Why are high resolution phone screens being pushed so hard?

Level1Techs INBOX.deb
1

I mean FFS, our 5" phone screens are going to be 4k really soon.

Is this not hurting the practicality of the phone drastically?

You are overstressing your GPU, draining your battery, increasing your heat, for what? A PPI that you cannot even notice?

I have the original Optimus G (2012 720P IPS) and a friend just got a G3 (2014 1440P IPS) and I am seeing no improvement outside of software.

The screen looks the same, if not worse, the phone is slow, the battery life is abysmal, it takes forever to charge, and it overheats if you do anything intensive on it.

I would rather have a snappy 720P phone with a 3 day battery life than a weak ass GPU pushing 2560x1440 pixels, it is fucking absurd! Candy crush doesn't look any better, facebook doesn't work any better, your 1080P videos are still fucking 1080P, the phone isn't doing anything more useful at all, so why put it in?

 

I just want a single phone that is not trying to win a spec war, or try to awe me when I first use it. I want a phone that is going to be strong in daily use and not goddamn tech articles.

 

The Turbo has a 3900mAh battery with a QHD screen.

The T2 Ultra has a 3000mAh battery with a 720P screen.

 

Now imagine if that 3900mAh battery was paired with a viable screen resolution.

 

Now let's look at a QHD phone with a 3000mAh battery.

/rant

1 Like
2

First, the company able to sell smaller and more mobile phones won the game. Then companies who could put the most megapixels in a phone camera. Currently, which company is able to put the most pixels in the screen. All the while of course, raising price to performance with disregard to anything else, not in the least of course, the environmental and social impact.

But hey, what we don't see we don't care about right? As long as we can have our OnePlus Ones who tick all the price and performance boxes - and nothing else - we are happy right?

Innovation at work... 

3

I have a droid turbo. 1440P screen.

First, I can tell a difference. I notice the sharper images, and better screen quality.

Secondly, my phone only gets warm when I use the turbo charger. (8 hours of battery life in 15 minutes).

Third, It has never stuttered or frozen on anything. Even on games like GTA:SA or Asphalt, or any other game I throw at it.

Fourth, I charge my phone (at the most frequent point) once every 30 hours or so.

So yeah..

Used incorrectly, or on an underpowered device, yes it will suffer.

But used correctly, in a higher-end device, like it should be, and It's amazing.

1 Like
4

This could be applied to anything. 

Graphics cards

Monitors

CPUS

Cars.

Of course people want a more powerful device. that's how things evolve. Better applications, better games. Those things couldnt happen without phones that have more performance, and nicer screens.

And on contracts, you pay almost nothing for your phones.

If you aren;t on contract, and you want a nice phone, that's something you choose to deal with. You cant expect to get a super high tech device for a super low price. not yet, anyway.

5

Well, at the moment we have maxed out what a phone can do. Software isn't really pushing phones. So phone sales are down and manufacturers are trying any gimmick to see what sticks.

6

I am okay with them building them. People who like them its great. Personally anything more than 1080p in a screen smaller than 5.5 inch is a waste.

So with that in mind. Make the new Note 4 or DroidTurbo with their new dense screens but also offer them in base spec 1080 screens as well. If they did this it would quantifiably set them apart. Better battery for those who want it and better screens for those who don't care.

7

Graphics cards are specifically made to render/run games. Whu would anybody upgrade to a card that is not stronger?

Monitors do not have near the ppi of a phone screen. A 4k 23" screen would have a PPI of 191, where as the latest quad hd phones are ~480. Now try to justify why your phone needs over 2.5x the resolution of a small high pixel density monitor.

And I would not be complaining if there was not a single phone following this trend. I have had my upgrade for 6 months just waiting for a decent phone.

Hell my 3 year old optimus G still has hardware that is very close to Quad HD phones. Snapdragon 601, 2Gb RAM, Adreno 320, etc. So don't say these screens are gimping the specs inside of the phone.

8

1. You just got it, wait until you have used it for a while and you have a good amount of apps running in the background.

2. Just because your screen looks "sharper" that doesn't mean that is due to the resolution. What phone did you upgrade from?

If you want to check just the resolution yourself, go to a phone store and use the original optimus then the G3 and tell me you notice the difference.

 

Also, I was going to get that phone, but once agaun they ruined a promising design.

Same exact screen, just slightly larger and four times the pixels.

9

I haven't seen a single phone to date run Android android even remotely well.

Once you have your widgets and apps running in the background, the cheap snapdragons just can't keep up.

And god forbid you try to browse the internet, going to anything that is not mobile friendly locks your shit up for a good 10 seconds.

10

Because they're pretty and they have the public's interest as a marketing feature.

11

Technology has to move forward somehow. If you want to be on the bleeding edge you have to make sacrifices. 

12

Ive had it over a month. i got it at release, and have about 40 apps installed.

The screen looking sharper is exactly due to the resolution. That's what determines sharpness. I upgraded from a Moto X, so yes, The screen I had before was wonderful, too.

I have had both low and high resolution screens, I can tell a difference.

How did they "ruin a promising design"?

And same exact screen from what? Its not the same screen. What are you comparing it to? It being larger and a higher resolution kind of makes it a different screen.

13

I haven't seen a single phone to date run Android android even remotely well.

You must only be buying or using budget phones.

I never had any snags or freezes with my moto X which I owned for over a year, or this one. No 10 second freezing or anything. Web browsing, gaming, everything ran fine.

 

This thread seems like a senseless android bashing thread.

14

What's bleeding edge about a slow ass phone that needs a 4000mAh battery just to last a day?

 

Not even Apple, the king of gimmicks cares about stuffing ungodly amounts of pixels into their phone screens.

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15

Not at all. I hate iOS.

It's not a matter of the platform being worse, it's more that the platform is being steered into a direction that is making it worse.

16

Yes, I would love this.

 

I would take a 1080P turbo in a second.

17

Nothing you have said denotes that the platform is getting worse. The things you are complaining about arent problems on half decent phones.

18

And again, the half decent phones aren't "slow ass". And who cares if the battery is bigger? It doesnt add much to the cost, or weight, of the phone.

19

I don't see why you would go back to sub-1080p resolution after seeing or having retina display.

20

Theres no difference, im happy with my oneplus one