Other Eye-strain while using iPhone X and up

[Abiyork]

Day 5 with the TCL NXTPAPER 60 Ultra and the conclusion..... LOVE IT!!!

For those who dont know my story I am mega sensitive.

It all started with the 12pro (after 2 succesful years with an X, work that out)

Nothing after that was nothing but immediate pain. It triggered a neurological condition called NDPH and I am on tablets for life.

My 11 was stopped on IOS16 (after IOS17 introduced TD and bad pain). Iphone 11 still runs pretty quick but apps were slowly dopping off IOS16 and the lack of 5G was a biggy.

I am an Apple fanboy, own Mac's, watch, airpods, ipad and use the family settings everyday.

Order arrived from Amazon Germany who confirmed online I had a 30 day no quibble return.

Onto the phone.

Jesus its big, I've never felt comfortable with holding an Iphone plus or Max and this is bigger. 5 days in and I am so used to it that if I hold my 11 again it feels too small 😂. Rumours of a pro version next year with a 'normal' form factor.

I had some eye fatigue setting it up and feared the worst but once in and disabled some settings as per Nick Sutrich Youtube video linked below and all was good (it must just be that the eye fatigue was due to adjustment like when you get a new glasses prescription to get used to)

The good bits......

ZERO PAIN!!

The cost, I paid £320, unreal.

The screen is stunning, the battery good, the android software not half as bad as I was expecting.

The camera is a massive upgrade to my 11 but no way close to the new flagship iphones, mainly in non perfect conditions.

Being able to lower the brightness to 2nits is so good for browsing in bed in a pitch black room.

The bad bits.....

- The screen is already scratched, no gorilla glass. I have a matt screen protector coming from Germany someday soon.

- Android Auto is pretty rubbish and Apple carplay is far superior.

- Face ID is crap unless its a good angle and in decent light. (the finger print recognition however is very good, immediate unlock into the phone.

- You cannot touch the screen to wake it. The only option is 'raise to wake' and that needs enabling in the settings.

- The case supplied with the phone is hard plastic which looks good but means its a bit slippy to handle, again I am awaiting another case from Germany.



Seriously do not miss my iphone.
Any questions, fire away.....

 

[DJTaurus]

My testing never ends. I am stubborn despite the money i loose. Today I installed the LCD AQ7 incell offering (16e) from mobile sentrix. First good sign is that it doesn’t trigger me in the beginning of eye contact like others did. But as usual only time will tell so i ll update my thoughts in the next 2 days.

 

[Heman87]

My testing never ends. I am stubborn despite the money i loose. Today I installed the LCD AQ7 incell offering (16e) from mobile sentrix. First good sign is that it doesn’t trigger me in the beginning of eye contact like others did. But as usual only time will tell so i ll update my thoughts in the next 2 days.

Can you show photo's how the screen looks on the 16e. Are the bezzels ticker? Is the colour accurcay good? Does Face ID work well? Does the battery drain faster?

 

[Heman87]

Day 5 with the TCL NXTPAPER 60 Ultra and the conclusion..... LOVE IT!!!

For those who dont know my story I am mega sensitive.

It all started with the 12pro (after 2 succesful years with an X, work that out)

Nothing after that was nothing but immediate pain. It triggered a neurological condition called NDPH and I am on tablets for life.

My 11 was stopped on IOS16 (after IOS17 introduced TD and bad pain). Iphone 11 still runs pretty quick but apps were slowly dopping off IOS16 and the lack of 5G was a biggy.

I am an Apple fanboy, own Mac's, watch, airpods, ipad and use the family settings everyday.

Order arrived from Amazon Germany who confirmed online I had a 30 day no quibble return.

Onto the phone.

Jesus its big, I've never felt comfortable with holding an Iphone plus or Max and this is bigger. 5 days in and I am so used to it that if I hold my 11 again it feels too small 😂. Rumours of a pro version next year with a 'normal' form factor.

I had some eye fatigue setting it up and feared the worst but once in and disabled some settings as per Nick Sutrich Youtube video linked below and all was good (it must just be that the eye fatigue was due to adjustment like when you get a new glasses prescription to get used to)

The good bits......

ZERO PAIN!!

The cost, I paid £320, unreal.

The screen is stunning, the battery good, the android software not half as bad as I was expecting.

The camera is a massive upgrade to my 11 but no way close to the new flagship iphones, mainly in non perfect conditions.

Being able to lower the brightness to 2nits is so good for browsing in bed in a pitch black room.

