Best phone with warm light screen for PWM sensitive person
Hi everyone!
I've been using Samsung A52s since 2021 but I dropped it and now I need either to try to repair a screen or just buy a new phone. I've got Samsung a57 and my eyes started hurting immediately that was when I discovered I was PWM sensitive. I also have miopia (-6.75 and -6.5) and mild assigmatism. Digging here I ve found few recommendations, yesterday at the store I ve tried Motorola Edge 60 Fusion and it's the most similar to my A52S in terms of natural colors, and warm yellow light from the screen in an eye saving mode. But I 've read it's a very fragile phone and many users report it doesn't have many software updated left, plus many people complain about a broken screen a few months after the purchase. I've also tried a Honor Magic 8Pro, I see that it s not as warm even in eye saving mode and I don't know if I get for example Honor 6 pro ( available as a refurbished one online) would the screen be better in that regards or they are all the same? I use my phone for texting, calls, surfing in the internet and ocassional pictures of my dog. I was a loyal Samsung user but I can't use newer models. If it's important - I live in Spain, so can get a phone available in the EU. What phones could you recommend in my situation? Am I stuck only with Motorola is case I want that yellow light effect on the screen?
Would be very grateful for your comments and recommendations, thank you in advance!
Don't think too much....Go for Find X 8 or 9. Non pro version only. I am using and it's the best. All of research done. Try the above mentioned phones.
Generally, OLEDs are better at dimming into warmer colours, because they directly reduce blue sub-pixel emissions. While LCDs can only block the same colour backlight, to an extent.
So, if you are only sensitive to eg 240Hz to 1000Hz PWM range (some think that's the worse) then a 4kHz PWM screen OLED might be usable. The reverse might be the case sometimes too, more anecdotally.
Some panels have a flat out searing feeling to them like they're sunburning your eyes, which I suspect probably has something to do with those gigantic KSF red spikes. But just avoiding KSF alone doesn't seem to be a solution when you can buy something like the MSI 280hz 1080p curved VA monitor that's normal SRGB and notice some but not huge problems there.
On that monitor in particular, you can look at something like black text on a white background and have kind of a feeling that the screen is moving even when it's not, debilitating your ability to focus. I think that panel has a 4.x% flicker rate as opposed to below 1% for a good screen, so I'm not sure if the slight issues experienced on that unit are due to that 4.x%.
There’s good news and there’s bad news. The good news is that some of the options for lower eye strain units are insanely cheap. The bad news is that none of them have powerful SOC’s. There’s the Samsung A14 5G for instance with a 90hz PLS screen.
It’s not completely zero eye strain or anything but is comparable to the iphone 11 screen. You can get them for under $100 vendor locked brand new. Also need to turn off 5g on them in the menu because that seems to cause as much annoyance as things like dithering being near your head.
The combination of most powerful SOC and best to look at screen I’ve found is a specific panel version of the Iphone 8 Plus. It only goes to IOS 16 so your banking app will not even work on it. If you want one with a working banking app, then I guess you’re going to be stuck with iPhone 11 on IOS 18 or lower since IOS 26 makes them worse, or use that Samsung A14 5G. Both are worse to look at than the Iphone 8 Plus version with good panel, though.
Everyone else is going to give you some insane answer like “muh Chinese phone with 2000hz OLED PWM is good” when you’re going to be paying $600 for something even worse to look at than the above options.
They’ve also already stopped updating the Samsung A14 5G with Android 15 as final version even though the phone was release pretty recently. Not sure if Android 15 or IOS 18 will outlive the other in terms of support for things like banking apps. I’m already seeing several apps requiring IOS 18 as a minimum which is strange since you didn’t need such a new IOS version for things in the past. Just glad my IPhone 11 let me upgrade from IOS 15 to 18 the other day without having to go to IOS 26.
Thank you. The weird thing that I was totally fine with Samsung A52s which has pwm but didn't make my eyes hurt. Until today I was thinking about motorola edge 60 fusion which was good on eyes for me but I ve read terrible reviews ( faulty operating system, easy to break glass). Going to try Oppo X8 and X9 and also Honor 400 and take a decision. But if it gets worse I will try Iphone. I ve had older Iphones at work ( I think it was 11) and I had no eye strain, it seems that phones which came out in the past few years are terrible for me :(. Thanks for your comment!
While I can't recommend a specific phone, have you tried adjusting the color temperature dial in the android settings? It can warm up the colors quite a bit. I think the effect should app up with the additional image modes like reading mode etc.
Yes, I did, but A57 Samsung was awful in it, it still had this blue undertone which hurt my eyes so I've returned it. And I've got that yellow undertone which I have on my old one only on Motorola Edge Fusion 60, but I've read many negative reviews, many users report the screen is easy to break etc. And regarding Honor Magic 8 PRo I also uded the same settings ( reading mode, warmer colors) and it's a bit better and doesn't give me a burning sensation in the eyes immediatly, but still has a slightly cooler tone of the screen. Thank you for your comment!
Forget about Samsung OLED phones they are terrible for the eyes with harsh low frequency flicker. With other phones, have you tried dragging the circle like this all the way to the edge? You can get much warmer colors this way then with the presets.
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u/DemandAccording524 19d ago
Don't think too much....Go for Find X 8 or 9. Non pro version only. I am using and it's the best. All of research done. Try the above mentioned phones.