Usable Smartphones?

Gurm

I know it isn't "CDMA" per se, but the LTE bands they require in order for service to work... are substantive.

randomboolean

hector I tried this one and while it was better than any other phone it still have me eye strain. Guys, please be careful and buy with option to return. I asked on amazon about return policies and bought only after getting written confirmation that I will be able to return it.

randomboolean

JTL JTL You started a very nice discussion on Librem forum, thanks! And I agree with your comment about first generation product.

JTL

randomboolean Other people from here should post too, now that we got the attention of their team 🙂

Leachim38

AGI For Whatsapp and simple things it is ok, but it is slow and the software is old (I dont dare to change anything...).

tomek

Ok so iPhone xs with matte screen prottector - dayly driver with small strain not whorst as old LG G2. Hudge progress for me.

JTL

Gurm We started phasing out CDMA in Canada about 10 years ago, and the bands aren't really an issue.

sigh

Gurm

JTL Oh, how I wish that were true in the USA. Europe was great - everywhere I went there was some level of service, never had to worry about it...

ensete

My Moto G4 + Skinomi that worked well for me is going downhill fast so I'm back in the hunt.

So far I have tried the Moto G6. The screen is terribad. Instant eye strain/facial muscle tension. Shipping it back

I tried a Nuu 2 Mobile. Cheap phone from China. Same thing, unusable. Shipped it back.

I found I can still get a lower spec G4 on Amazon, I ordered it and another skinomi screen protector. We'll see what happens, I have had 2 versions of the same device act differently since manufacturers do not use homogeneous parts.

Gurm

Hey guys. Remind me - was the HTC One M9 usable, on Lollipop, like the M8? I'm thinking of just biting the bullet and buying a brand new M8 with a fresh battery and keeping it slimmed down on the most bare-metal ROM I can find...

Gurm

Also, tried a few phones over the past couple days. Results:

Asus Zenfone 2. Boot screen and recovery were fine. Actual OS? Miserable. Induced instant "hard to look at" pressure headache. Nearly the most unusable phone ever. Same problem as most iPhone 6's - something about the glass, I think. It was running Android 5.0, so I know it isn't the OS.
Nexus 6 (Motorola). Nearly usable. Running a much newer OS though, being a Nexus phone it auto-updated itself to Android 7. I am going to put Paranoid Android on it and see how that does. Holding out hope.
Samsung S8. Actually usable for text and for short periods of time without too much strain, much like the S9. If someone handed it to me and said I HAD to use it, I could do so for email and phone calls. That said, the curved screen makes gaming nearly impossible. It does have a ton of color correction options though, and greyscale was MUCH MUCH MUCH better in every way, making the phone nearly usable (still not my first choice). Might be worth a try to some people, especially those who think color profiles help them.

Markus

Gurm
Try the HTC U11.

AGI

Gurm Samsung S8

Did this model come out at the time of the Iphone 8 and X? If so, it is the AMOLED I glanced on last year and it did not look very friendly at all :-( But I now I read the S8 was released in 2017 so maybe it was another fancy NOTE something I had inspected. I will take a look, as my Galaxy on5 died and I was unable to rescue it via Odin.

By the way, you wrote you did not have luck with the S4. What is your tentative explanation why you can use more modern models? The AMOLED screen? Also, does that mean you were not fine with Marshmallow but Nougat is okay? That is interesting, and I am completely lost. More than ever.

Gurm

Markus The HTC 10 was... not great. In a similar vein to many other phones with Android 6 or higher... but if I can find a U11 I can give it a shot.

Gurm

AGI I tried an S9 in the store and found it acceptable for light use also. The S8 seems to be a slow-to-induce-strain model for me, at least for text and light use, especially in greyscale mode. I don't know if it's the OS, or if they've finally gotten the resolution high enough, or if they've reduced flicker, or... I just don't know. That said, I do have some serious leftover eyestrain from the past few days, hard to say if it was the Samsung or the Nexus or the Asus inducing it (I suspect the ASUS actually). But the S9 is in shops now so you ought to be able to get it to try.

AGI

https://the-digital-reader.com/2019/01/10/kyocera-card-keitai-e-ink-phone-runs-android-video/

I am curios if at least allows for checking emails...

Harrison

So the time has come that my good old trusted HTC One Mini 2 is absolutely at the end of its lifetime.

No I use a Galaxy S7 which is very frustrating for my eyes. Somehow I feared that day.

KM

OnePlus 3 helped me and @degen.

Harrison

is it really strain free for you?

KM

Harrison Strain-free is only sunlight for me. But I think this is the best display I have ever used. Degen reported the same. I would never describe it as "frustrating", unlike most other displays. I use it multiple hours a day since 2016. To get rid of the "Android" eye strain I have to use the Paranoid Android 7.3.1. custom ROM. It is no big deal to install custom ROMs on a OnePlus device.
Some apps are straining, especially games. Overlay apps are straining ("draw over other apps"), as is sRGB mode. Those probably share the same mechanisms. Browsing with Chrome has always been safe. I use brightness 65/255 or above to avoid 240 Hz PWM. Luckily the OS remembers the last brightness setting.

Harrison

sounds good. Maybe I should try a custom Rom for my S7 too.

AGI

KM I have to use the Paranoid Android 7.3.1. custom ROM

How complex is the install? Is it comparable to deal with Odin to flash Samsung's ROMs?
Does it void warranty on a new phone, and can you easily go back to the original software if you want?
Also, if you use the original OS on your OnePlus do you get eyestrain?

KM

Harrison Maybe there is a kernel available that turns off PWM for the S7. I did find one for the S7 edge on a quick search on XDA developers: https://forum.xda-developers.com/s7-edge/development/amoled-pwm-s7-edge-t3517739. I think the developer @Wootever is a member of our forum and we had a thread about it back then which I don't find anymore. Might help if PWM is the problem. Some user once reported in this thread he could use his S7 only at brightness 100%, where PWM turns off.

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