Is there really no Android phone that can view HDR shorts/reels/tiktoks?

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Niber

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#321524 25-Aug-2025 09:31

Seems Pixel is the only Android phone that can do it, but Pixel seems to really hate NZ so still no pixel 10 in NZ.

For example the following Youtube Shorts video is clearly HDR when I view it through my PC Chrome: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4o3xlXSbCcs

But if I view it through my S22 Ultra or a friends Xiaomi 15 then it's in SDR.

What's the point in even having a phone at all if it can't view HDR video.

Some reports says that if I get the very newest Samsung then it can support it, but there's just no way I'm getting another Samsung. and there's no excuse for them to not support it on the S22 Ultra I have already

mrgsm021

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#3407170 25-Aug-2025 09:53

My OnePlus 13 appears to play your YT link in 1080p HDR, according to the resolutions setting in the apps.

Niber

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#3407180 25-Aug-2025 10:17

mrgsm021:

My OnePlus 13 appears to play your YT link in 1080p HDR, according to the resolutions setting in the apps.

Interesting! that def puts that phone on my radar. is there any chance you could dim the brightness of ur screen to doublecheck that the video is brighter than the UI? (that video isn't the ideal showcase of HDR, but basically the blue background should feel like it "pops")

Niber

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#3407187 25-Aug-2025 10:39

mrgsm021:

My OnePlus 13 appears to play your YT link in 1080p HDR, according to the resolutions setting in the apps.

Aaaaw no, I just checked and my phone res settings also says HDR, but the monitor isn't displaying it as HDR, so unfortunately it seems the res settings isn't an indicator if the phone works with HDR or not

freitasm

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#3407208 25-Aug-2025 11:41

Niber:

Seems Pixel is the only Android phone that can do it, but Pixel seems to really hate NZ so still no pixel 10 in NZ.

For example the following Youtube Shorts video is clearly HDR when I view it through my PC Chrome: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4o3xlXSbCcs

But if I view it through my S22 Ultra or a friends Xiaomi 15 then it's in SDR.

Am I missing something? It seems to be 1080p HDR on my Fold6.

Niber:

Aaaaw no, I just checked and my phone res settings also says HDR, but the monitor isn't displaying it as HDR, so unfortunately it seems the res settings isn't an indicator if the phone works with HDR or not

This is something new, not posted in the OP, so obviously all replies so far are related to the opening topic post.

Do you mean you want to watch HDR on an external monitor? Or do you mean you watch it on the phone display itself and it doesn't look HDR?

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muppet

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#3407211 25-Aug-2025 11:42

I have a Pixel and these HDR images etc are so annoying in a feed, they pop out SUPER BRIGHT and try to burn your retinas.

You're not missing much IMHO.

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#3407212 25-Aug-2025 11:44

muppet:

I have a Pixel and these HDR images etc are so annoying in a feed, they pop out SUPER BRIGHT and try to burn your retinas.

You're not missing much IMHO.

Yeap I have my MacBookPro screen turned right down then the sun comes out all of a sudden when I click on an HDR video.

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Niber

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#3407213 25-Aug-2025 11:44

freitasm:

I just want to view HDR video in HDR on my phone screen (not external monitor).

Just because it says HDR doesn't unfortunately mean that it is HDR. For example, you can force Youtube to send you a 4k stream even if your screen is 1080p max, and in similar manner you can tell Youtube to send you the HDR stream even if your screen/app doesn't support viewing it as HDR.

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#3407214 25-Aug-2025 11:47

Niber:

freitasm:

I just want to view HDR video in HDR on my phone screen (not external monitor).

Just because it says HDR doesn't unfortunately mean that it is HDR. For example, you can force Youtube to send you a 4k stream even if your screen is 1080p max, and in similar manner you can tell Youtube to send you the HDR stream even if your screen/app doesn't support viewing it as HDR.

Ok... Using the word "monitor" on your reply was a red herring. you meant display.

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Niber

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#3407216 25-Aug-2025 11:48

muppet:

I have a Pixel and these HDR images etc are so annoying in a feed, they pop out SUPER BRIGHT and try to burn your retinas.

You're not missing much IMHO.

That's just because the content creators are abusing HDR (putting EVERYTHING in the high dynamic range, instead of just the spec highlights / sunsets etc), I predict in the future there will be some sort of check that forces content-creators to only put few things in the HDR range.

In my case I don't want to view others content (because it's almost always bad), I just want to view my own content to make sure that it displays correctly in HDR

Niber

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#3407219 25-Aug-2025 11:50

freitasm:

Ok... Using the word "monitor" on your reply was a red herring. you meant display.

Oh, sorry English isn't my first language. Yeah screen/display I meant

Niber

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#3407220 25-Aug-2025 11:52

muppet:

I have a Pixel and these HDR images etc are so annoying in a feed, they pop out SUPER BRIGHT and try to burn your retinas.

You're not missing much IMHO.

i would be curious if you could confirm if videos are working HDR for you as well? (and what model of pixel u have)

I've heard that Pixel is the main device that they added that support for, but I've never actually heard from first hand experience it working (as you were talking about images, not video shorts)

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#3407222 25-Aug-2025 12:01

Niber:

i would be curious if you could confirm if videos are working HDR for you as well? (and what model of pixel u have)

I've heard that Pixel is the main device that they added that support for, but I've never actually heard from first hand experience it working (as you were talking about images, not video shorts)

I've got a Pixel 7 Pro. When I view that video in your first post my screen cranks up the brightness to "burn retinas" level in a way it doesn't with other Youtube videos. It also says "1080p HDR" in the quality menu.