I am still using an iPhone 4. Out of five iPhone 4/4s I bought only two are usable. The three other ones triggered eye strain in just a few seconds. However, the iPhone is getting slower, and the screen size is not really what you use nowadays. Do you have a Smartphone with current technology that is perfectly usable throughout the day?

I use a Note 3 SM-N900W8 (purchased Oct 24th 2013, was having issues with PWM then, got a migraine from being in the store too long :() I never bothered to check for PWM as it was less of an issue in phone displays back then but I never had problems with the display. Recently checked with Canon T5i and it shows up as higher frequency than usual >300hz which is a safe zone normally. And I cannot detect PWM using pen test (insert S-Pen joke here) However Samsung phones made in 2014 and after have terrible PWM worse than this. Friend got a headache from trying the S5 in store, think later batches of the Galaxy S4 may be affected, etc.

I am iPhone 4s with iOS 7.1.2, and it's smooth enough because I don't usually use apps on it. (I surf the web on computer) I think iOS 6 is better on iPhone 4. :>

@"JTL"#p236 I hate Samsung mostly because of the screen. The same feeling as yours.

I've got a LG LGL34C for about a year now and haven't had any issues with it. Dunno if it's fast or not but it's usable... so that's good enough for me!

@"Slacor"#p251 Heh. I had a LG-C55 about four years ago running Android 2.2. Think was laggy as crap but it didn't use PWM, took 10 seconds to open the dialer, etc.

Did anyone try the BlackBerry Leap?

I use an iPhone 4s and I hate it :( It gives me instant eye strain + headaches. Its original OS (I don't remember which one it was) seemed a lot better than the new updated ones. I wish I could revert it back to how it was.. but oh well.

Yes, that is true. I had to downgrade my iPhone 4 to iOS 6 because on iOS 7.1.2 I got severe eye strain and headaches. I switched back and forth several times to be sure. I think there is a newer hack tool that allows you to downgrade iPad 2 and iPhone 4s to iOS 6.1.3. I read about it in reddit's jailbreak section. I believe it is called something like Odysseus. But I can not guarantee that it is safe to use and free of malware. I think iOS 5 was the original OS.

Also I might be able to go to a phone store soon with my fast shutter speed DSLR to test for flickering in newer smartphones. Also people on my family also own, alongside the Samsung's I mentioned. - LG Nexus 5 - iPhone 6s (I don't like iPhone's :P) will test those later.

I tried the BlackBerry Leap now. It is not the worst LED device I ever used, but it still starts to hurt a little after 1-2 minutes. At night the minimum brightness is a little too bright for me.

Usable Smartphones?

Vividblu99

jordan I have not tested any of these recent devices for dithering, as I'm not currently in possession of the right equipment to enable me to do so, so unfortunately I cannot confirm whether the 70 lite is free from dithering. With that being said, if it's any consolation, I haven't experienced any type of eye strain from using the 70 lite, even after lengthy periods of time.

The display is not perfect, and the quality and color accuracy and calibration are not great, and it's limited to 720p, and uses the older TFT type of panel. I've also chopped and changed screen protectors on numerous occasions, cycling through anti glare matte protectors through to hydrogel/tpu. In the end, I now use it without any type of protector applied.

In my opinion, it's a pretty benign display, and it works perfectly with overlay apps such as twilight and color calibrator. This enables me to create a good level of comfort.

Also, in the UK, it's extremely cheap. Currently retailing for £130. Keep in mind, you get what you pay for! So it is a cheap plastic feeling handset.

jordan

Vividblu99 gotcha. I appreciate the info! Have you tried any iPhones? All iPhones are BAD for me

Frito1224

jordan personally for me the only iPhones I can use is the 11, XR, and 8 and below

jordan

Frito1224 wow the XR and 11 were extremely bad for me. Must be the color flickering on them that I'm sensitive too

AlanSmith

Vividblu99 TUV Rheinland is just a dummy. Low Blue Light Certified for visible light only with a wavelength of 415 to 455 nm. "Harmful" visible light from 455 to 500 nm is completely ignored. Manufacturers often do not write Flicker-Free's "brightness range." After reaching which the screen begins to flicker again. There is no limit for PWM at 0/25/50/75/100% screen brightness.

jayd

I have watched the OnePlus 12 YouTube review by Mrwhosetheboss and if you skip to 6m 50s he explains how when the phone screen is dimmed lower it switches to PWM Dimming at 2160Hz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9-9fP_pcEc

I don't think I am affected by PWM in mobiles based on handsets without it that have still caused me issues but for those who are and understand PWM plus seeking a powerful handset it may be an option ?

