@KM http://www.notebookcheck.net/OnePlus-3-Smartphone-Review.169223.0.html

The brightness measured on a pure-white background is marginally lower than in OnePlus' 2, but it is still comparatively high for an OLED panel. Only the Galaxy S7 Edge is even brighter when its light sensor is enabled. The brightness is even a bit lower when the light sensor is active in OnePlus' 3. The review sample even achieves 532 cd/m² in the screen's center in the more practical measurement of evenly distributed bright and dark areas (APL 50). Black is really black thanks to the screen's underlying technology, and this leads to an unbeatable contrast ratio.

PWM flickering is almost inevitable in OLED technology. This appears at approximately 240 Hz when the screen's brightness is set to ten percent. PWM at 60 Hz can also be detected when the screen is set to maximum brightness. Seen purely subjectively, this low frequency will not be noticed unfavorably in real world use. However, users who like to use their smartphone in minimum brightness at night in bed will definitely notice flickering. The night mode does not have an impact on PWM behavior and only reduces the blue light fraction in the image. It can be customized in the settings.

  • KM replied to this.

    I have been using the HTC 10 (sharp display) for the last month and i feel a total discomfort in less than 5 minutes while looking at the screen. My eyes get red and i feel a burning sensation. I must add that i own 2 older htc phones (M7 & M8) and i never experienced such problems with them (although i did experience the same or similar problem while using a PSP and a galaxy tab 10.5). Is there any way to avoid these issues?

      JTL I don't know how they think it's at 10%. I took photos, and I see the same amount of stripes from 1 until brightness 65. Then at 66 (up to 255) the amount of stripes is reduced to ¼. Which makes sense when they talk about having measured 240 Hz and 60 Hz. But 65/255 is not "10%".

      Anyways, I'm using the phone at 68/255 since my last post here and I can use it all day. This is evidence for me that PWM frequency matters a lot. My eyes are slightly red but I don't have strong eye strain or headaches. If I increase the brightness while I'm outside on a sunny day it gets a little uncomfortable though in just a few minutes. So no full recommendation on my end, but I'm glad that I can use an up to date device which is capable of making good photos.

      Another thing I noticed is that I quickly get strained eyes when I use "brightness" apps that add an overlay to the screen.
      Also anything below brightness 66/255 starts to hurt after a while, makes me both tired and gives me a sensation of facial numbness in no time.
      If at one day we could control the PWM frequency it might be a major breakthrough. Then everyone could try and find his own custom frequencies he has no trouble with.

      Last but not least, the Developer Options did not help me. I was indeed trying too many things at once, so at first I thought those options helped me while in fact it was the higher brightness levels > 65 and not using "overlay" dimming apps anymore.
      Using OxygenOS 's "Night Mode" and sRGB mode also seems to hurt, similar to those overlay apps.

      • JTL replied to this.

          KM If at one day we could control the OEM frequency it might be a major breakthrough. Then everyone could try and find his own custom frequencies he has no trouble with.

          Yes. For laptops with intel or Nvidia graphics I have some ideas. Would require running OS X (hackintosh) or Linux though due to driver requirements.

            Ok. I've ordered Sony Xperia Compact Z3 today. Hope the best, however I'm really scared..

            • JTL likes this.

            I'm using a Sony Xperia Z5 and although of course it hurts my eyes I consider it a lot better than my older iPhone 4S I was using before.

            Unfortunately I cannot specify the reasons. I assume that in this case having a little larger display may allow me to be a bit farther away?

            • JTL likes this.
            6 days later

            I just want to add one more smartphone i can use and for others to test. Up to now i actually use:
            Alcatel C5
            Galaxy Grand Duos

            I have extensively used as a corporate device Vodafone Smartprime 6. It caused me no problems using it all day.

            I can also add to other users that HTC M8s is comfortable for my eyes, however the phone gets really hot (both two devices i got my hands to) so i decided not to use it.

            Taking the opportunity, i want to share my experience with Sony Xperia XA. I loved its looks and for one day it seemed quite fine. However, the next and the upcoming 2 days my eyes hurt a lot and got a very heavy forehead. I used the phone with and without Crizal glasses but it made no difference. So this phone is unfortunately a no for me.

            Has anyone used the Philips Sapphire S616? Philips claims to have a technology that reduces blue light coming from smartphones in order to reduce eye strain.

            Sharing experience with xiaomi redmi 3: discomert when not using full brightness. No discomfort with full brightness and i can deal with the light strength - but it may be issue for others.

            In android there's an option to decrease brightness without touching pwm using apps that kinda put a filter layer on top of the screen. This doesn't work on the redmi 3 OS. Maybe it does work on cyanogenmod which is availble, but this requires an annoying process of unlocking the device - and only than installing a new rom. Haven't done that to my device yet.

