Mine sux in the sunlight too!

 

If it's in direct sunlight, and not diffused light (like in the shadow of buildings or trees, etc), then the auto setting in the display section of the main menu will give a different and higher brightness to the screen than the max user (non-auto) setting.

 

For my eyes, the auto-brightness setting fixes it. It's more than readable in direct sunlight. Without it on, I can't make out anything on my screen, but with it on it's very clear even with sunglasses on.

 

If that's the case it would be a major disappointment. One of the strong points of my GNex is its usability in direct sunlight. I was hoping the S4 would be the same.

Just for reference, I use my GNex at max brightness, not auto, and it's perfectly visible in direct sunlight.

 

Yes. And as you see from subsequent posts, it's not the same experience 100% across different devices.

But Samsung Note 2 and S4 have shown that the auto setting in display brightness makes the screen brighter than the max manual setting.

 

This is a disappointing aspect of the S4. In the sun (direct or bright), I can not use the phone even with brightness on auto or set full strength. If anyone knows a work around of perhaps screen saver that addresses this, I'd love to hear.

 

In my experience, both the GS4 and the GN2 are hard to see in direct sunlight. I was hoping the GS4 would improve on the GN2 in this area, but I can't tell any difference.

 

The GS4, like the GS3 and N2, uses a S-AMOLED screen. AMOLED is terrible in sunlight (IMO). I personally don't think any settings will help other than maybe high contrast color themes. What makes it worse than anything is wearing polarized sunglasses (given that you ARE outside in the sun).

I wish Samsung would offer their awesome Galaxy devices with hi-res IPS LCD panels instead of S-AMOLED. IPS is way better in bright light.

 

I don't have a problem seeing my screen in direct sunlight with sunglasses on. I do use the auto brightness though.

 

Turn off screen tone adjust, use auto brightness and +5 if you can, manual max brightness is not as bright as auto.

I don't have any problems in sunlight.

 

What is this "screen tone adjust" and "+5" you speak of? I'm still in the noob-user transition phase with my S4.

 

What does "and +5 mean" ?

 

Screen tone adjust is under settings/my device/display/more settings. I'm not sure about the +5 part.

 

International version has toggle to adjust auto brightness slightly within a +5/-5 range. Basically you can make a bit brighter or dimmer depending on your taste.

Why other versions lack this option I don't know.