Title, i see there is "Usable Smartphones" thread, but it's old and there is lots of theory, etc; let's create "bottom line" thread, what did you use now? (maybe it's not perfect, but it's lesser of X evils) So it can be helpful to quickly look through and get idea what device to test… Me: iphone 7, rate it 4/5 in terms of eye friendliness. It's dying thus need to upgrade. Would be ok with anything close to usable (4-/5, 3+/5, etc).

I’m currently using an iPhone 11. If the iPhone X line of phones w/ OLED are a 10/10 in terms of strain, the 11 is probably a 6. The last phone I could use comfortably was an iPhone 8+ on iOS 14.6. Anything higher hardware or software wise causes strain.

I'm using a pixel 3a on Android 11 with HW Overlays disabled in the Developer options its 5/5 perfectly works fine use for many hours without any problems at all. I'll be upgrading soon too the 6a hopefully the HW overlays trick will work fine again.

Motorola Moto E32. No PWM. And Contrast ratio under 800. That has been real issue. 2 years I tried 5 phones. According to Notebookcheck, no PWM. But year ago noticed that all those phones had high (1200-1500) contrast ratio. E32 is a basic phone. But I don't need more. It does what I need.

honor 9 honor 8 Samsung a3 2017 Impossible to find any modern device, that will not be hurt eyes. Of course, they shoud have the original display in other way they will hurt too

What phone are you currently using? How would you rate it eye comfort wise?

dawidd6

OnePlus X with Android 9. Didn't find a better device yet but I'm trying. Rate 4.5/5 in terms of usage comfort.

Abeabe

I was using an ancient Sony T2 ultra perfectly comfortable to me but it just died so I bought an Oppo A77 with android 12, it makes me dizzy and it is pretty horrible in general, somewhat hard to press physical buttons, etc.

CorvusCorax

Samsung A52 (LTE).

The first weeks of use were a nightmare, but over time I began to get used to it. Now I still feel a little discomfort, especially when I get up in the morning and look at my phone. Unfortunately, I can no longer read books on my phone, which was no problem on my old Moto G6 (with IPS display).

tfouto

Sony Xperia XZ2, for 4 years. I struggled in the first month or so. But then eyes got used. No problem now whatsoever. Just have to use the brightness towards the lower end.

EyeDiscomfortCertificate

Samsung J5 2016. Never had problems.

528491

I used to use a Sony Xperia Z5 (now quite old). It was not great, but it was way better than anything else more modern that I've experimented with.

The phone is nowadays very, very slow, so I'm looking for something new. From the little I've tried the Pixel 6 Pro (from work), it seems to hurt my eyes. I'll try it a couple more days, just in case, but I don't hold much hope..

annv

iPhone SE 1st gen 2016. 5/5, completely trouble-free.

jayd

I have been using a Google Pixel 3a since 2020 and although there were some eye issues initially I tried different homescreen wallpapers and app icons which over time enabled my eyes to adapt or get used to the screen and aside from sporadic but rare graphical issues I am happy with the device.

Yes there are no further Android or security updates but at the moment it doesn't concern me, 4/5 for comfort.

In fact I have just bought a refurbished Pixel 3a in excellent condition as a backup device as my main handset is showing the occasional technical issue and if it fails I have another to turn to.

RulerofNothing

Realme 9 Pro with matte screen protector. Since 10 months no problems with it.

IT_Coder

Through the years, an iPhone 11 Pro, 12 Pro, and 13 Pro caused me absolutely no eye strain; where I could use each for hours at-a-time. However updating iOS on that 13 Pro (from 15.3.1 to 15.6), caused it to become completely unusable.

I currently have a 14 Pro, running iOS 16. But it causes the same level as strain (dizziness/fatigue/brain fog) as the updated 13 Pro.

So hardware-wise, the iPhones are good (at least for me). But I firmly believe it's iOS which induces the strain... and unfortunately through more calls than I can count to Apple Support - in providing evidence that their updates to iOS are causing me severe issues - they refuse to offer any assistance in helping/allowing a downgrade of iOS (on that 13 Pro). (Otherwise I have unfortunately sold the 11 and 12 Pros)

So though most iPhone Pro and Max models typically get negative feedback from us with strain issues, if you can find a model running iOS 14 or below, you may be alright.

JTL

IT_Coder I firmly believe it's iOS which induces the strain... and unfortunately through more calls than I can count to Apple Support - in providing evidence that their updates to iOS are causing me severe issues - they refuse to offer any assistance in helping/allowing a downgrade of iOS

Unfortunately to make a long story short, without intervention of Apple (Impossible for the mere public) or hypothetical hardware modification, you cannot downgrade iOS on current devices.

IT_Coder

JTL - Right. That's what I've unfortunately found to be the case as well.

However as part of Apple's update mechanism for iOS - where each iOS update, for a given device, is sent back to the Apple servers with a unique identifier (for that device) before it can applied - it should be completely feasible for Apple to still allow specific devices to downgrade.

This was my hope, in appealing to Apple for my eye strain woes, in allowing my specific iPhone device to downgrade. But alas, all I get from the first two levels of support is that it's simply not feasible anymore - because Apple wants devices to stay as "secure" as possible with the most recent iOS version possible - and refuse to present the request to any higher levels of support.

But alas, this is not the topic of this thread. So keep from sidetracking any further…

francerex

Iphone 8 plus is my safe choice, though it is not as good as my dell xps 9380 screen

I have an iphone se 2 from work which I avoid using much as it would give me strain

I tried iphone 11, many owm free android phones and many oled phones with no luck

degen

I am using iPhone SE 2020, it is perfect for me. However I have seen iPhone SE 2020 which is not good. Apple used different panels for the same phone apparently.

olgomar

I have been using the Samsung S20 FE 5G (256) model since Dec 2021 and it has been fine for me.

A few times (but rarely) the auto-brightness will adjust the level below the threshold where PWM is noticeable and I set the slider a bit above half way to make it go away.

My previous phone was the LG v30 which was also fine while brightness was above ~40%. I have updated this to Android 13 (LineageOS 20) as my backup phone however it is getting old now and does not have 5G reception.

I have been thinking about upgrading to a new phone but it is so hard to work out if I will be comfortable with only 5 min of staring at it in the shop.

The Pixel 7 Pro looked promising to me with a quick camera and hand wave test but these have caught me out before.

Business-Eyes

OnePlus 9 5g, Android 12,

3-4 hours of use daily according to wellbeing app

0% eye strain.

And I use a Samsung tab A8 25% eye strain.

Vip

Iphone 6S - no problems but obviously old. Tried every iPhone since and all give me headaches, tried Androids with and without PWM and no good either…

Vividblu99

The following - all with matte screen protectors applied:

Realme 8 5G - 5/5
Realme 9 Pro - 5/5
Realme 7 5G - 4/5
Realme X50 5G - 4/5
Nokia G60 - 4/5

eyestrainsolutions

Iphone se 2020, 90% good

asus389

I have an iPhone 6s that is mostly fine. Different iOS updates tweak how the screen looks much to my chagrin but most of the time I’ve been able to adjust. I also got on well with the iPad 8th gen. Both have really basic LCD displays without True Tone, wide color, variable refresh, etc. I will probably try to switch to one of the newer iPhone SE models if this 6s stops working.