            My coworker somehow managed to erase the system partition (or created a permanent bootloop) on a HTC Desire 601 aka Zara_UL. It probably can't be fixed because it wasn't S-OFF and the only RUU I could find that would match it is an older version.

            Anyway, I have the phone here. It's a nice LCD panel and is a very light device. 960 pixels like the iPhone 4 and 4S. Not the same PPI though as the screen is larger. Whatever panel is in this specific unit, it is a nice perfectly comfortable one on the bootloader that you could stare at all day, which is interesting because the GPU is an Adreno 305. Kitkat was the last software version released for this device.

            I have a microscope in the house, and I think what I am going to do on a different day, I'm going to look at the subpixels on this device, and the 4S that I have that is also good, and then compare to other LCDs I have here and see if the pixels have the same shape or are different. I mostly just want to compare the 601 to the 4S subpixels.

            That M8 I complained about so much? I use it, but for Pokemon Go. Lol!

              Sunspark you could stare at all day, which is interesting because the GPU is an Adreno 305

              Adreno is known to be problematic?
              The bootloader might be using a very basic 2D video mode. Maybe at XDA forums there's some unbrick thread for the device.

                5 days later

                Someone who really needs a new device, might like to try the BLU R1 HD from Amazon. No idea how it will be, but it's a mediatek chipset and a mali gpu. Most devices are qualcomms. Surprisingly good specs for the price of $110, why not? I'd order it, but it won't ship to Canada.

                https://www.amazon.com/BLU-R1-HD-Exclusive-Lockscreen/dp/B01H2E0J5M/ref=sr_1_1?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1470099822&sr=1-1&keywords=blu+r1+hd&refinements=p_6%3AATVPDKIKX0DER
                • JTL replied to this.
                • JTL likes this.

                  Sunspark We are both Canadian? 😃

                  Also reshipping and US mailbox services exist. Search it online.

                    Hi.

                    Tested the Sony Xperia Compact Z3 now a few days. What shall I say?! It don't hurt my eyes as much as other devices, but it causes eyestrain too.

                    So I decided to order a HTC One M9. It's really hard to get an M8 with 30 days refund here in austria.

                    update: Instead of normal HTC One M9 Amazon shipped me HTC One M9 prime camera edition. Which has a completely different CPU and GPU than the normal one.

                    The first impression for my eyes wasn't that good, so i ordered another HTC One M9 and I will send back this (I hope I will get the right now - thanks for wasting my time amazon...).

                    • Kray replied to this.

                      just got one of these blu r1 hds . comfortable at first after turning off hardware overlay, but had problems after trying to watch a video. very different than the iphone 4s, where it's an immediate problem. similar to my cheap lumia winphone.

                      on to the hacking...

                      11 days later

                      I recently bought a Sony Xperia z3 Compact (IPS-panel) and feel discomfort when looking at it especially when reading text. I don't know if this phone uses PMW or if PWM is the reason for my eyestrain.
                      All I know is that looking at my old smartphone, a Samsung Galaxy Trend Plus (unknown panel, but definitely no AMOLED or IPS), is an absolute ease for my eyes.
                      The picture of the Galaxy Trend Plus seems so much quieter and calmer than the one of the Xperia z3 Compact almost like it is painted there (although it has no HD resolution).
                      I think the huge difference is due to the strength and kind of how LED-backlight shines through the panel. Sony feels somewhat piercingly to the eye whereas Samsung feels more flat and soft.
                      If anyone knows which panel or glass exactly is used on the Galaxy Trend Plus I can search for phones with that feature and try them out.

                      10 days later

                      Now that I've been using the OnePlus 3 for over a month since my last post here, I feel safe to recommend it. I can't promise it will help you but it helped me so I think it's worth a try. I think Samsung is the only display supplier so issues like "different displays, different eye strain" probably won't happen.
                      You just need to stay outside of the PWM range. The safe zone is 68-255 for the stock ROM and 65-255 for CyanogenMod.
                      The setup guide may use PWM until you set a higher brightness when you're finally in the OS.

                      The adjusted minimum brightness is not that low, but to my surprise I can use it even in totally dark rooms. All my other devices and monitors I had to set to 0 brightness to avoid headaches. But here, no headaches at all. I use the device like 7 to 8 hours a day (screen-on time).

                      When I'm outside and its sunny, I set the brightness to 255. I think there is a difference between stock ROM and CyanogenMod. Since I'm using CyanogenMod I can bear full brightness. Or my eyes have somehow adjusted to it - can't say for sure.

                      Just thought I should recommend this now for I know how hard it is to find a working device. And how much money it can require. I still have some BlackBerries and my unlucky HTC One M8 lying around which I should probably sell in time before they become worthless. I think you could send the OnePlus 3 back if you don't like it. I read something about a 15 day period.

                      A downside currently is customers may have to wait some weeks for delivery.

                      • JTL replied to this.
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