The iPhone 4 features a much better screen than the iPhone 3GS. It’s ultra-high resolution, but is it good enough to go head-to-head against AMOLED and Super AMOLED displays? We find out…

Verdict – This screen is incredible. ‘Nuff said
We love – Immense detail, and even copes well with non high-res graphics
We hate – Contrast is still not up to AMOLED levels

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The Retina display screen of the iPhone 4 is the phone’s most interesting feature, in our opinion. We’ve only seen one mobile that offered anything like as high a pixel density as this screen, and that was the faintly ridiculous Motorola Aura, a phone that cost more than a grand and used a 1.55-inch circular screen. Not quite the norm, then.

The iPhone 4’s display is the same size as its predecessors’ – 3.5 inches – but with 326 pixels per inch, it looks very different to the iPhone 3GS’s screen. Even if you get right up close to the screen, you can’t discern single pixels. There are just too many of them, and they’re tiny – a fraction of the size of those in the 3GS.

Image assets – pictures and so on – that haven’t been optimised for the iPhone 4 will look a little blocky on this advanced screen because the phone has to compensate for the lower resolution by quadrupling up on pixels. It’s a bit like watching standard definition TV on an HDTV.

These older apps and games still look good on the iPhone 4, but the hyper-powered screen shows up deficiencies more keenly than they would be when displayed at native resolution.

Use an app that’s been optimised for the iPhone 4, like Real Racing or iBooks, and the results are jaw-droppingly pretty. Text is incredibly sharp, much sharper than on an Amazon Kindle or Apple iPad, and sprites are perfect – you can’t see pixels, joins or imperfections.

The contrast of the iPhone 4’s Retina display screen is slightly worse than that of a Super AMOLED screen, seen in the Samsung Wave and Samsung Galaxy S, but improvements made since the iPhone 3GS hardware was released last year mean it’s no longer a massive gulf. Just a slight hop up the grey scale.

The difference between the resolution fidelity of the top AMOLED and Super AMOLED phones and the iPhone 4 is more marked than the contrast difference between the two screen types. We’d opt for a Retina display screen over a Super AMOLED, but only just. They’re both ace and we’d have no qualms about watching a full-length movie on either screen type.

The other advancement made with the iPhone 4’s screen is in its viewing angles. Thanks to IPS (In-plane switching), even when the phone is held at extreme angles – so you can only see a sliver of the screen – the display looks perfect. Someone sitting next to you will be able to see the phone’s display perfectly. Good for sharing a movie with a friend, not so good if a stranger starts staring intently at whatever you’re doing on the train. We say just watch/play/read away without shame.

Upping the resolution doesn’t seem to have had much of an effect on the touchscreen of the iPhone 4. The touchscreen is just as responsive as it was on the iPhone 3G and 3GS – the best in the mobile biz. The screen and touchscreen make the iPhone 4 a joy to use. Along with this superphone’s other top features, that is. Read our other iPhone 4 reviews for more.

OTHER iPHONE 4 REVIEWS –
Apple iPhone 4 review
Apple iPhone 4 review – iOS 4 and apps
Apple iPhone 4 review – build, body and looks
Apple iPhone 4 review – camera and video
Apple iPhone 4 review – gaming

YOU SHOULD READ – iPhone 4 camera – low light night photo gallery