Usable Smartphones?

Gurm Has any particular iOS device worked well for you?

Gurm Did you wind up keeping the iPhone 7+?

I ended up getting a newer HTC One M8. It's only a stopgap measure, and I have to reinstall it on the regular as just the weight of my normal daily driver software kills it slowly.

ryans

As I am in urgent need for a new phone (my old lumia 930 barelly last 2-3 hours) I have been testing loads of phones during the last month. So far I can tell that I am affected by both screen and software. LTPS IPS screens are the best for me and if I use it with Android 5 - no eye strain. Android 6, 7 makes my eye strain but on LTPS IPS screens gives less strain and my eyes heals very fast 1-2 days afterwards. In comparison other non-LPS screens makes my eyes strain a lot and the healing period is 3-4 days. So I assume I have eliminated "bad screen" factor with LTPS IPS screens, thus leaving the only factor - Android. Though if the Android 5 is used, I can look at any screen.

My last test was with BQ AQUARIS X5 PLUS as suggested by one of the forum users. It came used and with Android 7 preinstalled. I unlocked and rooted the phone, installed Android 6.0.1 and installed cf.lumen. Even though the app makes difference, my eyes are still strained.

This is the list of the phone which I tested:
- LUMIA 930 (Windows phone 8 and 10) - My current phone for ~4 years. Absoluitely no eye strain, very good screen. Unfortunately the battery is almost dead, the screen is shattered and it started to feel very sdlow, thus I need to change;
- MEIZU M1 METAL - (Android 5) My ex-work phone with LTPS IPS screen. Gives no eye strain, but unfortunately the micrphone stopped working and I had
- iPhone 8 (iOs 10 and 11) - absolutely worst phone ever for my eyes. I healed for 1-2 weeks, it gives me headaches, eye strain, blurry eyes, nausea, dizzynes, I could not work for a couple of days.
- Oneplus 3t (Android 6) - Better than iPhone, but still bad for the eyes. Eye strain, irritation, headaches;
- XPERIA XZ (Android 6) - Better than the first ones, but still gives eye strain after 10-20 minutes, which get worse if the phone is used for longer periods;
- HUAWEI MATE 10 LITE (Android 7) - Comparable to XPERIA XZ, i tested for the whole day;
- SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 (not sure which android, I think 5) - I had this phone for 2 weeks and it gave no eye strain. It was my work phone. The screen was shattered and the phone lagged a lot, so they changed to Meizu.
- BQ AQUARIS X5 PLUS - (Android 6.0.1 and 7) the screen is so much better than any other phones which I tested, but it still gives eye strain after using it for 20-30 minutes. The phone was rooted and I tried cf.lumen.
- HUAWEI P10 LITE (Android 7) - It has LTPS IPS screen. I had a chance to test it for 40 minutes and I can say it gives similar eye strain to BQ AQUARIS, better than any other phone, but still considerable strain;
- Samsung galaxy note 8 - (not sure if android 7 or 8) the phopne gives me eye strain but I could compare the strain with LTPS IPS screens. They also have a very good return policy - you can buy galaxy note, even remove the covers, use it for 2 weeks and return if you didn't like it.

As I am desperate I think I will settle down with some 2015's flagman with Android 5 (maybe will buy 2 of the phones) and will continue search for a modern phone. What I am going to try next is LG G4 (unfortunately has no fingerprint scanner) and if that does not work Huawei Honor 7 is the next one. As for the Samsung Galaxy s9 - I'm not sure if going to test it. Maybe I will wait for galaxy note 9...

Even though this "fight" takes a lot of time, I remain positive and look at the birght side. I found out a lot of good dealers in my country who allows returning phones during 14 days period. I also shipped phones from UK and Germany with 30 days "no questions asked" return policies. So at least I can test numerous devices without paying anything or just few Euros for the shipping. Also as I am so close to choosing the right phone I started looking at older laptops.

Back to late 2014 and early 2015 I worked at the bank and they gave me Lenovo T440s laptop with TN screen. Even though everyone says the screen is bad, it was very very good for my eyes. Back then I did not know I have the problem, but if the screen was bad it would have caused me the eye. So I found a barelly used X1 carbon gen 3 from year 2015 with TN screen. It comes with Windows 10. Also Lenovo laptops tend to be very long lasting so a 3 year old laptop should not be a problem. I think Windows 10 does not cause me eye strain as I had three older laptops (Acer 5650g, Samsung ativ book 9) with windows 10 anniversary edition and "good screens" and I had absolutely no eye strain. I checked the intel driver on one of them - it was from year 2016. I will let you know my findings about this phone in other post.

Sorry to hear you guys aren't tolerating the iPhone 7+. Maybe I lucked out with a really good panel or something, as I usually match Gurm and KM in response to devices.

I never really gave it a long try because it was far easier for me to port my image to a newer HTC. But when this one dies I'm still hunting. And the iPhone 7+ is up there.

@degen @Gurm @KM @Kray @ryans @shimmyzv @Wrightpt1 @JTL @PuffyCloud @Harrison (sorry if I forgot to include someone) Guys, earlier today I have searched for other types of alternatives not discussed in this topic e.g. alterative OS'es to iOS/Android, builds, phones etc. and found something interesting, which be a cure for all of us if we participate enough in the development process.

1. Librem 5 – A Security and Privacy Focused Phone running PureOS (will support Android apps sometime after release). More info: https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/;
2. EELO OS - Security focused OS for phones forked from LineageOS. The eelo project will provide an alternative mobile operating system and associated web-services, including email, cloud storage, and online office tools. eelo is an open source, non-profit project, in the public interest.

