The maximum display brightness is usually not something most consumers are worried about on a smartphone, but there are cases where the display might not be capable of getting bright enough to be used outdoors. In such cases, many OEMs employ a special "high brightness mode" that is automatically triggered when the ambient lighting is sufficiently bright. In the latest MIUI 11 nightly build for the Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro, we found a new setting called "Sunlight Mode." This new setting will bump the display brightness to its highest level when you're using your phone in direct sunlight.

Specifically, the description for Sunlight Mode says the feature "[adjusts] brightness to strong ambient light when automatic brightness is off." We dug into the framework code and found that this new mode activates when the ambient lighting surpasses 12,000 lux for 5 seconds. The display brightness is presumably increased to the maximum level when the mode activates. When the ambient lighting drops below 12,000 lux for 2 seconds, the display brightness is restored to the value it was set to before entering Sunlight Mode.

MIUI 11 Sunlight Mode
Credits: XDA Member kacskrz

This setting doesn't seem to be tied to any special "high brightness mode," but it'll be useful for those of you who keep automatic brightness off. With this mode enabled, you won't have to manually adjust the brightness to 100% every time you step outside. This feature seems to just use the ambient light sensor, so it'll likely be available on most Xiaomi devices running MIUI 11.