I like my smartphones brilliant

Abstract

Cellphone brightness is rated in nits, and you must at all times goal for a cellphone with no less than 2,000 nits of peak brightness.
OLED shows can typically get away with decrease nits due to their elevated distinction, however LCDs are likely to have higher outside visibility.
By no means use max brightness in your cellphone except you should — in any other case it could trigger pointless eye pressure, sleep disruption, and/or battery consumption.

Display screen brightness is not usually trumpeted from the hills when Apple, Google, Samsung, or one other firm places out a brand new cellphone. However in fact, it is a type of particulars that is extraordinarily vital in follow — a cellphone with weak brightness will be exhausting to make use of indoors typically, by no means thoughts stepping out into the cruel noon glare. After I was dwelling in Austin, a dim cellphone was a official annoyance on lengthy roadtrips, since there was no approach it may compete with cloudless Texas skies.

How brilliant does a cellphone have to be, although? Is conserving 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 you must know earlier than shopping for a cellphone, all of which I am going that will help you type out in a rush.

Model: Apple
SoC: A18 Professional (3nm)
Show: 6.3-inch 1,206 x 2,622 pixel decision 120Hz LTPO Tremendous Retina XDR OLED, 120Hz, HDR10, Dolby Imaginative and prescient, 1000 nits (typical), 2000 nits (peak)
Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB

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

Cellphone brightness 101

The homescreen of the Google Pixel 9 Pro, outdoors.

When you may, in principle, charge cellphone shows when it comes to lumens, you may virtually at all times see them gauged in nits. A single nit is equal to 1 candela (candlepower) per sq. meter. For a relative measure, think about that the solar at midday is often claimed to supply 1.6 billion nits.

Your cellphone would not have to be wherever close to that brilliant to be readable, in fact. Indoors, lower than 1,000 nits is ok, and even 500 nits tends to look fairly good. Peak brightness will quickly surge, although, at any time when a cellphone is outside 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.

Most gadget makers are aiming for someplace between 1,000 and a pair of,000 nits for HDR capabilities, and a pair of,000 nits or larger outside.

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

Brighter is at all times 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.

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LCD vs OLED vs different requirements

For as soon as, older tech wins

The Galaxy S25 Edge in front of a Switch 2.

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 will be turned on and off at will. The result’s an incredible distinction, with pure blacks, and highlights that do not bleed into surrounding objects. The format additionally tends to be extra energy environment friendly when 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 rely upon a number of backlights, which have a tendency to supply an total brighter picture, albeit on the expense of distinction. It is truly not possible to realize true blacks with an LCD except 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 have been invented — however you will not discover these applied sciences on any delivery smartphone, no less than 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 permits you to pick extra element. A 300-nit OLED panel can really feel roughly equal to a 500-nit LCD, although your mileage will fluctuate.

Just a few telephones get rid of brightness from the specs debate fully through the use of e-ink. The pixels they use are made from actual matter, so their visibility relies on exterior mild sources, a lot in the identical approach 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.

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What you should find out about brightness settings

No have to go full throttle

The Control Center on an iPhone. — Apple / Pocket-lint

Apple / Pocket-lint

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

I do know from private expertise that at evening, brilliant shows can disrupt sleep. They usually make it tougher to get to sleep within the first place, and within the center hours, lights can shine straight via 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’s going to go except I am not nervous about my alarm. My iPhone, in the meantime, is at all times put in StandBy mode, which in a single day each dims the show and tints it pink.

Usually, the perfect compromise is to set your cellphone’s brightness as little as it’s going to go whereas nonetheless being nice to have a look at.

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

Usually, the perfect compromise is to set your cellphone’s brightness as little as it’s going to go whereas nonetheless being nice to have a look at. My iPhone 16 Professional is often set at round 50%, however chances are you’ll have to go larger or decrease than that relying in your gadget 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 outside excursions, like a visit to Disney World, or a yard Texas cookout with my in-laws. However even then, my iPhone often compensates sufficient robotically, making the concept moot.