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Best outdoor phone I have had in years

Before I got this phone I was really nervous about the screen because of all the drama about the pentile screen. Wow, what a waist of worry!!
I am continually amazed at how great this screen is, and outside in direct sunlight it is nothing but astounding. It has been over 5 years since I could see my phone outside this well and that was a "feature" phone with a typical LCD display.
I simply love this phone, the screen is great, the keyboard is great, and while I wish the battery was better I am getting 9-12 hours on a charge depending on usage. Now if we can just get a root so I can dump all the bloat ware it will be perfect!

+1 one to that! Everyone I show my phone to is absolutely amazed how well they can see the screen outside... And I'm not talking about when its just a little sunny, I'm talking about the spot-on Texas sun! I can even see it perfectly fine with my ray bans on lol.

I've got some anti-reflective screen protectors on the way. I'll report back to see if they increase or decrease visibility.

I can see the screen with auto brightness in immense sunlight. This to me is enough to accept the pentile display.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA Premium App

I got some of the anti glare screen protectors when I first got my phone. Dumped them after using them 3 days. They help with glare, but they protector has a cross hatch pattern in it to do this that seems to blur the screen slightly. I ended up just going with just the regular scratch protector.

[Q] Screen A Disappointment?

Engadget's review is out and one of the negative things they had to say about the Optimus 4X was the screen. They say that the screen isn't bonded to the front glass, resulting to not having that "floating icons" feel and more importantly, poor viewing angles.

Where did you see "poor viewing angles"? I am watching the review right now and it says respectable viewing angles. Besides the screen is very bright.. At least in the GSMArena test..

18:20 of their video review. He didn't literally say "poor viewing angles", but I think that's what he means when he said "it just goes away". That's doesn't sound too "respectable".

I haven't noticed poor viewing angles at all. I can still see the screen at obscure angles.
Its no more or less visible at angles than my HTC Sensation was. IMHO, the screen is amazing on this device. Pin Sharp, natural colour reproduction, I have a wallpaper from Zedge of a forest with "God rays" shining through, looks simply amazing on this phone to me.

alexp999 said:
I haven't noticed poor viewing angles at all. I can still see the screen at obscure angles.
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Don't the colors get washed out more and more as you look at the screen at increasing angles?

Not really no, a tiny bit maybe but not worse than my sensation. Id call it more of a tint than a wash out, and surely a phone is a single user device, why do viewing angles matter that much?
Sent from my LG-P880 using xda app-developers app

I get your point but I would still want a screen with great viewing angles.

Sharpshooterrr said:
I get your point but I would still want a screen with great viewing angles.
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I think it does, to be honest, I was actually surprised how well I could see the screen from steep angles, considering what some have said.
The problem is, the best way to know if you will be happy is to see one in the flesh, but thats not so easy when it isnt available worldwide yet.

Sharpshooterrr said:
I get your point but I would still want a screen with great viewing angles.
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its not so bad tbh
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/61800751/VIDEO0002.3gp

stesa said:
its not so bad tbh
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/61800751/VIDEO0002.3gp
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Is that a One X on the right?

Sharpshooterrr said:
Is that a One X on the right?
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yes sir

Sharpshooterrr said:
I get your point but I would still want a screen with great viewing angles.
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honestly why would anyone look at their phone from a 170 degree angle or even just 90? worthless requirement, just to say mine is better than yours. when all viewing angles from left/right/top/bottom works and equally the same within the 0-20/30 degree viewing, its as good as it should.
As long as its sharp and true colours represented and details are there representing all colours as they should, i am happy.

I own the 4X and let me tell you the viewing angles are superb under normal light conditions. There is some visible glare under strong direct sunlight and viewing angles do become a bit worse but you won't have any trouble with it. It's quite good under direct sunlight.
For one I'm glad I choose 4x over S3 ore One X.

for me the 4x have the best display,very high ppi, i like the galaxy s3,but dont like the super amoled just because its a pentile display and the pixel are not tru hd

justrayen said:
for me the 4x have the best display,very high ppi, i like the galaxy s3,but dont like the super amoled just because its a pentile display and the pixel are not tru hd
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What's worse is all Amoleds have burn in or image retention that will happen in about a year or so.

