Usable Smartphones?

annv

iPhone SE 1st gen is still good on iOS 15.6 for me. It's actually better than my Windows PC after recent Windows 10 updates.

I don't know if I've been lucky to have a good panel, or they are all like that. The screen is "still".

I have switched on Reduce Motion, Prefer Cross-Fade Transitions, and Reduce Transparency. I have also tweaked it for speed by switching off a lot of background stuff, and I keep a few GB free space to let it "breathe". It's very fast despite its age. I won't upgrade for as long as I can.

Trying new Apple tech in the store, I find it unusable, some better (iPad 9th gen), some worse (iPad Pro), so it's a no-go for me.

Rataplan

Check my post history for the ton of mobiles I've already tried, but I've not given up on it yet. I have ordered two new smartphones the last week and both have arrived. The Samsung M33 5G and the Samsung XCover 6 Pro. I'm surprised to say that both are fine for me. Now the decision which one I'll keep... The XCover 6 has a better camera, is a bit faster, has more software updates and a removable battery, but it's double the price. Hmm 👀

SAH

Rataplan Thanks for your feedback ! I have a question for you ! Have you tried Fairphone 4 5G for a longer time ?

RulerofNothing

Rataplan Nice to hear! I also consider to buy the XCover 6 Pro. How is the size? It is not too big for you? And how is the performance on the M33 with activatet 120 Hz?

qb74 Look at the review of the Nothing Phone 1 from Notebookcheck:

„…We are positively surprised by the refresh rate, which stayed more or less even at minimal brightness at a constant 120 Hz, in our measurements made using an oscilloscope. Consequently, it is unlikely for people who are sensitive to get headaches from the phone's OLED panel, as its frequency hardly fluctuates.“

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Nothing-Phone-1-transparent-designer-piece-at-mid-range-price.635734.0.html

And you can force the 120 Hz in the developer settings. It has a OLED Display from Visionex. I think i have until now not try a Displaypanel from this supplier. Maybe it could be worth a try. The reviews and experiences about the phonne from users are mixed until now.

Rataplan

SAH A couple of days. I returned it as it wasn't as comfortable to the eyes as my Nokia 7.2.

RulerofNothing It's quite large, but I can hold it quite comfortable (I have a normal hand size). I compared it with my Nokia 7.2 and the width is almost identical. It's a bit longer but I don't mind that too much. I prefer a smaller phone in general but these aren't available anymore, let alone with a comfortable screen. You do get used to a bigger phone, I found the Nokia 7.2 too big initially but got used to it after a good week. The performance of the M33 is good, although the XCover is even faster, especially multicore. But both are much faster than my Nokia 7.2 which for me is already fast enough 🙂 I just browse some internet and use a couple of rather simple apps so I don't need too much power.

I don't think the Nothing 1 phone is decent, it has 120 PWM which is far too low, at least for me.

qb74

RulerofNothing Yes, I've also noticed it's seemingly one of a few OLED smartphones that's supposedly 'fully DC dimmed' across it's entire brightness range' Not entirely sure how they'd come to that conclusion, so I would take that with a grain of salt.

The Fairphone 4 5G, Samsung M23/F23, M33, XCover 6 Pro and Motorola phones seem like much better buys to me than the Nothing Phone (1) for now (I'd rather have some more tests of it, as it's rather new), along with other mentioned chinese manifacturers in this thread (personally not a big fan of Xiaomi/Poco, Realme, Oppo/OnePlus etc. due to OS concerns)

In general, LCD > OLED, due to longetivity, but maybe the Nothing Phone (1) can be a good alternative for someone looking for inky blacks!

Sadly, all of these are still too big for me (imo)! I'm looking for something <72mm width and possibly <155mm length, which only the iPhone 8/SE or Zenfone 8 (and new Zenfone 9) seem to fit in, hoping the Zenfone 9 has better PWM dimming management!

ledsky

Rataplan

Does the M33 have a TN-TFT lcd? I saw it described as both ips and tft on various reviews. Gsmarena just says IPS for most 120hz phones like Realme 9 Pro, Xiaomi Poco X4 GT and others. But it says TFT for the M33, while Notebookcheck says IPS. Idk what to think, it's a cheaper screen? How would it relate to strain?

John615

I've been using the Unihertz Jelly 2 on Verizon. It's a 3 inch Android phone. It has decent specs. I use it for what I need, gps, whatsapp, spotify, etc. It's great because I don't read anything on it due to the size so no eye strain, but still have all the essential apps. Get it from Amazon and you can try it out for 30 days.

ledsky

Crummy-JD01

mag01

Hi, can you confirm that these Xiaomi phones are just a rebrand of the same one or there are minor differencies? It's not 100% clear to me, but their specs seems exactly the same.

Redmi Note 11T Pro, Poco X4 GT, K50i

I saw different opinions in the last ~35 post about them and I don't know how easy they are on eyes.

