Niro89
Sadly, none of the recent LCD smartphones match the older LCD models for sheer comfort.
I judge newer LCD phones primarily on usability and acceptable comfort, and the older LCD handsets win every single time.
Many recent LCD designs, together with colour enhancement features, panel modelling, and higher refresh rates, have substantially altered display characteristics, so phones released from 2022/2023 onward rarely feel as comfortable as the older LCD devices.
Of the newer phones I’ve used in the past three to four years, the Realme 9 Pro came closest to providing comparable comfort. However, there were inconsistencies between units. A green unit I purchased felt less comfortable than my original black one, suggesting there was definitely a display lottery going on.
The same applies to the newer Honor 400 Smart 4G. Some UK colour variants (for example, gold) appear more comfortable to use than others (black), which likely indicates use of different display suppliers and a display lottery. Full uniformity in display quality would be ideal, but it is unrealistic in this day and age.
If comfort is your priority, look for a tft LCD phone, reduce the refresh rate, and disable any colour boosting features. The Honor 70 Lite and the Honor 400 Smart 4G both use tft 720p panels, whereas the Realme 9 Pro features an IPS 1080p display, so tft is not automatically the safer or less problematic choice.