Usable Smartphones?

Peter

I also tried P10 and P9 a day with each with no success.

The latest news from me is that I tried for a day as my main phone Samsung J3 (2017) and it is not usable for me.

I have been "tricked" many times with phones that seem usable when I play for an hour or two but when I use for a longer time they cause me eye strain and headaches. For me the benchmark is to try for at least 24 hours.

KM

I just stumbled upon this upcoming E-Ink device, "Light Phone 2":

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/light-phone-2-design#/

It is going to have a black/white E-Ink screen, custom OS with reduced features and no camera.

michiel

Great ! Earlier I wrote about the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) which didn't heart my eyes. After the Android April security patch the eye strain returned. How is this even possible ? Hopefully i can find a way to downgrade.

Phone software details (without eye strain)

phone software details (with eye strain, after update)

Gurm

I guarantee you that as part of the "security update" (which is really just an important-sounding name for a x.x.# revision) they screwed with the color profiles. Seems that this was introduced in Android 6 and REALLY screws with people. Versions of ROMs that don't contain color profile setting seem to be much easier on people's eyes. For HTC, this means staying with Android 5. For other phones it was 6 or even 7, clearly with the J3 it's ... the March revision of 7.1

ryans

Gurm This can probably be resolved by flashing the device with ROM like Lineage OS?

Gurm

Probably. Or just unlocking it and flashing back to the older official Samsung ROM. XDA Developers forum is a great place to start, but lots of reading to get up to speed.

ryans

Gurm It could also be dithering or some other unknown flicker or cause of eye strain. It's obviously the software. What makes you suspect the color profiles? Are iOS devices usable for you?

Gurm

ryans I suspect color profiles because one user higher up in this thread reported that he could flash Paranoid Android onto his phone and it was fine... and the only difference in display drivers between Lineage and Paranoid Android (they had the same kernel and codebase) on his device was that PA didn't have color profiles. This jives with HTC, in Marshmallow they introduced color profiles to compensate for different screen resolutions. And other users have seen color profiles be a problem for Windows monitor drivers as well!

ryans

I tried searching the forums, but it looks like no one has tried Lineage OS for eye strain?

KM

ryans It's always worth a try and may work for some devices. Unless they copy the same stuff that made the manufacturer's stock ROM unusable. Try all ROMs you can find.

ryans

KM Maybe with Android 9 it will be better.

ryans

Gurm I just found that post. That's very interesting. Have you tried Paranoid yourself? Last I saw you might try iPhone Plus models. I prefer Android because I don't like how locked down iOS is, but frankly I'd take any modern smartphone that was usable for me.

We need a wiki (wikimedia or something) that has a list of things like this to try. The 520 posts just has too much info to absorb.

Thanks for the help as usual Gurm!

ryans

KM Hi KM, is Paranoid Android still working for you? What are you using now?

KM

ryans I'm still using Paranoid Android on the OnePlus 3. Still works well and is my daily driver.

ryans

KM What's the version/build number if you don't mind me asking?

KM

ryans It's the latest version, 7.3.1-RELEASE (Android 7.1.2).

Seefree

Has anyone tried/ tested an iphone se or iphone 7 plus/8 plus?

Gurm

Seefree iPhone SE is literally the same screen that was on an iPhone 5S. If you can use an iPhone 5S, you can use an iPhone SE.

The 7+ and 8+ are pretty similar. I think some people like the 6+/6S+ better than the later models. I find the 7+ tolerable for short periods, better with a matte film, and generally "ok" for light use but can't read on it for extended periods (in excess of as long as it takes to look up directions somewhere or text someone).

Peter

Seefree

I have tried all these iphones for at least one day and they were all unusable for me (severe migraines).

michiel

Hi guys, I recently wrote about a system update on my Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) which caused me eye strain. I was able to downgrade back to the firmware with exact the same kernel from when it didn't cause eye strain. For some reason I still get eye strain now ??
I think I changed some settings the first time but dont remember what. I tried different color schemes, brightness, color correction mode. Anyone who has another suggestion I can try ? Any help is appreciated !

KM

michiel Maybe it's your favorite app that causes eye strain? Like the browser. Your best bet is to change any display-related settings to default or what looks like default. And don't use third-party apps that control brightness unless you know they're safe to use. A system reset might help, if that didn't happen during the downgrade.

ryans

michiel It's possible it might take your eyes a few days to recover.

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