The bad bits.....

- The screen is already scratched, no gorilla glass. I have a matt screen protector coming from Germany someday soon.

- Android Auto is pretty rubbish and Apple carplay is far superior.

- Face ID is crap unless its a good angle and in decent light. (the finger print recognition however is very good, immediate unlock into the phone.

- You cannot touch the screen to wake it. The only option is 'raise to wake' and that needs enabling in the settings.

- The case supplied with the phone is hard plastic which looks good but means its a bit slippy to handle, again I am awaiting another case from Germany.



Seriously do not miss my iphone.
Any questions, fire away.....

That's amazing. Maybe i'll try it out myself aswell. I still hope for a flagship phone with real DC dimming.

 

[now i see it]

Day 5 with the TCL NXTPAPER 60 Ultra and the conclusion..... LOVE IT!!!

LCD for the win!

 

[Corncab44]

Has anyone been helped at all by getting glasses? I don’t mean for filtering but to correct asymmetries between eyes or astigmatisms, something that might add to the eye strain of PWM and OLED screens more generally. I’ve read that this does little for most people but was curious about asymmetries specifically since your brain has to reconcile the difference between each eye and I imagine flicker would exacerbate that stress. So if you correct… maybe less strain? Because that’s how I experience OLED strain. this would be more for people who didn’t wear glasses and then do, or found out they had a different issue than in the past, or went years without updating prescriptions etc.

 

[Drj44]

After having tried the X. 13,17 Air, the 16e, I am trying the 17PM and I am on my third day. I turned all I could that was said to help: double invert, low power mode, PWM toggle. And so far it seems to work. It is not as good as my good old 11 but still, I am starting to feel hopeful. One special thing for me is that I am light sensitive so I need to use low brightness which is where the flicker issue is worse. I will give it another week to decline on keeping it or not

 

[cgolca]

Do you know which panel your Air has? I tried an Air with a GVC panel, unfortunately my eyes couldn‘t take it, they even were red the next morning… Wondering if I should try my luck with another one… Thank you!

Yes, I got two Air’s and both had the LG GVC panels, but I noticed some differences. One felt much easier on my eyes and allowed me to focus comfortably, while the other made my eyes burn almost immediately. The more comfortable one also had less of an off-axis green hue shift. So even though they’re technically the same, there are still manufacturing variations that make one more usable than the other.

 

[super chimp]

I find it fascinating to hear that the phone for some people at least find the best to get on with in the current range is the 16e.

 

[asus389]

Yes, I got two Air’s and both had the LG GVC panels, but I noticed some differences. One felt much easier on my eyes and allowed me to focus comfortably, while the other made my eyes burn almost immediately. The more comfortable one also had less of an off-axis green hue shift. So even though they’re technically the same, there are still manufacturing variations that make one more usable than the other.

I noticed this also when I tried it in the Apple store.

 

[rb2112]

When I'm using the phone my eyes feel strained, like, they're trying to focus on the screen. Also, I've noticed that when I look away from my phone at something else, my eyes feel a little blurry and I have to blink.

Depends on how long you are focusing for. I can't imagine looking at a phone for nearly as long as I see some people doing it (hours!)

 

[Ninnie7]

Yes, I got two Air’s and both had the LG GVC panels, but I noticed some differences. One felt much easier on my eyes and allowed me to focus comfortably, while the other made my eyes burn almost immediately. The more comfortable one also had less of an off-axis green hue shift. So even though they’re technically the same, there are still manufacturing variations that make one more usable than the other.

Thank you so much, that is super interesting to know!! That would explain possibly why the Air works for some and for others it doesn‘t, there might be different calibrations or something even within panels of the same manufacturer. So maybe there is hope and I should give the Air another try…

 

[dannyh5319]

My testing never ends. I am stubborn despite the money i loose. Today I installed the LCD AQ7 incell offering (16e) from mobile sentrix. First good sign is that it doesn’t trigger me in the beginning of eye contact like others did. But as usual only time will tell so i ll update my thoughts in the next 2 days.

My guy, just go with a different phone brand.

 

[dstow]

What's more peculiar, is the 17PM which I had since launch day didn't give any symptoms out the box, used for a bout a week or so with no issues with all day use and now it's causing the neck pain, irritation is daily, bizarre as traditionally, the PWM effects have been almost immediate if there was an issue in the past such as with the 15PM/14PM - Not sure what do now as outside the return window - For the moment I've had to turn on Reduce Motion along with RWP now set at 60% - Ridiculous

 

[Abiyork]

My guy, just go with a different phone brand.

