Usable Smartphones?
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Gurm Well I kinda feel "sick" of my 27" 1080p monitor and I'm strongly considering getting an NEC 30" 1600p monitor (one of the elusive 10-bit and non W-LED models) after I sort out my "secret sauce" for Macbook 
I guess it comes down to personal preference and what "works" for you. I also like to do photo/video editing from time to time so I like having accurate colors.
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martin Not yet. I will check it out.
Have you tried the XS? As said above, I did not feel any strain over 20 min, surprisingly. It has an OLED screen, so I expect it to burn my eyes within seconds like the Iphone X or the last Samsung phones.
Also, what is the status of the Face ID thing? Months ago I read various forums in which they identified that app as the reason for eyestrain in people who could use any previous model, including the Iphone 8, without any issue.
Gurm Yeah, for a few seconds I thought I could buy it despite the price, but then I was immediately like: wait a sec, what if 20 min are not enough and then it is the usual crap? And, even more dreadful, what if I buy it and then they make an update and I cannot use it anymore? I would not be happy to invest so much money for something which could work a month...
Gurm Notebookcheck says no PWM on the device. Pixels are chevrons. Saw a forum post that said this thing has 2.5x more LEDs than other screens so for sure this means a new backlight controller too. Could be a good thing. People online say good things about the screen.
FaceID, there's a software switch that will let you turn it off. You don't have to use FaceID if you don't want to.
I'll go to the shop to take a look at the XR. Though it's certainly not a cheap device, so there's a part of me that hopes I won't like it.
JTL Also I think I read somewhere that the infrared LED's were still "firing" despite Face ID being disabled (at least on the X)
I do recall someone suspecting the infrared LEDs were still on with Face ID disabled. I can't imagine adding another variable to the puzzle, and for what? I just want a phone, damn it. I cannot believe I bought three phones in 2018 which I can't use, and I have been paying internet data for 9 months but the SIM card sits in a drawer cause it does not work in my old phone. This really sounds like a joke. I am living off Wi-Fi and I am often in the ridiculous situation of faking that my connectivity is low when the truth is there is no SIM card in the phone...Oh boy
I have now XR and it's more worse than XS which I've sent back to Apple last week. Using XR for 10-20 minutes give dizziness and eye pain. It was surprise that even with visual PWM XS was not bad and it gave me just middle eye strain. It's not perfect as old LG G2 but usable more than XR. Face ID is not cause for me and I see that it is used only when unlocking phone, and when Face ID attention is turned off it is used less.
I will buy XS due my old iP 6 have to be replaced and we will see in long time.
I can't recommend the iPhone 7 Plus or 8 Plus anymore. Even with the screen protector on there is a tightening of the muscles on the eyes that creeps up on you. I actually got a false sense of security with it and overused and now I'm just waiting for my eyes to relax again. Did well for a couple of weeks but, now I think it's no better than any of the other send an email make a note quickly tier smartphones.
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degen I remember us having similiar issues, brightness related and cramping eye muscles. Maybe you want to give the OnePlus 3 a try, with Paranoid Android 7.3.1 ROM. I use the phone for two years now every day, multiple hours. It's much better for me than the BenQ EW monitors. No such thing as writing emails in a hurry. I have to use it at ~25% brightness to avoid PWM, but surprisingly with this screen the brightness although high is not much of an issue. The screen gets darker and more yellow over time due to the AMOLED burn-out effect. Maybe the typical used device by now is in such a yellow state, too -> less blue light.
Must-do for me:
- Paranoid Android 7.3.1
- Chrome as browser
- Brightness out of PWM range (65/255)
- no brightness and color-changing f.lux-like overlay apps, they make the screen unbearable
degen I suspect a software update has caused this as I was using a 6S for over a year for several hours a day with minimal discomfort (iOS 10.3.2) and since accidentally upgrading to iOS 11 and above it now causes discomfort in about 20mins. I suspect some sort of dithering is being employed now or some update to the display settings. No way to downgrade either so definitely on the lookout for pwm free android phone with a decent ROM to use. May try the one plus as suggested above.
Slightly OT... I use Google Voice and get all my texts forwarded to my computer. you can do the same for voice as well..
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Does anyone know if the Honor 8x utilizes temporal dithering? It supposedly is pwm free.
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Is Paranoid Android a want becaue you prefer the ROM, or a need because it reduces eyestrain somehow? If its the latter do you know what/why its better? About color temp stuff can you use the built in Android one? I have Lineage 14.1 on a Moto G4 Play but I don't use it regularly...when testing with it I don't get immediate strain with or without the color temp setting on.