What's worse is all Amoleds have burn in or image retention that will happen in about a year or so.
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Not convinced by this. I'm thinking of updating from an HTC Desire, which has an AMOLED, and it's beautiful. I have no problems with burn in. Maybe that happens if you leave the screen on for a couple of weeks on the same image, but that's hardly likely.
One of my big concerns is the 4x screen won't look as good in comparison. What's the brightness like anyone?

Yaky Peanut said:
Not convinced by this. I'm thinking of updating from an HTC Desire, which has an AMOLED, and it's beautiful. I have no problems with burn in. Maybe that happens if you leave the screen on for a couple of weeks on the same image, but that's hardly likely.
One of my big concerns is the 4x screen won't look as good in comparison. What's the brightness like anyone?
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I did exatly what you're thinking about!!
I've had the HTC Desire for a little over 2 years, and bought the 4x a couple of weeks ago.
Yes the Desire has a good screen, but the one on the 4x i way better!!
I always used the autobrightnes on the Desire, but it was often very hard to see the screen in the sunshine.
On the 4x the autobrightness works a little different. You set a base point, and the autobrightness changes relative to that.
That way it doesn't turn the brightness all the way up or all the way down.
I've set it to a base point of 20% brightness, at it gives me a screen that are easier to read outside then the desire ever did.
So if the screen is you only worry, go right ahead and buy the 4x. It's a big improvement over your HTC Desire.
The only thing I miss from the Desire is the notification LED (and ofcouse ROOT, but I'm sure that will come soon!!! :laugh: )

Yaky Peanut said:
Not convinced by this. ... What's the brightness like anyone?
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i had a SAMSUNG GALAXY S with S-AMOLED before the O4X.
Amoled screens have perfect blacks , but those of the SGS and the Desire have also wrong "funky" colors
The le LG screen does not have perfect blacks, but is brighter , sharper (because of the pentile matrix, there is no amoled that sharp on the market) and has realistic colors.
talking about angle . what i can say is that i can watch the film, or read any message of someone sitting next to me ...
so for me the angle is not an issue: at an extreme position, it becomes dark, but the angle is so wide that, even if it could be clearer, it would also be unreadable with any type of screen technology.

m_primdahl said:
I did exatly what you're thinking about!! ... So if the screen is you only worry, go right ahead and buy the 4x. It's a big improvement over your HTC Desire.
The only thing I miss from the Desire is the notification LED (and ofcouse ROOT, but I'm sure that will come soon!!! :laugh: )
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Cheers for the detailed reply. Nice to know it's better in sunlight, because I always found the Desire was awful.
I tend not to use auto-brightness though in fear of it draining the battery to much. I just had my Desire at 15% and that worked fine in most situations, except bright outdoors
Once your battery is low and you put your phone on charge, what sort of screen-on time do you normally have? I found typically I'd have 2 hours of screen-time from my Desire by the end of a day, 15 hours or so off the charger, and that would be about 20% battery remaining. What's it like for the 4x?
Unfortunately the LED is probably the biggest killer for me then. I love having the light on the Desire, especially since I've got it rooted and Handcent can use blue and pink and stuff. Looks awesome I know one isn't supposed to play the waiting game, but I'd hate it if I bought the 4x and then in 2 months time, a phone with similar specs and an LED came out :S
Such difficult decisions...

Outdoor visibility (max brightness)

Rate this thread to express how well you can see the LG V10's display outdoors. In case you've been playing Minecraft for 18 months straight, you might not known how to get outside anymore. Well, find the door and walk through it. A higher rating indicates that it has very high maximum brightness and thus fantastic outdoor visibility in direct sunlight.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

Auto brightness settings outdoor under Florida Sun. Using Motorola Nexus 6, I couldn't see what's on the screen, even bringing my hand up for a shadow. Using the LG G4 the screen would brighten and colors would wash out, making things very legible aka Notion Ink pixel qi screen. The v10 does it one better, clear legible, and colors still vibrant.

Yes, it's pretty readable outdoors even the brightness is 60%

surprisingly the brightness isn't bad. coming from a g3, im impressed

I don't know how anyone could ever give 5 stars on this ... except maybe ... and I mean maybe ... the Curve. Every phone has a reflective surface and outside, they're all hard to see unless you're in the shade. Same with this phone.

