HDR has arrived on mobile and it’s set to transform your viewing experience. Here’s everything you need to know about mobile HDR and how to get it.
One of the big new developments in smartphones this year is HDR screens. They’re only found on a handful of handsets so far – and we’ll cover which ones below, but they have the potential to take mobile movie watching to the next level.
Here, as well as telling you which phone to buy if you want a mobile movie marathon with added pop, we’ll also cover what HDR is, what services support it, and what else you should look out for to get the best viewing experience.
HDR stands for high dynamic range, which, in everyday English, simply means a high contrast between the lightest and darkest parts of an image.
On smartphone screens that means pumping up the brightness on the parts of an image that are meant to be bright, while keeping dark colours dim.
The effect of this is to better emphasise different colours and allow images to stand out in a striking way. And although HDR is used in photography, we’re not just talking static images. When it comes to an HDR-capable screen we’re talking about the ability to do this in videos and games.
HDR, HDR10, Mobile HDR Premium and Dolby Vision are all forms of HDR. While they have some subtle differences, with Dolby Vision seemingly set to be the best of them, thanks to its support for a higher peak brightness, you should pay more attention to the overall screen specs and quality of a handset than which form of HDR they support.
Currently, HDR content for mobile is only available on Netflix, Amazon Video and YouTube – so it’s a good thing those are three of the biggest and best video streaming services around.
Far from all content on any of those platforms is in HDR though. In general, on Netflix and Amazon it will be titles produced by those companies, and only relatively recent ones, but the selection of content is growing and should continue to, given that it’s not just phones but also TVs which can take advantage of HDR.
On Netflix, you’ll find big-name content like Bloodline, Daredevil and Netflix’s other Marvel content supports HDR. Just look out for the words HDR next to the description of a show to be sure. Also, be aware that you need to be on a 4 screen Netflix plan to access HDR content.
On Amazon, you can also look out for an HDR logo, and content includes films like Fury and Salt, along with shows like Transparent and Man in the High Castle.
On YouTube, videos will have an HDR badge next to the player controls and in many cases will also highlight HDR in the title or description.
HDR is supported by the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, Samsung Galaxy S8, Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus, LG G6, LG V30, Sony Xperia XZ Premium and Sony Xperia XZ1.
It’s also technically supported by the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, though of course that’s been recalled so you really shouldn’t have one of them.
Note also that although the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus support HDR, they don’t currently work with Netflix HDR, so if you want a Samsung phone with HDR your best bet is the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.
The other phones on this list should all work with Netflix, Amazon and YouTube HDR.
|
Phone |
Screen size |
Screen resolution |
Pixels per inch |
Display type |
|
Galaxy Note 8 |
6.3 inches |
1440 x 2960 |
521 |
Super AMOLED |
|
Galaxy S8 |
5.8 inches |
1440 x 2960 |
570 |
Super AMOLED |
|
Galaxy S8 Plus |
6.2 inches |
1440 x 2960 |
529 |
Super AMOLED |
|
LG G6 |
5.7 inches |
1440 x 2880 |
564 |
IPS LCD |
|
LG V30 |
6.0 inches |
1440 x 2880 |
537 |
P-OLED |
|
Xperia XZ Premium |
5.46 inches |
2160 x 3840 |
807 |
IPS LCD |
|
Xperia XZ1 |
5.2 inches |
1080 x 1920 |
424 |
IPS LCD |
If you’re after an HDR phone then you probably want the best viewing experience possible, and there are other things to consider for that than just whether or not it supports HDR.
For one thing, you probably want a big screen, as no one likes watching films on a tiny rectangle. From that perspective, the Sony Xperia XZ1 is the clear loser at 5.2 inches. The other phones are all varying degrees of large, but for maximum size go for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.
You also want high resolution. Again, the Xperia XZ1 loses here at 1080p, but the Sony Xperia XZ Premium actually comes out on top at 2160 x 3840. That means you can watch content in 4K on it. All the other handsets have around a QHD resolution, which is still very high.
Finally, you want to consider the display technology. Generally, OLED (used by the Samsung phones and the LG V30) offers better contrast and more vivid colours than LCD, so this can be a good choice.
Taking all that into account (and bearing in mind that you can’t currently use Netflix HDR with the Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8 Plus), we’d say the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 or Sony Xperia XZ Premium are the best handsets overall for mobile viewing.
As well as picking a phone you should also consider which network to choose. For the most part, there’s little to choose here – though if you plan to stream HDR content when out and about you’ll want great coverage and lots of data.
For the former, EE is currently the 4G coverage frontrunner, but all the UK networks are at over 90% population coverage. For the latter, Three is the only network to offer tariffs with unlimited data.
And Three has another advantage too, at least if you don’t shell out for unlimited data, as it also offers Go Binge on Advanced plans with 4GB or more, which lets you stream an unlimited amount of Netflix content (as well as TVPlayer, Deezer and SoundCloud content) without it coming out of your data allowance.
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