yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Slimer777:
Just bought the Hong Kong version of the S21+. You guys be very careful in your purchase. The 'normal' display mode is very under-saturated and the vivid mode is very over-saturated. White point can be adjusted but it doesn't help with adjusting color saturation at all.

For the ones who buy this phone for color accuracy. You will not be able to tolerate it. Don't know why Samsung is taking a huge step backward on their flagship phone.

The S10 and S20 are both better.

This is still early so I cannot be sure if this is one particular case but it seems like it from the reviews that I can find on the web.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] blackhawk:
Vivid mode is always over saturated on the newer Samsung's.

Natural mode on my 10+ pretty good but not good enough to edit photos... not by a long shot.

Color calibration on Android's is/has always been a nightmare...
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Slimer777:
View attachment 5205239

Finally took the time to measure the S21+ display. This is Natural Mode, as expected, very unsaturated colors. The worst part is the shifted greens, almost make my eyes hurt.

View attachment 5205243

Look at the gamma, also as expected. More like a 2.0 instead of 2.2

This is what is giving you the 'washed out' look of this display.

View attachment 5205245

This is measured with an i1Pro so anything above 30 on the grayscale should be accurate. White point is warmer. This is actually acceptable if they can get everything else right!

We need some answers from Samsung. I may go as far as filing a complain to Samsung in order to get a refund.

I am not so sure if they can rectify the problems with a firmware update.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Slimer777:
I gone out today to see how the Ultra perform. From my eyes, 95% similar to the s21+, totally unacceptable. You better put your sunglasses on if you are planning to use Vivid Mode for display.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Slimer777:
It is in NATURAL Mode, not VIVID.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Maxit228:
Thanks for taking the measurements!

Try some of the different screen modes accessible through adb commands.

###

adb shell settings put system screen_mode_setting a number from 0 to 4

- 0 AMOLED Cinema (DCI P3 target)

- 1 AMOLED Photo (Adobe RGB target)

- 2 Basic (sRGB target)

- 3 Natural

- 4 Vivid

###

In order for this to work, you need to set your screen mode to Natural first and switch in and out of the screen mode menu after you've sent the command for the screen to update. Personally, I found that Basic marginally improves upon the Natural color profile without being oversaturated. From what I understand, both Basic and Natural target sRGB yet has a noticeable different output. Though something about the Basic profile still seems off to my eyes.

I didn't discover these commands. Instead I found them over on reddit here.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Slimer777:
Thanks very much, Maxit228.

I will try this and report back. I am surprised why Samsung doesn't simply put these modes on the Display menu.

Mode 0 and 1 still have way larger color gamut than sRGB so I guess like you said the only mode left is Basic....
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Slimer777:
Ok, tried it and here's what I think.

Mode 0 Cinema, this mode still give you over-saturated colors but at least the green is more correct than Mode 1 and the gamma seems to be closer to 2.2 than Natural or Basic.

Mode 1 Photo, this mode has colors that is not as saturated as Mode 0, kind of in between Cinema and Natural which is good but the green is just too over-saturated and tilts towards cyan so I would rather use the Cinema mode for now

Like you said, Basic looks the same as Natural. I am sure there are subtle differences if we measure it with a spectro but I wouldn't bother.

Pick your poison, Cinema or Photo!
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Maxit228:
Thanks for the update. It's a shame that Samsung can't get the calibration correct. Unfortunately Cinema and Photo mode is far too saturated for my tastes and I might just return my S21+ or swap it for the Ultra.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Slimer777:
View attachment 5206557

Ok, the more I look at Basic, I think it is more accurate than Natural so I dive in and take some measurements. To my surprise, it is quite a bit more accurate than Natural! The color saturation is way closer to sRGB standard than Natural mode.

Unfortunately Gamma is the same as Natural.

View attachment 5206559

Hope this helps.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Maxit228:
Thanks again. I just swapped my S21+ for a S21 Ultra and I agree with you that the Ultra display performs similarly to the S21+ in the natural mode. I do not believe the gamma is as bad though since the Ultra display looks nowhere near as washed out.

In Basic mode, the S21 Ultra display looks very good to me.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Slimer777:
They wouldn't allow me to return it so unless I go get another Ultra. Is it worth it? You mean the Basic mode on the Ultra looks better than the Basic mode on the S21+ ?
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Maxit228:
Yes, to my eyes the Basic mode on the Ultra looks better than the Basic mode on the S21+. I believe the gamma tracks closer to 2.2 on the Ultra since colors are nowhere near as light/washed out. I still don't think it's perfect though. For me, it was worth swapping for the improved display nevermind the other improvements the Ultra has over the plus.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] superleeds27:
Bit of a shame if the above is all correct, Hopefully someone else picks up on these issues and Samsung takes note.

