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Torn between my X and 7+, then I did this....

A

ashenfang

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 1, 2012
111
16
I have been using the X now for a few days and really wanted to love it. I picked up my 7+ and my first thought was, "Wow, this phone is really big." I love FaceID and the form factor is a perfect balance between the plus sized phones and regular (6, 7 etc). When I first started using the X, I was a caught off guard a bit by the tint shifting in the display when going off axis ~20 degrees. I know picking up on this change is more drastic for those who have been on LCD's for the last several years. And for some, like my wife (who also has used the last several iPhone's), she didn't even pick up on it.

When I hold the X and 7+ next to each other and compare, the 7+ seemed to he brighter with better colors so I decided to do an experiment to see if it was just my eyes/brain.

My apologies for some of the pic's being slightly blurry. I was using my son's iPhone 6+ to snap the pictures and the phone was struggling with the room being dark and the phone displays being bright.

The first set of pictures, X on left, 7+ on right. Both phones set to maximum brightness. True Tone off, no color filter settings applied to the X.


Angled shot of the phones. The X clearly exhibits the blue color shift at this angle. Oddly, the 7+ appears more yellow than I had ever noticed through daily use.


The text in the lock screen is a little blurry but what I noticed here was how much deeper the blacks are on the X.


"Whites" on the X are brighter, more of a dirty white on the 7+.


Overall the X is a fair bit brighter than the 7+.


Lastly, same shot, but with the "color filter" setting applied. Certainly makes it a much more colder temp. I also noted that using this setting actually reduced the overall maximum brightness some.


I was a bit surprised at the results when looking at these pictures. For me, there is a difference in trying to compare the screens in front of me or comparing them through photo's like these. For someone who has been accustom to using LCD's for so long, my guess is that my brain has been "trained" on what to expect from a screen. I would also add that when I turn both screens down to about 1/2 brightness, the whites on the X do turn more grey than they do on the LCD.

I really do like the phone and if there wasn't a tint shift in the display, I wouldn't have any reservations about the phone. Hopefully time will allow my eyes (and brain) to adjust.
 
No night shift.

On a side note, I also figured out that you cannot get the X to achieve maximum brightness (using slider) if auto brightness is on. You have to shut off auto in settings, lower slider and then raise it up again. That will put the phone in the brightest mode possible.
 
My X and 7 Plus are exactly the same as your pictures. I was going to hold onto my 7 Plus, but in the end I went with the X. I've decided to no longer use the colour filters on the X as I feel that it makes the screen too cool and certainly darker. I have auto brightness and True Tone disabled.
 
ashenfang said:
No night shift.

On a side note, I also figured out that you cannot get the X to achieve maximum brightness (using slider) if auto brightness is on. You have to shut off auto in settings, lower slider and then raise it up again. That will put the phone in the brightest mode possible.
Click to expand...
I've read that Apple tries to keep the phone from going to maximum brightness in an attempt to mitigate screen burn-in as much as possible. I doubt that'd ever be an issue for me personally as any time I put my iPhones or iPads over 50% brightness, I feel like I'm going to burn my eyes out.

Put me in the same camp as your wife in that I've used every iPhone from the 4S up to the X (8 Plus not included) and I haven't really been able to notice the off-angle colour shifting. The phone is fantastic with the only adjustment being that I sometimes grip my phone harder than expected because I'm so used to holding the Plus size phones that my hand kind of defaults to a wider grip. Other than that, I'm loving pretty much everything about the phone so far and just hoping more devs update their apps to support iPhone X as quickly as possible.
 
BugeyeSTI said:
I think the X looks much better. I’m surprised how yellow your 7+ is. You sure you don’t have night shift on?
Click to expand...

Exactly. X looks way better. The OP is visually sensitive to the differences between OLED and LCD. In my opinion, the differences are actually improvements in the X display. OP should return the X. Maybe by next year, the OP will somehow become desensitized to OLED.

I remember years ago when I bought my first flat panel TV. I fiddled either the contrast, brightness, sharpness, white balance, etc., even followed the LCD color calibration profiles that I found at AVForums, to achieve the look that I was used to seeing on my Sony Bravia XBR TV. Over time I just got used to the LCD.
 
ashenfang said:
No night shift.

On a side note, I also figured out that you cannot get the X to achieve maximum brightness (using slider) if auto brightness is on. You have to shut off auto in settings, lower slider and then raise it up again. That will put the phone in the brightest mode possible.
Click to expand...


The auto brightness setting will in fact go to maximum screen brightness when it detects you're in an environment that needs it, and it does so very reliably. It also dynamically maps the brightness slider based on the ambient light around you, so indoors your maximum brightness on the slider will be less bright than if you were outside or in a car during the day, where it'd act similarly to how it acts with auto brightness off.

Much of the OLED display protection seems to be contained within the auto-brightness setting and it seems pretty unobtrusive. On my 7+ it was too aggressive and I'd always turn it off.

Also, I think the blue shift is much, much, much more aesthetically pleasing than what the LCD iPhones do at extreme angles.
 
My 7 Plus doesn't look as dim as yours does and it's not even on full brightness.
 

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fs454 said:
There's no way to compare this via pictures unless you're capturing at the exact shutter speed, ISO, and aperture as the OP.
Click to expand...

I'm just saying that not all 7 Pluses have a warm display as that one does. If the OP is happy with the X over his own 7 Plus, then that's great!
 
I watched John wick side by side with my 7+ and was blown away by the differences. Had no idea the 7 was so washed out. Completely changed the movie. That’s when I realized the true benefits of OLED.
 
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ashenfang said:
No night shift.

On a side note, I also figured out that you cannot get the X to achieve maximum brightness (using slider) if auto brightness is on. You have to shut off auto in settings, lower slider and then raise it up again. That will put the phone in the brightest mode possible.
Click to expand...

Actually just turning off auto brightness (really noticeable if the brightness is already set to max) will do it. You don’t need to lower/raise the brightness again. You can watch the brightness go up over ~7 seconds once Auto-Brightness is turned off. It’s a crazy effect in a dark room.
 
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