iPhone X review: Face ID, the notch and a new screen Watch Now

Video: iPhone X review: Face ID, the notch, and a new screen

The display on a smartphone is the most important element, as it is the part of your phone that you interact with all the time. Apple LCD displays have always been great, but this year's iPhone X OLED panel is the best.

The folks at DisplayMate posted the results of testing the Apple iPhone X and judged it to be the best smartphone display currently available. Samsung manufactured the OLED display used in the iPhone X, but Apple took things further with its own optimization of that panel to make it even better than what we saw on the Galaxy Note 8 and S8 devices.

According to Dr. Soneira at DisplayMate, areas where the iPhone X match or set new smartphone display records include:

Highest absolute color accuracy for any display (0.9 JNCD) -- this is usually indistinguishable from perfect

Highest full screen brightness for OLED smartphones (634 nits)

Highest full screen contrast rating in ambient light (141)

Highest contrast ratio (Infinite)

Lowest screen reflectance (4.5 percent)

Smallest brightness variation with viewing angle (22 percent)

I recall the Galaxy Note 8 having a reported brightness over 1,000 nits, but Dr. Soneira explains that the Note 8 can produce up to 1,240 nits for only small portions of the screen area. For full screen brightness, the Note 8 can produce up to 560 nits with automatic brightness compared to the iPhone X full screen at 634 nits.

DisplayMate states that Apple's impressive precision display calibration is the major factor that sets the iPhone X apart from Samsung's impressive OLED displays.

Read also: How iPhone X melds the best of Apple's past and present | iPhone X vs iPhone 8: Price, size, camera all factor in your buying decision | Face ID is so good you won't miss the Home button | Should you upgrade your iPhone to iOS 11.1? | iPhone X reviews: It's a journey not an impulse buy | Apple: We screwed up your iPhone X order, please come back

One feature that has shown to be a problem on many other smartphones is the ability to use your phone in portrait and landscape with polarized sunglasses. Thankfully, the Apple iPhone X display works in both orientations.

Previous and related coverage

Apple's iPhone X gamble could be paying off

Seems like there's no shortage of people who want to pay over a thousand dollars for a smartphone.

iPhone X: We can reduce but not eliminate burn-in on OLED screen, says Apple

Burn-in is a fact of life for OLED displays, including the iPhone X's Super Retina display.