Usable Smartphones?
jordan I actually have to view the meters screen through a phones camera because the lcd on it bugs my brain.
I have to do the same thing when I need to do something on my son's phone. It's a pretty useful trick.
GregAtkinson it sure is! thats how I have to look at my moms phone if she shows me something. lol (iphone se 2020)
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after years of trying devices without luck i got a honor 70 lite (as recommended by forum members) and it worked for me ,i recommend this phone for very sensitive people because it has no pwm and no dithering , the screen is a basic tft panel
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I just got the new Bigme Hibreak Pro and it's a major step forward for e-ink phones:
I mainly use mine as a pocket reader and web device, but it reduces my iPhone screen time to almost zero.
I reviewed it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ereader/comments/1j2tavy/bigme_hibreak_pro_pocket_reader_review/
No temporal dithering? All the mediatek devices I've used have all dithered.
I don't know, but when I've used devices with temporal dithering (e.g. macbooks) on e-ink screens the results have been very poor. Until it's switched off.
The optimisation on the Hibreak Pro is excellent, so I doubt this is an issue. They claim it is 'zero flicker'.
Clokwork Considering the device is Play Protect certified, what additional security concerns would there be if only using Play Store apps?
I’m not an expert on this, but I’ve seen comments suggesting that with Play certification, the CCP security risk is lower than that of the routers and networks the device connects through.
Security is good, but be realistic too.. The Chinese don't care about nobodies like us. Americans however, would add all of us to their databases.
But online comments warning of the security perils of fully Chinese devices are much more common, compared to all the other devices that are still assembled in China but fronted by Western companies. I also don't think CCP care about any of the data that would be on my device. But American companies want to mine that data much more. To be honest I don't really care about that much either outside of authentication and transactions.
Still on e-ink. Using a Hisense A9 these days. Faster than the older Hisense e-ink models and XDA got way more involved so it can run a range of systems rather than just root and add GApps.
Pity the next model with Kaleido 3 colour never came out.
I don't find using B/W that much of an issue, but would like a good small screen that doesn't trigger me too much to cast to for colour when I need it. Tried one that was meant to be flicker free, etc. and sent it back very quickly.
For anyone interested in the Realme 9 Pro 5g that lives in the US: I had previously been using the Realme 9 Pro 5g, but a couple months ago the cell service and mobile data started acting really funny. I called Mint Mobile and they said my phone is no longer compatible because my phone doesn't support one of the key bands (I don't remember which one). I tried a bunch of carriers (both AT&T and T-Mobile), but I could not find one that works. So, if you live in the U.S., you probably want to avoid this phone.
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I recently bought a Moto G Power 5g 2024 and I'm really happy with it. No headaches/nausea/tinnitus.
Here's the waveform using the Thorlabs PDA100A2. I went to a couple different stores (Best Buy and Microcenter) and tested about 50 phones and this was the best Android phone (i.e., lowest flickering) I could find.
No PWM at any brightness level.
There were a couple iPhones with a relatively smooth waveform (iPhone SE 3rd Gen and iPhone XR 4G), but I prefer an Android so I didn't look too closely at those.
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Recent devices I've tested:
TCL 50 pro Nxtpaper 5G - Strongly emits the toxic harsh backlight.
Found the display somewhat usable at higher brightness levels, but something about the color of the backlight and its harshness felt very uncomfortable. I Could not fully settle with the device, as I was not able to find a comfortably usable setting even after tweaking all the color temperature modes/levels, and using external filtering overlay apps.
Also experienced the sensation of not being able to fully focus on web text. Eyes would always feel like they were shifting.
6/10
HMD Fusion - Horrible display. It has a very strong blue tint that cannot be rectified via the ui's display color settings. The eye comfort mode is practically useless, and external blue light filtering apps did not help.
The phone caused eye strain and was difficult to read on and generally use. Not sure if pwm is being utilised, or whether it was something to do with the strong blue hue, but I did not like the display at all.
4/10
Moto G55 - First one I tested was in a store, and I immediately felt eye strain symptoms. The screen felt very sharp.
However, a few weeks later, i tested another one owned by someone I know. The display on their model felt very different to the one i used in store. I managed to use it for half an hour without any symptoms, which surprised me.
I eventually borrowed it to test for longer.
