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?

KM

I think one of the best approaches for now might be to look up current and new AMOLED device reviews on notebookcheck.net, and search the article for "PWM". If it says "no PWM" or "PWM below 25% brightness", I believe it's worth a shot as long as you could easily return the device within some days. Because currently AMOLED seems to be the only display type we know either flickers at 240 Hz or not at all (not considering the small amplitude 60 Hz flicker that's always there).

Bobby87

KM Yes, it'd be good if it works, but I was heaving eyestrain and headache from my Super Amoled Samsung even at 100% brightness, where it's not supposed to have pwm. Either the 60 HZ flicker is still irritating my eyes, or there's something else besides pwm which bothers me. But I think PWM is definitely a problem for me, as I felt change when reducing and increasing brightness. At low brightness the headache was heavy and I felt very dizzy, while above 80% brightness the headache was less but still uncomfortable to use after 2-3 minutes. Could Super Amoled screens also have issues with dithering and color tints?

tomek

Ok so I've checked LG G6 and Huawei P10, this phones are great but not for us - I had to return.
I had those phones for few days and no one was usable for long time like my iP 6 which i use only for few minutes.
I hoped that P10 can adjust color tint in setting, but it don't work at all or maybe a little bit.
I use LG G2 D802 with bluelight filter at 30% whole day without strain but in this phones this don't work at all.

I'm afraid that I have to stick wit G2 for long time but even with last Lineage OS it is not so fast.

Bobby87

I read that LG G6 uses pwm at 2400 Hz 🙁 and also all new LG models, as well as Moto G5...
I'm thinking of trying an HTC phone . Unfortunately M8/m9 are a bit too expensive for me now, so I am turning to Desire 610/626/630. I watched some videos of HTC 610 and it's interesting a flicker can be noticed in the screen, as here:

https://youtu.be/jY3njP42ejk?t=35

(in the upper right) .How do you think , what can it be due to? Do you think it is some kind of pwm or dithering?

ensete

Devotee Well, I can say I have not tried the new iPads, I guess I could give it a shot

Another data point, using TechArmor matte screen protectors 100% cures any eye strain from any Apple device. My wife and my son have identical iPads, she has no screen protector and I get triggered within seconds of looking at it, my son has a TechArmor matter screen protector and I can stare at it for hours with zero issues. So whatever it is, it appears it CAN be clocked/screened out.

Jerry

ensete Would you mind to list the Apple devices that worked for you with TechArmor matte screen protector. It sounds very exciting. I read your posts about this before, but not sure why it slipped thru my mind. I am definitely going to give a try this time. Thanks.

Devotee

ensete I am at present using a tech armor matte HD for my iphone 6, and it has helped else it was unusable. On the ipad 2017 I did not need anything. In general matte screen protectors help and I believe this is due to it making the light more diffuse and
less direct. Cfl lights were more diffuse and in general I think LEDs have a harsh more direct sort of light.

ensete

Jerry So far I have been able to use the following Apple devices with a Techarmor matte anti glare screen protector

iPad 2
iPad 3
iPhone 5s

Those are the only devices I have tried it on, but it worked on all of them

Kray

ensete

I can also use the Ipad 2 without eye strain for long hours, until i (stupidly) upgraded the IOS from IOS 7 to IOS 8. Then i start to get eye strain. But it was too late to go back by then. My ipad 2 sits useless in the drawer for quite some time already.

Do you get eye strain from ipad 2 when the ipad 2 was using IOS 7 (or below)? What version of IOS when you use the Techarmor matte screen protector?

Jerry

ensete Great! Just placed order for a pre-owned iphone 5s thru bestbuy and ordered the screen protector at ebay. Fingers crossed!

ensete

Kray I do not know, it is my son's iPad.

Jerry Got the iphone 5s and techarmor matte anti glare screen today.

Sorry to hear

KM

Kray The same happened to me back then with my iPad 4 when I tried the iOS 8 beta. Did you ever try iOS 9 on your iPad 2, and did it become usable again?

Gurm

I have recently spent some time with my girlfriend's iPhone 7+ (the big one) and found it quite nice. She keeps it too bright, but I turned it down a little and was able to use it without issue (this is huge!) so Apple has clearly done something.

I always found the iPhone 6+ to be better than the 6, as well.

So this could potentially be huge. I might, when my contract is up on the HTC m8, get an iPhone 7+ and put the techarmor matte on it...

Kray

Gurm

Nice. Just curious, how long did you use the iPhone? Just a few minutes or you managed to look at the screen for long period of time (i.e. more than 20 minutes) without eye strain?

ryans

Gurm Did you wind up keeping the iPhone 7+?

Gurm

I'm going to spend more time with it. I only used it for a few minutes. But in general I know right away if a phone will be usable.

KM

Because we discovered that AMOLED smartphones are potentially usable when PWM is turned off (and the OS is friendly), I looked up notebookcheck.com's AMOLED reviews that claim PWM is only used at low brightness levels. These are the results so far (I cut the list at 40%):

Acer-Liquid-Jade-Primo-Smartphone: 238.1 Hz up to 23% brightness
Google-Pixel-XL-Smartphone: 238.1 Hz up to 23% brightness
HP-Elite-x3-inkl-Lap-Dock-Phablet: 357.1 Hz up to 31% brightness
Lenovo-Moto-Z-Play-Smartphone: 243.9 Hz up to 20% brightness
Lenovo-P2-Smartphone: 240.4 Hz up to 20% brightness
OnePlus-3-Smartphone: 243.9 Hz up to 10% brightness
OnePlus-3T-Smartphone: 244 Hz up to 10% brightness
OnePlus-X-Smartphone: 237 Hz up to 25% brightness
Samsung-Galaxy-J1-2016-Smartphone: 238.1 Hz up to 30% brightness
Samsung-Galaxy-J3-2016-Duos-Smartphone: 238.1 Hz up to 38% brightness
Samsung-Galaxy-J7-2016-Smartphone: 238.1 Hz up to 40% brightness
ZTE-Axon-7-Mini-Smartphone: 238.1 Hz up to 20% brightness

If anyone wants to try AMOLED phones, those are probably our best bet at the moment. Please let me know if you know of other sites that test for AMOLED PWM.

JTL

KM I've been thinking of possibly working with someone with a Pixel XL on making a fully flicker free kernel and buying one for myself.

Jerry

@ensete Got the iphone 5s and techarmor matte anti glare screen today. Tried to watch a youtube video, it gave me heavy dizziness I have never had before from other devices. Some headaches, but not too bad. Not sure if it is due to PWM. I will tested it for a few more days with 100% brightness to see if I can keep it.

degen

I traded in my iPhone 6s for the iPhone 7 Plus. Very nice phone will have to wait before I know if it's better for the eyes or not but I've been looking at it outside for most of the day and my eyes arent too strained. I can't say better because my eyes were pretty bad after I left BestBuy. You can get more done with less eye time that's for sure due to the bigger screen, it's much easier to find what you're looking for.

The bar for better-for-the-eyes will be very low as the 6s is one of the worst devices I own.

degen

Devotee I agree that the reduce white point setting especially with the new slider on it they introduced in recent iOS is very beneficial. Much less harsh even with the backlights turned up an it like you said.

Jerry

ensete It is actually not that bad. The headaches are much less aggressive than what I get from other phones. And it kicks in much later. I usually get instant headaches from smart phones, but I can use this iphone 5s for about 10-20 mins before headaches. I consider it as a usable phone. I was also thinking about trying the iphone 7 plus since some folks in this forum had good experience with it. Went to a local bestbuy store, but they asked me for a $35 restocking fee for returning the iphone 5s to exchange for iphone 7 plus. So I gave up, I will keep the iphone 5s. Meanwhile, I will also try iPad 3 with the Techarmor matte anti glare screen. Thanks.

degen

I'm doing well with the iPhone 7 Plus. Much better than the iPhone 6s. I can dial, send and read text, check email, all the basic smartphone duties essentially, without any problem. I don't want to push it and start spending extended time on it when I'll just use my PC, as I suspect it would give me problems in that scenario, as the eyes are not entirely at ease when compared to my very best displays. For comparison on the iPhone 6s I couldn't do basic tasks without risking serious eyestrain, naseau, and headaches. From the very beginning I really wanted the iPhone 6s to work for me. I had heard a number of positive reports on it and tried to force it, adjusting many settings and ignoring the pain, hoping the problem would resolve itself. With the iPhone 7 Plus I decided I would be completely honest to myself about it and avoid another financial waste, but I was pleasantly surprised from the very beginning. I'll continue to report on it. (The 3.5mm thing is as stupid as it sounds and you've heard. The adapter is annoying and I hate both using it and the concept of needing an adapter to use heaphones i've had for years. Small price to pay for a fast phone that's easy on the eyes though.)

My history so far:

1) Galaxy S2 - fine
2) Sony Xperia ZL - worst phone I've ever used
3) HTC One M8 - great, although I traded the phone in before I got the new Android versions I see some complaints about
4) iPhone 6s - Pretty bad. Failed just like 2) in that it was a problem to get basic tasks done on the phone
5) iPhone 7 Plus

I haven't noticed a lot of noise in white areas of the phone like is usually very obvious in iOS menus. I'll continue to pay attention to that and compare to some other iOS devices I have access to.

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