V Quick summary of recent phone display tests (all tested at 60 Hz, with and without eye‑comfort mode)
Honor 400 Smart 4G
Use: A few hours. No eye‑strain symptoms, but not as comfortable as older LCDs.
Display: 720p TFT, 261 ppi, low contrast. DC dimming present. Some harsh backlight elements; overall usable with eye‑comfort fully on and more comfortable above ~50% brightness. Low PPI reduces text sharpness and may be a matter of personal preference.
Performance & software: UK model (Snapdragon 685, 6 GB) was sluggish. Heavy, non‑removable bloatware consumed resources; disabling or uninstalling some apps helps but performance remains poor. Network speeds were very slow. No headphone jack. The AI button feels gimmicky. Speaker and wired audio (via USB‑C adapter) are good. Battery life was solid in my use.
Honor 400 Smart 5G
Display: Noticeably worse than the 4G: harsher backlight and a slightly stronger blue tint, possibly due to chipset/display tuning (6s Gen3/Qualcomm's MiraVision equivalent).
Performance: UK model limited to 4 GB RAM. It struggled with my VPN + multiple Chrome tabs & GPS; the system became unstable and frequently disconnected the VPN. Experience was frustrating. The RAM‑turbo memory expansion made no practical difference and feels like a complete marketing gimmick. Phone suitable only for basic use.
Redmi 15 5G
Use: Around two hours. No eye strain, but less comfortable than the Redmi 14C (although much better performance). Eye‑comfort mode is effective.
Display: 1080p; slightly sharper and brighter than the 14C but still exhibits somewhat harsh backlighting. Xiaomi’s paper mode remains one of the best among brands.
Performance & battery: Decent performance (6s Gen3, 8 GB). Massive 7000 mAh battery — roughly 7% drain after two hours of heavy use.
OS: HyperOS contains a lot of bloatware; I spent most of my time removing it to tune the phone & experience, and opted NOT to buy it...
Realme 15X (India variant)
Display: Less comfortable than my Realme 14x (my daily driver). The screen can get bright, but lowering brightness exposes harsher backlight; eye‑comfort mode is less effective than on the 14x.
Performance & battery: Performance similar to the 14x (Dimensity 6300); battery is likely better due to larger capacity. The Realme India website shows no DC dimming or eye‑comfort certifications, which may explain the reduced comfort for me on the 15x compared to the 14x.
Oppo A5 Pro
Display: Very similar to the Oppo A80 5G. Slightly harsh backlighting but usable above about 40% brightness. On the tested unit, eye‑comfort mode made little difference in reducing blue light.
Moto G56
Display: Like the G55 and G75 before it, the G56 feels consistently sharp and harsh across brightness levels. Variable refresh rate causes jumps (30 → 45 → 60 Hz) even when set to 60 Hz, which may affect motion‑sensitive users. Reducing brightness or enabling eye‑comfort had minimal effect. Tolerable but not comfortable for extended reading.
TCL nxtpaper 60 Ultra
Display and reading comfort: Large display and a decent processor, but strong toxic backlight elements. Anti‑glare/Nxtpaper physical filters make web text harder to focus on. E‑paper mode produces a harsh tint rather than a paper‑like appearance. Disabling some MiraVision options made little difference. Usable but uncomfortable, and not the significant improvement I expected over previous Nxtpaper models.
Overall verdict (2025)
Most comfortable for me: Still the Realme 14x (daily driver). It is not perfect — it requires eye‑comfort mode at full strength and my unit has poor battery life — but it has been the least offensive for my eyes this year. Runner‑up: Honor 400 Smart 4G. I would have rated it higher if the Snapdragon 685 were not so underpowered; with eye‑comfort on the display can be quite usable.
I suspect dithering is used across all these low‑cost displays (& dithering on the high cost display of the TCL Nxtpaper ultra). I believe I am not as sensitive to dithering as I am to PWM, but if you are, test these handsets before buying.
Despite some discomfort with these individual models, these LCD/TFT phones are still way way WAY more preferable to AMOLED for me — I still have a severe AMOLED sensitivity regardless of their higher PWM rates. But with that said, even the most comfortable recent LCD phone (the Realme 14x) is noticeably LESS comfortable than older LCD panels.