I have a question for all those fairphone 4 users out there. How satisfied are you with the screen quality. And I mean in terms of colors, brightness, refresh rate, resolution. I’m coming from an wqhd+ hdr amoled screen and I fear the screen of the fairphone would be too much of a “downgrade” for me (you get used to oled pretty quickly).
Also, since the screen is so easily replaceable, wouldn’t it be great to have additional screen options to buy and exchange yourself? Just a dream …
I’m very satisfied with the screen for what I need it to do, but I’ve upgraded from a Nexus 4, so my opinion isn’t that useful probably.
If you are coming from an OLED HDR display (presumably with higher refresh rates) you certainly will be able to tell the difference, but how much that will annoy you totally depends on what you plan on doing with your phone
My previous mobile was a Samsung A71 with an old screen. I think Samsung screens are more bright with more(sometimes too much color). For the things I do with my fairphone 4 the screen is good enough. Never felt like a downgrade or something.
The colors are great for an LCD. Black is also not bad, it can go black enough to merge well with the notch. But the brightness is pretty bad. It’s okay for indoors use. But outside with the sun the screen becomes hard to read. And at night the screen’s auto brightness doesn’t go to 0%, but goes to around 30%. Manually sliding it to 0% fixes that, but it’s annoying. And even at 0% the screen is still quite bright.
This may be fixed with a software update. Some people noticed that custom ROMs can have lower brightness than the stock ROM.
Refresh rate is 60Hz, just like my Pixel 3. But there is still a huge lag compared to my Pixel, I don’t know why. The Pixel 3 looks more like a 90Hz screen, it’s that smooth. It’s hard to accept they have the same refresh rate.
But in summary. You’ll miss OLED (mostly because of the always on display). But the FP4 just passed the OK threshold for me.
I agree with UPPERCASE for what affects me (and for what doesn’t affect me, well I don’t disagree haha (I don’t often use my phone outdoors so I don’t know about brightness outdoors)).
I come from a Note 3 so FHD OLED, and I was very pleasantly surprised by the FP4’s screen. Not even just because “I lowered my standards when buying it” or anything but really, it was just honestly good.
The only reason why I would have liked an OLED is what UPPERCASE said, I would have liked an AOD. Otherwise this screen is good enough for me to not miss OLED one bit. Colors are good, resolution is enough for a phone.
And yeah, the refresh rate is weird, like it’s supposed to be the same as my Note 3 but my Note 3 felt smoother. On the other hand it was also slower so I’m not sure.
Another note, at some weird angles it has some stupid colors. Put your chin on a table in a corner, put the phone on the opposite corner, and then, when you have the usb-c facing you then black is black, when you have the volume buttons facing you then black is black, but when the phone is rotated by 45° then black is a terrible grey. On the bright side, no one does that, but since you’re asking, I have to say it.
I daily use a ZenFone 8 with Amoled screen and a FP4.
Honestly, i switch phones without any discomfort. Ok blacks are deeper with an Amoled, but that’s a matter of seconds to adapt.
The most annoying is the auto brightness on the FP4. Everytime too high. Especially at night. Adjusting to my taste seems never be taken in account by the software…
Thanks everybody for sharing your experiences. I actually never used the AOD so that is a feature i will not miss. I am consuming a lot of media on my phone, reading ebooks and comics, watching netflix etc. Also while I’m not a big mobile gamer I do occasionally enjoy some games . So that is why I was concerned. But from what I have read and seen so far on the tubes, I think the screen will suffice. I’m thinking of giving it a shot. Also I’m getting it to specifically install a custom degoogled rom.
thanks again everybody.
Just wanted to let you know I bought a Fairphone 4. And I have to agree, the screen is indeed great. For me the minimum and maximum brightness is also very much sufficient. I do not use auto brightness though, and I have installed Calyx OS, so that might be different to FPOS. Refresh rate is also great, I think it feels incredibly smooth for a 60hz panel. I don’t miss my old OLED screen at all. Thanks for all your input.
