Here is how to choose the right Smartphone display.

The OnePlus 8T

Just like any other technology, Smartphone technology seems to be moving very fast, and every year we see new smartphone ideas, some successful and many not seeing light of day.
With every manufacturer promising that they have that right smartphone for you, it would be good if you're armed with just enough knowledge of what to look out for when going shopping for that new device, especially if you don't have the luxury of changing your device every other time.
Of these key specs that you should pay attention to is the Smartphone display, since this forms the basic interaction between you and your phone. In fact, we spend most of our time with our phones than any other device, and having that quality display is a worthy investment.
There are various factors to consider in the display itself, all of which will finally determine the kind of smartphone  experience you will have.
The key display factors you should consider are :

• Display type
• Screen size
• Screen resolution
• Screen pixel density. 
• Brightness
• Refresh rate.
• Screen Protection.

Let's start with the:

Display type. 

There are currently around four screen display types available,  LCD, IPS LCD and OLED

LCD-Liquid crystal display was the first display type.  It uses liquid crystals which are illuminated  by a back light, produced by bulbs behind  the screen or at the sides. 

The major disadvantages of LCD is that it consumes alot of power and cannot achieve 'true black' since the bulbs are always on. 

OLED -Organic Light emitting diode is proudly categorised in to two, AMOLED and PMOLED, the most common  one being the AMOLED.

This display type has two major advantages over LCD. It uses less power, has better outdoor  display and can achieve 'perfect  black' resulting to almost close to nature display. It is also much slimmer.
While many cheap brands like Infinix prefer LCD screens, high end devices usually feature AMOLED displays, including Samsung S series, OnePlus among others.

Note: The most  common display in most low end devices is IPS LCD, which is an improved LCD in order to improve it's display and lower power consumption. 

Screen size.

There are various screen sizes to choose from,  and the size nowadays  is a matter of personal preference. 

However,  you might be surprised to know that smaller screen sizes tend to be more clear than large ones,  and that is why Samsung has always been careful  with it's screen sizes. 

I will explain how screen size affects a phone's  display quality later,  but now let me mention here that if you go for a phone with a screen size more than 6 inches,  make sure it has a pixel density of more than 400 ppi  or at least close to 400.

screen resolution.

A screen resolution is always given in pixels, eg 720 X 1280 pixels.  They are also categorised in to four: HD, Full HD,  Quad HD and Ultra HD. Each of these have specific pixels
Display type.              Resolution in pixels

• HD, or  720p               1280X720.
• Full HD-1080p.           1920x1080.
• QHD-1440p.                 2560x1440
• 4K-2160.                       3840x2160
• 8K-4320.                       7680x4320

As you go higher, the display quality becomes much better. For example, UHD has four times better display quality than the HD.
Various smartphones have various screen resolutions, with some between the above standard display resolutions.

How does the screen size affect its display quality?

To answer this, we have to bring in something known as pixel density.

Pexel density gives how much pixels are found per square inch, and given as ppi. For instance, a pixel density of 390 ppi  means there are 390 pixels per square inch.

Let's say your phone screen is 6 inch and has a screen resolution of 720x1280, then its PPI is given by:

PPI={√ 720×720×1280×1280}/6.

From this equation you can clearly see that if two phones have the same screen resolution e.g 720×1280 each, but one has a smaller screen than the other, then the one with smaller screen will have a better display quality than the larger one, since it will have a higher ppi.

This means that if you want to have a phone with a screen of more than 6.0 inches, then you should make sure to go for the one with a higher screen resolution so as to have a good pixel density.
A god example is a comparison between Infinix Note 7 Vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S. Both have almost a similar screen size with the Note 7 having a 6.95 inch display and the Redmi Note 9S having a slightly smaller screen of 6.67 inches.
However,while the Note 7 has a HD display of 720 x 1640 pixels, the Note 9S has a FULL HD+ display of 1080 x 2400 pixels. This is why the Note 7 has a very low pixel density of 258 ppi, while the Note 9S has 395 ppi.
If I was to choose between these two, I would go for the Note 9S, even if I have to spend slightly more.
The pixel density greatly determines the kind of viewing experience you will have,and is so critical for anyone who intents to use their device largely for gaming or watching videos.
Whereas a phone with a high pixel density produces crispy high quality images, the one with low ppi has colour distortions and poor motion quality.

Usually, a good phone should have a pixel density of more than 400 PPI, especially if it has a screen of more than 6.0 inch.
Display Brightness.
While many smartphone manufacturers thend to pay less attention to display Brightness, some like Nokia, Samsung, Oppo, OnePlus pay much attention to this little know factor which is another key display quality determinant.
While many phones give a good indoor display experience, very view can achieve the same outdoors.
While Nokia did their best to give us phones which could work outdoors just fine with their clearBack technology like in Lumia 540, LG proudly advertised their G7 Thin Q as the "Super Bright", with brightness of upto 1000 nits.
Just like in monitors, brightness is quite crucial also in smartphones, and having a phone with higher brightness rates is quite important.
Screen brightness is candles per meter square(CD/m2), usually refered to as nits.
This is simply how many candles of brightness per square meter of display, given in numbers. For example, 250 nits is an equivalent of 250 candles per square metre.
A phone with a higherd value of nits has a better outdoors experience, and most high end devices have 1,000 nits rating, meaning they can achieve super brightness which can be used out at the sun.
Many phones also now come with light sensors, so that the screen brightness can automatically adjust to suit the surrounding and protect your eyes from straining.

Screen Refresh Rate.

Initially an important factor to considered in determining the quality of monitor displays, the refresh rate is now one of the Key Smartphone spec just like the processor, battery Cameras and so on.

While the Razor phone is considered the first phone to have a 60 Hz refresh rate, OnePlus is given much credit for giving us high refresh rate smartphones.

A screen Refresh rate is the number if times the screen can refresh itself per second, usually given in Hz. This means a 60 Hz refresh rate display refreshes itself 60 times a second and so on.

While many phones now support 90 Hz refresh rates, high end phones now come with 120 Hz refresh rates or more.

The OnePlus 8T, the phone believed to have the best display ever on a smartphone, has a refresh rate of 120 Hz, while a few other phones have a 144 Hz refresh rates.

On the other hand even budget devices like the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 and Infinix zero 8 now come with 90 Hz refresh rates.

Usually the higher the value the better the viewing experience.

So, how do you pick the best smartphone display?

While the major determinant factor is the amount of money you are willing to spend, smartphones have been broadly categorized into three; flagship, mid-range and budget devices.

Though you might not get a budget smartphone with a good display, the mid-range segment has quite a number of phones with good overall specs, and the likes of Xiaomi, Realme, Nokia and Samsung have a wide range of mid-rangers to choose from.

Overall, for any given amount of money you want:

• Go for a better screen panel if you can. Choose an AMOLED over IPS LCD if possible.
• Choose the highest screen resolution available for the set price tag. Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 has a good 2340 x 1080 pixel resolution, much better than many phones with the same price.
• Consider a phone with at least 90 Hz refresh rate or more. A good example here is the Realme 6 which has a FULL HD+ display of 2400 x 1080 pixels and a 90 Hz refresh rate.
• Consider going for a phone with at least 700 nits brightness or more, it will make your outdoors experience much better.
• Finally, if you can get a phone with dust and water resistance, don't let it go.

We hope this article has extensively covered everything you need to know when it comes to smartphone displays and how you can get the best value for your money next time you go shopping for a new phone.

In case you feel there's something we left out or need some further clarification kindly let's know on the comments section below and we will do our best to respond.

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