Eye-strain while using iPhone X | MacRumors Forums

Hello all,

I thought I'd post here about an issue I've been having and see if anyone else is experiencing the same thing.

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.

Not sure why this is happening. I've tweaked with all the various displays settings (TrueTone/Night Shift/White balance), but nothing seems to make a real difference. Not using a screen protector.

Anyone else?

I've had eye pain and headaches since 11/3. Coincidence? I don't know.

No problems here. I find the screen is easier to read than my iPad or previous phones.

Kitkad said:

Hello all,

I thought I'd post here about an issue I've been having and see if anyone else is experiencing the same thing.

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

Not sure why this is happening. I've tweaked with all the various displays settings (TrueTone/Night Shift/ White balance), nothing seems to make a real difference. Not using a screen protector.

Anyone else?

Click to expand...

Have you used cell phones with oled screen before? If not, your eye strain may be due to oled screens and their refresh rate amongst other things. Alot of people have headaches fro oled screens. Google and youll find alot of posts about it.

the caveman said:

Have you used cell phones with oled screen before? If not, your eye strain may be due to oled screens and their refresh rate amongst other things. Alot of people have headaches fro oled screens. Google and youll find alot of posts about it.

Yes, my previous phone was an S7edge.

Kitkad said:

Yes, my previous phone was an S7edge.

Same here I had a S3, note 1,2,3,4, S5... Never had a problem before.

mazdamiata210 said:

I've had eye pain and headaches since 11/3. Coincidence? I don't know.

Really?

It takes a little time to adjust to OLED from LED. I know when I switch between my 7 Plus and my V30, sometimes my eyes get a tad strained. It might just take a little adjustment for some with more sensitive eyesight.

Edit: It could also be the way iOS runs? The gestures might be causing motion fatigue on your eyes?

Apple just released a document that says minor to medium migraines might occur when using the X.
so this is normal.

I noticed the same, I feel like my eyes are straining while using this phone. I think it has to do with the fact that when I scroll the images and text are a bit blurred because of ghosting / lag with the display (more than on my 6S), and my eyes are trying to focus on things. Also, another thing I found out is that this display uses what’s known as pulse-width modulation (PWM) to dim the brightness of the display. You can’t see it but basically the screen is flashing really fast as a way to control the brightness, which causes headaches for some people. Apparently PWM is common for many displays, especially OLEDs.

I’m going to give it a few days to see if my eyes adjust.

roeiz said:

Apple just released a document that says minor to medium migraines might occur when using the X.
so this is normal.

Do you have a link to this? Can’t seem to find it anywhere.

Same thing, got really sore eyes since two days (really painful), the X is the culprit for sure. I don’t know what to do

angelrivz said:

Do you have a link to this? Can’t seem to find it anywhere.

hope you're not serious

iPhone X is a great new product from Apple!


Do not use iPhone X if you are allergic to iPhone X. Side effects may include nausea, headache, migraine, vomiting, pain, sweating, nervousness, or mild death. If you experience any of these symptoms, discontinue use of iPhone X and make a Genius Bar appointment.

Maybe you are just using your phone more than normal since it's a new toy?

Ohhh boy, what -gate should we name this?

Sorry, don’t mean to trivialize the issue. I sympathize. Played Mario on Nintendo Switch for the first time last week and got a huge headache. I’m not a gamer so maybe my eyes just needed to adjust to the constant movement. Maybe keep trying for the next few days and see how you feel.

AngelGuy7 said:

I noticed the same, I feel like my eyes are straining while using this phone. I think it has to do with the fact that when I scroll the images and text are a bit blurred because of ghosting / lag with the display (more than on my 6S), and my eyes are trying to focus on things. Also, another thing I found out is that this display uses what’s known as pulse-width modulation (PWM) to dim the brightness of the display. You can’t see it but basically the screen is flashing really fast as a way to control the brightness, which causes headaches for some people. Apparently PWM is common for many displays, especially OLEDs.

I’m going to give it a few days to see if my eyes adjust.

Click to expand...

This. It is likely due to PWM dimming. All prior iPhones did not use PWM, rather, a constant current dimming technique. When you see 'flicker free' desktop monitors, this is what they are referring to. Some people are very sensitive to PWM flicker. All OLED phones use PWM except for the LG V30 (edit- it also uses PWM but barely noticeable). While this display is far worse than Samsung OLED + iPhone X, I have to give LG credit for doing it right.

I am slightly sensitive to PWM flicker but the iPhone X is far less fatiguing than the Pixel 2 (non-XL, Samsung OLED) that I had. It has to do with the frequency + brightness level the manufacturers set for PWM, which I can't even start to explain, but the gist is the higher the frequency, the better it is on the eyes / less noticeable. Any experts / people who know much more about this feel free to chime in. PWM is a big problem I have with OLED phones. Had my LG V30 not had horrible banding and blotching I would've kept it and not gotten the X.

No issue here and I have been using it pretty intensively over the last few days.

The X seems like a heck of a phone, but honestly, I can see how sensitive people would say this.
My son and I tried the X extensively @ Verizon & Best Buy and both came away feeling eye fatigue no matter how we adjusted settings. He even felt a slight headache & nausea and had to quit messing around on it.

Of course, most people won't encounter this, but I think it is a "thing" for some sensitive folks.
Reminds me a little of when I briefly owned a MacBook Air several years ago and had to return it for similar reasons.
Did not get the feeling form a MacBook Pro. YMMV.

mazdamiata210 said:

I've had eye pain and headaches since 11/3. Coincidence? I don't know.

Me too

john g. said:

The X seems like a heck of a phone, but honestly, I can see how sensitive people would say this.
My son and I tried the X extensively @ Verizon & Best Buy and both came away feeling eye fatigue no matter how we adjusted settings. He even felt a slight headache & nausea and had to quit messing around on it.

Of course, most people won't encounter this, but I think it is a "thing" for some sensitive folks.
Reminds me a little of when I briefly owned a MacBook Air several years ago and had to return it for similar reasons.
Did not get the feeling form a MacBook Pro. YMMV.

Click to expand...

That's really too bad. Sadly Apple has no choice if they continue to use Samsung screens. You should look at the LG V30 if you and your son wanted to buy OLED phones. The phone is stunning and what the X should've looked like. Apparently later batches of the phone have been better, and Verizon also has a $200 pre-paid gift card offer on the V30. It's a good deal, in my opinion ($640 when it's all said and done).