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High-End ?

Fairphone 4 Display test: Decent video viewing

February 2, 2022
69
display
This device has been tested in the previous version of our protocol. Please note that the score and contents below refer to an older test protocol.
OTHER AVAILABLE TESTS FOR THIS DEVICE

The Fairphone 4 arrived on the market in October 2021, and as ever, the manufacturer’s aim is to produce an environmentally friendlier, user-reparable device that provides the kinds of high-end features that consumers expect. Let’s take a look at how well it performed in our Display protocol tests.

Key display specifications:

  • 6.3-inch IPS LCD display
  • Resolution: 1080 x 2340 (410 ppi)
  • Aspect ratio: 19.5:9
  • Maximum refresh rate: 60 Hz
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 750 5G (8 nm)

About DXOMARK Display tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone and other display reviews, DXOMARK engineers perform a variety of objective and perceptual tests under controlled lab and real-life conditions. This article highlights the most important results of our testing. Note that we evaluate display attributes using only the device’s built-in display hardware and its still image (gallery) and video apps at their default settings. (For in-depth information about how we evaluate smartphone and other displays, check out our articles, “How DXOMARK tests display quality” and “A closer look at DXOMARK Display testing.”)

Test summary

Fairphone 4
69
display
Readability
48

76

Color
80

92

Video
80

91

Motion
75

87

Touch
61

85

Artifacts
68

86

DISPLAY
Position in Global Ranking
93rd
1. Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
99
2. Apple iPhone 13 Pro
98
3. Honor Magic4 Ultimate
95
3. Oppo Find X5 Pro
95
5. Oppo Find X5
94
6. Apple iPhone 13
93
6. Huawei P50 Pro
93
6. Samsung Galaxy S22+ (Exynos)
93
6. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Snapdragon)
93
6. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos)
93
11. Samsung Galaxy S22 (Snapdragon)
92
11. Samsung Galaxy S22 (Exynos)
92
13. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Exynos)
91
13. Sony Xperia 5 IV
91
13. Vivo X70 Pro+
91
16. Apple iPhone 13 mini
90
16. Google Pixel 6 Pro
90
16. Honor Magic4 Pro
90
16. OnePlus 10 Pro
90
16. Realme GT 2 Pro
90
16. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon)
90
16. Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
90
23. OnePlus 9 Pro
89
23. OnePlus 8T
89
23. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G
89
23. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G
89
23. Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Exynos)
89
23. TCL 20 Pro 5G
89
23. Vivo X60 Pro+
89
23. Xiaomi 11T
89
31. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
88
31. LG Wing
88
31. OnePlus 9
88
31. OnePlus 8 Pro
88
31. Oppo Find X3 Pro
88
31. Vivo X70 Pro (MediaTek)
88
31. Vivo X60 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)
88
31. Vivo iQOO 9 Pro
88
39. Apple iPhone 12 Pro
87
39. Google Pixel 6a
87
39. Google Pixel 6
87
39. Oppo Reno8 5G
87
39. Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G
87
39. Vivo X51 5G
87
39. Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
87
39. Xiaomi Mi 11
87
39. Xiaomi 11T Pro
87
48. Apple iPhone SE (2022)
86
48. Honor 70
86
48. Motorola Edge 30 Pro
86
48. Oppo Reno8 Pro 5G
86
48. Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)
86
48. Sony Xperia 1 III
86
54. Apple iPhone 12
85
54. Huawei P40 Pro
85
54. Oppo Find X3 Neo
85
54. Xiaomi 12 Pro
85
58. Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
84
58. Realme GT 5G
84
60. Oppo Reno5 Pro+ 5G
83
60. TCL 10 Pro
83
60. Vivo iQOO 7 Legend
83
60. Xiaomi Mi 11i
83
60. Xiaomi 12
83
65. Asus ROG Phone 5
82
66. Asus Zenfone 8
81
66. Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
81
66. Realme GT Neo 2 5G
81
69. Motorola Edge 20 Pro
80
69. Oppo Reno6 5G
80
71. Lenovo Legion Y90
79
71. OnePlus Nord 2 5G
79
71. Oppo Find X5 Lite
79
71. Oppo Find X3 Lite
79
71. POCO F4 GT
79
71. Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
79
71. Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
79
71. Xiaomi Redmi K50 Gaming
79
79. Sony Xperia 5 II
78
79. ZTE Axon 30 Ultra
78
81. Nubia RedMagic 6 Pro
77
81. Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
77
83. Oppo Find X2 Pro
76
84. Sony Xperia 10 IV
75
85. Google Pixel 5
74
85. Microsoft Surface Duo
74
85. Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro
74
88. Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra
73
89. Black Shark 4S Pro
72
89. Black Shark 4 Pro
72
89. Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro 5G
72
92. Asus ROG Phone 3
70
93. Fairphone 4
69
94. Crosscall Action-X5
62
95. Xiaomi Black Shark 3 Pro
61
96. Nokia 8.3 5G
55
97. Lenovo Legion Phone 2 Pro
53
98. Realme C21
43
DISPLAY
Position in High-End Ranking
24th
1. OnePlus 8T
89
1. TCL 20 Pro 5G
89
1. Xiaomi 11T
89
4. Google Pixel 6a
87
4. Google Pixel 6
87
4. Oppo Reno8 5G
87
7. Apple iPhone SE (2022)
86
7. Honor 70
86
9. Realme GT 5G
84
10. TCL 10 Pro
83
10. Vivo iQOO 7 Legend
83
12. Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
81
12. Realme GT Neo 2 5G
81
14. Oppo Reno6 5G
80
15. Oppo Find X5 Lite
79
15. Oppo Find X3 Lite
79
15. POCO F4 GT
79
15. Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
79
15. Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
79
15. Xiaomi Redmi K50 Gaming
79
21. Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
77
22. Sony Xperia 10 IV
75
23. Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro 5G
72
24. Fairphone 4
69
25. Crosscall Action-X5
62