Uniformity is the one for me. I'd rather have consistent uniformity on the screen, than perfect colours and a non-uniform display. The S21, well, my unit at least, is uniform.

This was my biggest gripe with the Pixel range, non-uniform screens. Which is why I constantly returned them.

Hoping Displaymate look at the S21 too.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Slimer777:
Yes, I hope Samsung would upgrade their firmware to correct the issue. Should be simple enough for them.

I thought uniformity would not be an issue since the screen is so small and you rarely display a full screen in a uniform color.

Me too, waiting for Displaymate to confirm on the issue.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Slimer777:
I was looking at the Ultra. But I don't need the 100x zoom and I mostly take macro so I picked the S21+.

I will wait to see if other authority can confirm that the Ultra does have a better screen before buying one!
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Maxit228:
XDA's S21 Ultra display review should be coming up, unfortunately the reviewer doesn't have the S21/S21+. Andrei over at Anandtech noticed the gamma on his S21 unit and will almost certainly bring it up in his full review.

I was actually disappointed in the macro capabilities of my S21+ since the ultrawide has a fixed focus relatively far away. The Ultra is an quite an upgrade since it has PDAF on the ultrawide with the minimum focus about an inch from the lens.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] billozy:
I just got the US S21 moving up from the exynos note 9 which feels like a fricking downgrade, side to side the note still has a better panel and color accuracy. I keep the colors in basic mode.

If it wasn't for samsung trade in program, I'd keep the note.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] superleeds27:
Yeah I mean uniformity seems good compared to the Pixel 3/4/5 I returned because of random patchy greys. The S21 on a full grey screen looks fairly uniform to me, or at least to my eyes.

There's times when I feel like it isn't, but, that's purely down to how I'm holding the phone and looking at the screen at certain angle. Square on everything seems fine.

Let's see if FW updates change anything, few reviews popping up saying the screen is well calibrated though?
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Slimer777:
I just updated to the latest Hong Kong firmware and seems like they have made changes to the display mode. Colors become more saturated in 'natural' mode.

You guys try to update to the latest firmware and see if it changes anything. This is for S21+
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] redsmith:
Hi, is there any official info on the changelog regarding Natural mode? Also, is the white temperature fixed on your S21+ after the latest update?
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Slimer777:
Hi, it doesn't say anything about display adjustment on the changelog. Although I have not measured it with equipment, I can say for sure that saturation on Natural Mode is now improved a lot and from my naked eyes, gamma also improved a little but not perfect yet. But overall becoming acceptable.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] redsmith:
Awesome. Do you think it's better now than Basic mode?
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Slimer777:
For my eyes, definitely. especially in saturation. I think there is still room for improvement in both gamma and color saturation.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] superleeds27:
I guess we just have to try and keep on pushing them into sorting it?

Not sure what prompted them to change things in the March patch? Unless it was a planned changed
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] d.calasans:
Have you guys tried the "Use sRGB" option on Developer Setings?

I don't know what it does exactly.

EDIT.: It's available only for some color modes, like "basic"

View attachment 5251837
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] bassbounce:
Yep, same issue here.

The screen looks really bad compared to my Oneplus 7 pro or even my old S9.

Especially People's faces look washed out.

The vivid setting or the basic with adb didn't do anything better.

I returned this phone.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] stopthetime:
the problem persists?
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] bassbounce:
Sadly yes.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] blackhawk:
Other than setting it to natural and seeing if any Developer options exists you can try clearing the system cache.

I doubt a factory reset will help.

You could try reflashing the firmware, maybe it got corrupted.

Send it into Samsung if under warranty. If so take detailed pictures, pack like eggs and insure the package. Too many stories of Samsung claiming it arrived damaged!!! Smucks.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Slimer777:
Hi Guys,

Here's something new. My display was dead after 4 months (Black Screen Of Death) so I took it to Samsung for repair. They replaced my OLED display and the battery.

Now, with the same firmware before the repair, the display looks way better than before. Kind of like my S10+ now with Natural Mode. I would say it is almost right.

I guess the first batch of the display is just no good and the firmware does not have different inbuilt color profiles for different batch of panels.

Today, I go to a store and compare the displays. Both at max brightness and Natural mode, same firmware. The store unit is brighter but the color is too saturated for Natural Mode and my unit has better white balance, the store unit has a more bluish white point. I would say near 7000K.

My replaced display is now good. No complain.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] superleeds27:
Or maybe your screen was just a dud from the off and that's why it eventually died?

Can you retest the natural profile etc like you did at the beginning of the thread?
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] njdsasd:
I just received my S21 Ultra.

Vivid is a psychedelic trip, but natural is sadly way unsaturated.

I don't have a reference to calibrate against, however, I own an iPad Pro, a color accurate 4K display on my Thinkpad, and an LG CX OLED TV. And all these displays are significantly more vibrant than my S21 Ultra. When comparing side by side with my iPad Pro with the same content it's clear that the colors are way more vivid on the iPad Pro.

What should I do? Should I give the basic color profile setting a try?

Really disappointed that Samsung only provides to different very inaccurate color options with their flagship device.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] blackhawk:
On the 10+ the natural setting is pretty damn dead on. Vivid looks like you described.

Many people think oversaturated images look good and like the flavor of aspartame better than sugar🤣

Hard to believe Samsung screw that up too on this newer model. You can use a color calibration chart to check it from the cam end for color throughput accuracy. This is what really matters the most anyway. Just compare the image of the chart along side the actual chart in the same lighting as the image was taken. Make sure hdr is disabled.

You'll either be pleased or scream.

No 3rd party calibration apps exist for Androids that work easy or well.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] njdsasd:
I solved the problem.

It turned out the eye comfort setting messed up the saturation levels. I thought it only affected the color temperature but apparently not. Now my screen looks just fine with the eye comfort setting off.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] blackhawk:
Yah!

So what does it do, just dial down the saturation?

Androids, playing with it... fixes it.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Fredzvw:
Work perfectly for me.

View attachment 5394631
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] ems328i:
Don't suppose there is a translated version for those of us that can't read French?
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Fredzvw:
Yeah, sorry, I didn't think about that.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] ems328i:
Just give the final settings ;)
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] Fredzvw:
Yeah for sure!

In the settings, you select "vivid" mode. Go to RGB balance and lowering generously blue and a bit red. With this settings, colors are very close to my S20 before.

"We manage to recover a temperature of 6513K(which is perfect), a P3 spectrum coverage of 99.3% and a delta E of 6.56."
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] ems328i:
Excellent, thanks, I will try this out!
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] stopthetime:
the problem still persists?
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] anbox27:
now one ui 4.1、android 12，screen the problem still persists?
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] XDA_RealLifeReview:
The Samsung Galaxy S21 / S21+ / S21 Ultra has a crazy crisp display. Just kidding, this is automated text so who knows if this screen is any good. So, you be the judge! A higher rating indicates that it's extremely sharp and clear, and that you cannot see pixels with your naked eye.

Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] mattlcfc:
It is a lovely screen. Very crisp and colours are very good. Vivid mode seemed a little over the top so set it to natural
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] XDA_RealLifeReview:
You don't want to give your significant other yet another reason to yell at you while you're reading XDA in bed. Rate this thread to express what you think of the Samsung Galaxy S21 / S21+ / S21 Ultra's display minimum dimness. A higher rating indicates that the display can get extremely dim, ideal for reading in very dark environments.

Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] XDA_RealLifeReview:
When you call granny, does she keep saying "Huh?! Wut?!" or does the conversation flow pretty well? Rate this thread to express how you feel about the Samsung Galaxy S21 / S21+ / S21 Ultra's call quality. A higher rating indicates that calls are clear and crisp, and that regardless of background noise, you can hear the other party clearly (and with ample volume) and they can hear you.

Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] @ Ayush Garg:
Not good
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] mattlcfc:
Seemed on a par with my previous phone an S10 plus.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] fabiok81:
The ear capsule crackles at maximum volume...only during calling. During playing music it is instead ok . Have you got the same problem?
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] batroc:
https://xdaforums.com/t/speakerphone-loudness-clarity.4191127/post-85736617
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] staal-1983:
would stuff like this help?

settings put system call_answer_vib 1

settings put system call_end_vib 1

settings put system call_extra_volume 1

settings put system call_noise_reduction 1

settings put system call_popup 1

settings put system display_caller_info_card 1

settings put global swipe_to_call_message 0
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] XDA_RealLifeReview:
Rate this thread to express how you think the Samsung Galaxy S21 / S21+ / S21 Ultra's Wifi performs. A higher rating indicates that it has excellent range, throughput, and signal strength. Like when you're taking a dump in the bedroom upstairs, do your videos have to buffer or do they come through without interruption?

Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] rastanthology:
I'm a bit disappointed on wifi strength. I could use my note 9 from my room with no problem. It did have some instability on some areas of the room but it was quite usable. On the s21 ultra it disconnects and switches to 4g most of the time. To be honest I was not expecting lower performance than my previous phone.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] XDA_RealLifeReview:
We know how much you like to stream, ahem, "videos", and so cellular data is mega-important. Rate this thread to express how you think the Samsung Galaxy S21 / S21+ / S21 Ultra's LTE performs. A higher rating indicates that it's fantastic: throughput is excellent and signal strength is top-notch.

Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] @ Ayush Garg:
If you are using exynos then surely you will have terrible network.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] smallfish82:
I have Exynos and my 4G is dire with the S21 Ultra. Upload speeds are very slow. Latency is averaging 100ms. My S20+ was so much quicker (Exynos too).
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] elena11:
The same here. Good 4G download, but I get 2-5 Mbps upload only. I have the Exynos international version.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] robnitro:
Snapdragon s21 on sprint. Great speeds on LTE and good signal in the bad areas.

Similar to the G8X and S8 active I had.

The s10+I had was the WORST garbage, and I could tell it was struggling with signalbecause the battery was crap unless I was on wifi.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] XDA_RealLifeReview:
Proper etiquette aside (hint: don't use speakerphone while doing your "business" in a public bathroom), rate this thread to express how you think the Samsung Galaxy S21 / S21+ / S21 Ultra's speakerphone performs. A higher rating indicates that you love it: it's loud and it's clear.

Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] mattlcfc:
Seems loud enough and clear to my middle aged ear.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] insign:
I can resume it as vibrant. Best stereo speakers I had on a phone.
[Samsung Galaxy S21 Real Life Reviews] batroc:
In my opinion, placing the speaker in the middle of the smartphone is a good solution for music but bad for talking because I hear high-frequency noises like crackling and rustling. I would like a tunable or adaptive (maybe AI) low pass filter for conversation. I can turn on the low pass filter with hearing aid support but it cuts the high frequencies a lot. I would like to improve the compressor so that there is no cracking when audio overloading.
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] Miha512:
I am noticing quite a bit of ghosting on the display. Especially white text on dark background smears all over the place during fast scrolling. Black text on white turns grey in a similar situation. The blurbusters ufo test ( https://www.testufo.com/ ) looks really bad compared to a 120 Hz amoled. Is this how the display was supposed to be?
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] Al3xxxinho:
When you buy cheap this is what you get. Mine has a red tint all over the screen at low brightness ... Very annoying.

View attachment 5136753
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] Miha512:
Fortunately, I have no such issues. The screen is perfectly white on any brightness.
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] h8Aramex:
Same, my screen also looks good. Xiaomi is not OnePlus. Just send the phone in under warranty.
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] Gezine:
Just got my Mi 10T Pro and there IS screen ghosting

WTF xiaomi isn't this flagship phone???

Changing refresh rate to 90Hz is little better but still my eyes are bleeding

Except screen ghosting this phone is amazing

Hope they somehow update display firmware for faster GTG response
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] Kart0:
when scrolling on text it seems as if the text blurs and greys out until you stop and then it becomes the normal black again. It's really annoying when trying to scroll and read at any sort of speed. Anyone else had this issue /fixed it? I've tried pretty much every setting now and nothing really seems to help..
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] Miha512:
Obviously none of the reviewers mention this, but the amount of ghosting is disgusting. The 144 Hz is just there for marketing, and is pointless with the amount of ghosting this panel has.
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] superandroid2011:
How bad it is?

I'm leaning to Mi 10T over Oneplus 8T because I'm not a fan of Amoled (dont like to babysit display to avoid burnin).
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] dzontra83:
My Mi 10t pro is perfectly fine, i am not experiencing any ghosting. Mine is EEA model
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] Miha512:
I had a OnePlus 8T and sent it back because of green tint. I regret doing that... It is a much better phone that the Mi 10T Pro in my opinion. Way faster/smoother and the 120 Hz oled display is far better than this 144 Hz IPS. If only it had a better camera it would be perfect. Not saying that the Mi 10T Pro is a bad phone, but the OnePlus was just a joy to use, whereas this feels clunky at times.
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] Miha512:
https://www.testufo.com/ghosting#ba...tion=160&pps=480&graphics=bbufo.png&pursuit=1

Compare this to an oled phone if you can...
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] dzontra83:
Still looks ok, i don't have an oled currently, but still can't detect ghosting.
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] Miha512:
You sure there are no "smudges" behind the UFOs? Even tiny ones? I might have a faulty display, although I highly doubt that.
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] dzontra83:
Nope, no smudges
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] Miha512:
Are you at 144 Hz and using Google Chrome?
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] dzontra83:
Yes
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] Sub8:
This is what it looks like on my 10t pro.

Shoot on poco f1

Pro mode, wb 2000, autofocus, s1/30, iso 100

Edit: added 144 and 60 pic
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] Miha512:
[/QUOTE][/QUOTE]

Yeah, looks the same on mine... I don't think shooting a picture like this is a proper method to check for ghosting, but anyway.
[Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers] Sub8:
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, looks the same on mine... I don't think shooting a picture like this is a proper method to check for ghosting, but anyway.[/QUOTE]

Well, I can do a slow-motion video, but taking pictures is the pretty much only accurate way to show ghosting I think. What else can you do to show ghosting?

Of course, taking pictures with a better camera will bee.. well better :)

I don't mind this type of ghosting, it's minimal in my opinion.