Notebookcheck Logo

PWM Ranking - The Best Displays for the Eyes

Typical PWM graph of the luminance, in this case from the HP EliteBook 840 G3 at 200 Hz
Typical PWM graph of the luminance, in this case from the HP EliteBook 840 G3 at 200 Hz

PWM is short for pulse-width modulation and describes a flickering of the background illumination to reduce the luminance. Sensitive users may see this flickering below a certain frequency and get tired eyes or headaches. These problems might not even be obvious. More than 500 Hz are generally not an issue, but there seem to be many users with problems below 250 Hz. Beware, there are even reports from readers that suffer from frequencies above 10k Hz. These users should look at the individual reviews and look out for completly flat lines in our measurements as small brightness changes may lead to sore eyes, headache ... for them.

We use the following table to show the measured frequency of the flickering. Some devices do not use PWM at all, but still showed a measurable brightness flickering during our review (e. g. poor shielding of the power adapter). Those devices are listed here as well. Devices listed with a "0" did not show big brightness fluctuations in our measurements. A detailed analysis and a screenshot of the measurement is available in the linked review.

Show Restrictions
PosModelScreen ResolutionScreen TypeResponse Times PWM Frequency ↓
Nokia G421612x720IPS
0
Samsung Galaxy XCover 72408x1080PLS
0
Cubot KingKong AX2408x1080IPS
0
Motorola Moto G041612x720IPS
0
Motorola Moto G142400x1080IPS
0
Motorola Moto G241612x720IPS
0
Motorola Moto G24 Power1612x720IPS
0
Motorola Moto G341600x720IPS
0
Motorola Moto G542400x1080IPS
0
Blackview N60001200x540IPS
0
Cubot P802408x1080IPS
0
HMD Pulse Pro1612x720IPS
0
Xiaomi Redmi 122460x1080IPS
0
Xiaomi Redmi 13C1600x720IPS
0
Tecno Spark 10 5G1612x720IPS
0
Tecno Spark 10 Pro2460x1080IPS
0
Oukitel WP30 Pro2460x1080IPS
0
Oukitel WP33 Pro 5G2408x1080IPS
0
Samsung Galaxy A14 LTE2408x1080PLS
343500
PosModelScreen ResolutionScreen TypeResponse Times PWM Frequency ↓
Nokia XR212400x1080TFT-LCD
55100
Honor Magic V22344x2156OLED
2272
Honor Magic V2 RSR2344x2156OLED
2272
Honor Magic V2 RSR2376x1060OLED
2272
Honor 90 5G2664x1200AMOLED
728
Motorola Edge 50 Pro2712x1220P-OLED
714
Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G2712x1220AMOLED
713.5
Realme 11 Pro2412x1080AMOLED
577.4
Honor Magic6 Lite2652x1200AMOLED
528
Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra2400x1080AMOLED
486
Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro2400x1080OLED
485
Samsung Galaxy S242340x1080Dynamic AMOLED 2X
483
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra3120x1440Dynamic AMOLED 2X
480
Samsung Galaxy S24+3120x1440AMOLED
479
Realme 11 Pro+2412x1080AMOLED
439
Xiaomi 142670x1200OLED
429
Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 4G2400x1080AMOLED
389.2
Sony Xperia 1 V3840x1644AMOLED
376
Vivo X100 Pro2800x1260AMOLED
369
Xiaomi Mix Fold 32160x1916AMOLED
367
PosModelScreen ResolutionScreen TypeResponse Times PWM Frequency ↓
OnePlus Nord 31240x2772AMOLED
366.58
Honor Magic6 Pro2800x1280OLED
360
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S2400x1080AMOLED
355.6
Apple iPhone 152556x1179Super Retina XDR OLED
306
Xiaomi Mix Fold 32520x1080AMOLED
