Xiaomi recently released the Redmi 7 to accompany the Redmi Note 7 series. It’s a little less expensive in terms of hardware but it’s still incredibly difficult to beat thanks to its price. Today I will be walking you through the step by step process that it takes in order to boot the Xiaomi Redmi 7 into Recovery Mode.
As you may already know, Recovery Mode is a special boot mode that is present on most (if not all) Android devices. It’s put there in case you run into an issue and need to perform a certain task. Depending on the OEM involved, you could be able to do a factory reset, sideload an OTA update, and more while in Recovery Mode.
Things are a bit more restrictive when it comes to the stock recovery that is installed on Xiaomi devices. They typically call this Mi Recovery but this has changed to Redmi Recovery for devices in their sub-brand. It’s still the same thing though, just with a different name, and it’s not very versatile.
As I mentioned, some recoveries (even stock recoveries) come with features that let you sideload an update, clear the cache partition, and more. With the stock recovery of the Redmi 7 and Redmi 7a though, we just have a few options to choose from. I’ll be covering these features in the future but first I need to show you how to get here.
Time needed: 3 minutes
How to Boot the Xiaomi Redmi 7 into Recovery Mode
- Power off the device
Be sure to wait until the phone is completely shut down.
- Then press and hold the Power and Volume Up buttons at the same time
- You will feel the Redmi 7 vibrate right when the Redmi splash screen appears
You want to continue holding these two buttons down past this splash screen.
- And finally, you can let go of these two buttons when you see the Recovery Mode screen appear
So as you can see, it doesn’t take a long time for us to get the Redmi 7 and Redmi 7a into Recovery Mode. We see this on most Android devices too. I call these special “boot modes” and there are a number of them that are available to us. The ones that are available will depend on which OEM the device comes from.
For example, Samsung smartphones and tablets do not come with a Fastboot Mode (aka Bootloader Mode). Instead, Samsung has replaced it with what they refer to as Odin Mode and what the community generally calls Download Mode. Just like giving OEMs a choice in boot modes they offer, they can also choose what features they have.
Why is the Redmi 7 & 7a Recovery Mode so Bare?
This is actually a common question and I’m not sure if Xiaomi has ever released an official statement about it. Xiaomi’s smartphones have always had a rather bare Recovery Mode on them. This hasn’t led them to be handicapped or anything when compared to other smartphones, but it hasn’t helped them shine.
This is another reason why Xiaomi devices are great for development. They are well built but short on some software features. We can easily see why they get so much attention from community developers. This is especially true thanks to them being so open when it comes to unlocking their bootloader.
Sure, it may take most people 2 weeks to unlock the bootloader but at least it doesn’t cost money. At least it isn’t secured down too much. This, coupled with their sales numbers, have shown the company has embraced the development community. Even if some people feel they are against them.
So, no matter if you are running on the stock Redmi Recovery or a custom recovery such as TWRP. Following the detailed steps above will get you booted into your currently installed recovery.
