Since the OnePlus3 has been reported to be friendly to some users' eyes when running the alternative Paranoid Android OS (which apparently uses different display drivers/mechanism/mode/color profile/something), I decided to bit the bullet and take a gamble. Unlike the last user to try this who got a defective phone and had limited experience with Android modding (no offense intended!) I have changed my service provider to AT&T and committed to acquiring two separate OnePlus3 devices. I'll chart my progress in this thread.

The devices:

  1. A pre-owned mint condition OnePlus 3T. The 3T has a bigger battery, more storage, but identical hardware with a single exception - it uses Snapdragon 821 instead of 820. This means a slightly higher clocked core, but shouldn't impact display in any way. However, if it does...
  2. A brand new, sealed-in-box OnePlus3 delivered to me from China. I'm still waiting for this as of 8/30/2019, it will likely arrive next week sometime.

My intention is to first do an initial evaluation with the current OS - in the case of the pre-owned 3T this is likely OnePlus's version of Android 9.0 "Pie", in the case of the new 3 this is likely to be Android 6 "Marshmallow" which is what the unit was preloaded with at the factory, although it's possible I'll end up getting Nougat or even Oreo depending on manufacture date.

I don't expect the stock OS (which they call Oxygen) to be much more usable than anyone else's stock OS. Android has, since Marshmallow (and even on some devices running Lollipop), done something with their rendering layer that makes the phone induce strain. But I can compare it subjectively to my experiences using many other Android phones in the course of my work, and to the phones used by my kids and wife and friends.

After that, I plan to in very short order mod the phone and install Paranoid Android's latest release, which is a version of Android 7 "Nougat". I will evaluate it on both phones.

In the even that this is sufficiently comfortable, my experiment will stop and I'll simply have a usable phone (6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, USB-C) and a reasonable backup device (64GB but otherwise similar). If it isn't comfortable enough, I will downgrade each device to PA6, and even to PA5 if necessary.

It's worth noting that to run most modern software, Android 5.11 is the minimum acceptable level. On my current device (HTC One M8) I've experienced several streaming services or game servers that won't run on 5.0.2 any more. I expect that by 2020 Android 6 will be the minimum compatible configuration. So it's my hope that PA6 or PA7 will be comfortable enough for daily use.

Stay tuned, and I'll update this as verbosely as I can.

    Gurm Thank you for doing this project! Have you tried the oneplus 6, 6t or 7 with the new dc dimming option turned on?

    • Gurm replied to this.

      eyestrainsolutions not yet. This is my first foray into OnePlus. For me, dimming is not a problem - and while I am sympathetic with those for whom it is, my focus is on solving my particular issue which is rendering problems. I have a phone that is 100% usable for long periods under Android 5.0.2, but the next official release is Android 6.0 and it becomes 100% unusable with that update due to changes in the way the system renders. I'm focusing first on hardware that supports a theretically-good OS version (Paranoid Android).

        Gurm I suggest you to try the dc dimming option, i believe it doesn't only change dimminng, for example the colors also change and are less accurate. I also haven't tried it yet, but hope to do it soon.

        Gurm If it isn't comfortable enough, I will downgrade each device to PA6, and even to PA5 if necessary.

        Where do you find PA6 and PA5?

        My mistake, PA5 was not available for the OnePlus3. PA6 was, though. Looking for the link now.

        • AGI likes this.

        My brand-new-in-box OnePlus3 has arrived today. The project begins tonight!

        • AGI likes this.
        7 days later

        So, bad news. I started with the OnePlus3T. The display was... moderately unusable out of box with OxygenOS.

        After a couple hours of flashing, I got Paranoid Android onto it - and immediately noticed a couple things.

        First - and most importantly - the display was better but not great. I will play with it a little, but I'm not hopeful here. Whatever made it usable for the other folks on here who found it to be ok... clearly doesn't do it for me.

        Secondly, I had a similar problem to AGI, where the WiFi didn't work and some other ancillary things (screen unlock, etc.) were a little goofy. I'm confident I can overcome these issues, but only if the display is worthwhile.

        I'm going to restore to the latest OxygenOS, and take it from here.

        • KM replied to this.
        • AGI likes this.

          Gurm Whenever I use apps that change the display's color (f.lux-like) or when I use night mode or other color profiles than default, the eye strain is back immediately. It seems those functions activate something. I didn't realize this at first and almost returned the device back then. I also must stay away from the PWM brightness levels, buy I think I remember you said PWM doesn't affect you.

          • AGI replied to this.
          • AGI likes this.

            Did you try different color profiles? As far as I remember somebody here stated that only one color profile on PA worked well. And I am not sure in which firmware release (maybe try older Android version).

            Yeah I am going to try downgrading to PA6, and see if that helps any.

            13 days later

            KM As interesting as puzzling. I too find those software do not improve my condition. I stopped using Iris although I paid for a life membership. I am now back on f.lux but only because it is said blue is bad. When I reboot and the screen is non-filtered it does not feel worse, it is probably even less harsh.

            • KM replied to this.

              AGI You are on Paranoid Android now? I was referring to PA. If I used a later Oxygen version, I'd get that eye strain no matter what.

              • AGI replied to this.

                KM Ah, okay, sorry, I had misunderstood. I was talking in general about blue light-filtering software. I am now on Pie.

                It would be nice if we could figure out the link between color profile and eyestrain, it could help with all the rest, but it is a separate topic!

                a year later

                Still good on PA. It seems it's 3 of us now that can use the OnePlus 3. Not sure about current OS versions.

                dev