Absolutely, I've bitten the bullet and moved away from Apple and so much happier.

Wasting money and possibly sacrificing health is crazy.

An iPhone will come along eventually where testing prove it is 100% safe (As per the phone I have now), until then just stick with what you have or momentarily leave Apple until something is sorted.

 

[2mw2]

The sucker that I am, I tried the 17 PM which has the LG panel. Already tried the the 17 pro and air and had to return those. Was fine for a week (went on a trip to Japan). Used it a lot google maps, camera, etc. Flew back home last night and that’s when the symptoms started. Went to bed as I was wiped out, thinking it must have been related to flying and lack of sleep. This morning was fine and then the headaches started. I had to return the phone so I am now back on the 11/SE2022.

 

[DJTaurus]

My guy, just go with a different phone brand.

Yeap. I tried Galaxy s24 ultra and i prefer not to have even a smartphone if i am forced to use android. ….. and it’s not about getting used to it. I was using exclusively android smartphones and since iPhone 5 i never looked back. Android is still fragmented and it’s very evident. I just cant use it.

 

[Abiyork]

Yeap. I tried Galaxy s24 ultra and i prefer not to have even a smartphone if i am forced to use android. ….. and it’s not about getting used to it. I was using exclusively android smartphones and since iPhone 5 i never looked back. Android is still fragmented and it’s very evident. I just cant use it.

But I would choose fragmented software over pain any day of the week.

 

[johhno140]

But I would choose fragmented software over pain any day of the week.

Likewise, I don’t understand why people continue using phones that their body is effectively rejecting. I think I’m too paranoid about some adverse long term effect from doing so.

 

[dstow]

The sucker that I am, I tried the 17 PM which has the LG panel. Already tried the the 17 pro and air and had to return those. Was fine for a week (went on a trip to Japan). Used it a lot google maps, camera, etc. Flew back home last night and that’s when the symptoms started. Went to bed as I was wiped out, thinking it must have been related to flying and lack of sleep. This morning was fine and then the headaches started. I had to return the phone so I am now back on the 11/SE2022.

Interesting, seems I'm not alone here - Used the 16PM for 12 months without consequence, no accessibility adjustments - fresh out the box raw dogging it - 17PM causing symptoms after a week or so similar to you. Not sure what they have changed, possibly due to the 3000 nits brightness which will be a result of a totally different OLED Panel. Even with 60% RWP it's still managing to make my life miserable

 

[DJTaurus]

Interesting, seems I'm not alone here - Used the 16PM for 12 months without consequence, no accessibility adjustments - fresh out the box raw dogging it - 17PM causing symptoms after a week or so similar to you. Not sure what they have changed, possibly due to the 3000 nits brightness which will be a result of a totally different OLED Panel. Even with 60% RWP it's still managing to make my life miserable

Guys it also the new OS...... did you use your 16 pro max with iOS 26 because it made my iphone 11 tolerance worse.

 

[dstow]

Guys it also the new OS...... did you use your 16 pro max with iOS 26 because it made my iphone 11 tolerance worse.

I did actually, updated to iOS 26 day it came out on the 16PM - no issues

 

[2mw2]

Am wondering whether the glass effect/dithering has contributed to make things worse. I haven’t tried 26.1 and nor have I tried low port mode. The 11 that I have seems very slow on 26.0 - my AirPod call quality was noticeably worse than on my SE 2022. Too early to say but the 26.1 RC build seems better

 

[2mw2]

Sorry I meant low power mode

 

[DJTaurus]

This is not a placebo. The screen protector below helps….. not by that much but it definitely contributes with all the other settings like double invert, RWP etc. I have almost fully switched to iPhone 16e. I only don’t like that it’s matte which is firm when scrolling but i can live with that.

Mothca Matte Glass Screen Protector for iPhone 16e / iPhone 14 / iPhone 13 / iPhone 13 Pro [6.1 Inch] Anti-Glare & Anti-Fingerprint Tempered Glass, [Easy Installation Frame] Smooth as Silk

Mothca Matte Glass Screen Protector for iPhone 16e / iPhone 14 / iPhone 13 / iPhone 13 Pro [6.1 Inch] Anti-Glare & Anti-Fingerprint Tempered Glass, [Easy Installation Frame] Smooth as Silk

www.amazon.com