Android Magazine 58 - 2015 UK

You can manually edit the /system/
build.prop file to change your
device’s resolution. To switch from
QHD to FHD, adjust the ro.sf.lcd_
density line to 480 and the width
and height lines to 1080 and 1920
respectively. Be warned, change the
build.prop with care!

Manually edit the

build.prop

2

If manually editing the build.prop file

is too daunting – and be aware, an

error in the file can easily cause

your device to boot loop – there are

a number of build.prop editors

available on the Google Play store.

Build Prop Editor (Free) by JRummy

works well for a safer modification.

Use a build.prop

editor to be sure

3

Resolution Changer Pro, also free

on the Play store, is an app that is

dedicated to changing your display’s

resolution. Remember when you

make modifications that the width

and height values are based on a

portrait orientation for phones and

landscape orientation for tablets.

Resolution

Changer Pro

4

If you have a Samsung device and

you only wish to modify your device

resolution for gaming, then you are

in luck! Samsung has recently

released Game Tuner via the Play

store to permit custom resolution

and FPS settings on either a

universal or a per-game basis.

Samsung’s

Game Tuner

5

After you have changed your
resolution, it’s worth investigating
the effects of just changing the
density. A higher density shows
more data on the screen, but be
aware, not all apps will perform
correctly at custom densities so
trial and error may be needed!

Density

adjustments

7

After you have applied your updates

and rebooted (changes don’t take

effect immediately), everything will

probably look the same! To be sure

your changes have been applied,

use an app such as Screen

Resolution & Specs by K. Lee, free

from the Play store.

Check screen

resolution

8

Another interesting step to take is

to use benchmarking tools to see

what level of performance

improvement is being experienced.

Since lowering the resolution will

decrease the load on the graphics

processor, GFXBench is a good tool

to use to measure changes.

Benchmark

improvements

9

Although build.prop changes are

only applied after boot, some tools

use Android shell commands to

apply changes with immediate

effect, which is ideal for testing.

NOMone Resolution Changer from

the Play store is an ideal app for

experimenting with densities.

Make temporary

changes

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