Over recent months I have tried the Poco M5, Motorola Edge 30 Neo and Motorola G73 without success.

Vividblu99

jayd

What issue(s) did you experience with the Poco M5?

Was it something to do with the backlighting?

According to the specs, the Poco M5 uses DC dimming too. I was hoping the M5 would be like the M3/M4 Pro 5G models, which were decently comfortable to use.

jayd

Vividblu99 Firstly I will say that compared to a lot of people on this forum I do not appear to suffer with as wide ranging or impactful symptoms when looking at a screen. Simply intense eye strain / tiredness and nausea. Naturally the strength of this varies and also the length of time it takes my eyes to recover from hours until the following day.

I was aware the Poco M5 was no powerhouse however I found the phone slow and software buggy upon initial setup with prompts appearing on screen in relation to this. I factory reset it and tried again however still was not happy and coupled with some strong eye strain I decided even if my eyes got used to the screen I wasn't happy with the initial experience of the software and hardware.

I genuinely do not know what the issue is with screens that causes my symptoms. I am fairly confident it is not PWM as I have had issues with devices that do not have PWM. I also have issues with LCD screens so do not take too much notice of the LCD vs OLED debate.

In the past I have returned the iphone SE (2016) and Sony Xperia Z3 Compact (2014) amongst other LCD handsets. I have been using a Google Pixel 3a for around 4 years now which is OLED. I recently looked at a friends iphone 15 Pro Max (OLED) and it didn't appear to cause any issues but that device is way out of my price range.

The other challenge for me is I prefer small handsets so around 6 to 6.2 inches so options are limited however if I found a 6.5 incher that I could use then I would still be very happy. I have just bought a refurbed iphone XR from Ebay as well as a screen protector for the first time to see if it helps though I doubt it, I know you have had success with screen protectors on some devices.

qb74

jayd
You might be suffering from motion blur eyestrain, which is a very real thing.
OLED's have much faster response times compared to LCD's (both in monitor and smartphone space)

The compact phone market is definitely dry. You could try one of the newer Zenfones (9/10), the old Sharp R2 Compact (LCD), or IPhone 13 Mini. That's as close to "compact" as one might get nowadays.

Vividblu99

jayd Yes miui is one of the worst interfaces I've used. A complete resource hog, and every software update seems to slow down the system even more.

However I love their eye care/paper mode.

jayd

qb74 Thanks for the advice I have been reading up on this and read that it isn't just moving objects / pixels that cause this but also static pixels if what I have read is accurate. My symptoms kick in just by looking at the home screen on a device so I don't even need to scroll up or down. This is also the same on the Windows home screen on a pc sometimes.

I first spoke to an optician around 2014 about this and she said it is related to a communication issue between my brain and my eyes most likely. Last year I spoke with another optician who suggested I have pattern glare but I do not think the majority of opticians are aware or fully understand the issues we are experiencing, I do have rare issues with patterns on clothing such as checkered patterns and zig zig patterns and I did mention this to him so I think this is why he made the pattern glare comment.

I have attached a photo of the screen on my kitchen airfryer and even this display caused some very mild issues the first few times I used it.

I am thinking of eventually trying a refurbed iphone Pro Max as although the screens are larger I think I might get lucky with them based on my friends model.

jordan

Vividblu99 do you know if the paper mode does any weird color flickering ? I haven't tried it due to not knowing if it does.

Vividblu99

jordan Not sure about flickering, as I don't have an opple or similar device to enable me to check.