1 - The ideas is simple - privacy oriented Debian based OS for phones which has all the important phone functionalities. Excerpt: "Librem 5, the phone that focuses on security by design and privacy protection by default. Running Free/Libre and Open Source software and a GNU+Linux Operating System designed to create an open development utopia, rather than the walled gardens from all other phone providers." . There have been many trials to create other OS than Android and iOS and all of them failed due to lack of apps and popularity. This one is interesting as the team behind Libre are creating both phone hardware and software and they understand that Android apps are a must for their OS, otherwise it will not be popular and die. As the development of the phone is in early stages I was thinking that we might impact the development of hardware software on this phone if "our voice is loud enough". I think that such small team might be easier to reach in comparison to Android devs (which is impossible to reach and have an impact to).

So far they have raised $2,328,946 for phone development so the phones will definitely ship. But I am not sure if they are going to be good for our eyes. Maybe if many of us participated in the development process we could guide the developers to find the cure for all of us?

2 - EELO - is more straight-forward - it is a fork of LineageOS (which many of you Guys tried), but mostly privacy oriented. It will lack Google apps and instead will use open-source app stores, apps, etc. I like the idea behind the OS, but not sure about the eye strain as many of you guys reported that LineageOS still causes strain for you. But the development is in very early stages, we might participate as "trivial trials" and report to the dev team if the OS causes strain or not. Then they might be interested in changing the OS Of course with the devices, which screen's does not give any eye strain. Also I would suggest to make the developers aware of our problems by writing a letter with explanations of our problems and "our informal organization".

Guys, what do you think about these options? I think for now we all have some temporary solutions by using android 5, screen protectors, etc. etc. But after 2-3 yars the android 5 will be obsolete and we will be left without any solution. Yes, there are new screen technologies comming, but we are not 100% sure if they will help us.

randomboolean I like the Librem project. Shame of Google close sourcing many of the Android OS components.

Has anyone had a chance to try RAZER PHONE (https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/22/16810080/razer-phone-high-refresh-screen-review)? The panel is IGZO IPS LCD (IGZO is type of TFT) and it's refesh rate is different and can reach up to 120Hz. Though not sure if Android and apps will still be rendered in standard 60 HZ or they changed them to be rendered in bigger refresh rate. This phone might be an eye strain solution for some...

More on IGZO technology: http://www.versiondaily.com/advantages-disadvantages-igzo-display/

Hi everyone, I'm having a hard time finding a usable phon here. I recently tested 4 phones without any luck. Any help is highly appreciated !

Phones I tested and which cause eye strain
- Nokia 3 Android 7.1.1
- Nokia 5 Android 7.1.1
- Motorola Moto G5 Android 7.1.1
- Motorola E4 Android 7.1.1 This phone is giving less strain compared to the others

Phones I've used without any eye strain:
- HTC Desire 625 Android 5.1
- Moto E2 (XT1511) Android 5.1
- Alcatel OneTouch Pop S3 Android 4

So unfortunately, after buying the LG G4 and downgrading it to Android 5, it gives me eye strain.... I checked the stats and it uses newer graphics card than my lumia Adreno 418. So I think I am sensitive to something what comes from this graphic card. Will have to sell it because the phone comes sealed and once the seal removed it is impossible to return (the seller told me I will be able to return...).

So next step for me is Oneplus X. I checked the stats - they are the same as my beloved lumia (Adreno 330, amoled screen, Qualcomm Snapdragon processor) and it comes with Android 5. It is also easy to flash this phone so if it turns out to be good for my eyes I will try android 6/7 and even 8.

During the last days I also checked couple of Samsung phones - A8 (2018), S6 EDGE PLUS, S7 (all Android 7 or 7.1). All give eye strain, blurry vision and some dizziness.

randomboolean I've got the same symptoms, mostly eye strain and dizziness and some anxiety, lmk if something works out for you. I'm going to try Galaxy S9 when it's released but I'm not hopeful.

ryans Allright, just bought 2 Oneplus X bargains on Ebay, but will only reveive them after 1,5 weeks.. Might also buy another one tomorrow. I am very hopeful this will finally work for my eyes. And if it does I will not stop here, because Android 5 will soon be outdated.

randomboolean Thank you for your response, I don't think I'm sensitive to PWM. I tested the Nokia 3 ,5 and Moto E4 and according to notebookcheck they don't use PWM. But still they cause me eye strain. What I do know is that I only see with one eye, so I can't see depth. I appreciate your HTC suggestions however I need a dual sim phone because I travel a lot. Right now I I'm thinking of trying the Samsung J3 Duos (2017) which has a AMOLED screen.

It seems like many of us can't use past Android 5 or 6.... >= 7 is unusable. It's hard to rule out of it's because of the OS or because it's more modern hardware.

ryans Am I the only person in the world who uses Android 7.0 just fine? (LG V20). Will pull exact build number in a bit.

I've had the phone for over a year.

JTL Do you know what your issues are (PWM, dithering, colors, blue light, or something else)? I'm still unsure of mine. I'll checkout LG v20, am worried Amazon might start rejecting my returns for trying out all these phones.

I have noticed that 2 lenovo phones k8note and k8plus cause less eye strain, though I have to tint the screen yellowish using a blue light reducing app. Both these phones use Mali gpu and Mediatek cpu. Also the LCDs seem to be slightly older tech without eye-popping colour.