304
Sony Xperia 5 V2520x1080OLED
274
Apple iPhone 15 Pro2556x1179Super Retina XDR OLED
242
Oppo Find N32440x2268OLED
240
Samsung Galaxy A35 5G2340x1080Super AMOLED
240
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max review - More camera power and titanium for Apple's biggest smartphone
The best phones of 2023: Video test - The iPhone is (no longer) the reference in many areas		2796x1290OLED
240
Vivo X Fold32480x2200AMOLED
240
Asus Zenfone 102400x1080AMOLED
238.1
Google Pixel 7a2400x1080OLED
218
Samsung Galaxy A152340x1080Super AMOLED
187
Motorola Razr 402640x1080P-OLED
180.3
Google Pixel 82400x1080OLED
170
Motorola Edge 402400x1080OLED
144
Sony Xperia 10 V2520x1080OLED
137
Xiaomi 14 Pro3200x1440AMOLED
120.5
Motorola Edge 40 Neo2400x1080pOLED
120.4
PosModelScreen ResolutionScreen TypeResponse Times PWM Frequency ↓
Xiaomi Poco F5 Pro3200x1440AMOLED
120.3
Google Pixel Fold2208x1840OLED
120.2
HTC U23 pro2400x1080OLED
120.2
Huawei Nova 11 Pro2652x1200OLED
120.1
Xiaomi 13T2712x1220AMOLED
120
Xiaomi 13T Pro2712x1220AMOLED
120
Xiaomi 14 Ultra3200x1440AMOLED
120
Oppo Find N32484x1116OLED
120
Oppo Find N3 Flip2520x1080AMOLED
120
Samsung Galaxy A55 5G2340x1080Super AMOLED
120
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE2340x1080Dynamic AMOLED x2
120
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 5G2640x1080Dynamic AMOLED
120
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold52176x1812Dynamic AMOLED
120
Realme GT52772x1240AMOLED
120
Honor Magic V22376x1060OLED
120
Google Pixel 8 Pro
Google Pixel 8 Pro review - Powerful Android smartphone with seven years of updates
The best camera smartphones 2023 in review - Apple and Xiaomi fall short of Samsung's best performance
The best phones of 2023: Video test - The iPhone is (no longer) the reference in many areas		2992x1344OLED
120
Xiaomi Poco F52400x1080AMOLED
120
Xiaomi Poco X6 Pro 5G2712x1220AMOLED
120
Xiaomi Redmi K70 Pro3200x1440AMOLED
120
Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G2712x1220AMOLED
120
PosModelScreen ResolutionScreen TypeResponse Times PWM Frequency ↓
Vivo X Fold32748x1172
120
Tecno Spark 20 Pro+2436x1080AMOLED
119.9
Samsung Galaxy A25 5G2340x1080Super AMOLED
119.8
Samsung Galaxy M34 5G2340x1080Super AMOLED
119.6
Xiaomi Poco M6 Pro2400x1080AMOLED
119
Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro 4G2400x1080AMOLED
119
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra2640x1080P-OLED
103
Oppo Find X7 Ultra3168x1440AMOLED
91
Fairphone 52700x1224OLED
90
Samsung Galaxy A15 5G2340x1080AMOLED
90
Motorola Moto G842400x1080P-OLED
90
Nothing Phone (2)2412x1080OLED
90
Nothing Phone (2a)2412x1084AMOLED
90
Tecno Pova 6 Pro2436x1080AMOLED
90
Apple iPhone 15 Plus2796x1290OLED
60
Tecno Phantom V Flip2640x1080AMOLED
60
Nubia RedMagic 8S Pro2480x1116AMOLED
60
Nubia RedMagic 9 Pro2480x1116AMOLED
60
Nubia Z60 Ultra2480x1116AMOLED
60
(-) * Smaller values are better. / n123 Number of benchmarks for this median value

Read all 68 comments / answer
static version load dynamic
Loading comments
Comment on this article
Please share our article, every link counts!
> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Benchmarks / Tech > PWM Ranking - Notebooks, Smartphones, and Tablets with PWM
Redaktion, 2016-04-19 (Update: 2019-07- 8)