Matte vs Glossy Monitor - Laptop Screen Comparison - Which one to choose?

This video is all about how to choose between a laptop with a matte screen and a glossy screen. I have spent a year thinking about this and testing out different devices and these are the 4 main things I think matters when you will make this decision.

The laptops I use in the video are:
Matebook 14:

Yoga Slim 7:
AMD:
Intel:

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:36 Side by side comparison
1:08 Outdoor usage
2:46 Fingerprints
3:40 Contrast & black colour reproduction
4:30 Brightness
5:47 Conclusion

My Gear (affiliate links if you want to support the channel):

[Kareem-cxfi]

When I work I prefer a matte screen. It enables me to focus better without all the reflections, and feels easier on my eyes when I code. For entertainment, I totally get why people prefer glossy screens, because the images do look way more vibrant, and seem to pop out more, not as dull as the matte. It's a give and take

[Telssa]

You speak clearly, and you get to the point. Terrific video.

[xavonizer]

I would have to say… i do like the Glossy screens more then the matte ones. They have better colors and they make the display look a whole lot clearer, because the antiglare coating does blur out the pixels a bit. Even for outdoor use, i think they are a bit better. But its personal preference of course!

[tovape]

I have a glossy monitor and I prefer it over anything, it feels more natural, like looking at a glass with some light in it

[robertfrechette]

I prefer a glossy screen because it looks more crisp. I find the matte harder to focus, on. I just bought a matte screen laptop and will be returning it. Thank you for your videos! They are very helpful!

[johnmase]

I alternate my options between glossy and matte depending on how often i use laptop on outdoors or indoors. If i use laptop a lot in outdoor, ie due to university or taking to a cafe, i buy cheap matte screen protector and apply it, and when theres period i spend most of my time at home i just remove matte screen protector and use glossy screen again

This is the benefit of owning a glossy laptop. It allows you to have the option to choose between matte and glossy. I have even reapplied my old matte screen protector over and over again so the resusability is great, depending on the type you buy the matte screen protector of course.

[charthers]

You keep reading my mind, this is awesome..

[Ruptured_AU]

I actually found gloss was better when I had a big window behind me and the sunlight poured in on my back. I found the Matt screen diffused the light across its surface and made it very hard to see. The gloss while it had massive reflections I was able to just not look at them since your eyes have to actually move to focus them instead of the screen. All that said, if the Matt screen I had was only around 300nits. If it was 400+ it might have done a much better job of countering the bright light.

[lricardo]

exactly one of my concerns, now that I am going to buy a new laptop, interesting video, thanks

[willsh]

Thanks for the video. I know most opinions favour the matte, but the glossy screen looks better.

I like looks, so I’m going with glossy haha

[millionexperts]

I've been using the Ultra HD glossy screen for 5.5 years now and typically used it for work every day for 12-16 hrs and never had any eye related issues, especially with such a high screen time.
Flip side is the outdoor usage issue, I totally agree, it is annoying for sure with a reflective / brighter backgrounds as light reflection is evitable, which in my opinion one can re-adjust their seating positions to a lesser lit / dark backgrounds.

Let's admit, we don't work most of our time in brighter backgrounds, right ?
So, If you use 90percent of the time with shady background then glossy screen is perfect.

So why am I recommending a glossy display with high resolution?

Well I got a new laptop for work which has a lesser display resolution of 1920x1080 and a Matt finish... I find it so hard to focus even indoors as it's causing dry eyes since it doesn't have an anti glare screen.
After 30 mins my eyes start to retain the white background from the emails and chat windows, which gives me a headache and have to literally move away from the system frequently.

I never had this issue with my ultra HD display (resolution 3840x 2160 but I use it with 1920x1040 as my apps don't work with higher resolution) which has the glossy, Anti glare and most importantly gives a soft and smooth backgrounds in chat or email windows.... very good for prolonged usage/screentime..

Please invest in a good screen to avoid issues for your sensitive eyes and other side effects 🙏

Hope it helps..

[joelstatosky]

For viewing quality glossy is the way to go, however, it has a large amount of glare which is extremely annoying.

[yeshu]

Very rare and informative video... I've found it very useful... Thank you!

[butterflymoon]

Much prefer glossy screens any day of the week. can't think of a single instance when i would need to use a laptop outdoors (extreme laptopping?) so i'm good. My work computer has a matte screen and i hate it. It feels less immersive and less enjoyable.

[jasbirsingh]

Extremely important and informarive video..Thanks a lot..

[GTsMusicalVariety]

Great videos on Displays both Matte vs Glossy and your one comparing 250, 300, 400 nits, Thank you! My Dell Inspiron with 16" Anti-Glare WVA ComfortView Plus 2.5K (2560 x 1600) Display, 300 nits, 120 hz refresh rate. Looks washed out on full brightness during the day with windows behind me and white shades that let a fair amount of sunlight through but conversely the screen looks really clear on two thirds brightness during the evening. I notice a BIG difference there.

[drdemon]

For me look and feel must be satisfying enjoyable Glossy is better I don't wanna compromise for low image quality...but this gives eye strain ...I hope matte screen to have better image quality but I would give suggestions for programmers, writers, readers, require long exposure to screen should go for matte, and is there anything in market like filter for glossy screen so that whenever I want to watch movies I could take it off otherwise I would whole day staring at laptop

[khanghyvo]

i know that matte is better but the glossy screen always looks more premium

[tpacalypse]

I still like the taller screens better though.

[siyzerix]

I'm gonna have to disagree with your conclusion. The ultimate gold standard is a glossy display. If you have phones and tablets that can be used outside with glossy displays, so can laptops. Infact, when you adjust your laptop you're done. You're not going to be constantly adjusting it all the time. And how often do people use their laptops outside? Usually its not very long. Laptops are generally used indoors.

And you forget a few other points regarding glossy. Glossy will appear sharper than matte since matte diffuses light. Glossy will also have more accurate colors since even if a matte has 100% srgb, it will still not actually be color accurate since matte coating will distort colors.

And you forget to mention the biggest factor. Availability. Matte infact seems more suited to much more portable lightweight laptops that have a higher chance of being used outside. However gaming laptops and the like still use matte displays even though glossy would be objectively better for them since they're going to be used indoors. Even gaming monitors almost never have glossy displays.

And then there's OLED displays. OLED technically is a bit less sharp than an equivalent resolution IPS since its subpixel arrangement is different. But it has very high brightness, very good contrast, excellent colors, very good response times, etc. It'd be perfect for gaming laptops and multimedia laptops. Yet its only now being offered on some laptops.

Of course the ideal display would be mini led's which have the pro's of oleds and the pro's of IPS glossy displays.