However, the paper mode 3.0 used in some older miui device like the poco m3 pro 5g/poco m4 pro 5g, and a few of the budget redmi devices, worked very well in terms of eye comfort and reducing saturation. They also worked well with a matte screen protector.

However, the same cannot be said for their newer devices like the Redmi 12 5G. That display is awful. My eyes just cannot tolerate it, regardless of any of the colors modes/eye comfort modes that are selected.

I have a suspicion that it's using PWM, but I haven't been able to detect this using a slow mo camera/shutter speed.

Likewise with the Honor X7B. Also a horrid display, and i suspect this may also be using pwm, even though Honor's customer service team claim it is "flicker free".

I'm quite irritated at the fact that these are supposed to be cheap budget LCD devices, so one would expect them to be pretty usable for sensitive individuals (like previous budget LCD phones), but unfortunately this hasn't been the case.

They're evidently using some new type of LCD tech, or some additional under screen layer, or the issue could be software related.

Vividblu99

It seems like the HyperOS update for the Redmi 12 5G has slightly improved the comfortability of the display.

The toxic backlight issue is still very present, especially at lower brightness levels, however, xiaomi have included a new "contrast" option within the developer settings. I've fiddled around with this (standard, medium, high), and i feel improvements after selecting the medium/high setting. The improvement is solely to do with the readability of web text. Web text appears more refined and easier to read/focus on.

Still, the display doesn't feel 100% comfortable, especially using it under 50% brightness, but after the HyperOs update, there does seems to be a marked improvement.

However, the HyperOS update has restricted disabling/uninstalling apps via ADB commands, which is a huge shame. This means debloating is now almost impossible. I think there is a workaround, but it entails creating a xiaomi mi account and registering the device first.

valex13

I mentioned earlier that I had very good experience with Poco x5 pro 5g. But several days ago there was an firmware update that changed MIUI to HyperOS (new OS by Xiaomi) and also new Android version (14 vs 12). And the experience became much worse (( probably new driver or smth else… now i cannot work comfortable more than 5:min. And no ways to rollback to previous system. So dont allow such update!

jordan

valex13 you should be able to manually flash the old firmware. I think on Xiaomi forums they post them there

valex13

jordan it is very complicated as I have to unlock the boot, and to do it i have to get the unlock permission from Xiaomi. But they don't give it for hyperos firmware. It is very complicated process now.

Hubixjames

Hi. I also post this on another forum I found today. And I find this forum too. Can please anyone recommend good eye ache free phone

I try new OnePlus 12 for few days and it causing me lot of aching eye and very strong headache. I try all brightness colours setting but aching eyes still too much. I cant use for more few mins because eyes hurt too much

Before I also try honor 90, magic 5 pro, Xiaomi 13 pro, s23 ultra, Moto edge 40 pro pixel 8 pro all in1 year but I return all as same ache and headache

I read review of OnePlus 12 which said good for eye but for me not true. I am now sending back too.

Is any new phone with good camera eye ache free with no headache? I need good camera for pictures videos but I need headache free phone cause I use a lot for work things

vegeta97

I was using a Hisense A5 procc until i bricked it. Now a normal Redmi LCd phone and it sucks. Especially at night. Will get the TCL nxtpaper 40 soon and see how that goes. if not good then ill buy the hisense a9 eink phone

Vividblu99

vegeta97 I've had a negative experience with the Nxtpaper phones.

They both use PWM, confirmed by TCL's tech team/customer support.

ashento899

Vividblu99 Which smartphone is most comfortable for you to use and easier to read/focus on recently?

vegeta97

Vividblu99 really? sucks to hear that. Which model did you use? Am waiiting for the 50 models. So theyre not like eink at all? in terms of less eye strain i mean

Vip

Vividblu99 I recently bought a TCL Nxtpaper 40 4G - it gives me symptoms, quite severely. I tried all the different modes (colour paper, non-colour paper, reading, eye comfort, etc.) and subjectively some are better than others but none are tolerable for me. Back to the drawing board…

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