Here’s how you adjust your phone’s screen brightness

Smartphones have long had the ability to automatically adjust the screen brightness. Most phones offer the ability to automatically adjust the display brightness based on ambient light conditions, while some also offer adaptive brightness that changes based on usage patterns. However, manual brightness adjustment is still possible on all devices, giving users the flexibility to adjust the levels to suit their usage.

In a recent survey, we asked our readers which method they preferred the most. Do you set your phones to automatic brightness or do you change the brightness manually? So they voted and what they had to say.

Do you prefer automatic or manual brightness?

Results

In our survey we received a total of 5,775 votes. It seems that all three options – auto brightness, manual brightness, and auto brightness with manual adjustments – have almost the same number of takers. However, a majority of voters (39.64%) prefer to manually adjust the screen brightness of their phones. This is understandable as different activities like streaming, gaming, reading, etc. usually require different levels of brightness and this can be easily adjusted from the quick settings menu on most devices. Some people can also adjust the brightness manually when their phone’s battery is low.

Now, 30% of voters rely on auto brightness to do the job for them. An almost similar number of people also use automatic brightness coupled with some manual adjustments. Even if manual brightness won this competition by a small margin, the auto brightness options are still very attractive to our readers.

Your comments

Brett: I go to auto brightness and then adjust it when I have to. Most of the time I just let it do its job.

Kossay Zemzem: I’ve tried the automatic brightness once or twice and it felt like it made my screen either too bright or too dark. It can also be related to the fact that I unconsciously want to be in control of my phone.

Chris_Peter: I can’t stand the brightness changing all the time while reading something on my phone.

SS03: Auto-brightness helps a lot, especially for people with high-performance glasses like me who don’t like sudden flashes of light or eye strain. In addition, the manual setting is just cumbersome.

roaduardo: My eyes determine how bright my display has to be. My eyes know best. Manually to the end.

Daniel D: I can’t understand people who don’t use automatic brightness. I’ve seen one of my sister-in-law on her Moto G4 a couple of times and I shivered. If I had to do this all the time, it would probably be the main thing that I do with my phone. Oh, and yes, sometimes I adjust the auto setting: at night when it’s not going to a very minimum and then I add a dimming app too, or when I’m playing a game with a dark scene and I want to make sure that I can see everything.

rslh: Old phone but the Pixel 3a XL has a great auto brightness feature!

Staicu: I’ve never used the automatic, don’t see the purpose, tbh, I can fine-tune it myself.

Shizuma: Auto with manual adjustment as apparently no manufacturer has published that the screen should be at minimum brightness in a completely dark room, not like 50% brightness to dazzle you when you turn on the phone.

Edrine Nollan Winchester: Car is good, I just hate it when I play CODM, when everything gets quieter and I have to pull down the notification panel to toggle it back up, but all in all it’s fine for me.