SaintlySins said:
I don't know how anyone could ever give 5 stars on this ... except maybe ... and I mean maybe ... the Curve. Every phone has a reflective surface and outside, they're all hard to see unless you're in the shade. Same with this phone.
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I own a Nexus 6 Motorola as well as a LG V10. The 6 can't be read in the full sun but the V10 can. Here in Thailand I have lot's of sun every day so I know what I am talking about. I would give 4.5 stars out of 5.

Outdoor visibility (max brightness)

Rate this thread to express how well you can see the HTC 10's display outdoors. In case you've been playing Minecraft for 18 months straight, you might not known how to get outside anymore. Well, find the door and walk through it. A higher rating indicates that it has very high maximum brightness and thus fantastic outdoor visibility in direct sunlight.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

Perfectly fine in 12258 lux of sunlight.
Sent from HTC 10

Seems reasonable, not as bright as an S7 but it's not an AMOLED.

The screen is most definitely very very bright in bright sunlight on "auto" setting with slider to the max. I have no issues with the brightness outdoors. Make sure to keep the "auto" setting, there is a brightness boost built in with "auto". Also, do not use Power Saver feature (I am not taking about the Extreme Power Saver mode). The Power Saver will ruin the brightness in sunlight completely and thoroughly.

Compared the 10 with my Samsung S6 at noon in direct sunlight in Tucson, AZ on June 06. Couldn't see either for ****e.

devsk said:
...Make sure to keep the "auto" setting, there is a brightness boost built in with "auto...
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Oh, so that's why it looks so strange in direct sun light It's not looking nice with the boost, but it's very effective and helps a lot

as0k said:
Oh, so that's why it looks so strange in direct sun light [emoji14] It's not looking nice with the boost, but it's very effective and helps a lot
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No help for users like me whose (HTC 001) Auto brightness doesn't even work out of the box.
Sent from HTC 10

Thanks
Thank you for your article
Danesh Hamara

th3 said:
No help for users like me whose (HTC 001) Auto brightness doesn't even work out of the box.
Sent from HTC 10
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Mine auto brightness is also huge step back comparing to previous One's. It is too bright in the evening or at night if my slider in auto mode is at about 75%.

cavist said:
Mine auto brightness is also huge step back comparing to previous One's. It is too bright in the evening or at night if my slider in auto mode is at about 75%.
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Use Lux Lite (can do the same)
Sent from HTC 10

Personally, I think max brightness on this phone isn't nearly bright enough. When I stop off at the Starbucks drive through in the morning and attempt to pay with my phone (pops a barcode on screen for the barista to scan) they always need to take my phone from me inside where it's a bit darker to scan. I have never had this issue with any other device, and never see any of the cars ahead of me having a similar issue. This is with auto brightness on and the slider all the way at max.

Remember that when you go outside, the sun is bright, you slip on your polarized sun glasses. Next time you look at the screen, it's dark.
Remember the screen is polarized as well, and not in the best orientation. Turn the phone horizontal, see if brighter again.
-Just saying this in case it is affecting some of the 'too dark' comments.-
Sent from my HTC 10 using XDA-Developers mobile app

Slightly lower than on S7 but visible enough.
.

sigilizer said:
Personally, I think max brightness on this phone isn't nearly bright enough. When I stop off at the Starbucks drive through in the morning and attempt to pay with my phone (pops a barcode on screen for the barista to scan) they always need to take my phone from me inside where it's a bit darker to scan. I have never had this issue with any other device, and never see any of the cars ahead of me having a similar issue. This is with auto brightness on and the slider all the way at max.
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Yeah, I can relate. From all the recent phones I've tested, the 10 fares the worst in direct sunlight / bright day environment... Even so, the only time I find it really annoying is when I try to take photos or shoot video. I always feel that the screen is too dark or that the photos I take are too dark. When I look at them back home, on a large PC screen, I see that the photos are ok, well-lit...

lsblack said:
Remember that when you go outside, the sun is bright, you slip on your polarized sun glasses. Next time you look at the screen, it's dark.
Remember the screen is polarized as well, and not in the best orientation. Turn the phone horizontal, see if brighter again.
-Just saying this in case it is affecting some of the 'too dark' comments.-
Sent from my HTC 10 using XDA-Developers mobile app
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Yeah the polarization was a completely gooned up oversight in manufacture of the lcd. Could have done it 90 Deg off.

bonetweeter122 said:
Yeah the polarization was a completely gooned up oversight in manufacture of the lcd. Could have done it 90 Deg off.
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Then you can't take pictures with sunglasses on and you can't use the gps while driving with the SGs on. It goes both ways in terms of preferable polarization orientation.
Sent from my HTC6545LVW using Tapatalk

Much brighter than my LG G3. I don't need to crank the brightness to 40% indoors anymore. I can keep my HTC 10 around 15-20% brightness and see it just fine indoors.
Sent from my HTC 10 using XDA Labs

Compared to the Nexus 6P the HTC display is visible with no issues on direct sunlight. It is definitely not perfect, but I really like it.

