How to Take a Screenshot on Android: Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro and Meizu M2 Note
After a long time with my Meizu M2 Note, I got used to taking screenshots of anything interesting. So as soon as I got my hands on a Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro, my first question was: how do you take a screenshot on this one?
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro
It turns out the combination is almost the same as on the Meizu and most other Android phones.
The universal Android method
On phones with Android 4.0 or newer, you take a screenshot like this:
press the Power and Volume Down buttons at the same time.
You usually hear a camera shutter sound, and the screenshot is saved to the Gallery.
On the Meizu M2 Note you don’t need to hold the buttons: a quick press is enough, and the screenshot is taken almost instantly. That makes it easy to take several screenshots in a row.
A screenshot of my Meizu M2 Note home screen
How to take a screenshot on Xiaomi
Xiaomi has three built-in ways.
1. Buttons. Press Volume Down and Power at the same time and hold them for 3–4 seconds. Unlike the Meizu, here you really do have to hold the buttons.
2. The Screenshot button in the menu. Swipe down from the top and tap Screenshot. I have notifications and the menu split, so for me it looks like this:
The Screenshot button in the Xiaomi menu
This method is less convenient: for example, you can’t take a screenshot of the menu itself this way – you need the buttons for that.
3. Three fingers down. MIUI 8 added a gesture: swipe down the screen with three fingers, and the screenshot is done. You turn it on in the gesture settings, and it makes screenshots even easier.
Where screenshots are saved
Screenshots are stored in the phone’s internal memory, in the DCIM/Screenshots folder, next to the folder with your photos.
If it doesn’t work
On old phones with Android 2.3 and earlier there was no single standard, and manufacturers came up with their own combinations. Try:
- Power + Volume Down or Volume Up;
- Power + Home (on models with a physical Home button);
- a screenshot app from Google Play – on old Android versions such apps usually need root access.
Happy screenshotting! :-)