Usable Smartphones?

I have been reading multiple threads on the Russian site that someone posted here some weeks ago. There are multiple R10 Pro reviews already.

Google translate doesn't work very well with Russian - Spanish (my native language) so I had to use Ru - English, so maybe I can be understanding some things wrong, so far there are only 2 positive reviews and 4 or 5 negative ones regarding eye strain (a couple of this are short test on stores tho)

I know everybody's eyes are different (so there will be always some negative reviews on all phones) but it seems more people on that forum are getting eye strain from this model than on 9 pro/Ce 2 lite (that model has more positive than negative reviews)

And there is still no 10 pro on the upcoming reviews section of Notebookcheck.

I hope this is not a bad sign.

This model and the moto g73 are the only interesting phones with IPS this year so far (and the upcoming nord ce 3 that looks like is gonna be a rebranded 10 pro) i hope they are pwm free at least.

Vividblu99 This person on YouTube has mentioned they became PWM sensitive over time (2 years). It wasn't something that was initially instant.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AhGhYIR29vw

Maybe this could also have happened to you. Developing sensitivity over time?

That's really horrid if it's true. And that guy has contact glasses, I mean if these people are straining from these phones those of us with perfect vision are really busted.

Vividblu99 My friend suggested keeping the brightness at 100%, and using an overlay to darken the screen. But that would've just take a hit on the battery life. I chose not to purchase it in the end.

There's something about this that is blowing my mind, and I don't know if you have an explanation for this. I tried using Oledsaver to apply a tint on the screen and set my brightness to 100%, of course the Note 5, just like all other god-damn Samsung phones, still flickers at 100%, but the lines that go across the screen seem much thinner. But what's mind blowing to me is that with Oledsaver and at 100% the phone is actually like a 100 times more straining to my eyes. Like, my eyes literally start frying up. How come lower brightness is less straining? :/

Vividblu99 Having said that, from my testing, I haven't found a single device that doesn't have these unusual LCD inversion/artifacts - though it's not likely to be TD.

My dad bought my mom a Galaxy Tab s6 lite the other day. Yesterday I was getting it prepared for my mom, and you might not believe this but since this is a big screen with a low pixel density, if I look closely, those unusual artefacts that you are speaking of, I could swear I can see them! Like the screen is literally jittering like that static noise you see on old TVs when they don't have a signal.

And of course I couldn't stand the screen. My eyes still feel dull 2 days after using it.

What really bothers me about screens that are using these artefacts or dithering or whatever is how disgusting they look. They're smudgy and there's a trail following everything when you scroll. I swear, I don't even wanna mess up my eyes for looking at these disgusting screens.

Vividblu99 Yes you're right. Awareness to the issue is increasing incrementally - but it's still not enough in my opinion!!

Yeah you're right. Honestly, I have given up on even finding a phone that works or a future phone that works. The only good thing this has is that at least people can't call us crazy. I'm literally being called crazy by everyone around me since this crap started to happen. And what's ludicrous, is that all my friends and the people that mock me and are using all these horrid screens with no problem have a weak eyesight and are wearing contact glasses.

Prices are rocketing through the roof here, and I still can't dare to go for any phone.

Vividblu99 I came across a new Honor model - Honor x8a, in a store yesterday.

It's a budget device. I played around with it - the screen seemed very comfortable.

Sadly only the Honor x8 is available here I wonder how different it is from the x8a. Any chance of testing that too?

Vividblu99 Having said that, from my testing, I haven't found a single device that doesn't have these unusual LCD inversion/artifacts - though it's not likely to be TD.

Have you gotten to test the Poco x4 GT and the Samsung a13 that someone else mentioned here?

@Vividblu99 By the way, what phone are you currently using yourself as your main?

BloodyHell619 How come lower brightness is less straining?

Because of reduced blooming. The problem with 100% on an OLED if you're not in a brightly lit environment is that it makes a glow behind/around the edges of stuff. You can see that happening if you move the brightness slider up and down and notice elements get too bright or too dim especially if the background is black. The sweet spot is usually where the blooming effect is least visible while contrast is decent. Under regular light conditions this is generally the 40-60% range on my device.

You still have the blooming even if you're slapping an overlay tint on top. It makes things fuzzier.

I also use night mode in the evening set to a warm tint. One click to the left from the right side of the slider on my Samsung. It does also have a slight dimming effect without changing the brightness.

Iphone se 2020 (and se 2022) is probably the most eye friendly smartphone mention here. I also use an iphone 2020.

BloodyHell619

Currently - I chop & change between a Realme 9 pro, Nord CE 2 Lite & a Nokia G60.

I've seemed to have resonated well with the Realme 9 pro - though I did notice a slight text sharpness increase since the android update. But no strain induced so far….

I've had to tweak all these devices to make them suitable as nothing has worked for me right out of the box (tweaks: matte screen protectors/dark mode/60hz only/blue light filter apps etc).

I've seen the Honor x8 in store. The display seemed ok though I didn't think much of it, due to the really weak specs.

I've loved previous honor devices in the past - such as the view 20 & the cheaper honor 8x & 10 lite. They were very comfortable. They were all TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light certified too.

Interesting to see that the new Magic5 Lite is also TUV Rheinland low blue light certified - but at a hardware level**.** Usually it's software based. But for me, this device is D.O.A due to the amoled screen/1920 PWM.

Regarding the X4 GT - Poco have decided not to release this in the UK. So I haven't had a chance to test yet. I've seen a few on ebay/aliexpress, but they are costly, and I'm not sure if it'll work correctly with a UK sim.

Vividblu99

Interesting to see that the new Magic5 Lite is also TUV Rheinland low blue light certified - but at a hardware level. Usually it's software based. But for me, this device is D.O.A due to the amoled screen/1920 PWM.

Link to the review (X9A is the same phone as the Magic5 Lite supposedly, doesn't mean they use the same display though)
I love the new trend of higher PWM dimming curves on these new panels! I hope they manage to completely switch to DC dimming (the usual OLED brief black flicker) in the next few years.

The problem is that I sold my Xiaomi 11T Pro to buy a Pixel 7, which didn't work out. Since my experience was so good with Xiaomi 11T Pro I decided to buy Xiaomi 12T Pro. Now I know 1920 PWM (from 12T Pro) is no match for DC Dimming (from 11T Pro I sold). I could buy again 11T Pro. But it's still way to expensive (almost the same price as 12T Pro), the updates are taking more time to arrive and something I've learned recently. Some people use a phone with no problems. But for whatever reason they decide to buy the exact same phone (as a secondary phone, to replace a broken one,…). And they have all kind of PWM problems despite it's the same phone. I'm so tired of spending money that I don't to risk to buy an expensive "old" phone, have PWM problems, and have to sell it half the price that I bought. That doesn't happen with newer models.

After all the money I spent It can be 1.000.000 PWM that I won't buy. I'll go for DC Dimming any day.