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DisplayMate reveals new smartphone display champ, no prizes for guessing what it is

There's a new smartphone screen champ in town with record-breaking brightness and contrast. You probably know what it is...
By
August 14, 2018
The Samsung Galaxy Note 9.
TL;DR
  • The Galaxy Note 9 has the best smartphone display ever, according to screen analysis website DisplayMate.
  • The website praised the record high brightness and contrast of Samsung’s latest flagship.
  • DisplayMate also found that the Galaxy Note 9’s screen broke the record for absolute color accuracy.

Samsung’s recent flagships have all raised the bar for smartphone screens, according to DisplayMate. Now, the benchmarking website has analyzed the Galaxy Note 9 and determined that it has the best display on a smartphone.

Last year, the website praised the Galaxy Note 8 for achieving 22 percent higher brightness than the Galaxy S8, while also offering higher brightness when using the auto-brightness setting. The Galaxy Note 9’s 6.4-inch AMOLED screen (2,960 x 1,440) improves even further upon last year’s phablet, the website found, offering record high brightness (27 percent higher than Note 8) and contrast (32 percent better) in the “high brightness mode.”

DisplayMate also praised color improvements, saying the phone broke the record for absolute color accuracy. It elaborated on the new record, saying that it was “visually indistinguishable from perfect” and “significantly better” than the Galaxy Note 8. In fact, the website noted that the color accuracy was “almost certainly” better than the screen on your TV, laptop, tablet, and existing smartphone.

Worried about color and brightness shifting with the viewing angle? Well, DisplayMate’s analysis shows that it sets records for deviating from the original colors and brightness. That is, it sticks to the original colors and brightness better than prior smartphones when not viewed head-on.

The website praised the Galaxy Note 9 for its sheer variety of screen-related features too. This included HDR support, front and back ambient light sensors, personalized automatic brightness control, a night mode, a low-brightness mode (dubbed Super Dimming Mode), and an enhanced always-on mode.

Display showdown: AMOLED vs LCD vs Retina vs Infinity Display
Guides

There are plenty more technical findings made in the DisplayMate report, but it concludes by saying that the Galaxy Note 9 earns its “best performing smartphone display” award and its “highest ever” A+ grade.

The real question is whether Apple’s next OLED-equipped iPhone will match and/or exceed the Galaxy Note 9. After all, the Galaxy Note 8 held DisplayMate’s “best smartphone display” crown for roughly two months before Apple’s iPhone X beat it. Then again, Samsung supplied the iPhone X display, so it was a win-win of sorts for the Korean firm.

How important is a great screen for you? Is it high on your list of priorities? Let us know in the comments!