Gurm Did you get a new one? iPhone 7 prices have dropped.

Anyone know good Android phones that have a Lineage OS image that are not straining? I don't want an expensive flagship...but also want something not ancient.

@ryans Not yet. I made do with a battery pack on my HTC for the week I was away, but it's on my short list.

10 days later

I haven't heard of this Maximum Permissible Exposure benchmark before.

I doubt either will be PWM free.

!!!!! Got the Skinomi MatteSkin (don't confuse with the clear TechSkin)) !!!!!

Not even close. SO much more comfortable on my iPhone. Remember I originally liked the iPhone 7 Plus which Best Buy threw a cheap plastic screen protector on. Around the same time I removed the screen protector it became much less comfortable. Now months later I installed the Skinomi MatteSkin and it's even better than the Best Buy screen protector. It's definitely not high fidelity or anything, and I'm pretty sure most people would not like the grainy appearance. It's VERY matte. But somehow it makes the screen so much easier to FOCUS on.

Having said that, it still causes eye muscle tightness (although it’s better than before) and I wouldn't recommend it for long sessions. Personally I just use it in short bursts.

Hey guys -- Been following this thread for a long time, thought I'd chime in. I'm pretty sensitive to PMW -- Galaxy S8 gave me awful headaches, LED lighting gives me these eye-seizures, even the LCD screens on the HTC 10 and LG G7 were basically unusable long-term.

The only (modern) phone I've found that works for me is the Essential Phone (LCD) -- No eyestrain at all, and it's a pretty great phone as well. Prior to that, could only use the iPhone 5.

Seriously consider it -- It took me forever to find something that actually works, so I'm hoping this can help a few people out.

    CCitrine As for the LG G7, I read on Notebookcheck that it has pretty significant PMW, more than the G6...

      CCitrine Yeah, PWM is so not my problem. It's rendering/dithering. I think...

      CCitrine Thanks for your recommendation. Have you actually measured there is no PWM?

      Essential Phone PWM:

      https://www.reddit.com/r/essential/comments/96v6ft/essential_phone_screen_flicker/

      @Slacor the reddit link gets destroyed by the forum software

      Edit: olgomar actually tested the Essential Phone here in our forums not long ago:
      https://ledstrain.org/d/21-usable-smartphones/683

        @Slacor possible to disable auto embed stuff?

        I was already annoyed with it some time ago trying to embed Amazon links to a "preview" that had ads too.

          KM Thanks.
          Uhmmm, so CCitrine it might be PWM is not your problem? Or who knows? Maybe, as someone pointed out, two nominally identical phones do not behave the same way?

          I can recommend the Microsoft Lumina 650, admittedly I am not sure I can use it, but its the closest I've gotten to a usable smartphone in years having tried a great many, plus it was only £25 on ebay - because who wants a windows phone! Be fine for work use though.

          Might be worth a punt for anyone else who can pick up a cheap one on ebay.

          • Gurm replied to this.

            Seagull Yes, the cheap end of the Lumia series has 720p (or maybe even like 630p) displays and they are 100% fine on the eyes at all times. They're low powered and... y'know... Windows. But perfectly good to look at.

            Unbelievable improvement with this Skinomi matte screen protector. Using my phone for longer periods now. I can't even believe it's the same phone. Wonder if something like this might help on a monitor..

              degen how long does it take for eye strain to accumulate? Is the strain more like temporary or gives you blurry vision for days? Also which iphone do you use and which iOs version?

                dev