Smartphone display brightness can be defined as how bright a display is. Smartphone displays are self-lit with backlights and this helps them function all around the clock. No matter the time of the day, be it in the bright sunshine or at midnight, your screen is expected to perform. The smartphone display is expected to be bright enough to display information that is legible (clear enough to read).

Read: What are Smartphone displays and why are they important?

Since smartphones are small and highly mobile, we tend to take them out and about with us for a variety of reasons and purposes. This means that we may have to use these devices outdoors where there is a lot of light (especially sunlight).

When external light is brighter than your smartphone’s display, it becomes “washed out”. This means that you may be unable to decipher anything from it.

If your smartphone display brightness level is not high enough, your phone could be unusable outdoors. This sometimes, is why you may be unable to use your phone properly under bright sunshine.

What is a Nit?

Smartphone brightness is measured in units called NIT. A Nit is a unit that represents the intensity of visible light. A high Nit rating means better legibility and operability under sunshine or other forms of external light.

A lot of smartphones today come with sunlight mode. In this mode, the display can become bright and hold its own against sunlight. Usually, if you set your brightness to Auto mode, it will push your display to maximum brightness.

Smartphone companies tend to advertise how bright the screens of their devices are in terms of nits and cite rather vague figures.

Low-end devices such as those in the entry-level and budget segments usually have displays of between 300 to 400 nit of brightness. A good example is the Redmi 9A (400 nits). Midrange phones can have around 400 to 500 nit of brightness. Examples are the Redmi Note 9 Pro (Pro Max) with 460 nits (616 nits in bright sunlight) and the Realme 6 Pro with 421 nits. High-end phones can have anything between 500 to as much as 900 nits of brightness. This can be seen in phones like the Samsung Galaxy S20 (814 nits), Samsung S20 Ultra (894 nits), iPhone 12 Pro Max (800 nits), and the new Xiaomi MI 11 pushes the bar up to 1500 nit.

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