5 ms·

OLED screens are lovely in many ways but after having a Galaxy S6 that I had to return twice due to burn in I avoid it now. It just isn't worth the hassle of ha

OLED screens are lovely in many ways but after having a Galaxy S6 that I had to return twice due to burn in I avoid it now. It just isn't worth the hassle of having to get the phone repaired/replaced. It took Samsung over a week each time to replace the phone (for free) which was a royal pain in the ass. I know OLED tech is getting better and maybe with Apple putting an OLED in the iPhone X it means they (well Samsung as that is who makes the screen in the iPhone X) have "cracked it". However I am going to wait a couple of months to see how things play out before I jump on the OLED bandwagon again.

ezequiel-garzon 9y ago
Interesting, my Note II lasted almost 5 years and there was never any ghosting effect, so I thought Samsung controlled this technology quite well. Then again we can see what happened to batteries...
gilrain 9y ago
Anecdote for anecdote: I've been enjoying OLED screens on my Android phones since the Galaxy Nexus (2011), and I've never had burn-in or any other display-specific issue.
- Stratoscope 9y ago
  Same here. My Note 4 is three years old, with hours of screen-on time per day at a fairly high brightness. (I use it primarily as a tablet, not a phone.) Not the slightest hint of burn-in or any display problems.
- satysin 9y ago
  For sure. Many friends of mine have had no issues. Maybe I was just unlucky or my way of using the phone is different enough, who knows.
deleted 9y ago
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mikestew 9y ago
I'm wondering if it can be done, or isn't already done, like plasma TVs that rotate pixels and other trickery to keep burn-in at bay. I had a Panasonic plasma for a good ten years that saw its fair share of video games, with health bars and the like, and never saw burn-in. I did see ghosting toward the end of its life, but never burned-in images. The new plasma (Samsung, because I missed the last of the Panasonics) is only a few years old, but no problems with that one yet, either.
- selectodude 9y ago
  Already done. Maybe this particular phone isn't doing it, but pixel shifting is standard on Samsungs and the iPhone X.
khedoros1 9y ago
I used my Galaxy Nexus for 2 years, with no burn-in issues. The screen still looks gorgeous and has no burn-in that I can see.
ryuuchin 9y ago
Auto brightness can help when it comes to avoiding burn-in. Using max brightness all the time with static things on the screen is a recipe for burn-in even on IPS displays.
- DrScump 9y ago
  On both Samsung phones and tablets, I've found Auto Brightness to be unreadably low at first and had to shut it off. (With Auto off, you can set whatever fixed brightness you want, it's not a binary Auto vs. Max choice). I have the GS3, GS5, GS6, GS6 Edge, GS7, GS7 Edge, and a Tab A.
  - viraptor 9y ago
    Does Samsung change how brightness works in Android? I think since 7.x both Auto and fixed are adjustable. On my pixel, I have Auto brightness, but at the same time I can choose the baseline brightness level - it gets corrected from that point. So the switch is really "fixed at point" / "floating around that point".
    - DrScump 9y ago
      I just tried it on my GS7... sliding Auto Brightness from Off to On always bounces the setting bar down to baseline (about 40%) initially regardless of prior setting.
      - viraptor 9y ago
        That's either old Android or Samsung breaks the behaviour then. You can have adjustable auto-brightness on stock Android. (Called adaptive brightness in settings)
JohnTHaller 9y ago
My Nexus 6 screen still looks fantastic. Wish I could get a new one with an updated CPU, fingerprint reader, faster storage, better camera, and the same screen + form factor.
- RhodesianHunter 9y ago
  So much this. I just want an upgraded Nexus. Hell I'd even take the 5X.
  - keerthiko 9y ago
    Hell I'd take, nay, I'd pay premium for a Nexus 5 (pre-X) updated with new components. In fact, I reverted to my Nexus 5 when I found that it's still working fine after 2 upgrades, and it is a pleasure. Sturdy, light, perfect form factor, solid battery life 5 years on, and gets all the new Android goodies. I miss the good ol' days when smartphone form factor wasn't expected to accommodate portable video playback as a first-class citizen. Honestly if I want to spend extended time watching a video on the go I'll carry my tablet with me =/
    - spbaar 9y ago
      Working in a dev shop with tons of test devices, the Nexus 5 was the most resilient and snappy over the years by far
      - tigershark 9y ago
        Snappy? If you compare it to other crappier android phones maybe. My iphone 4 was just a bit slower, but it was 3 years and half older.
        keerthiko 9y ago
        The Nexus 5 came out late 2013, the iPhone 4 in mid 2011, so a little over 2 years. Also I believe newer devices tend to be less snappy, as the tendencies for grand flourishes of OS animations and hardware performance optimization seems to be moving at different paces. I find the Nexus 5 snappier than every other Android device I have used since then including powerhouses like the 5X, 6P, Note 7, and snappier than many modern iPhones I've used in my dev shop work (5S onwards, haven't tried the X). It's only technical downside is a lower max screen brightness than other devices, but I personally prefer my screens not overpowering my eyes anyway.
cornellwright 9y ago
I had some trouble with burn in on an OLED TV that was being left on all the time. I did some research and found out that the effect goes away by leaving the screen off for a few hours every day. I set the TV to turn off every evening, and the burn in problem went away and less electricity was wasted. I wonder if this is happening from very heavy use or something else that's not allowing the screen to recover.

ezequiel-garzon 9y ago

Interesting, my Note II lasted almost 5 years and there was never any ghosting effect, so I thought Samsung controlled this technology quite well. Then again we can see what happened to batteries...

gilrain 9y ago

Anecdote for anecdote: I've been enjoying OLED screens on my Android phones since the Galaxy Nexus (2011), and I've never had burn-in or any other display-specific issue.

