I like my smartphones brilliant

Display screen brightness is not typically trumpeted from the hills when Apple, Google, Samsung, or one other firm places out a brand new cellphone. However in fact, it is a kind of particulars that is extraordinarily necessary in apply — a cellphone with weak brightness could be onerous to make use of indoors typically, by no means thoughts stepping out into the tough noon glare. Once I was dwelling in Austin, a dim cellphone was a respectable annoyance on lengthy roadtrips, since there was no means it may compete with cloudless Texas skies.

How brilliant does a cellphone have to be, although? Is protecting your cellphone at most brightness actually an issue? And what is the distinction between LCD and OLED? There are a variety of brightness-related particulars it’s best to know earlier than shopping for a cellphone, all of which I am going that can assist you type out in a rush.

Associated

OLED vs mini-LED vs QLED in 2025: Which TV tech should you buy?

At this time, you may get stunning picture high quality with out spending a fortune.

How brightness is measured, and the way a lot is sufficient

Cellphone brightness 101

When you may, in concept, price cellphone shows when it comes to lumens, you will nearly all the time see them gauged in nits. A single nit is equal to at least one candela (candlepower) per sq. meter. For a relative measure, contemplate that the solar at midday is often claimed to supply 1.6 billion nits.

Your cellphone does not have to be wherever close to that brilliant to be readable, in fact. Indoors, lower than 1,000 nits is okay, and even 500 nits tends to look fairly good. Peak brightness will briefly surge, although, at any time when a cellphone is outdoor or displaying HDR (excessive dynamic vary) content material. For instance, the Pixel 9 Pro can hit 2,000 nits when displaying HDR video, and three,000 nits at its absolute brightest.

That ought to provide you with a way of how a lot energy a contemporary cellphone display screen wants. Most system makers are aiming for someplace between 1,000 and a couple of,000 nits for HDR capabilities, and a couple of,000 nits or increased outdoor. My iPhone 16 Professional peaks at 2,000 exterior, and it is fairly readable even when the solar is thrashing down overhead.

Brighter is all the time higher, specs-wise, however something over 3,000 tends to be overkill, delivering diminishing returns. Not that that is stopped cellphone makers — some Chinese language fashions are able to 4,000 nits or extra. In March 2025, Samsung demonstrated an OLED panel able to 5,000 nits.

Associated

5 display calibration settings that will level up your game for free

The show tech you utilize for gaming can matter (nearly) as a lot because the system you are enjoying on.

LCD vs OLED vs different requirements

For as soon as, older tech wins

Most telephones now use some type of OLED show, an acronym standing for natural light-emitting diode. As a rule, it is the superior expertise, since particular person pixels could be turned on and off at will. The result’s a tremendous distinction, with pure blacks, and highlights that do not bleed into surrounding objects. The format additionally tends to be extra energy environment friendly in the event you select darker icons, wallpapers, and app settings.

LCDs (liquid crystal shows) typically have the higher hand, nevertheless. That is as a result of all LCDs depend upon a number of backlights, which have a tendency to supply an general brighter picture, albeit on the expense of distinction. It is really inconceivable to realize true blacks with an LCD until it makes use of a number of backlights, and a picture space lined by a backlight occurs to be utterly devoid of element. That is why mini- and micro-LED had been invented — however you will not discover these applied sciences on any delivery smartphone, a minimum of not but.

The distinction hole does enable OLEDs to punch above their weight in uncooked nits. It is a query of perceived brightness — since each highlights and shadows are starker, OLED allows you to select extra element. A 300-nit OLED panel can really feel roughly equal to a 500-nit LCD, although your mileage will range.

A number of telephones remove brightness from the specs debate totally through the use of e-ink. The pixels they use are manufactured from actual matter, so their visibility relies on exterior gentle sources, a lot in the identical means that you may’t learn a paper e book in a pitch-black room. The built-in lamps you discover on e-ink gadgets are literally frontlights, not backlights.

Associated

This Android-powered e-ink tablet is better than a Kindle, but it’s still niche in my life

You may solely get essentially the most out of Boox’s pill in the event you’re into sketching and paper notes.

What you must learn about brightness settings

No have to go full throttle

Apple / Pocket-lint

More often than not, it is best to keep away from ramping your cellphone as much as full brightness, regardless of how spectacular it appears. There are a couple of causes for this — above all, your imaginative and prescient. Because the American Academy of Opthamology notes, full brightness can doubtlessly create pressure in some situations, leading to points like tearing (as in crying), blurring, dry eyes, and complications.

I do know from private expertise that at night time, brilliant shows can disrupt sleep. They typically make it more durable to get to sleep within the first place, and within the center hours, lights can shine straight by your eyelids and wake you up. I do watch YouTube on a Nest Hub at bedtime — however its brightness is cranked as little as it can go until I am not nervous about my alarm. My iPhone, in the meantime, is all the time put in StandBy mode, which in a single day each dims the show and tints it crimson.

When pressure and sleep patterns aren’t points, there’s nonetheless the matter of battery life. A cellphone’s show is one among its most power-hungry parts, rivaled solely by its processor and wi-fi radios. The upper a display screen’s brightness is, the extra energy it consumes, draining your battery. Certainly, that is one of many predominant changes a cellphone’s battery-saving/low-power mode makes.

Sometimes, one of the best compromise is to set your cellphone’s brightness as little as it can go whereas nonetheless being nice to take a look at. My iPhone 16 Professional is often set at round 50%, however you could have to go increased or decrease than that relying in your system and preferences. Even dropping to 80% ought to make a significant distinction.

Does full brightness ever make sense? Personally, I have a tendency to order that for the sunniest of out of doors excursions, like a visit to Disney World, or a yard Texas cookout with my in-laws. However even then, my iPhone often compensates sufficient routinely, making the concept moot.

You may also like

Everything you need to know about PEVs, or personal electric vehicles

You should use PEVs like e-bikes and scooters to discover, run errands, or velocity up your commute.