Today’s phone screens are mostly incredibly bright and vibrant, with some of the best screens on the market appearing on devices like the Galaxy S26 Ultra and iPhone 17 Pro Max. However, as impressive as these displays are, they don’t always perform well in bright environments and it’s possible that your phone’s screen will look worse on a sunny day. Android phone screens that look great in direct sunlight solve this problem with high maximum brightness levels, anti-glare coatings, and unique technology offerings, like the OnePlus 15’s Sun Display feature.
But how can you combat sunlight when you’re outdoors if you don’t own one of the latest and greatest phones? Without making any changes to device or software settings, you can simply move to a shadier area, put on polarized sunglasses, and tilt your device 90 degrees to improve viewing angles. However, perhaps the best way to improve the experience is to install an anti-glare screen protector that works like the built-in coatings applied to flagship models.
Software settings you can change
Before opting for an anti-glare screen protector, there are some software settings that can help you. Please note that the reliability of these settings depends on your device’s display technology, maximum brightness settings, and capabilities. You’ll also likely see different performance depending on location. For example, if you’re outside on a sunny day, but out of the direct path of the sun, these solutions will provide better results than, say, sitting on the beach. Living in Florida, I know this all too well.
To adjust, open your phone’s settings and turn off auto-brightness mode. Some would say to keep it on, but turning it off allows you to manually adjust the brightness and leave it at an optimal setting. If you see your iPhone’s brightness suddenly dim on its own, it’s probably the automatic brightness setting. Disabling this feature can also give you access to a higher brightness cap, which is a simple trick to increase brightness on Google Pixel phones.
From there, set the brightness slider to maximum. This will drain your battery faster than usual, so keep that in mind. On devices like the Galaxy S25+, you can also enable an additional brightness mode. In other cases, you may find a dark mode that replaces the light white background of your screen with a darker version. System accessibility settings can also work by adjusting color tint options. Ultimately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, so you’ll need to adjust various phone settings to determine which configuration works best for you.
