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).
Usable Smartphones?
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.
- Edited
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:
(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?
- Edited
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?
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.
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?
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.
10 days later
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...
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.
- Edited
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.
@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.
- Edited
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.
- Edited
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.