14 DAY TRIAL // iPhone X is the first iPhone model in history that comes with an OLED panel, and just like the other smartphones featuring such tech, it’s prone to a number of screen issues, including burn-in.
A test conducted by Cetizen suggests that the iPhone X shows the first signs of screen burn-in after displaying the same photo for 510 hours in a row, with the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Note 8 showing bigger damage after the same amount of time.
Ironically, the display of the iPhone X is manufactured by Samsung according to Apple’s own specs, so if we were to take this test for granted, then the smartphones built by the South Korean firm are actually equipped with display tech that’s worse than the one of the iPhone X.
Unanswered questions
What’s worth mentioning, however, is that this test is far from being flawless and it actually leaves a lot of questions unanswered.
First and foremost, burn-in is the result of a series of factors, and not just the consequence of a static image displayed on a screen for a certain amount of time.
It’s more of a cumulative effect that depends on screen brightness and device temperature, and it is by no means an indicator of how fast an iPhone X can suffer display damage should you run the same app, such as navigation software, continuously for a number of hours in a row.
Also, the rough translation of the test (originally in Chinese) seems to indicate that the reviewers actually stopped the test to check for burn-ins, which in turn is a sign that the 510 hours estimate might not be so accurate since a different image might have been displayed on the screen in the meantime.
Certainly, this is an interesting experiment that’s worth having a look at, but in the end, it shouldn’t be taken for granted for estimating the actual life and performance of the iPhone X or any other smartphone.