Outdoor visibility (max brightness)

Rate this thread to express how well you can see the Google Pixel 2's display outdoors. In case you've been playing Minecraft for 18 months straight, you might not known how to get outside anymore. Well, find the door and walk through it. A higher rating indicates that it has very high maximum brightness and thus fantastic outdoor visibility in direct sunlight.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

Brightness level has been noticeably lower than my previous phone the oneplus 3. In the full sunlight it is... Tolerable

My Honor 8 gets noticeably brighter at the max setting. What I don't know yet is does the Pixel have the adaptive contrast feature that automatically boosts the darker sections of the image in direct sunlight for better visibility? Granted, you have to have this option enabled under developer options (make the screen easier to read in direct sunlight).

I was expecting this thing to outshine the sun for $1000. It's only marginally better at full brightness than my Nexus 6.

Hopefully not driving the AMOLED display so hard will at least make it last a little longer?!

Wartickler said:
I was expecting this thing to outshine the sun for $1000. It's only marginally better at full brightness than my Nexus 6.
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The pixel 2 costs $649.99 USDA
You are about $350 off bub.

definitely not bright enough at max brightness, hope flar2 will bring HBM (high brightness mode) to pixel 2 someday

I never go higher than 30% brightness when outdoors, not needed

nekoraysama said:
I never go higher than 30% brightness when outdoors, not needed
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I'd hate to live where you are, is it permanently cloudy? In bright sun, that sometimes appears in the UK, I'd say that it's not bright enough, even at 100%
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

3dd1 said:
I'd hate to live where you are, is it permanently cloudy? In bright sun, that sometimes appears in the UK, I'd say that it's not bright enough, even at 100%
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Agreed, even my Honor 8 had a sunlight mode that boosted shadows to increase visibility. Seems like the pixel 2 does not. The screen simply doesn't get as bright as other flagships.

It's about as bright as my OnePlus 3T. More than bright enough for sunny days. Only phone I've had that was too dim at 100% in sunlight was the Nexus 6.
Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

3dd1 said:
I'd hate to live where you are, is it permanently cloudy? In bright sun, that sometimes appears in the UK, I'd say that it's not bright enough, even at 100%
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
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In the U.S. state of Georgia, just south of the 34th parallel, approximately 45 minutes after the sun was at zenith, one week before the summer solstice, my Pixel 2 was readable in direct sunlight with brightness set to 30% and adaptive brightness on.
I'm not disputing your report, but I don't know how to reconcile it with mine.

Thinking about this some more, my guess is that we're talking about very different things. As I said, at 30% with adaptive brightness on, my Pixel 2 is readable in direct sun and (updating) even when the sun is about five minutes away from its highest point in the sky on the day of the summer solstice. That's at a location just barely within the northern subtropical zone. 3dd1 said it's not bright enough at 100% in bright sunlight in the UK.
Those two statements are not necessarily contradictory. When I say it's "readable," I mean just that: the screen can be read, but not necessarily comfortably. The crucial point is that you can read it well enough to adjust screen brightness, if needed. I've had plenty of phones that could not be read well enough to do that in sunlight. (That's why I have a Tasker profile that sets brightness to maximum when I flip the phone over twice rapidly.)
3dd1 did not say the screen isn't readable, just that it's not bright enough. And that's quite possible, even though it's not my experience or my opinion.

Just got my Pixel 2 XL last week.
I don't use adaptive mode, and it seems usable for me in direct sunlight if you push the slider to like 90%.
On my S8, the brightness is sufficient that you can leave the slider on 60-70% even in direct sunlight. I'm pretty objective and the screen was the best feature of the S8. Not fan-boying for Samsung at all.
I have both here and there is just no way I'm going back after using the stormtrooper for a few days.

It's been really sunny where I live in Northern California. Tested the brightness in direct sunlight and the screen was easily readable at just under 50 % brightness.
Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk