I am still using an iPhone 4. Out of five iPhone 4/4s I bought only two are usable. The three other ones triggered eye strain in just a few seconds. However, the iPhone is getting slower, and the screen size is not really what you use nowadays. Do you have a Smartphone with current technology that is perfectly usable throughout the day?

I use a Note 3 SM-N900W8 (purchased Oct 24th 2013, was having issues with PWM then, got a migraine from being in the store too long :() I never bothered to check for PWM as it was less of an issue in phone displays back then but I never had problems with the display. Recently checked with Canon T5i and it shows up as higher frequency than usual >300hz which is a safe zone normally. And I cannot detect PWM using pen test (insert S-Pen joke here) However Samsung phones made in 2014 and after have terrible PWM worse than this. Friend got a headache from trying the S5 in store, think later batches of the Galaxy S4 may be affected, etc.

I am iPhone 4s with iOS 7.1.2, and it's smooth enough because I don't usually use apps on it. (I surf the web on computer) I think iOS 6 is better on iPhone 4. :>

@"JTL"#p236 I hate Samsung mostly because of the screen. The same feeling as yours.

I've got a LG LGL34C for about a year now and haven't had any issues with it. Dunno if it's fast or not but it's usable... so that's good enough for me!

@"Slacor"#p251 Heh. I had a LG-C55 about four years ago running Android 2.2. Think was laggy as crap but it didn't use PWM, took 10 seconds to open the dialer, etc.

Did anyone try the BlackBerry Leap?

I use an iPhone 4s and I hate it :( It gives me instant eye strain + headaches. Its original OS (I don't remember which one it was) seemed a lot better than the new updated ones. I wish I could revert it back to how it was.. but oh well.

Yes, that is true. I had to downgrade my iPhone 4 to iOS 6 because on iOS 7.1.2 I got severe eye strain and headaches. I switched back and forth several times to be sure. I think there is a newer hack tool that allows you to downgrade iPad 2 and iPhone 4s to iOS 6.1.3. I read about it in reddit's jailbreak section. I believe it is called something like Odysseus. But I can not guarantee that it is safe to use and free of malware. I think iOS 5 was the original OS.

Also I might be able to go to a phone store soon with my fast shutter speed DSLR to test for flickering in newer smartphones. Also people on my family also own, alongside the Samsung's I mentioned. - LG Nexus 5 - iPhone 6s (I don't like iPhone's :P) will test those later.

I tried the BlackBerry Leap now. It is not the worst LED device I ever used, but it still starts to hurt a little after 1-2 minutes. At night the minimum brightness is a little too bright for me.

Usable Smartphones?

Frito1224

I just went to my local Best Buy and messed with the moto g power 24 unfortunately after a few seconds of using I started getting a headache in my temple I had the phone turned so i wasn’t facing any other phones as well, I guess I’m forever stuck on the iPhone 11

AgentX20

Has anyone tried the Motorola g34?

I saw some positive noises in the Reddit pwm subreddit and had a quick look in a local store with good initial impressions, but it was only for a few minutes.

More first hand impressions would be good to hear if anyones tried one.

jayd

AgentX20 Over the last 12 months I have used a few Motorola handsets; G22, G73 and Edge 30 Neo (I currently own this).

My dad wanted a basic smartphone and I suggested the G22. Upon setting up the device it gave some very, very mild tiredness and over time now when I look at the screen my eyes have got used to it and there are no issues. The specs are very basic though.

The G73 I bought in November 2023 and it gave some mild tiredness, a little stronger than the G22 however a couple of apps that I use regularly would not load properly and so I returned it. My guess is after time my eyes may have got used to the screen.

Finally the Edge 30 Neo that I have owned now for 6 weeks as a secondary device. Similar to the G73 some mild tiredness for the first few weeks but now my eyes have got used to it and there is occasional tiredness but very light. Spec wise it is enough for some light gaming and the usual web / app use. I believe that the processor in the G73 is the Snapdragon 695 like the Edge 30 Neo.

My main device is a Pixel 3a and like the Edge 30 Neo gave some mild tiredness initially but my eyes got used to the screen and 4 years or so on it is still my primary handset.

Over the last 18 months now I have tried over 10 handsets from Apple, Google, Samsung, Asus and Xiaomi and the Edge 30 Neo has been the best for my eyes. I also read some of the comments on Reddit and there are some users who have had joy with the Motorola handsets.

I don't know where you are located in the world but if there is a retailer online or on the high street that has a good returns policy I would give it a go. Here in the UK I have bought a number of new handsets from Amazon UK and returned them. For used handsets or refurbs I have used eBay UK with sellers that offer returns.

dawidd6

AgentX20 I've tried G34. It was okayish at 60Hz and "Natural" color setting for me, even on lower brightness.

AgentX20

jayd I don't know where you are located in the world but if there is a retailer online or on the high street that has a good returns policy I would give it a go. Here in the UK I have bought a number of new handsets from Amazon UK and returned them. For used handsets or refurbs I have used eBay UK with sellers that offer returns.

Being based in New Zealand there's no returns policy anywhere to speak of, so you have to be careful and do the research. There's also a much more limited range of devices available.

Thanks very much for the pointers and feedback on the g34.

nikomanuel96

dawidd6 is better than the moto g32 or worst ? (Talking about eye strain) The screen is shrap/high brightness or soft/low brrighness? Sorry bad english

Johnathon

Just wanted to pop in to say I don't think the Nokia G60 is a good safe option. Despite not having PWM or dithering, it gave me a headache, made me feel tired and made my eyes hurt. I had to return it in a day. I'll be trying a few more phones and will report back here on how they are.

I'm currently using the Galaxy S9 with pwmfree at max brightness mostly fine. I used the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 for a few years with no issues until I broke it. I'm really glad there's a community for people with the same issues as me.

dawidd6

nikomanuel96 I think it was a bit better. For me the screen brightness is moderate and not very sharp.

Johnathon

I'm back and am trying the Moto G51. I'm not sure how to feel about it. I'm getting the same symptoms I did with the Nokia G60 but not as bad. After a few seconds of staring at it I start getting mild fatigue. The G60 had a nicer looking screen (colors, uniformity, brightness etc), and was faster. I've also noticed something else. I swear the screen is flickering in a way, it's subtle and not obvious like PWM is but if I focus on it I can see it. Text has a slightly fuzzy look to it. Lastly I have noticed my right eye starts to feel watery/irritated but not my left.

On the plus side, I don't see any PWM on the G51 with my s9's camera. Maybe I just need to get used to it after using an amoled for so long? My S9 doesn't give me any of these symptoms nor does my PC monitor (Pixio Px7 Prime). I will give it more time.

vegeta97

TCL NXTPaper 40 is fantastic. no more eyestrain

kammerer

Haven't found Motorola g34, so tried Motorola g54 - with no luck🙁

necreatul

I have my old Huawei P10 lite which is perfect for my eyes but I wanted something much faster so I bought a Motorola G54 but something is wrong with it. It doesn't give the classic eyestrain but I feel some kind of fatigue and mental fog. I tested it for two weeks hoping my eyes would adjust but with no luck so I sent it back.

I'm thinking now of getting a Huawei P30 pro hoping it is similar to my P10 lite which doesn't give me any issues.

Has anyone here used p30?

steffo77

The P30 has an AMOLED which hurts my eyes like a typical amoled. There's an option to force dc-dimming-mode at low brightness, but the problem of amoled stays. The P40 feels a little bit better, but both phones flicker.

whystrainwhy

Does anyone have any experience with more recent Google Pixel phones, such as the Pixel 8? I know it has an OLED screen, but I use the iPhone 12, which has XDR OLED. I feel like each time Apple updates the iOS software, it gets harder to look at for longer periods of time, so I'm not sure if it's the OLED that's causing me issues. I wonder if Android on a Google Pixel phone would be better.

jordan

whystrainwhy original pixel 8 pro FW is 480hz pwm while updates after that slashed it in half

wlmsn

whystrainwhy I tried the Pixel 8 in store and it bothered my eyes a little. To be fair it was a bright store with a lot of lights overhead. I use a Pixel 4a fine regularly so I'm not sure it's the OS

jordan

I switched from xiaomi 13T to honor magic 6 pro and it seems to be more comfortable so far. My brain feels calmer and not so stressed/overwhelmed feeling. I use it under 30% brightness for the 4320hz pwm. I also set refresh rate to high (120hz)

whystrainwhy

wlmsn Thanks for the response. Yeah I get that completely. Anytime I try a phone in the store, it's really hard to know if the screen is bothering me or I'm completely overwhelmed by the super bright lights, 8 million people, and looming sales reps trying to talk to me haha

Vividblu99

I've recently tested the following phones:

TCL 50 5G - Horrid toxic backlight issue. Phone is unusable on low brightness, and high brightness feels very uncomfortable. Eye strain symptoms developed, and I was not able to concentrate when reading web text.

Honor 200 Lite - Beautiful aesthetically pleasing handset. Very thin and light, and performance was ok. I managed to use it for an hour before the dreaded amoled eye fatigue and strain developed. Felt fatigued and spaced out for the remainder of the day, until the next morning.

HMD pulse pro - Same toxic harsh backlight issue, causing eye strain. Mediocre system performance.

Honor Magic6 Pro - Beautiful looking device, but even with all the eye comfort tech and increased pwm rate, my eye's were fatigued after a half hour, and a tension headache developed.

Realme 12 pro+ - Headache/eye strain/fatigue within minutes. I felt that eye burning sensation.

It pains me to say this, but even the newly released LCD phones have practically become unusable. Each one I've tried (Moto G54, Nokia G42 5G, Redmi 12 5G, TCL Nxtpaper 40/40 5g, TCL 50 5G, Honor X7B/90 Smart etc etc etc) have horrid harsh backlighting, and it causes eye strain, and an inability to concentrate when reading text.

I traded my Honor 70 Lite in for another 70 Lite - and made sure not to update the software. Although the performance of the phone leaves a lot to be desired, it's the only new (2023) LCD phone that hasn't presented any eye strain issues.

The Realme 7 5g, Realme 8 5G and Realme 9 pro 5G, Nokia G60, Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G, Poco M3 Pro 5G, and the Honor 70 Lite (pre software update) are now the only phones that have comfortably worked for me over the last 2 to 4 years.

These LCD phones don't seem to have the nasty toxic harsh backlight issue that the new current phones have.

I'll be heading off to a ''no tech permitted'' retreat abroad for a few weeks. No phones, laptops, tablets or computers will be allowed.

I'm really looking forward to it. It'll be the reset that I think i need. 🙏

jordan

Vividblu99 did you try the magic 6 pro under 30% brightness and refresh set to high?

« Previous Page Next Page »