Pros

  • Brightness well suited for indoor conditions
  • Pleasant HDR10 video rendering
  • No visible flicker

Cons

  • Too bright in low-light conditions and unreadable under sunlight
  • Strong loss of brightness and contrast when viewed on angle
  • A noticeable orange cast in all tested conditions

The Fairphone 4 has good brightness in indoor conditions, but otherwise has below-average readability and color reproduction. Lacking smoothness, it is not well suited for gaming, but it is good for watching HDR10 videos.

Brightness vs Contrast comparison (0 Lux)
Brightness vs Contrast comparison (30 000 Lux)
While the Fairphone 4 is too bright in low-light environments, including when the blue light filter (BLF) is on, the device has good readability indoors and can be read outdoors in shade.
Readability indoors, from left to right: Fairphone 4, OnePlus 9, Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G, Nokia 8.3 5G
(Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only)

When viewed under sunlight, content on the Fairphone 4 is difficult to read.

Readability under sunlight, left to right: Fairphone 4, OnePlus 9, Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G, Nokia 8.3 5G
(Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only)
Whether indoors and outdoors, colors on the Fairphone 4 display have an orange cast that becomes more pronounced on angle. 
Color rendering outdoors in shade, clockwise from top left: Fairphone 4, OnePlus 9, Nokia 8.3 5G, Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
(Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only)
The left-hand chart below shows the Fairphone 4’s color fidelity in the P3 color space. The center of each circle is the target color; the further the tip of the arrow is outside of the circle, the more users will notice the difference between the color on the display and the original color of the source material. In the scatter chart on the right, each dot represents a measurement taken at a discrete angle and distance from the device showing a full white pattern. The Fairphone 4 shifts into orange on angle. 
Fairphone 4, color fidelity at 1000 lux in the P3 color space
Fairphone 4, scatter graph of white point on angle

The photo arrays below illustrate the color shift toward orange measured in the scatter chart above.

Indoor color rendering on axis (top) and on angle (bottom), left to right: Fairphone 4, OnePlus 9, Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G, Nokia 8.3 5G
(Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only)

The Fairphone 4 is good for watching HDR10 videos, with very good brightness in low light and well-rendered dark details. A pink to orange cast is visible on content, including on skin tones, but the rendering is acceptable.

Video color, clockwise from top left: left to right: Fairphone 4, OnePlus 9, Nokia 8.3 5G, Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
(Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only)

The Fairphone 4 shows a few frame drops at 30 fps and when playing FHD 60 fps videos, but no frame drops are visible when playing video games. The device does not manage motion blur well, and sometimes the device pauses before resuming video playback after moving in the timeline.

The Fairphone 4 is quite accurate when zooming in the gallery app, but the device lacks smoothness regardless of the use case.

Given its screen’s LCD technology, the Fairphone device has no problems with flicker:

Temporal Light Modulation
This graph represents the frequencies of lighting variation; the highest peak gives the main flicker frequency. The combination of a low frequency and a high peak is susceptible to inducing eye fatigue. Displays flicker for 2 main reasons: refresh rate and Pulse Width Modulation. This measurement is important for comfort because flickering at low frequencies can be perceived by some individuals, and in the most extreme cases, can induce seizures. Some experiments show that discomfort can appear at a higher frequency. A high PWM frequency (>1500 Hz) tends to be safer for users.

Although it handles judder very well, the Fairphone 4 is not suitable for a comfortable gaming experience, with touch lacking precision in corners and the device being too responsive to ghost touches. Furthermore, aliasing is noticeable.

Fairphone 4, closeup of aliasing
(Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only)
Fairphone 4, closeup of aliasing
(Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only)
Fairphone 4, closeup of aliasing
(Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only)

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