is how they look: ‘Minor bug fixes and optimizations.’
I mean seriously, Xiaomi? This is what we were waiting for?
The underwhelming software updates not only fail to optimize device performance but also add to the frustration of users, as overheating is often exacerbated by poorly optimized system processes. Xiaomi’s rushed software rollouts reflect a lack of attention to real-world performance issues.
5) Bad Repair Job, Maybe
If your phone has recently come back from a repair job and is overheating, it may have internal hardware issues. Many Xiaomi users report that repairs make overheating worse, with new problems like poor assembly. Xiaomi’s after-sales service is often criticized for subpar repairs. This inconsistency frustrates users, raising questions about Xiaomi’s quality control.
How to Prevent Xiaomi Phones from Overheating?
If your Xiaomi phone is overheating, try these possible fixes:
1) Use a Slower Charger
If your phone gets hot while charging, consider using a slower charger, like a 5-10W power brick. Turning off your phone or enabling Airplane Mode while charging can also help.
2) Reduce Screen Brightness
Reducing screen brightness, especially in an area with high ambient temperature, can help. To reduce screen brightness:
- Open the Control Center by swiping down from the top-right corner.
- Find the Brightness slider.
- Adjust the slider to a comfortable level.
3) Put Your Phone to Battery Saver Mode
To reduce temperatures while using your phone, enable the “Battery Saver” mode after turning it back on. This uses limited resources and generates less heat.
4) Factory Reset Your OS
If all else fails, factory reset HyperOS/MIUI to eliminate any software issues. This also helps you diagnose if the problem lies in the hardware, as a freshly reset phone is less likely to overheat.