I was able to use it for up to an hour or so daily, but subtle eye strain symptoms would eventually creep up and appear. Eye's felt fatigued, tired and strained the more the phone was used.
All the refresh rate modes in this phone are not fixed. Specifically selecting the 60hz or 120hz modes, the display will immediately drop the refresh rate down to 30hz if idle (even for a split second), then it'll shoot back up to 60hz or 120hz (depending on what mode is selected) when the display is touched. And in auto mode, it alternatives between 120/90/60/30hz.
Overall, it was usable but only for shorter periods of time, as strain symptoms eventually materialize.
5/10
Moto G75 - Awful display. Felt strain symptoms within a few minutes. The symptoms are not as severe as using an am/oled, but still feel unsettling and uncomfortable.
The eye comfort mode (night mode) has absolutely no noticeable effect in helping shift the display's color temperature, neither does the color Temperature dial in the color settings.
The toxic backlight issue is noticeable.
The symptoms i experienced were a very strong pressure type sensation on the eyes after using the device for a few minutes. The eyes would then become tired and fatigued the more the device was used. Always felt like not wanting to look at the display because it always felt off and uncomfortable.
The refresh rates in the G75 are also not fixed. When using the G75 on 60 or 120hz mode, it immediately drops down to 45hz when idle, then shoots back up to 60/120hz whenever the display is touched.
Using it on auto refresh, the display constantly alternatives between 120hz, 90hz, 60hz and 45hz.
Such a pity as the performance of the phone was quite good.
4/10
Realme 12 5G - The display felt uncomfortable due to the backlighting. It evidently has the "toxic" backlight, so it never felt comfortable regardless of the brightness setting. The performance also felt sluggish.
The display felt hollow, like there was a gap of air or something between the actual lcd display and the protective glass applied over it, creating a strange hollow type effect. Did not like it at all and could not fully focus on web text so the reading experience was not good. Hugely disappointing.
5/10
Redmi 14c - I've managed to use this phone symptom free for over 3 months.
Xiaomi are advertising this display as having "constant dc dimming" across all brightness levels.
The display isn't usable directly out of the box. I had to set the eye comfort mode to the max setting, and remove the pre applied screen protector (which was very reflective). Apart from that, the display is completely eye strain symptom free for me, although not perfect.
My eyes still seem to find it difficult to fully focus and read web text comfortably, but I have absolutely NO eye strain symptoms.
The main and major negative aspect of the phone is the performance. I initially had the 4GB ram model, but because of the atrocious performance, i sourced out and exchanged it for an 8GB ram model, which helped slightly in the performance department.
Either way, the performance is extremely poor (Helio G81 Ultra/eMMC storage), and the phone Struggles with everyday basic tasks and apps, as slowdown often occurs, including stutters and lag, even when just typing using the on screen keyboard etc.
Overall though, the display is usable and symptom free for me, but the performance is a major letdown.
8/10 (Display only)
Oppo A80 5G - Initial thoughts were positive, but after a few days, the display started to feel uncomfortable.
The toxic backlight issue is present, and the display always felt extremely bright, and the eye comfort mode has practically no effect in adjusting the color temperature.
Using external blue light filtering apps helped somewhat, but i found the display and its calibration quite unsettling.
Also experienced the issue of not being able to fully read web text. Eyes always felt like they were scattering and darting across web/app/ebook text.
5/10
Redmi 14x 5G (EU model) - I've been using this for a few days, and so far, the experience has mostly been positive.
Realme are advertising this display as having "full brightness dc dimming".
I reached out to realme customer support (awful slow confusing experience), and they eventually confirmed (after 13+ email exchanges) that "full" basically means constant dc dimming across all brightness levels (0 to 100%).
Can confirm that the display is usable with the eye comfort mode fully active, and realme have also introduced a "paper mode", similar to the one xiaomi uses in HyperOS, although Realme's version is less customisable (no option to reduce contrast etc).
I've peeled off the very reflective plastic screen protector, and it's helped even further in terms of comfort. No eye strain symptoms noticed at all, however...
It still has hints of the toxic backlight when the eye comfort mode is NOT activated, and reading web text still isn't 100% comfortable as my eyes felt the strange scattering unable to fully focus type of sensation when reading web/ebook/app text. It isn't as severe like it is on some of the other phones, but it is still present.
