New mod brings 75Hz refresh rate to Redmi K20-series screens

Recently, a modification from the development community for the Xiaomi Mi 9 hit the headlines. It increased the refresh rate of this device's display from a stock 60 hertz (Hz) to 84Hz. In other words, this software tweak conferred a feature that approached the then groundbreaking 90Hz rate found in the OnePlus 7 Pro - without the price asked for this flagship phone.

Now, similar mods have been devised for the Redmi K20 and K20 Pro. They apparently work for all variants of these phones, including the Xiaomi Mi 9T, which is virtually identical to the K20, yet only sold in certain markets. It overclocks the phones' refresh rates from 60 to 75Hz, thus potentially improving a user's experience while gaming or using content.

The mods were posted on development forums by the users Zenkrey and ugene1980 for the K20 and K20 Pro respectively. The work behind the packages is attributed to Zenkrey for the K20 Pro, and to the developers ZhenXin and Andy Chang for the K20/Mi 9T.

In all cases, installation needs to be preceded with a bootloader unlock for the K20-series phone in question, and by root for the same in some cases. The user can then load it using either TWRP, fastboot or a compatible Lanthanum system toolbox app.

It should be noted that, as this is a non-Xiaomi piece of development, there are risks of device malfunction or failure as a result of its installation. In addition, it is possible that a given device's screen may suffer from prolonged use of the new 75Hz mode, as it is not rated for this behavior after all. However, so far, the main adverse effect observed in conjunction with this new tweak is that battery life may be shorter compared to  normal use.