What is the best XMRig configuration for a phone?

The best XMRig configuration for a phone is a conservative one: start with one mining thread, keep the screen off, and increase the load only if the phone stays cool and responsive. There is no single fastest safe setting for every phone, and XMRig runs outside your browser—it is a separate mining program.

Check whether your phone can run it

XMRig is software that helps your processor mine Monero. On a phone, it is mainly an option for 64-bit Android devices, using a compatible build or compiling it yourself in a Linux-like environment such as Termux.

A 64-bit processor alone is not enough; your Android system and software environment must also support it. On an iPhone, XMRig is not a practical, normally supported app setup. Do not jailbreak your everyday phone just to mine.

Use only a phone you own and control. Avoid random “XMRig mobile” downloads, especially ones promising guaranteed income or asking for your wallet’s recovery words. Mining needs your public receiving address, never those secret words.

Start with this low-load configuration

This is a starting configuration, not a complete ready-to-run setup. Replace the pool address and wallet placeholder with your own details. A mining pool combines miners’ work and shares rewards.

{
  "autosave": false,
  "cpu": {
    "enabled": true,
    "huge-pages": false,
    "priority": 0,
    "yield": true,
    "rx": [-1]
  },
  "opencl": false,
  "cuda": false,
  "pools": [
    {
      "coin": "monero",
      "url": "YOUR_POOL_HOST:TLS_PORT",
      "user": "YOUR_PUBLIC_XMR_ADDRESS",
      "pass": "phone",
      "tls": true
    }
  ]
}

Here is what matters:

• "rx": [-1] starts one RandomX mining thread, meaning one worker using your processor. The -1 leaves processor placement to the operating system.
• "priority": 0 and "yield": true ask XMRig to give other work room to run. Android may limit how these settings behave.
• "huge-pages": false avoids relying on a special memory feature that is often unavailable without elevated permissions.
• "tls": true encrypts the pool connection. Use the pool’s actual TLS-enabled port.

The graphics-mining options are disabled because Monero’s RandomX algorithm favors CPUs, your device’s general-purpose processors.

Choose memory mode carefully

RandomX’s fast mode needs a 2,080 MB dataset, a large working set of data, plus additional memory. That can be too much for a phone once Android and your apps take their share.

If memory is tight or Android kills the process, you can try adding this top-level setting:

"randomx": {
  "mode": "light"
}

Light mode uses a 256 MB cache instead of the full dataset, but is much slower. It is a memory-saving fallback, not a speed upgrade.

RandomX also benefits from about 2 MB of L3 cache per thread, fast memory inside the processor. Phone cache designs vary, so adding threads often gives disappointing results.

Tune for sustained performance, not a quick peak

Run one thread for 15–30 minutes. Watch temperature, responsiveness, and hashrate—the number of mining calculations completed each second.

If everything remains stable, try two threads with "rx": [-1, -1]. Keep them only if sustained speed improves without excessive heat. Phones often slow themselves down when hot.

Avoid charging while mining if it increases heat. Stop if the phone becomes uncomfortable to hold or shows a temperature warning. Never disable thermal protections.

The bottom line

For a phone, start with one thread and prioritize battery health over peak speed. Check a live mining calculator before expecting profit; phone mining is usually better treated as a small experiment.