Nevertheless, I've not experienced any eye strain symptoms, and the performance is a lot more refined compared to the other dimensity 6300 phones I've tested.
7/10
Vivo Y28s 5G - Surprisingly I've also been able to use this phone completely symptom free for a few months.
Vivo advertise this phone as having "global dc dimming" which means dc dimming is constantly active.
The display feels somewhat softer compared to all the other phones I've recently tried, and although the same toxic backlight is present, it can be adjusted using the eye comfort mode, and this then makes the display a lot more usable.
I've found this display the least offensive to look at out of them all, and the colors and backlighting feel more subtle and less harsh when using the phone at the appropriate brightness level.
The performance is very average (dimensity 6300/6GB ram/eMMC storage), but a major negative is that the phone comes LOADED with bloatware that the cannot be uninstalled.
This system bloatware is always accessing background data and sending data packets to india/china. These app data packets can be blocked by using a firewall, but attempting to disable or uninstall them via adb is completely prohibited.
A major positive is - I am able to read web text clearly, without the eyes skimming/darting sensation.
Possibly the most usable display out of all these recent devices I've tried.
8/10
It seems like all those phones that are being advertised as having constant/full/global dc dimming are proving to be quite usable.
More of these "constant" dc dimming phones have been released internationally (especially in Asian markets) Like the Honor X9C Smart, Realme P3X, Vivo Y58 5G, Redmi 14C 5G, Poco C75 5G, Poco M7 5G etc). I hope that these also receive a European/UK release.
But please keep in mind, none of these phones were tested for dithering. I'm not certain that I have the same sensitivity level to dithering as I do to PWM/Flickering.
And also, none of these phones can compete in terms of eye comfort if compared to the older generation of LCD's that were used back in 2019 - 2022 (Realme 7 5g /8 5g /9 pro, P40 Lite 5G, Poco m3/m4/m5 pro, Moto G100 etc etc).
The backlight method in LCD's has evidently changed since 2022/2023, so a lot of the backlighting in newer LCD phones will feel harsh and piercing.
Also the way some UI's (such as moto) use variable refresh rates will pose a problem for people with motion sensitivity. These constant variations could likely cause symptoms in sensitive people.
I've tested the refresh rates in the Realme/Vivo and Redmi handsets, and can confirm that selecting the 60hz refresh mode keeps the refresh rate fixed at 60hz. Selecting higher refresh rates or the auto option will introduce variability. However in the both the moto's, none of the modes are fixed. Even selecting 60hz will cause a shift of the refresh rate to drop down to either 30 or 45hz, then shifting up to 60hz, then back down to 30 or 45hz etc. This could be very problematic for certain people.
Hope this information helps 
Superb post, thank you. I 100% echo your views of the Motorola G75 and of the newer generation of LCD phones being harsh and have been thinking the same thing only this past week or so.
I recently sold all of my Apple gear (apart from my Mac Mini which is absolutely fine with fixed 8bit output and GPU dithering disabled via BetterDisplay) and have been struggling to find a usable phone and also missed not having a laptop or tablet.
So I have had the G75 for just over a week and the screen is so harsh on the eyes, even at low brightness. White text somehow looks really high contrast, like it would on an OLED. My eyes also struggle to focus on it/slide around on it, much like they do on an OLED (which is understandable when the whole screen is constantly moving even on a 'static' frame!). Something just seems really off with it and I have come to absolutely loathe it. The same goes for my newly purchased Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro with a supposed PWM-free IPS panel. I even got the one with the matte coating thinking that it would be an ideal substitute for an iPad but the screen is horrible, with piercing harshness at all brightness levels and somehow noisy/shifting, sliding output. So where next? I have absolutely no idea, but I do know that these modern LCD's are awful, despite being supposedly PWM-free and often labelled as 'eye safe' (seems insulting, doesn't it?)
I'm genuinely tempted to just go back to an iPhone as at least I know what I'm getting and can actually use them sparingly. I actually regret selling my iPhone 15 last year as I was just about ok with that. Much better than with the iPhone 16 I tried recently anyway , and definitely much better than with this G75.
It has been said a lot by people other than me, but there is so, so much more to this issue than mere PWM given the amount of other stuff going on.