No pwm, but people testing the poco experienced annoying temporal dithering, while all was good for Crummy-JD01 on the redmi.

qb74

https://www.gsmarena.com/asus_zenfone_9-review-2455p3.php

Video showcasing the DC Dimming option on the Zenfone 9

It seems like the new Zenfone 9 might be a good choice for people looking for a <6" flagship with DC dimming!

I hope they've improved upon the Zenfone 8 in this regard, waiting on the Notebookcheck review for the exact PWM frequency (hopefully DC dimmed till at least ~30%)

EDIT: It even has a removable back supposedly! Crazy value!

reaganry

Hisense A9. it's your only hope. working pretty well on T-mobile in dallas and denver areas.

Rataplan

ledsky I don't know what technology is used. It looks fine though, it's comparable to my Nokia 7.2 which has IPS. Colors are well represented and viewing angles are the same. It might use PLS instead of IPS, which is Samsungs variant of IPS, probably to cut down license costs.

vajra

Can anyone recommend low-strain phones that are

relatively rugged, not huge
released last year, 18 months max
regular security updates with long term support promised (4 years for some manufacturers now, many lose support after a couple years which is insane to me)
under $250ish when 'like new'/refurbished on the used market
maybe even low SAR emf rating?
work well in United States

I'm about to read last 18 months of posts, will update with what I find. Seems like the solution is to just use a smartphone as little as possible.

Also if this forum has advanced search features please let me know, such as searching within this thread only or being able to load a large part of this thread without posts continuously disappearing, so I can text search.

Edit: I spent some time looking at the Samsung phones on this list, slowly realized Samsung doesnt make any good cheap phones based on online commentary. I focused in on them because they've promised the longest term patches/updates for their devices. Might have to drop that requirement, 2nd place is google phones, everyone else is far behind.

Edit2: I went ahead and just ordered a Oneplus Nord N10 5G. $130 lightly used, LCD screen, doesnt really fit the bill otherwise. Hope the 60/90hz screen doesnt cause issues somehow https://www.notebookcheck.net/OnePlus-Nord-N10-5G-Smartphone-Review-Cheap-5G-smartphone-with-a-90-Hz-screen-and-stereo-speakers.508216.0.html

JTL

vajra Also if this forum has advanced search features please let me know, such as searching within this thread only or being able to load a large part of this thread without posts continuously disappearing, so I can text search.

Yes, the search function annoys me too 🙂

vajra 2nd place is google phones, everyone else is far behind.

Sadly Google seems to be allergic to making phones with displays that have mitigations for OLED PWM or other issues 🙁

hoss11-1

Hi. how new exprience aboute poco x4 gt? eyestrain?

RulerofNothing

hoss11-1: I send it back because of eye strain. Not so strong like with OLED Display but still not usable. PWM is here not the problem but something different is not fine with this LCD panel.

I have also try the Galaxy XCover 6 Pro. And this LCD panel also make me problems. The colors are really vibrant and there is no other option for natural colors. It is also too big for me so it goes also back.

I get desparated 🙁 Maybe i should try the iPhone SE 2022 albeit it has a so small display. The Fairphone 4 could be also a option to try. Or the Poco F4 GT with the higher 1920 PWM Frequency. But after the Poco X4 GT i have so little hope on this 🙁

karut

I have a Fairphone 4 and experience no eyestrain. Other devices like the Pixel 4a I cannot tolerate. Also sensitive to other devices like MacBooks and such.

nikomanuel96

RulerofNothing And how was the experience with the realme 9 pro? I know you said that it was pwm free in other post but...why did you changed it? Sorry bad english

qb74

RulerofNothing Perhaps try the Zenfone 9 if you're looking for a smaller Android phone? It has a DC dimming option when enabling 60hz refresh rate.

No official values of PWM or whether it's DC dimmed properly though.

Other than that, The Samsung M23/F23 or M33, Fairphone 4 (my favourite due to the repairability), the older XZ2 Compact (still the most compact flagship to date), since they're smaller than the XCover 6 Pro.

It is odd that you're experiencing issues with it though! I hope that you can find a device that works for you soon!

RulerofNothing

nikomanuel96: It´s fine with the Realme 9 Pro. I still use it with a matte screen protector. But the performance is not the best so i would wish a smartphone with stronger hardware.

qb74: The Zenfone 9 looks not bad. But it should only get 2 major updates and one more security updates. Not really good for the asking price. I have never try a ASUS smartphone so i not know how good the DC Dimming function could work. 60 Hz on that smaller display is not the problem.

I think i will wait the new iPhone 14/Pixel 7 lineup to see if there is one device that could be worth to try. The Pixel 6a seems to use a panel from Samsung Display with 240 Hz PWM Frequency. With such a panel i had never luck 🙁

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