Stratoscope 9y ago
Same here. My Note 4 is three years old, with hours of screen-on time per day at a fairly high brightness. (I use it primarily as a tablet, not a phone.) Not the slightest hint of burn-in or any display problems.
satysin 9y ago
For sure. Many friends of mine have had no issues. Maybe I was just unlucky or my way of using the phone is different enough, who knows.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

mikestew 9y ago

I'm wondering if it can be done, or isn't already done, like plasma TVs that rotate pixels and other trickery to keep burn-in at bay. I had a Panasonic plasma for a good ten years that saw its fair share of video games, with health bars and the like, and never saw burn-in. I did see ghosting toward the end of its life, but never burned-in images. The new plasma (Samsung, because I missed the last of the Panasonics) is only a few years old, but no problems with that one yet, either.

selectodude 9y ago
Already done. Maybe this particular phone isn't doing it, but pixel shifting is standard on Samsungs and the iPhone X.

khedoros1 9y ago

I used my Galaxy Nexus for 2 years, with no burn-in issues. The screen still looks gorgeous and has no burn-in that I can see.

ryuuchin 9y ago

Auto brightness can help when it comes to avoiding burn-in. Using max brightness all the time with static things on the screen is a recipe for burn-in even on IPS displays.

DrScump 9y ago
On both Samsung phones and tablets, I've found Auto Brightness to be unreadably low at first and had to shut it off. (With Auto off, you can set whatever fixed brightness you want, it's not a binary Auto vs. Max choice). I have the GS3, GS5, GS6, GS6 Edge, GS7, GS7 Edge, and a Tab A.
- viraptor 9y ago
  Does Samsung change how brightness works in Android? I think since 7.x both Auto and fixed are adjustable. On my pixel, I have Auto brightness, but at the same time I can choose the baseline brightness level - it gets corrected from that point. So the switch is really "fixed at point" / "floating around that point".
  - DrScump 9y ago
    I just tried it on my GS7... sliding Auto Brightness from Off to On always bounces the setting bar down to baseline (about 40%) initially regardless of prior setting.
    - viraptor 9y ago
      That's either old Android or Samsung breaks the behaviour then. You can have adjustable auto-brightness on stock Android. (Called adaptive brightness in settings)

JohnTHaller 9y ago

My Nexus 6 screen still looks fantastic. Wish I could get a new one with an updated CPU, fingerprint reader, faster storage, better camera, and the same screen + form factor.

RhodesianHunter 9y ago
So much this. I just want an upgraded Nexus. Hell I'd even take the 5X.
- keerthiko 9y ago
  Hell I'd take, nay, I'd pay premium for a Nexus 5 (pre-X) updated with new components. In fact, I reverted to my Nexus 5 when I found that it's still working fine after 2 upgrades, and it is a pleasure. Sturdy, light, perfect form factor, solid battery life 5 years on, and gets all the new Android goodies. I miss the good ol' days when smartphone form factor wasn't expected to accommodate portable video playback as a first-class citizen. Honestly if I want to spend extended time watching a video on the go I'll carry my tablet with me =/
  - spbaar 9y ago
    Working in a dev shop with tons of test devices, the Nexus 5 was the most resilient and snappy over the years by far
    - tigershark 9y ago
      Snappy? If you compare it to other crappier android phones maybe. My iphone 4 was just a bit slower, but it was 3 years and half older.
      - keerthiko 9y ago
        The Nexus 5 came out late 2013, the iPhone 4 in mid 2011, so a little over 2 years. Also I believe newer devices tend to be less snappy, as the tendencies for grand flourishes of OS animations and hardware performance optimization seems to be moving at different paces. I find the Nexus 5 snappier than every other Android device I have used since then including powerhouses like the 5X, 6P, Note 7, and snappier than many modern iPhones I've used in my dev shop work (5S onwards, haven't tried the X). It's only technical downside is a lower max screen brightness than other devices, but I personally prefer my screens not overpowering my eyes anyway.

cornellwright 9y ago

I had some trouble with burn in on an OLED TV that was being left on all the time. I did some research and found out that the effect goes away by leaving the screen off for a few hours every day. I set the TV to turn off every evening, and the burn in problem went away and less electricity was wasted. I wonder if this is happening from very heavy use or something else that's not allowing the screen to recover.